Detailed information
Dimensions
37 x 80 x 52
mm
Weight
149 g
Locality
Tsumeb Mine Tsumeb, Oshikoto Region Namibia
Condition
No recorded repairs
When was the last time you saw a Rosasite as rich as this from Tsumeb Mine? Not only is its surface area extensive - covering most of the display surface of this small cabinet-sized specimen - but its colour saturation is excellent too, enhanced significantly by a glossy coating of finely crystallized Calcite. Add to this its association with classic olive-green Olivenite, which it overgrows, and which also extends across most of the back of the specimen as a crust of glassy acicular microcrystals and you have a really superb display specimen with a wonderful paragenetic assemblage too. The grey, host-rock matrix contains a few patches of grey metallic primary sulphide - perhaps Chalcocite - but it is certainly the secondary species that are the stars on display here. The un-Calcite-covered Rosasite displays a soft, feathery, silky appearance, light turquoise-blue in colour, but its colour deepens with its covering of sparkling, glassy Calcite microcrystals. Where uncovered, the Rosasite is a little 'rubbed' but due to its finely crystallized form this is only really visible under magnification. The Calcite coating is in very fine condition. Ex Hettrich Collection.