Azurite with Malachite on Dickite

Item Description

The famous Milpillas Mine in Mexico was the source of some of the most impressive and high quality specimens of Azurite from any world locality. This wonderful miniature display specimen features sharp, incredibly lustrous, rich blue color, crystals of Azurite measuring up to 2.3 cm which are partially altering in areas to gorgeous complementing forest green Malachite sitting on white Dickite and host rock matrix. Peter Megaw said in the 2020 edition of What's Hot in Tucson that the Milpillas Azurites are distinctive for the fact that it is believed the top most layer of Azurite actually has a sub-layer of Malachite which is sitting on top of a preexisting layer of Azurite. Essentially it's like a Malachite sandwich stuck between two layers of Azurite. This is the reason why in the case of this specimen it appears that the Malachite actually emerging from below the Azurite, which is virtually unheard of in the mineral world. The Azurite crystals are slightly gemmy near the edges when backlit. There won’t be anymore of these specimens now that the mine is finished.