Malachite Botryoid

This attractive, forest-green specimen yields from the Chinese Shilu Mine, a locality that has borne remarkable finds over the past few years. The negative space at the center of the ring-like shaped botryoids adds to the interesting aesthetic of this specimen.

Malachite is an opaque and banded copper carbonate hydroxide that often forms stalagmitic and/or botryoidal ("bunch of grapes") masses. The most highly sought after specimens display concentric rings of varying sizes, as evidenced by the interesting chatoyant rings seen on each sphere of the specimen offered here.