Ajoite

Item Description

This material has been reported as Chrysocolla and even Shattuckite, but we had a piece analyzed a few weeks ago which says that it is actually Ajoite! which has overgrown pseudomorphs of Azurite after Malachite on gossan matrix. Typically, most people associate Ajoite as inclusions in Quartz from the Messina Mine in South Africa, or the New Cornelia Mine in Ajo, Arizona, but these new specimens from Luputo are among the most attractive and desirable specimens of this species that we've seen. This little thumbnail is a showy little piece with brightly colored sky-blue crystals of Ajoite which are sitting atop a layer of pseudomorphs of Malachite after Azurite. It's rare to see free-standing, crystallized Ajoite from any locality, and this piece is certainly worthwhile for any copper species collector or a collector of uncommon colorful species.