Malachite is my favorite stone. I love it and it looks good in both
silver and gold. It is green and can have bands of different shades of
green. Of course I like the stones that have bands of different colors
of green and good contrast between the bands. It is soft enough to cut
and polish with almost no equipment. I use to have students take a slab,
cut the slab by hitting it with a hammer, rounding off the sharp corners
on a regular grinding wheel used for metal. Cooling it by dipping it in
to water from time to time. Then sanding it by hand, and polish it with
zam. It made beautiful inexpensive stones for their projects!
Photos can be found at:
http://www.frii.com/~dnorris/stonemalachite.html
Below you can find all the technical stats of Malachite. Stuff I really
do not care about to be honest. I want to thank Chad for putting that
part together. Thanks Chad.
What I want to teach in these lesson is how to purchase it. I never
recommend purchasing Malachite via mail order, unless you can return it,
and return it with out loosing a lot of time and money on shipping. I
buy a lot of calibrated stones from Rio Grande, but I do not purchase
Malachite. Even though they would let me return any stones that I do not
like, they just are not worth the time, energy to return them. They
would pay the shipping, but I still would not do it. Not because they
have bad stones but because I want to hand pick every Malachite stone I
use.
Rock Shops and Rock Shows are the only place I would buy Malachite.
Whether it is slabs, rough or cut stones, I want to hand pick it. Again
I like the contrast between bands.
Pricing
You can purchase Malachite by the stone, usually. It is not usually
priced per gram or carat as some stones, but if they are, make them
weigh each stone, give you a price for each stone. Make you decision on
whether to purchase a stone on what you think it is worth to you in a
piece of jewelry. Most malachite, even the best will sell for $1.00 to
$10.00 no matter what the size. Now, remember, free forms may cost more.
Smaller stones will be a cheap as 30 cents each. For small calibrated
stones, check out Rio Grande, I think the last time I purchase some 10 x
8 mm malachite stones I got them for something like 40 cents each when I
purchased them by the dozen. I just threw away about four of them
because I did not want to take the time to send them back.
There is an exception to the pricing above. Some very rare Malachite can
have a shimmering look to it. The same look as tiger eye. It can
actually change shades of color as you turn it at different angles. You
will pay a premium for this kind of stone.
Bottom line is that if you want to make some pieces that can sell
quickly for $30.00 or less at a very good profit, Malachite is your
stone! Just get to the rock shows before I do, because I am always there
early looking for the best Malachite stones!
More about Malachite
Chemical formula: Cu2[(OH)2|CO3]
Hardness: about 4
Specific Gravity: 3.8
Crystal System: monoclinic (Usually forms as
botroidal or mammilary
masses)
Malachite is commonly formed by the atmosphere acting
on copper
outcrops.
Name comes from Greek "malakhe" which means "mallow,"
or possibly from
the Greek "malakos," which means soft (hardness is
only 4).
Formerly mined almost exclusively in the Ural
Mountains in former Soviet
Union, but now much of current supply comes from
Zaire, Zinbabwe,
Namibia, Chile, The U.S., and Australia. The Ural
deposits used to
produce chunks weighing several tons, and were used
for decorative
building material. At one point the Czars of Russia
and their courts
demanded malachite for decorative purposes. Of course, some very good
malachite came and from time to time, comes form Arizona.
Used to be used primarily as carving material, but
recently very popular
in less expensive jewelry because of its intense
color. Of course
hardness is a problem, especially in men's rings...
Often Occurs with Azurite or Chrysocolla.
Metaphysically, malachite has been said to promote
harmony, strengthen
the heart, and circulatory system, as well as aide
the function of the
spleen and pancreas. It is also said to aide sleep.
According to some,
it changes old negative energy patterns, and helps to
get rid of fears.
