Historical information
Malachite is a water soluble, crystalline, triphenyl methylene chloride salt. It has a close relationship to copper because it is common for Malachite and copper to come from the same ore. Malachite often has shades of green, making it also known as Malachite Green. As a result of it's colour, it is known for being a dye and has been used in the dye industry, the textile industry and in medical fields.
Cobar in New South Wales is well known for it's mining. This is because of the number of important deposits present in the area and include three important mining belts where most of the materials are found. These are the 'Cobar belt', the 'Canbelego belt' and the 'Girilambone belt'. The 'Cobar belt' runs underneath the main town. Copper was first discovered in Cobar in 1869 and since then, many deposits of other materials have been found, including Malachite.
Significance
This specimen is significant because it comes from Cobar, NSW and represents the many deposits of materials found there. Cobar has a long history of mining and is a source of Australia's copper minerals. Malachite is often found in copper deposits meaning that it is representative of Cobar's copper production. Malachite is known for it's vivid green colour and as a result, has many uses, such as meaning used as a dye. This makes it a valuable material and highly significant.
This specimen is part of a larger collection of geological and mineral specimens collected from around Australia (and some parts of the world) and donated to the Burke Museum between 1868-1880. A large percentage of these specimens were collected in Victoria as part of the Geological Survey of Victoria that begun in 1852 (in response to the Gold Rush) to study and map the geology of Victoria. Collecting geological specimens was an important part of mapping and understanding the scientific makeup of the earth. Many of these specimens were sent to research and collecting organisations across Australia, including the Burke Museum, to educate and encourage further study.
Physical description
A solid hand-sized mineral with shades of brown , white and light green throughout.
Subjects
- geological specimen,
- geology,
- geology collection,
- burke museum,
- beechworth,
- malachite,
- copper,
- water soluble,
- cobar,
- cobar mines,
- cobar mining,
- cobar nsw,
- nsw,
- new south wales,
- mining belts,
- ore,
- copper ore,
- malachite green,
- dye,
- green,
- dye industry,
- textile industry,
- desposits,
- canbelego,
- girilambone,
- alfred selwyn
References
- Cobar's mining history
- Title: Malachite Green: Properties and Uses by Rosa M. Laursen ISBN/ISSN: 978-1-53617-800-5
