Cuprite

specimen number:
8282595

location:
Milpillas mine, Santa Cruz, Sonora, Mexico

description:

Lustrous deep red crystals of cuprite to 1.0 cm in size across the front of this matrix. This is in great condition.

The Milpillas mine, situated in the municipality of Santa Cruz in northern Sonora, Mexico, is a premier copper deposit celebrated for its exceptional secondary copper minerals, particularly azurite and malachite. Geologically, it is a porphyry copper deposit buried beneath hundreds of meters of post-mineral gravels within the Cananea district. The deposit features a classic supergene enrichment blanket where descending groundwater oxidized primary copper sulfides, concentrating the metal into dense, high-grade zones of chalcocite, which were later heavily oxidized to form pristine carbonates and oxides within fractures and cavities. Developed by Industrias Penoles, construction on the underground facility began in 2002, and formal commercial mining operations commenced in 2006. The mine operated continuously as a high-efficiency underground operation for over a decade until declining ore reserves led to the cessation of primary mining activities around 2020.

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