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Post by lee on Oct 18, 2010 19:39:24 GMT -5
Over the years, we in the Raleigh area have had the opportunity to visit several local old "copper" mines. One of our favorites is locate north of Raleigh up near the Virginia border. This location has produced some very nice specimens for shelf and cutting. As I think about this site, I wondered if there are other sites across the MAGMA Country where malachite can be collected. If so, how about posting pictures of the pieces that represent your sites. It will be interesting to see how different these "local" malachite samples can be. Also, if you have had any jewelery made from your local material, please post your pictures. A Specimen As Big As A Fist A Cross Section Of Malachite and Quartz Rock A Ore Sized Piece As Big As A Football A Cabochon Made From Malachite From The Same Local Mine Thanks Joe For The Good Work Fashioning This Beautiful Stone
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Post by arappaho on Oct 19, 2010 22:54:29 GMT -5
Dang Hydro, couldn't you find any bigger specimens! But yeah, I'd want to go back there, too. 1742, wow! Here's a few more pics of material from the NC/VA border. Another fist size piece. I need to spend more time on this stuff but here are a few slabs that need to be cabbed. Here's some pretty little botryoidal pieces and an experimental cab. Malachite, Azurite, Chrysocolla, and could there be some turquoise in there somewhere, too??? And the stuff I think I like the most is the Bornite. Trying to find some good cab material with the Bornite veins running thru it. The shiny gold spots toward the top of this piece is Pyrite. Below that the shiny blue spots are the Bornite. And the shiny black lines running all thru the piece is Molybdenite, which is what this rock was mainly mined for. And I used to think you could only find this type stuff out west. HA! Joe
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Post by arappaho on Oct 20, 2010 19:53:11 GMT -5
Yeah, that's something Hydro. One of the old mines that some of the material above came from is now the family dump. You have to ask them permission to get into the place, and then wade thru their garbage to find a place to collect. I was there this summer and you listen to old milk containers popping in the heat while you dig. You get used to the smell after awhile. I mean, just how hard is it to make a trip to the "convenience" center? Joe
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Post by lee on Oct 20, 2010 21:51:46 GMT -5
That is North Carolina and Maryland represented in this malachite tread. Are there locations in other states where malachite can be found? What about malachite finds in other parts of North Carolina. I know of a location south of Raleigh where the water seeping from the dump piles runs green. Thanks Hydro and Joe for your posts.
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Post by Dicky the Rockhunter on Oct 21, 2010 9:51:34 GMT -5
although Colorado did not have many big producers of copper it did have a few and the malicite stains and veins are good See my post Re: Salida ,Co.cooper mine Sept 13, 2010, 6:53am ยป
To find a piece big enough to cab just malikite is hard.
If any of you have wastable money there is a good proven supply of unmined copper out neer here that is for sale. HA HA I would love to dig it fer ya.
Dicky
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Post by mickey on Oct 21, 2010 11:31:26 GMT -5
Pretty stuff guys. Thanks for posting.
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Post by lauriesrocks on Oct 21, 2010 18:31:32 GMT -5
Lee, there are literally hundreds of mines in other states where Malachite is found. Of course the best and most famous are the ones in the Bisbee area of Arizona. As for North Carolina, there are the 12 or so mines in the "Virgilina District" on the NC/VA border in Vance County. (If you join the Greensboro Club you can join us on a trip to the Blue Wing Mine there in the next couple of months.) There is also the Clegg Mine near Moncure in Lee county, where similar material can be found, along with libethenite and azurite. There are several old copper prospects in southern Chatham County, not far from Glendon, where massive malachite coatings can be found. Many of the old Slate Belt mines have had malachite as a secondary mineral, but most are just poor surface coatings. Exceptional sprays of malachite in acicular crystals came from the Conrad Hill Mine in Davidson County. I'm sure there are others I can't remember right now. I think the Conrad specimens are the best, under a loupe thy will blow you away.
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Post by Dicky the Rockhunter on Oct 22, 2010 14:57:44 GMT -5
Hi all Lee ask me to show a few pics of the malachite we find out here in Colorado , these are from the Sedalia mine. so here goes -- the photos are not the best as we are in the early stages of a snow storm , will get about 4 inches tonight . In the last pic the rocks are about 5 inches long a fair sampleing really like this one closeupof another sorry for the water a giant snowflake hit just as I took it. a really cute vein , might make a nice cab. lightly scatered malachite with a small vein and another behind with fair inclusion some realy good show and the malachite goes all the way through and is fairly hard oh my gosh halloween is coming -- how did he get in here -
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Post by lee on Oct 26, 2010 13:23:38 GMT -5
Do we have malachite sources in the NE and SE portions of the USA?
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Post by lauriesrocks on Oct 26, 2010 17:28:37 GMT -5
Lee, Malachite is a very common mineral. I'd say that there are probably only 2 or 3 states in the US that don't have malachite, maybe Mississippi, Florida, and Louisiana. There are perhaps 2 thousand malachite localities in the US, and tens of thousands in the world. There are probably 400 in Arizona alone. Do a google search and you'll see about 16 million entries.
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Post by andyeatsrocks on Oct 26, 2010 18:45:58 GMT -5
very nice finds to all!
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Post by lee on Oct 26, 2010 20:55:02 GMT -5
Thanks for the information Laurie; I did not know malachite was so prevalent across the USA. My previous post was an attempt to get our MAGMA members to respond by posting pictures of malachite from their local area so we can see any differences in the material from state to state. As an example, does anyone have specimens of malachite from Arizona and if so, can you post pictures of them?
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