Zincolivenite - image 1

Zincolivenite

Unknown Owner
A gorgeous large-miniature of opaque, light peppermint-green Zincolivenite, formerly called Cuprian Adamite, forming a bed of intergrown crystals, each averaging about 0.6 to 1.0 cm across. From the Tsumeb mine in Namibia, the wedge-shaped crystals are sharp and undamaged and form a drusy surface which completely masks the underlying, almost black, hard, granular matrix. Zincolivenite is a relatively new species within the Olivenite-Adamite continuous series. Formerly named zinc-olivenite or cuproadamite (depending on its composition), the mid-series section is now the distinct species Zincolivenite. See the excellent paper Tsumeb: Zincolivenite and the Adamite-Olivenite Series by Malcolm Southwood, Martin Števko and Paul Carr in Rocks & Minerals, Vol. 95, 2020, Issue 3. A beautiful and uncommon example of Zincolivenite from Tsumeb.

Product details

Species
ZincoliveniteAbout Zincolivenite →
SizeSmall Cabinet
Dimensions4.7 x 5.1 x 2.6 cm
Added on10/24/2024
Locality
Namibia, Oshikoto Region, TsumebRegional guide →

Known provenance

DateCollectorAcquisition price
12/2024Unknown Owner$2,500.00
—Crystal ClassicsNot disclosed

Learn more

Mineral guide
Learn about Zincolivenite
emerald-green crystals in radiating sprays with vitreous to adamantine luster; notable localities, color, habit, and ID cues.
Zincolivenite
Regional guide
Zincolivenite from Tsumeb Mine, Namibia
from Tsumeb is the modern name for much of the vivid green “cuproadamite” and “cuprian adamite” that circulated for decades from this legendary Namibian mine. It sits between adamite and olivenite in the adamite–olivenite solid-solution series, with ideal composition CuZn(AsO4)(OH), and Tsumeb is one of the places where that chemistry becomes a collector’s problem as much as a mineralogical one: color, habit, and zoning can suggest the identity, but the most careful determinations rely on quantitative chemical analysis.