CHRYSOCOLLA ps. after MALACHITE ps. after AZURITE with QUARTZ

Two former tabular Azurite crystals, now pseudomorphed to Chrysocolla via an intermediate stage of Malachite, measure up to 5.0 and 4.5 cm tall and form a slightly parted, tall and slender 'V', with a common base of narrowly splayed face-to-face crystals. This unusual double pseudomorph of intense sky-blue Chrysocolla replacing Malachite after Azurite and coated in Quartz is from a magnificent recent find in the Tenke-Fungurume area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in Central Africa. The Chrysocolla is a stunning sky-blue and throughout the base can be seen a remnant core of deep leaf emerald-green Malachite. The crystals are entirely encrusted with sparkling micro-crystals of colourless transparent Quartz with a bright glassy lustre. More unusually for this location, 2 to 3 mm globular inclusions of dark green Malachite are dotted over the faces of the Chrysocolla, themselves subsequently coated with the ubiquitous Quartz layer under which they appear almost black. The tabular Chrysocolla crystals taper slightly towards their terminations. The Tenke-Fungurume area delineates a 30 km copper-cobalt mineralised zone between Tenke hill in the NW and Fungurume hill in the SE of the Kolwezi mining district. The region holds large ore reserves and to date a suite of 31 minerals have been recorded, including some exceedingly rare copper species. A splendid and elegant Chrysocolla pseudomorph coated in lustrous Quartz from the Kolwezi mining district of the DRC.

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Crystal Classics

Tucson, Arizona, USA