Azurite

specimen number:
9507070

location:
Bou Beker, Touissit-Bou Beker, Jerada, Oriental, Morocco

description:

A somewhat unusual stalactitic grouping of deep blue lustrous bladed azurite crystals. The largest crystals measure to 0.7 cm in size. This is terminated on both ends of the stalactite and is naturally crystallized all around and in good condition. Very minor breccia matrix is attached.

Bou Beker is a prominent mining locality within the Touissit-Bou Beker district of northeastern Morocco, near the Algerian border. Modern industrial mining in the region began around the early 1920s, with large-scale operations continuously extracting base metals throughout the twentieth century before the principal industrial mines officially closed in 2002 due to reserve depletion and changing economic conditions. Geologically, the district is classified as a classic Mississippi Valley-type (MVT) deposit. The mineralization is hosted primarily within flat-lying, unmetamorphosed carbonate platform sequences consisting of dolostones and limestones, where metal-bearing hydrothermal brines migrated through structural faults and open-space fractures to precipitate high concentrations of base metal ores alongside rich secondary oxidation zones.

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