Cuprite

specimen number:
2262015

location:
Onganja Mine, Helen Farm 235, Seeis, Windhoek Rural, Khomas, Namibia

description:
A superb large well-formed crystal of cuprite on a small amount of matrix with a slightly smaller cuprite crystal attached. This is in really good condition. With backlighting these crystals absolutely glow fire red as shown in one of the photos. Outstanding for the species.

The Onganja Mine, located in the Seeis district of central Namibia, is a legendary locality famous for producing some of the world's finest copper minerals. Geologically, the deposit is a hydrothermal vein system hosted within Precambrian-aged metamorphic rocks of the Damara Belt, specifically mica schists. The mineralization occurred when copper-rich fluids were channeled through regional fault zones, resulting in high-grade concentrations of copper sulfides and oxides. The mine is most renowned for its giant, well-formed crystals of cuprite, often found as sharp octahedrons that can reach several centimeters in size and are frequently coated by a thin layer of malachite. Historically, mining at Onganja began in the early 1900s during the German colonial period, with several periods of renewed activity throughout the 20th century. While it operated as a commercial copper mine sporadically until the late 1970s, it gained its greatest international fame in the early 1970s when a major pocket of world-class cuprite specimens was discovered. Today, the site is highly prized by collectors for the exceptional size and luster of the copper species recovered from its historic workings.

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