Azurite altering to Malachite (Jactat Coll.)

Item Description

A striking and aesthetic cluster of vivid, royal-blue and green, azurite and malachite botryoids from an uncommon locality - Seabra, Bahia, Brazil. Until this find in the early 1990s I had not seen any azurite from Brazil. The largest ballshaped aggregates like this one date to that find, though the locality has produced since larger plates of smaller crystals. The specimen is highly unusual, in that, the botryoids are partially malachite and partially azurite, not one or the other. It is caught in the middle of pseudomorphing! One usually thinks of world-class gem pegmatite minerals and rare species from Brazil. So, to see oxidized copper minerals from Brazil is truly unusual and rare. These came out in a small find and caused quite a stir, at the time. They were fairly expensive, when found. Ex Michael Jactat Collection, a French dealer and collector, who was active in Brazil at the time and collected fine miniatures for his own collection. Valued $750. These are not common at all, especially the combination of both colors.