Dexing Mine

One of China's great porphyry copper mines

The Dexing deposit in northeastern Jiangxi Province is a Jurassic porphyry copper–molybdenum system and one of the largest open-pit copper operations in China. The Tongchang, Fujiabu, and Zhushahong ore bodies are mined together at very large scale, making Dexing a cornerstone of Chinese copper production.

What Dexing is known for

• Golden, honey-amber, and yellow-brown barite — the locality's specimen signature
• Chalcopyrite in clusters and spheroidal aggregates
• Pyrite and associated quartz

Late-stage hydrothermal activity in the porphyry system produced the saturated barite that has made Dexing a recognised name among barite collectors.

Collector value

Specimens with strong colour saturation, undamaged crystal edges, and intact matrix command the largest premiums. The finest honey-barite came from pockets worked in the 2010s and is now in declining supply.

Scale and history

Dexing was developed from the late 1950s and has been in production since the 1960s. Operated today by Jiangxi Copper, it is one of the largest open-pit copper operations in China — and among the largest in Asia — supplying a substantial share of the country's mined copper. The very large, long-lived open pit is what keeps well-crystallised specimens reaching collectors: barite, chalcopyrite, and pyrite are recovered as the ore body is worked.