Detailed information
Dimensions
40 x 55 x 28
mm
Weight
40 g
Locality
4800 Bench, Coronado Pit, Morenci Mine Copper Mountain District Greenlee Co., Arizona, USA
Condition
No recorded repairs
Despite being America's greatest producer of copper and having furnished many fine crystallized specimens of Azurite and Malachite, pseudomorphs of Malachite after Azurite are a pretty rare sight at Morenci compared with some other occurrences. That makes this fine miniature from Paul Matt very special, but additionally its great provenance helps too, coming specifically from the 4800 Bench in Coronado Pit. Mining started at Morenci underground over a century ago, but the great openpit which continues to grow bigger everyday commenced in 1937. Over time it has consumed earlier mine workings including the historic Coronado Pit and this specimen from bench 4800 suggests that was found in 'relatively' recent times. The bladed Azurite crystals are totally replaced by fibrous forest-green Malachite with great chatoyancy. A really high quality larger miniature for this most famous of American mines.
