Specimen Title
smithsonite
Principal Mineral
Size
Cabinet; 130mm
Provenance
Hall, P.
Collection
Southwood, M.; MS2011.001
Entry Number
Specimen; TSNB631
Description
A multi-layered rib of smithsonite comprising sub-parallel, platy layers of closely intergrown pale green smithsonite crystals, locally forming sub-spherical, nodular aggregates. Individual crystals are sub-mm in size, giving the surfaces of the layers a saccharoidal texture.
The specimen was acquired from Australian collector Peter Hall in 2011, but with no earler provenance and no record of location in the mine.
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 2022; Southwood et al. 2025). They hypothesised that the principal chromophore is Cu (4496 ppm) which is almost certainly in solid solution in the smithsonite lattice. Analytical data is presented in Exhibit 2.
