the.com/malachite
green stone so toxic it poisoned the painters who loved its color
means A vivid green copper-carbonate mineral, often banded in concentric swirls, long prized as an ornamental stone and ground into a green pigment.
from From Greek 'malache,' meaning mallow — the leafy plant — because the stone's green echoes the color of mallow leaves. It reached English through Latin 'molochites' and Old French, settling into its modern form by the 17th century. The naming is purely about that herbal green, though it's a happy accident that a plant prized for soothing pairs its name with a stone that was anything but kind to those who handled it.
- copper born
- forms where copper ore weathers underground
- ancient eyeliner
- Egyptians ground it into green eyeshadow
- grinding hazard
- its dust is poisonous to inhale
- banded look
- concentric rings reveal slow mineral growth
- russian room
- a whole palace hall is paneled in it
katanga copper belt — democratic republic of congo region producing 60% of world's malachite and copper ore
chessy france deposit — 19th century french mine near lyon that gave malachite its name, now depleted
morenci mine arizona — arizona copper mine that produces significant malachite as secondary mineral byproduct