Kolwezite is an extremely rare copper cobalt carbonate hydroxide, first described from Musonoi mine at Kolwezi in 1980. Since that time it has only been identified at a handful of other places, most of which are also in the Lualaba province of the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is never an especially colourful mineral, but this fine miniature specimen from Mashamba West mine, located just a few miles from Musonoi mine, is extremely well formed, presenting a lovely beige-coloured velvety botryoidal aggregate overgrowing and overgrown by Malachite. This repeated shift in geochemistry is seen with a core of massive intergrown Malachite and Kolwezite, progressing to an extensive 2 mm thick botryoidal layer of velvety Kolwezite which is then, in two places, covered with deep green coarsely crystallized Malachite masses. There are some extremely slight scuffs to the Malachite and Kolwezite, but this is both an unusually rich and unusually attractive Kolwezite, from what is regarded as the premier locality for this rare species.
