Djurleite, Chalcocite, Chalcopyrite on Calcite
SpeciesSize
Djurleite, Chalcocite, Chalcopyrite, CalciteMedium
A
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Details
Species
Description
We all love multicolored metallic mineral species but one of the fun things about this ancient (Bronze-Age) mining district in the heart of China is the combinations being found at a number of mines, of different metallic species all mixed together to create strange bubbling, rounded, organic-looking growths (often referred to as "blistered copper"). This is a really dramatic small cabinet sized specimen from this one-time find in rural China, of chalcocite/djurleite liberally coated with chalcopyrite. We brought nearly all of the major pieces and most of the quantity out of China around 2010-13, as I was very active in Hubei Province at the time. We did analyse many of them at the time and found that the bubbly growths are djurleite, also coated with chalcopyrite, and perched on chalcocite crystals in the core of the cluster. We had a source right at the mine on these, and I worked hard to visit the small mining town nearby and was trying to lock up the good ones. This remains one of the more surprising finds from China in recent years. See our recent articles in the Mineralogical Record (Jan 2014) and in Lapis (in German, summer 2014) on this remarkable find, also available online at available as a blog post at http://www.irocks.com/tongshan-china-minerals-chalcocite-chalcopyrite-djurleite-2013. These mines continue to produce unusual and beautiful rounded copper-species growths of a variety of species. Comes with custom lucite base for display upright.
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Origin
Djurleite, Chalcocite, Chalcopyrite on Calcite
SpeciesSize
Djurleite, Chalcocite, Chalcopyrite, CalciteMedium
A
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