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Azurite or Azure spar [5]: 14 is a soft, deep-blue copper mineral produced by weathering of copper ore deposits. During the early 19th century, it was also known as chessylite , after the type locality at Chessy-les-Mines near Lyon , France . [ 3 ]
Copper Queen Mine Tour, Sept 2008 Classic Bisbee Azurite and Malachite specimen from the Copper Queen mine. This specimen was in the personal collection of Dr. James Douglas, and was later donated to the Smithsonian by his son. [1] The Copper Queen Mine was a copper mine in Cochise County, Arizona, United States.
Azurite has a dark, rich blue color - its formula, Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2, is very close to malachite. The blue color of azurite is from Cu+, while the green color of malachite is from Cu+2. Azurite & malachite almost invariably occur together, and are telling indicators of copper in the field, even in very small quantities.
The biggest employer in Morenci (and in nearby Clifton) and the owner of the town is Freeport-McMoRan, the owner of the Morenci Mine, the largest copper mining operation in North America, and one of the largest copper mines in the world. The town was a site of the Arizona Copper Mine Strike of 1983. The large open-pit mine is north of the town.
The Princess Royal Mine was never successful, and in June 1859 the Princess Royal Mining Company closed its doors. [29] During its brief life the mine produced 468 long tons (476 t) of copper worth £6,500 from 888 long tons (902 t) of ore. The mine and surrounding 10,000 acres (4,000 ha) of then pastoral land was auctioned on 24 April 1860. [30]
A high quality turquoise promoted as Bisbee Blue was a by-product of the copper mining. Many high-quality mineral specimens have come from Bisbee area mines and are to be found in museum collections worldwide. Some of these minerals include cuprite, aragonite, wulfenite, malachite, azurite, and galena. [10]
Among other notable specimens on display were a 596-pound (270 kg) topaz, a 4.5 ton block of blue azurite/malachite ore that was found in the Copper Queen Mine in Bisbee, Arizona at the start of the 20th century; [13] and a rare, 100 carat (20 g) orange-colored padparadschan sapphire from Sri Lanka, considered "the mother of all pads."
It is alternatively called azuromalachite, azurite-malachite and malachite-azurite. [2] Azurmalachite has a distinctive mottled green and blue coloration. It is relatively rare but can sometimes be found above copper deposits. The main sources for mined azurmalachite are the United States, France, and Namibia. [3]