Image Credit: Malcolm Southwood
Image Credit: Malcolm Southwood
Specimen Title
smithsonite
Associated Minerals
(not assigned)
Principal Mineral
Size
Miniature; 45mm
Provenance
Bruce, I.
Collection
Southwood, M.; MS2013.154
Entry Number
Specimen; TSNB496
Description
A cluster of well-formed, modified and composite rhombohedral smithsonite crystals (to 27 mm). The crystals are colourless-white and partly transparent. A little carbonate matrix is attached.
Purchased from Ian Bruce in 2013 but neither its earlier provenance nor its location in the mine are recorded.
The specimen has been analysed by EMPA-WDS and LA-ICP-MS as part of a study of the causes of colour in smithsonite (Weall 2023; Southwood et al. 2025) who hypothesised that likely chromophore elements are present in insufficient quantity, either individually or in combination, to colour the mineral. Analytical data is presented in Exhibit 2.
