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I am rather partial towards native copper specimens; possibly because I grew up in Michigan, the home of copper mines that produced fabulous specimens. Well, Arizona is the home of some huge open-pit copper mines that also produce gorgeous native copper specimens. Shown above is a native copper specimen; just as it came out of the Ray Copper Mine in Pinal County, Arizona. There are a few small pieces of matrix rock still bound by the dendritic copper formation, but 90% of the specimen weight is copper. This specimen hasn't been cleaned. The copper has a grayish oxide layer; just as it came out of the ground. The specimen could be chemically cleaned to give the copper a bright red color, but why alter a specimen that is gorgeous as is? (M490, $75.00)
Click here to see a short video of this specimen.
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