Libethenite

specimen number:
9711777

location:
Mindola pit, Nkana Mine, Kitwe, Copperbelt, Zambia

description:
Sparkling deep green crystals of libethenite to 0.3 cm in size across the top of matrix. In good condition, classic locality for the species. This would have been collected in the 1970s.

The Mindola Pit, part of the larger Nkana Mine complex in Kitwe, Zambia, began large-scale commercial production around 1932 following initial prospecting in the early 1900s, and while open pit operations eventually wound down to transition primarily to deep underground mining, the area remains active today. Geologically, the deposit is situated within the rich Central African Copperbelt and is hosted in Neoproterozoic meta-sedimentary rocks of the Lower Roan Group, where copper and cobalt mineralization is predominantly confined to a narrow argillaceous unit known locally as the Ore Shale. Within the oxidized upper portions and benches of the Mindola Pit, secondary copper minerals frequently develop, most notably libethenite, a relatively rare anhydrous copper phosphate mineral that forms striking green crystals resulting from the interaction of phosphate-rich waters with weathered copper sulfides.

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