Malachite

specimen number:
8282138

location:
Mashamba West Mine, Kolwezi, Lualaba, DR Congo

description:

An attractive grouping of velvety green terminated malachite stalactites. This is in terrific condition all around.

The Mashamba West mine, situated near Kolwezi in the Lualaba Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is a prolific copper and cobalt open-pit operation located within the Central African Copperbelt. Geologically, the deposit is hosted within the Katanga Supergroup, specifically the Neoproterozoic sedimentary rocks of the Mines Subgroup, where stratiform mineralization consists of high-grade copper and cobalt sulfides and their oxidized derivatives. The mine is highly celebrated for producing spectacular oxidized secondary minerals, including exceptional deep red cuprite crystals, sparkling malachite, and bright pink cobaltoan dolomite within its upper weathering zones. Industrial development began under the state-owned mining company Gecamines, which commenced large-scale open-pit mining operations at the site in 1978. Production continued through the 1980s but experienced significant disruptions and eventual suspension during the economic and political turmoil of the 1990s, after which the property was later integrated into modern joint-venture concession agreements for renewed extraction and tailings processing.

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