Atacamite

Atacamite is a very rare mineral at Tsumeb. According to Pinch and Wilson (1977) it forms dark green to blackish-green prismatic crystals to 10 mm, sometimes grown together in bright aggregates, a description reiterated by Keller (1984).

Klein (1938) stated only that atacamite is very rare at Tsumeb, while Strunz and Tennyson (1967) confirmed its presence in the first oxidation zone only. Pinch and Wilson (1977) concurred that "… most specimens [of atacamite] have been found in the upper (first) oxidation zone".

Lombaard et al. (1986) noted the occurrence of atacamite as a very rare species, but Gebhard (1999) did not include it in his list of species recorded from Tsumeb.

Von Bezing et al. (2016) noted that "Dark to blackish green prismatic crystals of atacamite to 1 cm, as divergent groups, have been found in the first oxidation zone at Tsumeb."

A specimen in the Southwood Collection (MS2018.090) consists of slender prismatic atacamite crystals (to 12 mm; XRD verified) bridging a vug in feldspathic sandstone matrix. No other secondary minerals are present.

quartz