Blue azurite and green malachite specimen from Mexico with reflection.
Close-up of blue azurite crystal clusters on green malachite from Mexico.
Macro photograph of tabular blue azurite crystals from Mexico
Detailed macro of fibrous green malachite spheres and blue azurite, Mexico.

Azurite on Malachite after Azurite

Azurite – Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2
Elements: Copper, Carbon, Oxygen, Hydrogen
Class: Carbonates
Crystal System: Monoclinic
Hardness: 3.5-4
Fluorite
Talc (1)Diamond (10)
Softer than glass. A steel knife scratches it.
Malachite – Cu2(CO3)(OH)2
Elements: Copper, Carbon, Oxygen, Hydrogen
Class: Carbonates
Crystal System: Monoclinic
Hardness: 3.5-4
Fluorite
Talc (1)Diamond (10)
Softer than glass. A steel knife scratches it.
Origin: Milpillas Mine, Cuitaca, Sonora – Mexico
Did you know?

Azurite was the great blue of Renaissance painting, the pigment behind countless European skies. Over the centuries moisture slowly turns azurite into green malachite, which is why some of those painted heavens have quietly gone green.

The malachite columns and vases in Russia's imperial palaces look carved from solid blocks of green stone. They are not: each is a mosaic of paper-thin slices fitted so precisely that the banding runs unbroken, a craft known as Russian mosaic.

Axinite on RhodoniteBarite on Calcite