Libethenite

A rich and stunning group of dark leaf green Libethenite crystals line a shallow, open vug in a matrix of spongy massive Cuprite from the M'sesa copper mine in the Kambove District of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  The Libethenite crystals are large for the species, typically measuring 6 mm on edge and up to 9 mm.  The crystals form translucent to opaque, almost dark bottle-green crystals with a bright and glassy lustre, strung-out throughout the entire vug.  At one end the vug walls are lined with much smaller Libethenite crystals of typically 1 mm across, but of a lighter, yet still deep leaf green and of greater translucency and lustre.  The tiny blue-green stalagmitic crystals scattered over this area of the Libethenite are most probably Pseudomalachite.  This is a splendid specimen of the copper phosphate-hydroxide Libethenite from the M'sesa mine in the south-east of the DRC.