FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[Conor Quinlan]

Azurite is one of those classic minerals you just have to have in a fine-mineral collection and it's certainly one of the few minerals out there that everyone seems to appreciate! Azurite's incredible beauty, structural variability and extreme luster gives it the ability to catch the gaze of any onlooker with great ease.
Like most of the mineral collecting community, I too have acquired my fair share of azurite based specimens, but I never received an azurite that really popped until I acquired several fairly unique Azurite and Malachite on Quartz specimens from the following mine:

- [M'Cissi, Alnif Country, Tinghir Province, Drâa-Tafilalet Region, (Morocco)]

I have attached images of (3) of my favorite Azurite specimens from this specific mine location. They are my personal favorites for the following reasons:

- Unique Azurite and Malachite mineral combo on oxidized red Quartz matrix
- Very clear Azurite to Malachite pseudomorphism
- Maintains classic brilliant royal blue color and luster

[Conor Quinlan]

....here I have added a couple more images of the (3) Azurite and Malachite on Quartz specimens side by side so they can be easily compared!

Mine Location: M'Cissi, Alnif Country, Tinghir Province, Drâa-Tafilalet Region, (Morocco)

[Tobi]

[Gerhard Brandstetter]

Great specimens here - congrats to all!
Yes - Morocco belongs to the countries with several fabulous Azurite localities. I had two visits to this wonderful country and of course I brought back some nice minerals. So I hope not to bore you with mine…..

[Gerhard Brandstetter]

Austria is not really famous for Azurites. But the nice specimens from the historic Schwaz-Brixlegg mining district deserve some attention. The crystals are always small - but in combination with other minerals they make a great addition for any collection.

[Conor Quinlan]

Those are some awesome specimens from M'Cissi Gerhard! Glad to see some prime examples from this locale!

[Tobi]

[Volkmar Stingl]

Gerhard, your Brixklegg azurites are simply wonderful! Is this an old find or did you collect them by yourself?

[Gerhard Brandstetter]

Thank you for the nice words, Conor, Tobi and Volkmar!

I have several photo versions from the 4 cm specimen, but this is the image I like most.
From Schwaz-Brixlegg area I have a nice subcollection with a lot of other samples and of course different minerals, but this is my favourite specimen too.

To my knowledge the finds from several Brixlegg adits have been made in the last few years, but also old samples do exist. Sorry to say - I have never been underground in Brixlegg - but I want to so much and it is on my to do list! So I bought these rocks at local mineral shows and online auctions. The 4 cm showstopper is from such an auction!

I visited other mines close to Schwaz and several old dumps with nice Tyrolite and other good finds - mostly small.

And now I hope to see more good Azurites from other places - show us yours!

[Sante Celiberti]

Hello.

Some European azurites.

Best regards.
Sante

[Sante Celiberti]

Hello.

Italy, which has been generous with many mineralogical species, has been stingy with azurite. Except for some very old samples from Sardinia and Elba island, there are no centimeter crystals.
Therefore in this section I will not share my other azurites found in Italy, except for two small specimens which I consider particularly interesting as they have an archaeological rather than mineralogical value.

The first is a plate of tiny crystals found in the deepest layers of the Etruscan dumps of Serrabottini. The mere thought that this piece was excavated six centuries b. Ch. and it was, even if fleetingly, touched by an Etruscan hand fills me with emotion.

The second, although found in Rome, probably comes from Africa.
An archaelogist friend of mine, my neighbor when I lived in Rome, found it during the work on the Domus Aurea of Emperor Nero.
It is known that the Roman matrons used various minerals for their make-up (azurite, malachite, cinnabar, hematite...) as powders of these species have been found in several ancient beauty cases. This azurite nodule was probably intended for this purpose.
Another hypothesis is that it was intended to prepare pigments for the countless decorations present in the huge Domus Aurea which stretched over an area of 80 hectars! In one way or another, it is a mineralogical sample excavated about 2000 years ago.

Having two such ancient specimens in my collection gives me satisfaction and joy.
I hope you find them interesting.

Warm greetings from Italy.
Sante

[Philippe Durand]

Those are really historical specimens !
Archeology and mineralogy together.
It is very impressive.

[Stefan Koch]

Hi there,

Here is my first attempt to upload a picture.

Best
Stefan

Edit: I have no idea why the locality is not shown in the description field.
Bor-Majdanpek mining district, Bor District, Central Serbia, Serbia
______________
(now it is - regards, Tobi :-))

[Tobi]

[Kevin Schofield]

Since the thread is going strong, I thought I'd post a couple more. One very old (not quite Etruscan though!) from France, and the other from a much more recent find in Vietnam.

[Jordi Fabre]

[Kevin Schofield]

[Jordi Fabre]

Let me start with this Azurite that I especially like for sentimental reasons since in my adolescence when I read mineral books the locality "Concepción del Oro" appeared frequently and since its name in Spanish could be read as "where the Gold grow" my imagination would fantasize and I imagined wonderful minerals there born from the rocks! 😉

With this piece I connect the beauty of the Azurites with my love for the minerals in my teenage years as then this locality was mythical for me.

[Tobi]

[Kevin Schofield]