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specimen video

Smithsonite

Unknown Owner

Large lustrous sharply formed crystals of smithsonite measuring to 1.7 cm in size across the top of matrix. Some damage present, this mainly confined to the exterior of the piece.

Product details

Species

SmithsoniteAbout Smithsonite →

SizeSmall Cabinet

Dimensions7.5 x 6.0 x 4.5 cm

Added on11/22/2025

Locality

Namibia, Oshikoto Region, TsumebRegional guide →

Known provenance

Date	Collector	Acquisition price
—	Unknown Owner	$220.00
—	Weinrich Minerals	Not disclosed

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Smithsonite

Learn about Smithsonite

ZnCO3 with botryoidal and crystalline forms, silky to vitreous luster, pastel hues from cobalt to yellow; localities boost collecting appeal.

Smithsonite

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.