No, this is NOT man-made - it truly is a completely natural, absolutely bizarre occurrence of botryoidal chrysocolla from the Congo. As you can see from the photos, it looks wet and melted, almost like plastic! It is not polished - this is the natural luster. And you have to love the intense deep turquoise color. WOW - cool stuff, unlike anything else out there!
Fundort: L'Etoile du Congo Mine (Star of the Congo Mine; Kalukuluku Mine), Lubumbashi, Southern area, Katanga Copper Crescent, Katanga, Demokratische Republik Kongo (Fundort bei mindat.org)
Größe: 6.9 x 6.5 x 3.2 cm.
Date
before March 2010
date QS:P,+2010-03-00T00:00:00Z/7,P1326,+2010-03-00T00:00:00Z/10
Attribution: Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA-3.0
You are free:
to share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work
to remix – to adapt the work
Under the following conditions:
attribution – You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
share alike – If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same or compatible license as the original.
This work is free and may be used by anyone for any purpose. If you wish to use this content, you do not need to request permission as long as you follow any licensing requirements mentioned on this page.
The Wikimedia Foundation has received an e-mail confirming that the copyright holder has approved publication under the terms mentioned on this page. This correspondence has been reviewed by a Volunteer Response Team (VRT) member and stored in our permission archive. The correspondence is available to trusted volunteers as ticket #2010022810018255.