Malachite

Is an opaque green banded copper carbonate mineral. The colour is given by the copper content. There is archeological evidence to show that it was mined and smelted for copper since at least 1,000 BCE.

It has been used in a variety of ways since antiquity including being pulverised to create eye-shadow in ancient Egypt and Greece, as a mineral pigment in green paints and as an ornamental stone and gemstone. It has also been used for decoration, such as in the Malachite Room in the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg in Russia.

Malachite has been mined in large quantities from the Urals in Russia, in Africa (Congo, Gabon, Zambia, Namibia), Mexico, Australia, Israel, Lyon in France and Arizona in the United States.

In folklore Malachite is said to be a strong protector of children and protects the wearer from accidents.