Parasymplesite

Parasymplesite was first recognised from a specimen in the Pinch Collection, now at Harvard University (MGMH 2020.7.757). The specimen comprises a shallow vug with a botryoidal lining of a yellow tsumcorite group mineral. The vug is bridged by a single composite crystal of greenish-black wilhelmkleinite, while radial aggregates of acicular parasymplesite crystals (to 3 mm) are located at the margins. Minerals were identified during a study of the specimen at the University of Arizona (https://rruff.info/wilhelmkleinite/display=default/; accessed February 2023). It was originally labelled as an "unknown" in the collection of John Innes, chief mineralogist at Tsumeb in the early 1980s. Pinch suspected that this specimen may have originated from the second oxidation zone (Bill Pinch, pers. comm. to M. Southwood, February 2015); however, the only other known examples of wilhelmkleinite (including the type specimen) are from 44 Level in the third oxidation zone.

Note that parasymplesite forms a series with köttigite which has also been reported from 44 Level at Tsumeb.

A specimen of parasymplesite on germanite was offered for auction by Joy Désor in February 2024 (www.e-rocks.com; accessed February 2024). The parasymplesite occurred as beige-coloured mats of minute acicular / fibrous crystals (to 100 μm) on the surface of germanite ore. The parasymplesite was identified by EDS.

tsumcorite (?); wilhelmkleinite