Cuprian Smithsonite with Cerussite - image 1
Cuprian Smithsonite with Cerussite - image 2
specimen video

Cuprian Smithsonite with Cerussite

Unknown Owner
This gorgeous soft-blue Smithsonite is from the legendary 'Blue Pocket' discovered at Tsumeb mine in the mid-1970s. Specimens from this occurrence are just so desirable and this marvelous miniature has resided in the Weyand collection in Tsumeb for several generations. The individual Smithsonite crystals reach 8 mm from corner to corner and are accompanied by a single glassy twinned Cerussite crystal which reaches 9 mm across. Part of the allure of these Smithsonites are not just their exquisite colour but also their subtle internal zonation. Their vibrancy is something to behold. The small Cerussite crystal is nicely formed but does have slight chipping on one edge. However, this material is so rare and from perhaps the most famous Smithsonite occurrence in the whole mine.

Product details

Species
Smithsonite, CerussiteAbout Smithsonite →
SizeSmall Cabinet
Dimensions5.3 x 2.8 x 1.9 cm
Added on09/06/2025
Locality
Namibia, Oshikoto Region, TsumebRegional guide →

Known provenance

DateCollectorAcquisition price
09/2025Unknown Owner$7,500.00
—Crystal ClassicsNot 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.