Image Credit: Malcolm Southwood
Image Credit: Malcolm Southwood
Specimen Title
smithsonite
Associated Minerals
malachite
Principal Mineral
Size
Miniature; 48mm
Provenance
Stacey, G.
Collection
Carr, P.; PFC2007.035
Entry Number
Specimen; TSNB634
Description
Translucent, botryoidal aggregates (to 5 mm) of translucent green smithsonite, each comprising an intergrowth of sub-mm crystallites. The smithsonite forms a crust on iron stained dolostone. A few minor flecks of malachite are present.
The specimen was purchased from Australian collector George Stacey in 2007 but with no record of earlier provenance or 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 (15267 ppm) which is almost certainly in solid solution in the smithsonite lattice. Analytical data is presented in Exhibit 2.
