Malachite

A vivid green copper carbonate with bold light-and-dark banding. It forms where copper deposits weather near the surface.

Malachite specimen — Photo: JJ Harrison (https://www.jjharrison.com.au/), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

How to identify malachite

Bright green with concentric light/dark bands.
Fizzes in acid.
Feels heavy for a stone.
Light green streak.

Often confused with

Turquoise
Turquoise is blue-green, harder and never shows malachite's bullseye banding.
Compare side by side
Azurite
Azurite is deep blue; the two often grow together.
Compare side by side

Where it's found

Katanga, DR Congo
Ural Mountains, Russia
Bisbee, Arizona

Uses

Ornamental carving, green pigment, and copper ore.

Rock tumbling

Can be tumbled with care. Soft; tumble separately and never sand it dry — the dust is toxic.

Did you know?

The Malachite Room in St. Petersburg's Winter Palace is clad in about two tons of it.

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