Tennantite - image 1

Tennantite

Unknown Owner
A wonderful example of this uncommon copper arsenic sulfosalt. A nice example of this uncommon mineral at a reasonable price. Fun fact of is that this species was firsts discovered by the famed naturalist and mineralogist James Sowerby. Sowerby is best known for his 5 part series of British Mineralogy. Ex. Blain Bard

Product details

Species
TennantiteAbout Tennantite →
SizeMiniature
Dimensions4.2 x 3.5 x 2.1 cm
Added on03/26/2025
Locality
Namibia, Oshikoto Region, TsumebRegional guide →

Known provenance

DateCollectorAcquisition price
09/2025Unknown OwnerNot disclosed
—DanZ RockshopNot disclosed

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Mineral guide
Learn about Tennantite
sharp tetrahedral crystals with gunmetal luster, prized by collectors for classic localities, rarity, and display-worthy specimens.
Tennantite
Regional guide
Tennantite from Tsumeb, Namibia
Tsumeb tennantite is one of the great paradoxes of the classic mineral world: the species was an abundant ore mineral in the mine, yet sharp, attractive, display-worthy crystals are decidedly uncommon. The best pieces have a sober, gunmetal beauty—steel-gray to charcoal tetrahedra, sometimes frosted or etched, sometimes shimmering under a druse of minute quartz. In the finest examples, the metallic geometry is softened by Tsumeb’s unmistakable secondary-mineral palette: white dolomite, clear to milky quartz, yellow wulfenite, green malachite, mimetite, smithsonite, duftite, zincolivenite, and a remarkable range of arsenates generated from the oxidation of the sulfide ore.