Native copper featherOne of the more attractive forms into which copper precipitates from the elemen

Native copper featherOne of the more attractive forms into which copper precipitates from the element charged fluids that ferry it around the depths of the Earth from its source, often in a volcanic system of granitic composition that spits out metal laden fluids in an aureole around the granite. Many of the bigger mines in places like Chile are in fact exploiting the surroundings of magma chambers and plumbing systems from long eroded volcanoes that once exploded on the planet’s surface. The 6.5cm specimen in the photo comes from the polymetallic ore deposit at broken Hill in New South Wales, an extensively metamorphosed remnant of undersea black smoker vents that gushed metals onto the floor of a long gone ocean some 1.8 billion years ago. The metal has crystallised into herringbone formation perched on other stubbier central copper crystals. The green colour is a natural layer of oxidation known as a patina.LozImage credit: Rob Lavinsky/iRocks.com -- source link

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