Azurite blue(Azbl) is composed of mineral basic carbonate of copper,found in many parts of the world in the upper oxidized portions of copper ore deposits. Azurite mineral is usually associated in nature with malachite,the green basic carbonate of copper that is far more abundant.
It has the formula Cu
3(CO
3)
2(OH)
2,with the copper(II) cations linked to two different anions,carbonate and hydroxide.
Azurite was the most important blue pigment in European painting from the fifteenth to the middle of the seventeenth century.