Malachite

specimen number:
9506537

location:
Shilu Mine, Yangjiang, Guangdong, China

description:

Beautifully crystallized stalactitic chatoyant grouping of malachite. Very slight touching present as seen, this still very good all around.

The Shilu Copper Mine in Yangjiang, Guangdong Province, China, has a very long history with roots tracing back as early as the Han Dynasty. Commercial and large-scale industrial operations experienced a modern peak during the late 20th century, particularly through the 1980s and 1990s, before commercial mining activities were largely exhausted and officially closed around 1998. Geologically, the deposit is situated within the Yangchun Basin and is characterized as a prominent porphyry-skarn system. It formed through extensive Cretaceous magmatic activity where granodiorite intrusions interacted with carbonate-bearing host rocks. This unique environment facilitated intense hydrothermal alteration and supergene oxidation, resulting in rich secondary copper deposits renowned for producing world-class specimens of fibrous velvet malachite and azurite rosettes.

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