Rosasite with Calcite

Unknown Owner

Help improve this recordNo owner is registered for this specimen yet. If it's yours or you know more about it, you can add the owner, provenance, publications and other details.

Rosasite, an unusual zinc copper carbonate hydroxide, is usually a deeper blue-green colour, but at the Omega mine at Monument Mountain, Pima County, Arizona, USA it forms a similar shade of blue to Aurichalcite, which also occurs there, but as delicate feathery crystals. At Omega mine one of the classic associations is colourless rosetted bladed aggregates of Calcite overgrowing Rosasite. This gives the impression of the rosettes being pale blue, but this is an optical illusion. It also has the effect of protecting the normally delicate feathery or acicular Rosasite (or Aurichalcite) from dust. This very large miniature specimen (to very small cabinet) presents this form extremely well, and on the classic rusty gossanous matrix. This is a really excellent Omega mine piece, of excellent colour and form and will fit very nicely into a suite of Arizonan minerals.