Home > Pseudomorphs – March 10 > MS1781 Malachite replacing Cuprite

Malachite replacing Cuprite - Sold


Cuprite is a red oxide of copper with copper in its 1+ oxidation, in contrast to blue-green minerals bearing copper in its 2+ state. While known to ancients, it waited for Haidinger (1845) to coined the modern name cuprite, using the Latin cuprum for copper. Cuprite is rather unstable on the earth's surface, wree it readilty alters to other copper minerals, most often malachite.

This specimen consists of an open cluster of cuprite crystals, now partially replaced by malachite. Unlike similar specimens from France, these specimens have a very thick malachite layer and consequently a significant degree of replacement. Nevertheless they have relict cuprite cores. The dodecahedral crystals here reach 1.1 cm. Found in 2000.