Azurite with Malachite

specimen number:
2063349

location:
Morenci Mine, Greenlee Co., Arizona, USA

description:
Attractive combination piece with vivid electric blue bladed crystals of azurite and groupings to 0.5 cm in size scattered across the top of a botryoidal green malachite crystal matrix. This is in good condition. Nice color contrast. The specimen comes with a previous label from the collection of Ray DeMark. The label notes that this was collected from the 4700 bench in the Copper Mountain area of the pit by Brian Huntsman back in the early 1980s.

The Morenci Mine, located in Greenlee County, Arizona, is one of the oldest and largest copper-producing operations in North America, with mining history dating back to the late 1860s and early 1870s following initial discoveries by pioneers like Army Captain Willcox and the subsequent involvement of the Lezinsky brothers. Geologically, the deposit is a massive porphyry copper system centered on intrusive monzonite porphyry cutting through Precambrian granite and Paleozoic sedimentary rocks, where extensive supergene enrichment created vast blanket deposits of copper ores. Historically, operations transitioned from early underground high-grade extraction to massive open-pit mining and modern heap leaching, turning Morenci into a cornerstone of the American copper industry and a notable producer of fine secondary copper mineral specimens.

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