"CAVE OF COPPER" - SPINEL TWINNED NATIVE COPPER. ...

Description

"CAVE OF COPPER" - SPINEL TWINNED NATIVE COPPER
Chino Mine, Bayard, Santa Rita District, Grant Co., New Mexico, USA
"The Cave of Copper" is the informal nickname that this unique copper crystal slab has acquired from the comments of assorted individuals; a few seconds of close inspection will easily support that designation. In the middle of an already notable mass of thousands of Copper crystals is a almond shaped opening sporting two robust spinel twinned copper crystals; looking like a couple of cave formations: one leaning to one side and the other rising up like a bronze stalagmite from the floor of a cave. Closer inspection further reveals a bewildering variety of different crystal growth forms: cubes and octahedrons and "hopper" versions of both of these, along with various other combinations, that are scattered in groups all over the slab. An enlightened Company policy of "rescuing" fine specimens from the ore crusher is the only thing that kept this aesthetic treasure from becoming wire or plumbing or other mundane, but necessary, products. Because it was collected carefully, there is absolutely no damage to this remarkable example of Nature's Art. The "stalagmite" stands some 4 ½ inches high and the entire specimen measures 15 inches high by 12 inches wide and is about 1 inch thick.

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