Smithsonite from Namibia, Oshikoto Region, Tsumeb - image 1

Smithsonite from Namibia, Oshikoto Region, Tsumeb

Alan Fertel
Alan Fertel
Leesport, Pa.
6 for sale·8 sold

Smithsonite (Cadmium var.)

Tsumeb Mine, Tsumeb, Oshikoto Region, Namibia

5.5 x 4.5 x 4 cm

ex. Alex Neufeld

Large,, sharp, translucent and lustrous, honey colored rhombohedrons are aesthetically mounded on this showy and rich specimen from the Tsumeb Mine.. The large rhombs are highlighted by striking edge phantoms and preferential overgrowths of tiny dogtooth rhombs on some faces add even more allure. The large rhomb measures 3.3 cm on the diagonal.

Product details

Species
SmithsoniteAbout Smithsonite →
SizeSmall Cabinet
Dimensions5.5 x 4.5 x 4.0 cm
Added on01/03/2026
Locality
Namibia, Oshikoto Region, TsumebRegional guide →

Known provenance

DateCollectorAcquisition price
—DanZ RockshopNot disclosed
—Alex NeufeldNot disclosed

Learn more

Smithsonite
Mineral guide
Learn about Smithsonite
ZnCO3 with botryoidal and crystalline forms, silky to vitreous luster, pastel hues from cobalt to yellow; localities boost collecting appeal.
Smithsonite
Regional guide
Smithsonite from Tsumeb, Namibia
is one of the defining collector minerals of Tsumeb: not merely because it is common there, but because Tsumeb turns a usually massive or botryoidal zinc carbonate into a locality signature mineral with uncommon crystal variety, depth of color, and association. Tsumeb smithsonite spans the familiar apple-greens and blue-greens of copper-bearing material, soft pink to violet-pink cobaltoan and manganoan-looking rhombs, yellow-brown and chocolate-brown iron-rich crystals, pale grey to white crusts, colorless to translucent rhombs, and rare red-pink material from the deeper oxidized workings. The best specimens combine sharp rhombohedral or scalenohedral crystals with the sculptural mineralogical theater for which Tsumeb is famous: galena-rich sulfide matrix, sugary dolomite, black tennantite and pyrite ore, cerussite, mimetite, malachite, wulfenite, duftite, dioptase, and willemite.