Malachite with Chrysocolla

specimen number:
2292167

location:
Kolwezi, Lualaba, DR Congo

description:
Green botryoidal sparkling crystallized malachite on matrix with minor chrysocolla. In good condition.

The Kolwezi mining district, located in the Lualaba Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is one of the world's premier copper and cobalt producing centers. Geologically, the area is situated along the western edge of the Central African Copperbelt, where intense Neoproterozoic mineralization occurs within the thrust-faulted and folded sedimentary rocks of the Mines Subgroup (Serie des Mines), producing massive stratiform deposits of copper and cobalt sulfides that have undergone extensive supergene enrichment near the surface. Large-scale mechanized quarrying and open-pit mining began in the district during the early 1900s, specifically around 1906 with the formation of the Union Miniere du Haut-Katanga, and expanded aggressively into major operations like the Musonoi and Kamoto pits. Following nationalization in 1967 under the state-owned company Gecamines, production faced severe technical and economic disruptions during the late twentieth century, but a major resurgence began in the early 2000s through international joint ventures and massive modern open-pit and underground operations that continue to expand into the 2020s.

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