4.1" Polished Malachite Specimen - Congo

This is a beautiful, hand-polished piece of high grade botryoidal malachite mined in the Congo. The lapidary work is nice, and allows for the great natural botryoidal patterns in the mineral to be seen. It makes for a very aesthetic display piece.

Malachite is an intense green, copper based mineral that can be found in a wide variety of forms. Malachite can grow in botryoidal masses, stalactitic, and reniform formations, typically as a tight cluster of fanning fibrous needles that make up a seemingly solid mass. As layers continue to stack during formation, a banded pattern can sometimes begin to take shape, which explains the rings in all shades of green that are seen on most polished malachite specimens.


Malachite has been prized since ancient times, first as a utilitarian copper ore, and then as an ornamental stone. Due to it's value as a decorative stone, it's rarely mined as a copper ore anymore.
Katanga Province, Congo
4.1 x 3.5", up to 2.7" thick