3.5" Cluster Of Brilliant Blue Azurite Suns - Australia

Cluster Of Brilliant Blue Azurite Suns - Australia #63216

Please note: While we typically ship out material within 2 business days there will be a delay of approximately 2-3 days before we can ship this specimen. It's part of a lot of material currently in transit back to our primary shipping warehouse.

This is a stunning cluster of eight, brilliant blue Azurite suns on a kaolinitic siltstone/ sandstone matrix. There were collected from the Malbunka Copper Mine in the Northern Territory of Australia.

Azurite is a deep blue copper-based mineral produced by the oxidation of copper ore deposits. Azurite suns are a unique formation of this mineral, only found in a single mine: the Malbunka Copper Mine in Australia. These suns form between layers of a clay mineral called kaolinite (the white matrix the suns are on).

They are thought to have been formed by hydrothermal fluids carrying copper ions through bedding planes in the rock formation. Carbonate molecules and copper ions in the groundwater nucleated around mineral grains in the kaolinite, which caused the azurite to crystallize. Because the azurite was forced to grow in a laterally-compressed and radiating manner along preferred bedding planes, the azurite grew uniformly outward, often producing circular shapes.

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