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

Smithsonite with Mimetite

$850.00

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Crystal Classics
Crystal ClassicsFeatured
Tucson, Arizona, USA
7,543 for sale·132 sold
This very rich cabinet-sized Tsumeb Smithsonite specimen is really a tale of two sides. From the natural front-facing side all surfaces are completely covered in lenticular to bladed, white to grey Smithsonite crystals, within the 3 to 6 mm size range. Under magnification these crystals can be seen to be made up of many tiny stepped rhombic crystal faces. With so much Smithsonite on display it is no wonder that this piece has a dense feel to it. Flipped over, on its reverse side the Smithsonite can be seen to be overgrowing, or coating, a fine-grained recrystallized rock - possibly Dolomite, or even fine grained Smithsonite - but it is the presence of many very gemmy prismatic Mimetite crystals which is most significant. These Mimetite crystals reach 7 mm in length and are pale straw-coloured and exceptionally gemmy. They show magnificent crystal form, which, under magnification is stunning, combining sloping pyramidal terminations with complex horizontal stepped growth surfaces. Ex Weyand collection.

Product details

Species
Smithsonite, MimetiteAbout Smithsonite →
SizeSmall Cabinet
Dimensions9.3 x 7.5 x 4.0 cm
Listed on09/17/2025
Locality
Namibia, Oshikoto Region, TsumebRegional guide →
SKUCC52664

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.