Dioptase

specimen number:
9862032

location:
Ray Mine, Pinal Co., Arizona, USA

description:
Good locality example for the species with sparkling green crystals of dioptase measuring to 0.1 cm in size on matrix with what appears to be blue cyanotrichite.

The Ray Mine, located in Pinal County, Arizona, is a major porphyry copper mining district with a rich history dating back to the late 19th century, when underground extraction began around 1880 before transitioning to large-scale open-pit operations in the early 20th century under developers like the Ray Consolidated Copper Company. Geologically, the deposit is hosted within Precambrian schist and Laramide-age granodiorite porphyry intrusions, where intense hydrothermal alteration and supergene enrichment concentrated vast copper resources near the surface. The mine has operated almost continuously for over a century, evolving into one of Arizona's premier copper producers and yielding notable secondary mineral specimens historically.

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