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Malachite is one of the world’s most admired copper minerals, easily recognised by its deep green colour and velvety lustre. It forms in the oxidation zones of copper deposits, usually alongside azurite, cuprite, chrysocolla, and native copper. Specimens range from fibrous stalactites and botryoidal crusts to sharp crystals and remarkable pseudomorphs after azurite. Its beauty has made it both a collector’s favourite and a highly prized ornamental stone throughout history.
Below are twenty of the world’s best and most famous localities for malachite, along with the reasons why they stand out:
1. Tsumeb Mine, Namibia – Renowned for spectacular pseudomorphs after azurite and vivid fibrous stalactites. This is one of the most famous malachite-producing localities ever discovered.
2. Katanga Copper Crescent, Democratic Republic of Congo – Produces enormous quantities of rich green massive malachite, as well as fine crystal specimens. Many pieces are carved and polished for the art market. The district includes mines in Kolwezi, Likasi, and Lubumbashi.
3. Bisbee, Arizona, USA – A historic copper area famous for deep green botryoidal malachite and sharp pseudomorphs after azurite, often combined with cuprite or chrysocolla. Specimens from the Copper Queen mine are particularly fine and highly sought after.
4. Morenci Mine, Arizona, USA – Known for attractive coatings and spherical aggregates of velvety malachite crystals associated with azurite and other copper minerals.
5. Milpillas Mine, Sonora, Mexico – A recent classic locality that produced superb velvety pseudomorphs of malachite after azurite with striking colour and form.
6. Shilu Mine, Guangdong, China – Exceptional fibrous and botryoidal malachite, often with high polish and rich colour, among China’s finest secondary copper minerals.
7. Onganja Mine, Namibia – Noted for striking angular azurite crystals partially altered to malachite, creating vivid blue and green combinations.
8. Chessy-les-Mines, Rhône, France – A historic European copper mine that gave rise to the term 'chessylite' used initially for the mineral azurite. The location also produced fine malachite after azurite specimens dating to the 18th century.
9. Ural Mountains, Sverdlovsk, Russia – Famous for the magnificent 'Tsar’s malachite', used to decorate many Russian royal palaces and cathedrals. Large banded and stalactitic masses of exceptional quality.
10. Nchanga and Bwana M’Kubwa Mines, Zambia – Part of the Zambian Copperbelt, yielding fine crystalline and massive malachite that rivals the best from Congo.
11. Burra Burra Mine, South Australia – A historic 19th-century copper locality that continues to produce beautiful fibrous and botryoidal malachite coatings on the matrix.
12. Kolwezi Mine, Lualaba, Democratic Republic of Congo – Rivals the Katanga region in output and notable specimens. Produced some of Africa’s finest crystal rosettes, pseudomorphs, and stalactitic malachite.
13. La Sal Mining District, Colorado, USA – Attractive botryoidal masses and fibrous malachite with azurite and cuprite associations from the classic Colorado Plateau copper deposits. The Cashin Mine was a classic locality producing particularly fine specimens since the 1890s.
14. Tiger, Pinal County, Arizona, USA – Known for striking malachite pseudomorphs after azurite crystals, delicate and highly sought after by collectors.
15. Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia – Produces richly banded stalactitic malachite, pseudomorphs after azurite and striking associations with cerussite and cuprite.
16. Rudabánya, Kazincbarcika District, Hungary – A classic European locality, historically significant for producing early mineralogical specimens of malachite and azurite.
17. Cornwall, England (Wheal Gorland, Wheal Unity) – Early British copper mines producing microcrystalline malachite coatings and pseudomorphs after azurite.
18. Mindingi Mine, Katanga, Democratic Republic of Congo – Known for delicate sprays of acicular, silky malachite crystals, among the most graceful of all malachite habits from the Congo Copper Belt.
19. Tonglushan Mine, Daye County, Hubei, China – Malachite from this ancient mine, worked since the Chinese Bronze Age over 3,500 years ago, occurs in a variety of attractive forms. However, particularly striking and rare are hollow stalactites, which are highly sought after by collectors.
20. Miguel Vacas Mine, Vila Viçosa, Évora, Portugal – A historic copper mine that has produced highly attractive scaly crusts of very lustrous malachite on quartz.