The deep sky blue of Chrysocolla, a copper silicate, blends well with the rich green of Malachite, a copper carbonate. This colorful gemstone material is found in the oxidation zone of major copper deposits. All of our material comes from Arizona. Arizona is the leading copper producing state. Most of our material came from the Bagdad Copper mine-which has gone through the oxide zones and suffered a major pit failure-so will most likely no longer produce this beautiful material!

This material is fragile and is usually stabilized or cut with a hardening resin. It is about a 3-4 on the Moh's scale and care must be taken when wearing or cleaning your cabochon.

Chrysocolla is known as a healing stone among Native American Indian cultures where it was used for strengthening the body's resistance and bringing about calm feelings where there is upset.

Chrysocolla is named from the Greek chrysos - "gold" and kolla - "glue" in allusion to the name of the material used to solder gold. Malachite is named for the Greek word for "mallow", a green herb.