Malachite

specimen number:
8282274

location:
Khanong pit, Sepon mine, Vilabouly, Savannkhet, Laos

description:

A beautiful aesthetic grouping of crystallized malachite without matrix. Completely crystallized all around with no real points of attachment, in excellent condition.

The Khanong pit, situated within the larger Sepon mining district in Savannakhet Province, Laos, was a highly productive open-pit copper operation globally recognized for its exceptional supergene-enriched copper deposit. Geologically, the deposit is located within the Truong Son Orogenic Belt and is characterized as a complex skarn and replacement deposit hosted within Devonian-age to Carboniferous-age carbonate rocks that were intruded by Permian-age granodiorites. Intense, deep-reaching tropical weathering during the Cenozoic era created a remarkably rich secondary enrichment zone, where oxidizing groundwater transformed primary copper-iron sulfides into massive blankets of high-grade chalcocite, malachite, and sharp, deep blue azurite crystals embedded in a soft clay matrix. Historically, while artisanal surface scratching occurred intermittently for centuries, large-scale industrial open-pit mining began at the Khanong pit in 2005 under the management of Lane Xang Minerals Limited, which was initially a joint venture involving Oxiana Limited before transitioning to MMG Limited and later Chifeng Jilong Gold Mining. The pit served as the primary source of copper ore for the Sepon project's hydrometallurgical processing plant, driving peak regional copper cathode production for over a decade. Commercial copper extraction at the Khanong pit was eventually completed and phased out around 2020 as high-grade oxide reserves neared depletion, prompting operators to pivot the entire Sepon infrastructure toward primary gold extraction and processing operations that continue through 2026.

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