Cobaltoan Smithsonite - image 1
Cobaltoan Smithsonite - image 2
specimen video

Cobaltoan Smithsonite

$1,800.00

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Crystal Classics
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Tucson, Arizona, USA
7,543 for sale·132 sold
Lenticular, platy Smithsonite crystals, exceptionally reaching 1.1 cm across, form rosetted aggregates upon primary sulphide/sulphosalt in this attractive miniature specimen from Tsumeb mine, Namibia. Pale soft pink in colour, this Smithsonite is usually referred to as the variety Cobaltoan Smithsonite. Although thin, the crystals are frosted with a slightly pearlescent lustre. A quite characterful piece: this habit of Smithsonite is certainly not common at Tsumeb mine or anywhere else for that matter. Most of the crystals are in perfect condition although there is one small impacted area seen in the top left part of the specimen in the main photograph. Nevertheless, this is a superb example of this rare crystal form for Smithsonite.

Product details

Species
SmithsoniteAbout Smithsonite →
SizeSmall Cabinet
Dimensions5.8 x 5.2 x 3.0 cm
Listed on04/12/2025
Locality
Namibia, Oshikoto Region, TsumebRegional guide →
SKUCC51846

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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.