I’ve posted excellent new Kazakhstan dioptase specimens in the Dioptase Update – May 2016 (click here). These beautiful specimens were mined in 2015, and acquired from the team currently conducting specimen mining at Altyn Tyube soon afterward.
Dioptase was first described from Altyn Tyube, the type locality for dioptase, in the nineteenth century. Altyn Tyube is a remarkable deposit in the Steppes, far from everywhere. It was first worked for copper thousands of years B.C., and it is interesting to note that there are very few copper minerals at the locality – dioptase with occasional minor malachite and cuprite.

Dioptase, Altyn-Tyube Deposit, Kirghiz Steppes, Karagandy Province, Kazakhstan – 7.7 cm

Dioptase, Altyn-Tyube Deposit, Kirghiz Steppes, Karagandy Province, Kazakhstan
Field of view 3.0 cm

 Dioptase, Altyn-Tyube Deposit, Kirghiz Steppes, Karagandy Province, Kazakhstan
Field of view 4.0 cm

Dioptase, Altyn-Tyube Deposit, Kirghiz Steppes, Karagandy Province, Kazakhstan – 7.4 cm

Dioptase, Altyn-Tyube Deposit, Kirghiz Steppes, Karagandy Province, Kazakhstan – 7.1 cm

Dioptase, Altyn-Tyube Deposit, Kirghiz Steppes, Karagandy Province, Kazakhstan
Field of view 2.5 cm

Dioptase, Altyn-Tyube Deposit, Kirghiz Steppes, Karagandy Province, Kazakhstan – 4.5 cm