The Santa Blandina copper mine, São Paulo State, Brazil

Abstract

This article aims to retrieve the history of Santa Blandina's remarkable copper deposit in the Itapeva region, in the southeastern state of São Paulo, Brazil. It was discovered in 1941 by João Baptista Anhaia de Almeida Prado. The approach adopted here contemplates the genesis of mineralization and mainly its importance as a source of beautiful mineral specimens for museums and collections. Until the end of the 1960s there was a large cavern in a mineralized lode in limestones of the Açungui Group, with an internal space of around 100 m³, with the ceiling, walls and floor covered with stalagitic and mamelonar malachite, as well as some chrysocolla and azurite. This cavern was destroyed along with precious specimens, at a time when the lack of interest in preserving these rarities was remarkable, causing the loss of a unique mineralization of its kind.