Image Credit: Malcolm Southwood
Image Credit: Malcolm Southwood
Title
smithsonite
Principal Mineral
Size
Cabinet; 65mm
Location in the Mine
Third oxidation zone (?)
Collection
Southwood, M. MS2010.077
Provenance
Rheinlander, D.; Bruce, I.
Entry Type
Specimen TSNB510
Description
Sharp, rhombohedral crystals (to 12 mm) of smithsonite on a matrix of porous, corroded, blue-grey massive sulphide with localised concentrations of small brassy pyrite crystals. The smithsonite is a deep reddish-pink in colour with distinctive habit. Each smithsonite crystal shows one rounded vertex, apparently due to stepped crystal growth; under magnification each curvilinear modification resolves to a series of tiny stepped rhomboedral faces (compare TSNB511).
The specimen was purchased from Ian Bruce and formerly belonged to Californian collector Dirk Rheinlander. The location in the mine is not recorded, but smithsonites of this habit and colour have been attributed to the third oxidation zone, between 45 and 47 levels (Gebhard 1999).
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). They hypothesise that the intense red-pink colour is due to high concentrations of Co (2364 ppm), Mn (3936 ppm) and Ni (1134 ppm) in combination. Analytical data is presented in Exhibit 2.
Associated Minerals
pyrite
