Chrysocolla with Quartz, Malachite

specimen number:
2072242

location:
Manto Tres Gracias Mine, Atacama, Chile

description:
A very attractive colorful specimen showing a massive malachite with a large open pocket in the front, this lined with botryoidal blue chrysocolla that is coated with sugary sparkling micro quartz. At one time this was part of the collection of Jordi Povill, Barcelona, Spain. In very good condition.

The Manto Tres Gracias Mine, located in the Diego de Almagro area of the Chanaral Province in the Atacama Region of Chile, is a significant copper and silver deposit. Geologically, it is classified as a manto-type deposit, characterized by stratabound mineralization where ore-bearing fluids replaced specific layers of Jurassic volcanic and sedimentary rocks. The mine is famous among mineral collectors for producing exceptional specimens of atacamite, which occur as dark, forest-green, prismatic crystals with a brilliant glassy luster, often found in the oxidized zones of the deposit. Historically, the mine saw various periods of activity throughout the 20th century, with significant underground development occurring during the 1970s and 1980s. While it operated primarily as a small to medium-scale commercial copper enterprise, the discovery of world-class chloride-based copper minerals solidified its reputation as an important mineralogical locality within the hyper-arid Atacama Desert. Today, the mine remains a reference point for the study of supergene enrichment in Northern Chile, even as large-scale industrial focus in the region has shifted toward massive porphyry systems.

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