Carbonate Cyanotrichite on Limestone Matrix from Qinglong Mine, China

Dimension: 5.8cm x 4.6cm x 2.5cm
Weight: 60g 
Locality: Qinglong Mine, Dachang Sb ore field, Qianxi'nan A.P., Guizhou Province, China
 
Exceedingly vivid and intense color of royal blue to bright sky blue tufts of Carbonate Cyanotrichite beautifully and almost completely covered the Limestone matrix.  They are velvety and shimmering like ocean waves and yet some of them display botryoidal crystal habit.  A very eye-catching piece of rare minerals from this famous Qinglong Mine in China.
 
The Cyanotrichite group of minerals has a beauty all its own, with a range of intense blues that are eye-catching and alluring.  Carbonate Cyanotrichite is a rare and beautiful member of that group.  The name actually comes from the Greek for "blue" and "hair", for obvious reasons, as the blue crystals have this acicular (hair-like) form. 
 
Carbonate Cyanotrichite is a secondary copper mineral found sparsely in the oxidation zones of copper-bearing ore bodies.  This is a very beautiful specimen from a recent find in China (in around late 2018 to early 2019), and is very highly representative and rich for the species and locality.