schaurteite (w. calcite)

An extremely rich specimen of schaurteite, comprising clumps of silky-white schaurteite fibres on an aggregate of blocky, cream-coloured calcite crystals (Exhibit 2), with subordinate druses of orange-brown carbonate intergrowths which include both siderite and smithsonite (XRD indicated).

The specimen is atypical in that schaurteite most commonly occurs in association with calcite lining  vugs in sulphide ore. Nevertheless, the paragenesis is strongly indicative of the second oxidation zone although neither the provenance nor the location in the mine is recorded.

calcite; siderite; smithsonite