Copper (CU-0033)

specimen number:
9273055

location:
Itauz Mine, Satpayev, Ulytau, Kazakhstan

description:

Excellent aesthetic branching crystallized cluster of native copper without matrix. In great condition all around. This has a nice patina.

The Itauz mine, located roughly 60 kilometers northwest of Zhezqazghan within the Satpayev region of the Ulytau District in Kazakhstan, is a prominent open-pit and expanding underground copper operation belonging to the Zhilandy group of deposits. Geologically, the deposit is situated on the steeply dipping, overturned western limb of a tight syncline on the northern flank of the wider Dzhezkazgan sub-basin. The copper mineralization is classifiably stratabound and hosted within the Carboniferous-aged sandstones and sand-siltstone sequences of the Taskuduk and Dzhezkazgan Formations, where copper-bearing fluids reduced the regional red-bed sedimentary layers into distinctive grey-green mineralized zones rich in chalcopyrite, bornite, and chalcocite, along with world-class secondary oxidation zones containing spectacular dendritic native copper and cuprite crystals. While the broader mineral province has a history of sporadic extraction dating back centuries, formal corporate development of this specific locality advanced under the post-Soviet management of Kazakhmys Corporation. The Itauz open-pit quarry officially commenced commercial production in July 1998, serving as an important source of copper and secondary silver ore before transition strategies were initiated in the early 2010s to develop deep-shaft underground infrastructure to exploit the vast remaining sulfide resources extending hundreds of meters beneath the surface.

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