Buttgenbahcite (very rare) with Malachite and Cuprite

Item Description

The Tenke-Fungurume Mine is one of the largest copper and cobalt producers in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In 2018, this locality produced some attractive specimens of a few rare species including some attractive pieces of the rare mineral Buttgenbachite. This mineral is classified as a nitrate in some literature and a halide in other literature, but it gets its tremendously glowing blue color from copper content. This toenail sized specimen features a few fantastic "sprays" of Buttgenbachite which are intermixed with green Malachite, deep reddish colored Cuprite and minor pale blue Chrysocolla. The best Buttgenbachite "spray" is a micro, but as you can see from the close up photo (we used a Canon MP-E 65 mm macro lens to photograph it), the quality is fantastic. If you collect rare species or minerals from DRC, this is a great opportunity to pick up a lovely specimen of this incredibly hard to find mineral. The species was named after the Belgian mineralogist Henri Buttgenbach in 1925, and considering the species has been known for nearly a century, it only been reported from about 12 localities in the world.