Cyanotrichite

specimen number:
2102186

location:
Maid of Sunshine Mine, Cochise Co., Arizona, USA

description:

An excellent example for the species from Arizona, silky blue crystallized cyanotrichite is very rich across the front of matrix with minor azurite. In good condition.

The Maid of Sunshine Mine, located in the Turquoise District of the Courtland-Gleeson area in Cochise County, Arizona, is a historic copper locality famous for its vibrant secondary minerals. Geologically, the deposit is situated in a complex tectonic zone where Paleozoic limestones and quartzites were intruded by quartz monzonite porphyry, leading to extensive skarn formation and subsequent oxidation. The mine is specifically renowned for its exceptional specimens of cyanotrichite, which occurs as delicate, sky-blue to deep azure acicular crystals forming velvety tufts and radiating sprays within the oxidized voids of the ore body. Historically, the mine was part of the copper boom in the early 20th century, with significant production occurring between 1890 and 1930. While it was originally worked for industrial copper and silver, the locality became a favorite for mineralogists in the mid-1900s due to the discovery of high-quality micro-specimens. Today, the mine is inactive.

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