NATIVE COPPER
ABOUT THE SPECIMEN
Exemplifying the finest attributes of Arizona's historic Ray Mine, this piece grabs ones attention through its dramatic development and uncommonly large size for the locale. Starting from the base, the octahedral crystals create a broad patchwork that gradually spreads out into dendritic protrusions. The aesthetic appeal is further enhanced by a sophisticated transition from rich red copper tones to a delicate pink patina, complemented by subtle accents of secondary green copper mineralization. Formerly in the prestigious Dan R. Kennedy collection of native metals.
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Sitting in the Dripping Spring Mountains about 80 miles southeast of Phoenix, the Ray deposit is a large classical porphyry copper system developed primarily in Early Proterozoic Pinal Schist and associated diabase - the diabase proving especially receptive to copper mineralization - with Laramide-age porphyry stocks providing the hydrothermal driver around 66 Ma. Native copper at Ray is a supergene product, crystallizing as oxygen-rich meteoric waters migrated downward through the oxidation zone and reduced dissolved copper onto existing metallic surfaces along fractures and vein margins. What distinguishes Ray from Arizona's other porphyry operations mineralogically is the recurring production of well-formed spinel-twinned copper crystals from the Pearl Handle open pit; flat, blade-like individuals sharing a common crystallographic plane and joining end-to-end into elongated V-shaped groups, sometimes exceeding 25 cm across in the largest pocket finds. The most celebrated discovery, worked before formal specimen contracts existed, yielded clusters still coated in a velvety malachite-green patina that formed as the copper surface oxidized in place - a preservation of color not typically seen in Michigan material or the sheeted masses more common to other Arizona porphyry mines. Sheet copper, wire forms, and dendritic growths also occur. With Ray still actively mining under ASARCO, specimen access depends entirely on periodic contractor arrangements, making fine crystallized examples genuinely episodic rather than reliably available.