Cornetite

specimen number:
2062425

location:
Likasi Mine, Kambove, Haut-Katanga, DR Congo

description:
Brilliant sparkling blue micro crystals of cornetite on matrix. In good condition.

The Likasi and Kambove mining region in Haut-Katanga, Democratic Republic of the Congo, originated after Belgian prospectors discovered rich copper deposits there in 1892, leading to formal mining operations and the founding of nearby settlements around 1917 that remain active today. Geologically, the area is situated within the Central African Copperbelt and features sediment-hosted copper and cobalt deposits hosted primarily in Neoproterozoic dolomitic shales, dolostones, and siltstones of the Roan Group, shaped by complex folding, faulting, and deep supergene weathering. Within this weathering zone, the striking blue mineral cornetite forms as a secondary hydrated copper phosphate, typically crystallizing in orthorhombic habits within oxidized zones of these copper-bearing ore bodies.

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