Azurite with Malachite

specimen number:
8311257

location:
Bisbee, Cochise Co., Arizona, USA

description:
A lustrous blue bladed grouping of azurite crystals, these hosting velvety green crystallized malachite. In good condition all around. Very little attached matrix.

Mining at Bisbee, Arizona, centered in the Warren Mining District, stands as one of the most productive mineral regions in American history. Geologically, the area is defined by a massive porphyry copper system associated with the Jurassic-aged Sacramento Hill quartz monzonite porphyry. Mineral-rich fluids from this intrusion reacted with Paleozoic limestones to create vast, high-grade replacement deposits and spectacular oxidation zones filled with carbonates like malachite and azurite. Historically, the first claims were staked in 1877, and the district quickly rose to prominence with the development of the Copper Queen Mine. The operations shifted from underground mining to massive open-pit extraction with the start of the Sacramento Hill pit in 1917 and the Lavender Pit in 1950. Over nearly a century of continuous activity, Bisbee produced approximately 8 billion pounds of copper, along with significant amounts of gold, silver, lead, and zinc. Large-scale corporate mining finally ceased in 1975 when Phelps Dodge Corporation closed the Lavender Pit and underground operations, leaving behind a legendary legacy of both industrial achievement and world-class mineral specimens.

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