Cuprite with Malachite

specimen number:
2063351

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

description:
An exceptionally large well-formed crystal of cuprite, this partially coated by green malachite. In good condition, this is what some would call a Box Buster thumbnail specimen. The specimen comes with a previous label from the collection of Ray DeMark.

The Onganja Mine, situated on Helen Farm 235 near Seeis in the Khomas Region of central Namibia, has a multi-phase operational history. While small-scale indigenous and early prospecting efforts date back centuries, formal European-backed operations began in the late 19th century. The mine experienced intermittent periods of activity, most notably seeing a modern resurgence utilizing heap-leaching methods from the 1980s until its final closure around 1995. Geologically, the deposit is located within the Damara Belt (Khomas Trough), hosted primarily by metamorphic schist and pelitic metasediments of the Kuiseb Formation. The copper mineralization occurs mainly within subvertical, brecciated quartz-calcite veins that postdate peak regional metamorphism, and the site has gained international renown among mineralogists for producing exceptional specimens of native copper, malachite and large cuprite crystals.

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