Copper with Cuprite and Malachite (attractive locality specimen)

Corocoro District, Pacajes Province, La Paz Department, Bolivia
Large Cabinet, 18.3 x 9.7 x 0.4 cm
Start Time: 07/12/2018 6:45:00 pm (CDT)
End Time: 07/19/2018 6:45:00 pm (CDT)
Auction Closed

Item Description

Most people are familiar with the Copper pseudomorphs after Aragonite from this locality, but to find non-pseudomorphic, crystalline native Copper is rather rare. This aesthetic, branching, "sheet" of crudely crystalline Copper is a great display specimen from this historic locality. The piece is partially altering creating streaks of metallic red Cuprite and a coating of soft blue-green Malachite on both sides. These pieces started to trickle out around October of 2009 and this piece is one of the best samples of this material that I have handled for aesthetics, quality and displayability. Good Bolivian Coppers are not common on the market, and I'm told that the locality was recently purchased by a Korean mining company, so collecting and obtaining specimens will become very difficult in the future. Valued at $950.

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