Image Credit: Malcolm Southwood
Image Credit: Malcolm Southwood
Specimen Title
Smithsonite
Associated Minerals
dolomite (?)
Principal Mineral
Size
Cabinet; 94mm
Location in the Mine
Undetermined
Provenance
Latz, C.V.
Collection
Geoscience Australia; R28088
Entry Number
Specimen; TSNB802
Associated Minerals
dolomite (?)
Description
Sugary crusts of pale green smithsonite on a cavernous matrix of pink and white carbonate breccia consisting largely of dolomite (?).
The specimen is from the collection of Clement Victor Latz which was donated to the Australian Bureau of Mineral Resources (now Geoscience Australia) in 1976.
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 (26684 ppm) which is almost certainly in solid solution in the smithsonite lattice. Analytical data is presented in Exhibit 2.
