This is a common find in central Maryland around the copper mines.. the closest abandoned copper mine is Liberty reservoir south of the PA line and we go there about one a year. Although we find small copper samples, along with other types of silver slag, we also find raw asbestos and your stone.. Malachite.
...funny it reminds me of the "fire agate" fire colors.....is the green part metallic looking, it's looks so in the picture....whatever, it is pretty! Don't think your stone is Malachite though, if that's what SW means?
Eu_citzen..yes it can be scratched and flaked off the host rock. Under the microscope this green/copper material is all bumpy and looks like a coat has formed on the rock as I can see where some pieces have broken & flaked off....Three pictures with different angles attached...I found this in a tailings pile and the bright colors just jumped out in the sunlight...
My guess would be peacock copper and/or pyrite on green schist..the base rock probably a form of olivine. Such schist's are common in high mineralization zones were ore bodies reside. Handsome specimen though
Thanks for the input DDancer.....I'm not use to seeing any thing peacock or neon type colors on the claims in this area and definitely a first for me....
Chalcopyrite I'd guess then. Looks like some copper is in there, to? Copper is malleable, just like gold. Just guessing from the pics, I'd say keep looking! There might be some nice finds if you can find the source.
Keep looking around There is liable to be more. I have found similar specimens over the years, though smaller, and large ones like that are of interest to collectors.
I've only ever found my specimens in the tailing piles, usually the main body was what was dug out, and bits like that were essentially scraps.
Cant really tell but looking at the overall specimen it appears to be shot thru with the material. If you can locate the source it might be worth assay. Or if your just out collecting rocks the source might have some better examples with a little digging and or surfacing near the load.