Azurite with Malachite

specimen number:
8282333

location:
Liufengshan mine, Guichi, Anhui, China

description:

An attractive combination piece, the top of this matrix mostly covered with glistening deep blue crystallized azurite. Velvety green crystallized malachite is scattered throughout. In super condition.

The Liufengshan mine, located in the Guichi district of Chizhou Prefecture within Anhui Province, China, is a notable copper-iron extraction site widely recognized for producing distinct secondary copper minerals. Geologically, the deposit is situated within the Middle-Lower Yangtze River Metallogenic Belt, a major metallogenic zone shaped by Mesozoic-age tectonic and magmatic events. It is classified primarily as a mid-to-high temperature, strata-bound skarn deposit where copper-iron mineralization formed along the contact zones between igneous granodiorite intrusions and Carboniferous limestone beds. Overlying these primary zones, Quaternary gravel deposits inside limestone erosion caves hosted extensive leaching-accumulation zones, which allowed groundwater circulation to create rich pockets of secondary copper carbonates, including sharp crystals of deep blue azurite and rich green malachite associated with native copper and cuprite. Historically, the deposit was first developed as an open-pit operation in 1970 to supply regional base-metal industries. Production expanded significantly in the 1980s with the construction of underground infrastructure, transitioning the site into a multi-shaft operation managed by local township authorities. While the original open pit was abandoned, underground mining via three interconnected vertical shafts continued heavily through the late twentieth century and remains active through 2026.

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