Malachite on Quartz with Hematite

Unknown Owner

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A very rare old classic, and a very showy combination specimen from the famous mines at Concepcion del Oro, Zacatecas, Mexico. Numerous sprays of bright green, primary malachite to 1.5 cm across adorn a few dozen iron(hematite)-tinted, orange quartz crystals from 1 to 2 cm in length that make up most of this cabinet sized piece. The malachite sprays are a rich, two-tone green with a glistening surface and metallic shine. They provide the perfect complementary color contrast to the orange-colored quartz crystals. Moderate contacting around the periphery of the piece reveals that the quartz crystals are actually milky white to clear underneath the iron staining and there are even small pockets of glistening colorless quartz crystals. The bottom of the piece is porous and vuggy with tiny needles of malachite present in many of the openings. An old specimen purchased by Jack in the 1960s (#685 of eventually over 4000 specimens) from his favorite dealer, Walt Lidstrom.