Malachite

Malachite is a green copper carbonate hydroxide mineral with a chemical composition of Cu2(CO3)(OH)2. It was one of the first ores used to produce copper metal. Malachite has been used as a gemstone and sculptural material for thousands of years and in ancient times was considered “the salesman’s stone”. It was first mined over 5000 years ago and extensively at the Great Orme Mines in Britain, 3,800 years ago using stone and bone tools. The earliest reference was in 1400 BC when it appeared on King Tut’s tomb wall painting.

The name Malachite may come from the Greek word malakee or malache, signifying the resemblance of Mallow leaves, a leaf with similar color. With colors ranging from light greens, which are considered rare, to darker shades of green but an be found in shades of blue and yellow, too. The largest deposits in the world are actually in Russia and Zambia but also mined in Australia, Chile, Congo, France, German, Greece, Israel, Pakistan , Peru, Poland, South Africa and the United States. Extracting is most commonly done by surface mining. Sand + lime + sodium carbonate + copper compound + fire = Egyptian blue Malachite can be found in botryoidal, fibrous and stalagmitic masses.