Azurite

specimen number:
2133319

location:
Chessy, Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes, France

description:
Blocky semi-lustrous deep blue crystals of azurite covering all sides of matrix. In good condition for this French classic.

The Chessy-les-Mines mining district, located northwest of Lyon in the Rhone department of France, occupies a geologically unique position within the southern Beaujolais region. The deposit is a complex, composite volcanic-associated massive sulfide system hosted within highly deformed Devonian-Carboniferous volcanic and sedimentary rocks. Intense supergene alteration and weathering of the primary copper-pyrite orebody under specific paleoclimatic conditions generated a highly developed, specialized secondary oxidation zone characterized by rich accumulations of cuprite, malachite, and a distinctive deep blue copper carbonate variety of azurite that served as the historic type locality for the species, originally termed chessylite. Underground mining at Chessy dates back to the Middle Ages, with small-scale extraction of copper ore operating intermittently for centuries before undergoing significant corporate expansion during the 18th and early 19th centuries. As the rich, shallow copper oxide deposits faced exhaustion, the operational focus shifted toward the systematic extraction of underlying massive iron pyrite for regional sulfuric acid manufacturing. Industrial mining and processing activity at the Chessy site officially ceased in 1877 due to economic shifts and depleted accessible reserves, leaving behind historic underground workings while deeply buried unmined sulfide lenses remain intact well below the old mine floor.

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