Detailed information
Dimensions
38 x 58 x 26
mm
Weight
38 g
Locality
Broken Hill Yancowinna Co., New South Wales Australia
Condition
No recorded repairs
Previously labelled as "Australia" there is little doubt that this superbly crystallized Native Copper specimen comes from the world-famous mines at Broken Hill in Yancowinna Co., New South Wales. One sometimes hears the texture of Native Copper being referred to as 'spongey' but rarely does one get a feel for why. Well, this fine large miniature specimen demonstrates it perfectly, flexing and vibrating as it is held in one's hand. Made up of very many thin 'herring-bone' style branching dendrites most of which can be traced back down to a common point at one end of the specimen, these dendrites all flex and overlap, making for a quite remarkable display. Not only this, but their surfaces are tarnished with a classic reddish-purple patina, probably due to a little alteration to Cuprite (copper oxide), with some greenish-blue Malachite. Ex Martin Kershaw Collection (no. 323), with his typed card label. This specimen probably dates to the 1970s.
