Cuprite

specimen number:
9505375

location:
Mashamba West Mine, Kolwezi, Lualaba, DR Congo

description:

Wonderful thumbnail specimen of incredibly lustrous sharp octahedral cuprite crystals. No matrix, very minor malachite present. The condition is as good as they get.

The Mashamba West Mine, situated within the Kolwezi mining district of Lualaba Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is part of the western Dima group of copper-cobalt deposits. Modern industrial open-pit operations at the site formally opened in 1975 under state-backed management, and the deposit later transitioned through various state and international joint-venture structures (such as Sicomines). Geologically, the mine is located along the northwestern margin of the Central African Copperbelt within the Kolwezi Klippe. Its ore bodies are hosted in elongated blocks of Neoproterozoic Roan Group rocks contained within a tectonic megabreccia. Deep supergene weathering and groundwater oxidation of primary sulfide minerals (like chalcocite and carrollite) have produced a rich secondary mineral assemblage, making the deposit world-renowned among collectors for fine specimens of malachite, chrysocolla, cuprite, and cobalt-bearing calcite.

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