Smithsonite - image 1
Smithsonite - image 2
specimen video

Smithsonite

Unknown Owner
The variety of Smithsonite seen at Tsumeb mine is remarkable, both in terms of crystal form and colour. This wonderful miniature-sized specimen displays essentially colourless Smithsonite crystals but with layered inclusions providing the effect of colour-zoning from orange to black and colourless. The Smithsonite crystals form a layer upon metallic grey sulphide matrix and this is probably what provides the black internal colour. The rich orange colour is most likely an influence from inclusions of iron oxides or traces of cadmium within the crystal structure of the Smithsonite. The individual Smithsonite crystals reach 9 mm across and display a slightly flattened rhombic form. There is one crystal with a slight knock to it, but overall this displays very nicely for the price.

Product details

Species
SmithsoniteAbout Smithsonite →
SizeSmall Cabinet
Dimensions5.7 x 3.2 x 2.1 cm
Added on09/24/2025
Locality
Namibia, Oshikoto Region, TsumebRegional guide →

Known provenance

DateCollectorAcquisition price
01/2026Unknown Owner$150.00
—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.