Malachite

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Mineral guide

Learn about Malachite

vivid green banded crystals and botryoidal forms from copper deposits; color varieties, formation clues, and identification tips for collectors.

Regional guide

Malachite from Morenci Mine, Arizona, USA

from the Morenci Mine is classic Arizona copper-country material: vivid green secondary copper carbonate from one of the great porphyry copper systems of the American Southwest. The most desirable specimens are not anonymous green crusts, but sculptural pieces in which malachite makes rounded balls, botryoidal coatings, velvety sprays, crystalline crusts, and, at its best, sharp pseudomorphs or sparkling aggregates set against the dark, oxidized matrix of the mine. When associated with electric-blue azurite or pale to turquoise-blue chrysocolla, Morenci malachite has the high-contrast color language that collectors immediately associate with the locality.