Cobaltoan Smithsonite on Sphalerite - image 1

Cobaltoan Smithsonite on Sphalerite

Unknown Owner
The most famous locality in the world for smithsonite is certainly the Tsumeb mine. Smithsonite was found in abundance in a variety of habits and colors at the mine while it was producing. Perhaps one of the best known varieties of smithsonite was the cobaltoan pink. This particular specimen features a fantastic intensity of bright pink color. Please also note that the matrix is comprised primarily of sphalerite and fluoresces a lovely bright orange under a LW UV light.

Product details

Species
Smithsonite, Galena, SphaleriteAbout Smithsonite →
SizeSmall Cabinet
Dimensions6.7 x 4.3 x 2.9 cm
Added on03/26/2025
Locality
Namibia, Oshikoto Region, TsumebRegional guide →

Known provenance

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