Rosasite with Smithsonite - image 1
Rosasite with Smithsonite - image 2
specimen video

Rosasite with Smithsonite

Unknown Owner
This very large miniature specimen from the famous Tsumeb mine in Namibia is quite different to the usual well-known assemblages found at the mine, which makes it quite interesting. It comprises a thin bed of crystallized pale yellow-green Smithsonite which is almost entirely coated in a thin layer of matt, teal coloured microbotryoidal Rosasite. Upon this layer are several larger, glossy transparent colourless to teal coloured Smithsonite crystals. Ex John Schneider collection, no. 1819.

Product details

Species
Rosasite, SmithsoniteAbout Rosasite →
SizeSmall Cabinet
Dimensions6.9 x 3.9 x 1.5 cm
Added on06/28/2025
Locality
Namibia, Oshikoto Region, TsumebRegional guide →

Known provenance

DateCollectorAcquisition price
—Unknown Owner$1,200.00
—Crystal ClassicsNot disclosed

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Rosasite
Mineral guide
Learn about Rosasite
copper-zinc carbonate hydroxide with vivid blue-green, velvety botryoids; prized for color, texture, and classic localities like Laurion and Ojuela.
Rosasite
Regional guide
Rosasite from Tsumeb, Namibia
from Tsumeb is a connoisseur’s mineral: rarely the loudest species on the specimen, but often the one that makes a Tsumeb piece intellectually irresistible. In the hand it appears as silky blue-green to turquoise mammillary coatings, fine fibrous lawns, sheaflike aggregates, and — most coveted of all — pseudomorphs after earlier copper carbonates. The best examples have the unmistakable Tsumeb look: a tight paragenetic story preserved in color and texture, with rosasite woven among azurite, malachite, cerussite, willemite, smithsonite, duftite, mimetite, calcite, dolomite, and quartz.