This diverse flat features rare silicate minerals from the renowned Christmas Mine in Arizona. Many of the specimens show vibrant blue areas with fine-grained kinoite, accompanied by pink to reddish ruizite and white to pale blue crusts of junitoite. The strongly contrasting color zones appear on light-colored matrix, often with sparkling or glassy crystal faces typical of this locality’s mineral associations.
The Christmas Mine near Hayden, Arizona, is one of the most important sources of rare copper and zinc silicates in the United States. In the oxidized zones of this historic mine, extraordinary mineral assemblages developed through hydrothermal and supergene processes. The combination of carbonate-rich host rocks, former sulfide ores, and intense oxidation led to the formation of kinoite, ruizite and junitoite – all highly sought-after collector minerals worldwide.