Smithsonite

$400.00

$40.00 shipping
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Ships from USA

When pure, Smithsonite - zinc carbonate - is colourless or white, but with impurities of trace metals it can form in an impressive range of colours, some striking in their brightness. The variation in colours is best seen at the famous Tsumeb mine in Namibia, but recent studies have shown that colour alone is not a guarantee of what the impurities are. For example, traditionally, bright pink Smithsonite is regarded as cobalt-bearing, but a deeper pink can sometimes be manganese-bearing. This very well-crystallized miniature-sized Smithsonite has been labelled as Cobaltoan Smithsonite, but could well be manganoan and so should probably just be viewed as pink-coloured Smithsonite. Although the specimen is small, the crystals are quite large (up to 1.2 cm on edge) and very sharp in their form with distinctive stepped surfaces and aggregated in a slightly rosetted cluster. Their colour is that of flesh-pink but with darker, brown inclusions creating a dappled effect. Ex Weyand Collection, this is smaller but really well-crystallized Smithsonite.