Calcite with Kolwezite

specimen number:
9711728

location:
Kolwezi, Mutshatsha, Lualaba, DR Congo

description:
Lustrous pink mostly gemmy scalenohedral crystals of calcite across the top of matrix. Very minimal cleaving present, this is in good condition. Crystallized kolwezite is scattered throughout.

Kolwezi, located in the Lualaba province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has a mining history rooted in indigenous working before formal industrialization began around 1901, followed by the founding of the Union Miniere du Haut Katanga in 1906 (with major operations like the Kamoto mine opening in 1942); it has never officially closed and remains active today. Geologically, the area sits within the rich Central African Copperbelt inside the Kolwezi Klippe, a complex tectonic thrust sheet composed primarily of folded and faulted Neoproterozoic Roan Group sedimentary rocks containing massive world-class deposits of supergene-enriched copper and cobalt ores.

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