Brochantite

specimen number:
8311229

location:
Milpillas Mine, Sonora, Mexico

description:

Excellent thick lustrous green crystals of brochantite on matrix. In great condition and very choice miniature for the species.

The Milpillas Mine, located in the Cuitaca area of Sonora, Mexico, is a modern copper mine renowned for producing some of the world's most spectacular secondary copper minerals. Geologically, it is a high-grade, supergene-enriched porphyry copper deposit buried under several hundred meters of post-mineral gravels and volcanic rocks. This deep burial protected the oxidation zone from erosion, allowing for the formation of incredible secondary minerals as copper-rich solutions reacted with the surrounding rocks. The brochantite from Milpillas is exceptional, occurring as intensely saturated, emerald-green prismatic crystals that often exhibit a brilliant vitreous luster and can reach several centimeters in length. Historically, the deposit was discovered in the 1990s through sophisticated geophysical prospecting, as there were no surface outcroppings. The Penoles mining company began development in the early 2000s, with full-scale underground production starting in 2006. While the mine's primary industrial output is copper cathode via solvent extraction and electrowinning, it became an instant legend in the mineral collecting community between 2006 and the mid-2010s for its world-class specimens of brochantite, azurite, and malachite.

Questions about this specimen?
Send an email or call us: 314-341-1811.