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Mexican Azurite - New Find!
Mexico has, all of a sudden, leapt to the forefront of the world's
historic AND contemporary azurite localities with this startling
production of electric blue azurites and shimmering velvety malachite
pseudomorphs (replacements) after azurite, often in association with
one another. This deposit seems to have yielded its best treasures to
date about ayear ago and they are still trickling to market along with
small pockets of current production, each of which is subtly distinct
because the pockets are small and unique. This update shows a
selection of styles and price ranges...more will be available at
Tucson from myself, and from others I am sure.
(click on a page number to go to that page:)
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MEXAZ-A1 - Azurite - $7500
Milpillas Mine, near Nacozari, Sonora, Mexico
miniature, 5 x 4 x 1.5 cm
This remarkable miniature would be a killer from ANY locality, even from Tsumeb - the previous gold standard for a sharp azurite crystal. But, I think the best of this mine can hold their own as you see here. And for Mexico...this is off the previous charts! (...and would have struck me as a lie if presented to me 2 years ago, before I'd followed the development here and seen photos!) This is a complete-all-around, sharp crystal with exceptional form and the lustrous, bright, almost metallic deep-blue color that this mine is going to someday be famous for. The piece is nearly pristine, with a small contact on the left side, showing an internal malachite pseudomorph of 1st-generation azurite underlaying a second-generation azurite coating. BETTER IN PERSON!
MEXAZ-A2 - Azurite - $27500
Milpillas Mine, near Nacozari, Sonora, Mexico
small cabinet, 6 x 5 x 4.5 cm
These chisel-point crystals seem to be the most rare of habits of the mine , to date, from my own observations of perhaps 500 specimens in total now (most are rather flattened crystals, or stark rectangular habits). Another stunning specimen, with unusual individual crystals sticking out in three dimensions, splaying to the left and top of the matrix core. These crystals have the near-metallic, almost translucent surface sheen of blue for which this mine will someday be famous , caused by a thin secondary generation of azurite deposited over a velvety malachite pseudomorph underneath (the light shines through the thin blue, reflects off the underlaying malachite, and comes back out that shimmering blue you see hints of in these photos). MUCH MUCH BETTER IN PERSON! This piece is as pristine as you could wish for, and because of its stark geometry stands out to me from most other great pieces of the find which have color but not such form to them. This one is certianly, in its size class, among the very top specimens found to my knowledge (and I have plowed the value of a large home into this hole-in-the-ground to try to keep "on top of" a portion of the find through several channels, so I HAVE seen much of it!).
MEXAZ-01 - Azurite on Malachite ps. Azurite - $3750
Milpillas Mine, near Nacozari, Sonora, Mexico
small cabinet, 6.3 x 4.3 x 2.6 cm
A dramatic specimen surmounted by a 1.5-inch (3.5 cm) robust crystal, terminated all around except for some relatively minor edge wear on the back edge (shown at an extreme angle, at its worst, here...in person you'd tilt the piece back a little so its not obviously seen at all!). Lustre is exceptional and the deep blue color is the quality of the best Tsumeb material! The back shows partial alteration to malachite (lower shot), and you can see some matrix on the front which is the only thing to prove this really IS from somewhere other than Tsumeb, or I wouldn't have believed it a year ago! Bright patches of the underlaying chatoyant, vibrant malachite show on the sides, accenting the azurite in the middle. For a specimen with such a large dominant crystal, this is half the price a comparable piece from Tsumeb would run, in my opinion.
MEXAZ-02 - Azurite with Plancheite - $2500
Milpillas Mine, near Nacozari, Sonora, Mexico
cabinet, 11.6 x 6.5 x 3.0 cm
This beautiful blue-on-blue specimen is the only such piece I have seen. It features a 2.7-cm "rose" of deepest blue azurite (but blue, not black!), perched atop a matrix coated with various copper minerals (presumably chrysocolla and more azurite). To the right, is a "velvet" drapery of brilliant light blue plancheite (pers comm. analytical result), on which sets a sharp 1 cm azurite crystal. The piece hasn't been cleaned harshly, which might remove some of the swrling colors of the chrysocolla coating. However, if you wished to, the whiteish material could probably be blown off with a water gun. This is a dramatic specimen, and quite unusual for Mexico and seemingly for this find.
