Aragonite - highly unusual for locale

Item Description

Intergrown wavy, rounded aggregates of glassy, translucent, honey-yellow aragonite needles on a bit of matrix form a sculptural and showy large 360-degree specimen from the famed Tsumeb mine. The acicular crystals have a beautiful glow, when back lit. A small, noted contacting has minimal impact to the overall high quality of this excellent aragonite. Aragonite is much less common that calcite from Tsumeb and this is an uncommon style and color, perhaps due to other impurities: Lead-bearing (Tarnowitzite) and zinc-bearing (Nicholsonite) aragonite are much more uncommon than pure aragonite from Tsumeb. As lead tends to make tarnowtzite yellow and add weight, and this is both yellowish and heavy, we assume this is towards the tarnowitzite end of the spectrum for aragonite group species. It is an excellent large example of the uncommon species and style, for Tsumeb. Dramatic! From the longheld classics collection of Richard Hauck.