Calcite with Chalcopyrite oxidized to Malachite

Item Description

A lovely display piece from the San Pedro gold/copper mine about 50 miles northeast of Albuquerque. Specimens from this locality are not easy to find on the market, and this piece is a one of the best/showiest examples of this particular material that we've ever had to offer in the auctions. This piece hosts a predominant, well-formed, "dogtooth"-shaped scalenohedral crystal of off-white colored Calcite measuring 3.7 cm, flaring out of a matrix that plays host to tetrahedral Chalcopyrite crystals measuring up to 8 mm, which have oxidized on the surface, altering to light blue-green colored Malachite, creating a very pleasing effect. There are a few small points of contact on a couple of the lesser Chalcopyrites, and you can see their internal "peacock" iridescence is quite visible, so they are still Chalcopyrite in the center, only the surface has been altered. No major damage and it's a very aesthetic and worthwhile example of these seldom seen specimens.
From the collection of David L. Stoudt.