SKORPIONITE with Tarbuttite

$600.00

$40.00 shipping
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Tucson, Arizona, USA

7,543 for sale·132 sold

Skorpion mine at Rosh Pinah was a relatively modern zinc operation, started in 2000 and working supergene oxidized zinc mineralization through opencast mining. In 2008, a new calcium zinc phosphate carbonate hydroxide hydrate species found in the deposit was named Skorpionite after the mine. In 2020, the mine entered care and maintenance due to structural problems encountered within the working pit. This rich small cabinet specimen from the superb systematic collection assembled by the brothers Martin and Michael Günther (1951-2007 & 1956-2021) features both Skorpionite and the pure zinc phosphate hydrate, Tarbuttite. Both species form a white crust upon a thin piece of rock matrix. The Tarbuttite occurs as fan-like sprays of parallel bladed crystals, the sprays reaching up to 7 mm across, and the Skorpionite as colourless acicular crystals in matted aggregates. Both species are extremely well crystallized.