Haematite, compact plate

A compact plate of haematite, deep red-brown, with a clean fracture and a surprising density.

The minerals of southern Morocco come from the old copper deposits of the Anti-Atlas and the hills around Ouarzazate. Azurite and malachite, both copper carbonates, are born from the weathering of these veins: which is why they are almost always found together, the blue slowly turning green on contact with damp.

Raw specimen, neither cut nor treated. The dimensions are estimated from the coin used for scale in the original photograph.