Quartz on Malachite

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Totally different to anything we have seen previously from the Democratic Republic of Congo, this fascinating cabinet-sized display specimen from Kakanda deposit in Kambove District features weird Quartz replacements after/over radiating acicular sprays of Malachite. The matrix, a beige-brown finely crystallized Quartz-lined vug in chert plays host to at least eight prominent sprays, some isolated, others alongside each other in clusters. These Quartz-coated acicular crystals are faintly sea-blue/sea-green from the internal presence of residual Malachite and possibly also the copper silicate Chrysocolla formed during the the transition from copper carbonate to silica. The fine rounded (due to the Quartz overgrowth) acicular crystals are intact on all of the sprays except for the largest (2.4 cm diameter) spray at one end of the specimen, but the naturally smooth concave edge facing outwards is slightly deeper sea-blue in colour, allowing the process of replacement to be seen. A strikingly unusual paragenetic piece from this most famous of African copper mining districts. Only a handful of pieces showing this new style of mineralization have been seen.