Malachite: History and Uses

Malachite is a mineral found all over the world, including the U.S., Brazil, Australia, Mexico, Russia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It forms in limestone, above copper deposits, close to the surface of the earth. People have often used Malachite as an indicator when mining for copper. Malachite is essentially copper rust; albeit a rust that has been cherished for millennia.

Malachite in it’s raw, uncut, and unpolished state.

An impressive modern Chinese vase sculpted of malachite.

Malachite has played an important role in the adornment of royalty since antiquity as jewelry, vessels, and crushed pigment for eyeshadow and paint. Ancient Egyptians attached great meaning to the color green, believing it represented new life and fertility. They believed that their afterlife was an eternal paradise without grief or suffering and referred to it as “The Field of Malachite”. The word Malachite comes from the Egyptian word for the mallow plant “molokia”, whose leaves resemble the semi-precious stone.

Impressive malachite deposits in the Ural Mountains in Russia have been mined for more than 100 years. The famous “Malachite Room” at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg is perhaps the most striking use of malachite as a decorative surface, and it remains an expensive and stunning choice for interiors to this day.

A fireplace in the Malachite Room at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Because of it’s relative softness, malachite is most often made into earrings or pendants where it is safe from occasional scratches and dings. Malachite has long been believed to protect one from evil and has come to symbolize transformation and resurrection. 

The Osiris Earrings, by Mackenzie Law at Edgeworth.

The Isis Earrings, by Mackenzie Law at Edgeworth

Maintain your malachite by keeping it away from acids, which will dull the polish.