Covellite

specimen number:
8311471

location:
Butte, Silver Bow Co., Montana, USA

description:
Choice thumbnail specimen for this Montana classic, a cluster of somewhat iridescent platy covellite crystals with little attached matrix. In good condition for the species.

The Butte mining district, located in Silver Bow County, Montana, is famously known as the Richest Hill on Earth due to its immense concentration of metal wealth. Geologically, the area is centered on the Butte Quartz Monzonite of the Boulder Batholith, which is crisscrossed by a complex network of hydrothermal veins and massive porphyry copper deposits. While early mining in the 1860s focused on placer gold and silver, the district transitioned to large-scale copper production in the 1880s as electrical demand surged. Historically, mining and quarrying operations were dominated by the Anaconda Copper Mining Company, which oversaw hundreds of underground mines including the Granite Mountain and the Anselmo. In 1955, the transition to open-pit mining began with the Berkeley Pit, which operated until 1982. Industrial activity continues today at the Continental Pit, which remains an active source of copper and molybdenum. As of 2026, Butte stands as a premier example of a long-lived mining center, documented for its vast production history and its unique suite of minerals including enargite, covellite, and rhodochrosite.

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