Copper (CU-0003)

specimen number:
9273239

location:
Chino Mine, Santa Rita, Grant Co., New Mexico, USA

description:

Superb grouping of twinned native copper crystals. In super condition all around.

The Chino Mine, located near Santa Rita in Grant County, New Mexico, is one of the oldest and largest open-pit copper mining operations in the United States, with a history of extraction dating back to Spanish colonial times and intensive industrial production starting in the early twentieth century. Geologically, the deposit is a classic porphyry copper system associated with Laramide-aged intrusive stocks emplaced into Paleozoic carbonate and sedimentary rocks, resulting in extensive hydrothermal alteration and supergene enrichment. The resulting copper-rich orebody has yielded notable specimen material, including historical occurrences of well-formed native copper crystals often exhibiting characteristic spinel-law twinning.

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