Detailed information
Species
Primary Malachite, Quartz
Dimensions
87 x 110 x 48
mm
Weight
272 g
Locality
Mindingi Mine Kambove District Haut-Katanga, DR Congo
Condition
No recorded repairs
I am really not a fan of the term 'Primary Malachite' when it is quite clear that it is still a secondary (supergene) mineral species, but the term has increased in usage in recent years as a way of differentiating blocky individual Malachite crystals from the more acicular, stalactitic, or pseudomorphous forms. Of this 'primary' type, some of the finest individual crystals have come from Mindingi mine in Kambove District, DR Congo, where the crystals take on a really unusual curved form with a lovely silky lustre. This cabinet-sized display specimen shows this style of crystals really well, with many perfect individual crystals reaching up to 7 mm across scattered across a glassy crystallized, and partially iron-stained Quartz matrix. The Quartz matrix is rarely so well crystallized, making the combination of glassy, colourless, white and orange pyramidally terminated crystals with well-formed, dark green, pseudotetragonal Malachite crystals so fantastic.