Stringhamite

specimen number:
2354244

location:
Christmas Mine, Gila Co., Arizona, USA

description:
A rich and choice example for the species with blue radiating flat line crystallized groupings of stringhamite to 0.4 cm in diameter across the front of matrix. The specimen comes with a previous label from the collection of Jack Nieburger.

Located in the Dripping Spring Mountains of Gila County, Arizona, the Christmas Mine is a prominent copper skarn deposit associated with intrusive stocks penetrating Paleozoic limestone and sedimentary strata. Discovered in the late nineteenth century and historically mined on a large scale for copper, the site features complex contact metamorphic zones formed by hydrothermal fluids reacting with carbonate host rocks. Mineralogically, the mine is well known among collectors and researchers for hosting rare secondary copper silicate species, including stringhamite, an uncommon azure-blue monoclinic mineral that crystallizes within fracture surfaces and skarn assemblages alongside other silicate and sulfide minerals.

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