Krohnkite

specimen number:
2063600

location:
Chuquicamata Mine, Calama, El Loa, Antofagasta, Chile

description:
A brilliant blue crystallized grouping of krohnkite. In good condition all around, very nice for the species.

Located in the arid Atacama Desert of northern Chile, the Chuquicamata, Codelco Ne is one of the largest open-pit copper mines in the world, exploiting a massive porphyry copper deposit formed during the Tertiary period through intense hydrothermal activity and magmatic intrusion. Indigenous peoples and early prospectors worked the oxidized surface ores for centuries before industrial-scale underground and open-pit operations began in the early twentieth century, transforming the site into a global copper powerhouse. Within the weathered oxidation zones of this deposit, unique secondary minerals formed, most notably krohnkite, a striking bright blue and green copper sodium sulfate mineral that has made the mine a celebrated locality for mineral collectors worldwide.

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