Cuprite

specimen number:
9892092

location:
Kamoa-Kakula mine, Lualaba, DR Congo

description:
Deep red lustrous crystals of cuprite averaging 0.2 cm in size throughout matrix. Very minimal damage present, this is a good rich example for the species.

The Kamoa-Kakula Copper Complex, located in the Lualaba Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo near Kolwezi, is an active, world-class mining operation that began commercial production in July 2021 following the initial Kamoa discovery in 2008 and the Kakula discovery in 2016. Geologically, the deposit is a unique, near-surface, flat-lying stratiform copper system hosted within Neoproterozoic metasedimentary rocks of the Katanga Basin. Unlike many typical Copperbelt deposits, mineralization occurs along a broad redox boundary where oxidized, hematitic basal sandstones meet overlying carbonaceous, reduced siltstones and diamictites, yielding exceptionally high grades of copper sulfides such as chalcocite, bornite, and chalcopyrite.

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