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

Cobaltoan Smithsonite

$7,500.00

VisaMastercardAmerican ExpressPayPalPayPal Pay In 4Discover·
  • $40.00 shipping
  • Seller offers an extended return window of up to 30 days
  • USAShips from USA

Crystal Classics
Crystal ClassicsFeatured
Tucson, Arizona, USA
7,543 for sale·132 sold
What makes a world-class Cobaltoan Smithsonite specimen? Well, colour is arguably the most important individual factor, as without a rich vibrant pink tone everything else is lost. Crystal form is essential too, as massive Smithsonite is unlikely to out do a wonderful aggregate of sharply formed curved rhombic crystals, especially if they are large and undamaged. Then comes the arrangement, or how the specimen looks. This is the most subjective, but I would argue that this specimen ticks all of the above boxes. However, there are other subtle points which elevate this specimen above the norm. Things like the translucency and lustre of the Smithsonite crystals. They don't just have great colour, but they have internal flair too. Combined with an underlying dark matrix adds to its character and appeal, and it is 3-dimensional - lined all around with stunning, undamaged crystals. This really is a cracker from Tsumeb mine. Very large miniature and very nice indeed.

Product details

Species
SmithsoniteAbout Smithsonite →
SizeSmall Cabinet
Dimensions7.8 x 5.3 x 3.2 cm
Listed on05/03/2025
Locality
Namibia, Oshikoto Region, TsumebRegional guide →
SKUCC46010

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.