Malachite

specimen number:
2292160

location:
Musonoi Mine, Lualaba, DR Congo

description:
Attractive green botryoidal crystallized malachite covering the top of matrix. In great condition. The specimen comes with a previous label from Congo specialist Gilbert Gauthier.

The Musonoi mine, located near Kolwezi in the Lualaba Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is a world-class open-pit copper-cobalt deposit legendary for producing exceptional specimens of rare secondary uranium, palladium, and copper minerals. Geologically, the deposit is hosted within the Neoproterozoic Katanga Supergroup, specifically inside the highly deformed and thrust-faulted Mines Subgroup (Serie des Mines), where sedimentary dolostones and siltstones underwent intense stratiform copper-cobalt mineralization followed by deep supergene alteration. This oxidation zone created an incredibly rich suite of secondary minerals, including malachite, kolwezite, and various complex uranyl silicates and carbonates within weathered fractures. Large-scale mechanized open-pit quarrying began at the site in the 1940s under Union Miniere du Haut-Katanga and continued for decades under the state-owned company Gecamines. While the primary deep corporate open pit ceased active major operations in the late 1980s as mining shifted to neighboring deposits, the locality has seen intermittent artisanal salvage, specialized specimen mining, and modern reprocessing of tailing and perimeter zones extending well into the 2020s.

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