MEXAZ-03 - Azurite - $2400
Milpillas Mine, near Nacozari, Sonora, Mexico
miniature, 3.7 x 2.5 x 1.0 cm
A beautiful single crystal so sharp that it looks like it has been carved, with razor sharp edges and faces. The lustre is so great, its like mirror finish as much as an azurite can. These crystals have the near-metallic, almost translucent surface sheen of blue for which this mine will someday be famous , caused by a thin secondary generation of azurite deposited over a velvety malachite pseudomorph underneath (the light shines through the thin blue, reflects off the underlaying malachite, and comes back out that shimmering blue you see hints of in these photos). MUCH MUCH BETTER IN PERSON! Minor , very minor, edge wear on the back face and left side-rear-edge; otherwise pristine and complete 360 degrees around and very starkly geometric in form. For such a large crystal, this is half the price a comparable-looking piece from Tsumeb would run, in my opinion.
MEXAZ-04 - Azurite with Malachite ps. Azurite - $14500
Milpillas Mine, near Nacozari, Sonora, Mexico
small cabinet, 8.2 x 7.2 x 3.5 cm
A simply brilliant , electric-blue piece with sharp crystals to 2.5 cm in size flashing out at you! The lustre is so great, its like mirror finish as much as an azurite can. These crystals have the near-metallic, almost translucent surface sheen of blue for which this mine will someday be famous. For the robust crystals on large matrix, with only very trivial damage (to the periphery), this would be among the better pieces from the find, and frankly it ranks up there with historic quality Tsumeb material as well, I think. Note the sharp contrast of the malachite and azurite zones, which accentuates both colors - though the core azurite is very pure and stands out all the more dramatically compared to the mixed colors at the edges, thus.
MEXAZ-05 - Malachite ps. Azurite - $1450 SOLD
Milpillas Mine, near Nacozari, Sonora, Mexico
small cabinet, 6.1 x 5.3 x 3.1 cm
A very 3-dimensional spray of velvety, chatoyant malachite, with one major crystal rising up and out. Complete and pristine all around the front and sides except for one minute spot on the front, contacted but complete on back, this is an excellent display specimen. Malachites of a quality like this have not been seen from Mexico in a long time, since the 1960s at Zacatecas - and those often were small, contacted heavily, and simply not as visually appealing. This thing could pass for a Tsumeb piece, of twice the value, scarily enough. This is subtly different, from Tsumeb material, but not by much. This piece has no azurite, and is 100% malachite replacement. Much of this find is mixed and large malachite pseudos that are in good condition, seem to be awfully rare.
MEXAZ-06 - Malachite ps. Azurite with Azurite - $600
Milpillas Mine, near Nacozari, Sonora, Mexico
miniature, 4.4 x 3.1 x 1.8 cm
A complexly grown cluster of thin blades of azurite, almost entirely altered to malachite. The contrast of the chatoyant electric green malachite and the vivid blue azurite hue in the remnant primary material (visible at a few places) is striking!
MEXAZ-07 - Azurite with Malachite ps. Azurite - $200
Milpillas Mine, near Nacozari, Sonora, Mexico
miniature, 3.5 x 3.1 x 1.7 cm
A brilliant blue, robust crystal of azurite with a little bit of matrix. Beautiful, but sadly with some minor edge wear and nicking, so a cheap price for an azurite crystal, Mexican or otherwise, of such quality otherwise.
MEXAZ-08 - Azurite with Malachite ps. Azurite - $450
Milpillas Mine, near Nacozari, Sonora, Mexico
miniature, 3.6 x 3.3 x 2.2 cm
A sharp, robust crystal with sidecars, showing slight alteration to malachite. This is a really striking miniature overall, though it does have some small dings that detract along the rear crystal edge, and a contact to the lower-left edges; and hence a lower price. Nevertheless, one normallly does not see such robust azurite crystals from Mexico, and it is beautiful on display.
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Rob Lavinsky, rob@irocks.com
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