MALACHITE
Malachite is a famous and very popular semi-precious stone. It is named for the Greek word for "mallow", a green herb. Its banded light and dark green designs are one-of-a-kind, and give it a unique ornamental quality unlike that of any other stone. The light and dark green bands are so distinctive that malachite maybe one of the most easily recognised minerals by the general public. A popular design of ceramic ware which imitates this banding is named after the mineral malachite. It forms the banding from subtle changes in the oxidation states of the surrounding pore waters, but the exact mechanism is still not well understood.

Tumbled stones of malachite are possibly the most popular tumbled stones ever and are sold in literally every rock shop around the world. Carvings and figurines of malachite are almost as common. A skilled craftsman can make the concentric malachite bands follow the curves of a work of art like contours on a rugged terrain. Although malachite art is not as precious as jade; it is hard to argue that it is less beautiful. 

Although its massive carvable forms are well known, its crystalline forms are much more rare and only recently becoming widely available to the average mineral collector. One of its more unique habits is its fine acicular crusts and tufts. At times appearing as a mat of thin hairs or as a carpet of green velvet. Another unusual habit is its stalactitic habits. 

 

Many beautiful specimens of malachite contain special combinations with other minerals. Such combinations are some of the most colourful mineral assortments in the mineral world. They include such stunningly colourful minerals as dark blue azurite, sparkling black mottramite, baby blue chrysocolla, or rusty red limonite. So common is malachite that it is associated with almost every secondary copper mineral whether they are carbonate minerals or not. Malachite is found with many rare copper silicates, halides, phosphates, sulphates and carbonates such as duftite, libethenite, aurichalcite, sphaerocobaltite, kolwezite, shattuckite, atacamite, chalcophyllite, antlerite, conichalcite, rosasite, chalcosiderite, clinoclase, brochantite, graemite, liroconite, mixite and cornetite, to name a few. 

MALACHITE

THE PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF MALACHITE:
Colour is banded light and dark green or (if crystalline), just dark green. 
Lustre is dull in massive forms and silky as crystals. 
Transparency is opaque in massive form and translucent in crystalline forms. 
Crystal System is monoclinic; 2/m. 
Crystal Habits in its massive forms are botryoidal, stalactitic or globular. Crystals are acicular or fibrous and form in tufts and encrustations. Frequently found as pseudomorphs of azurite. 
Cleavage is good in one direction but rarely seen. 
Fracture is conchoidal to splintery. 
Hardness is 3.5-4. 
Specific Gravity is 3.9+ (slightly heavy). 
Streak is green.

CRYSTAL GROWTH AND HABITS 
Malachite commonly forms fibrous to silky crusts and is also massive. Botryoidal configuration - Aggregate resembling a cluster of grapes.
Also known as globular.

Malachite (Cu2CO3(OH)2) is a carbonate, which are among the most widely distributed minerals in the Earth's crust. Carbonate minerals, other than simple carbonates, include hydrated carbonates, bicarbonates, and compound carbonates. Malachite is a member of this third group, as is azurite.

Malachite is a secondary mineral of copper, which means it is formed when copper minerals are altered by other chemicals. It occurs when carbonated water interacts with copper minerals, or when a solution of copper interacts with limestone. Malachite is opaque and always green. Because of its presence in nearly all oxidized copper deposits, malachite serves as a prospecting guide for copper.

Malachite crystals sometimes form as needles that fan out from the rock in which they are embedded. More often, malachite forms as a mass with concentric bands of light and dark green. Such specimens are almost always internally banded in different shades of green, and can be seen when a specimen is polished or cut open. When, the bands consist of concentric rings, specimens are highly prized. Cut stones (usually cabochon) have been used since ancient Egyptian times as amulets, carvings, and even as powder for eye shadow. It has been used as a pigment for green paint. Today the best material comes from Zaire, Africa, is cut into cabs of all sizes.
Localities: There are many places from where fine Malachite comes. The original material, from which ornaments and jewellery were made since the earliest times came from an enormous deposit in the Ural Mountains of Russia. Huge hunks and massive globular specimens were found there. More recently, such specimens were found in Tsumeb, Namibia; Shaba, Zaire; Burra Burra, South Australia; and in Bisbee, Cochise Co., Arizona. The mines that produce the most fabulous specimens are the Ongonja Mine in Tsumeb, Namibia, and the Copper Queen Mine of Bisbee, Cochise Co., Arizona. In these mines, large Azurite crystals were found pseudomorphed by Malachite.
Countries that produce large amounts of Malachite are Zambia, Namibia, Zaire, South Africa, Australia, Germany, Romania, Chile, Mexico, and the U.S.
In the U.S., localities include the Tintic District, Juab Co., Utah; Morenci, Greenlee Co., Globe, Gila Co., and Ajo, Pima Co., Arizona; and in New Mexico in Grant and Socorro counties.