Leiteite (Type Locality)

Item Description

This fine cleavage lamellae of leiteite is from the namesake mineral dealer, who discovered the species, Luis Leite (1942-1999). Leiteite, Zn-arsenate, is another of the Holy Grail rare species for which the Tusmeb Mine is renowned and is also the Type Locality. It was named in 1977 from a single aberrant specimen found at Tsumeb, and then found sparsely in a few more pockets in the so-called germanium levels of the final and deepest part of the mine. In all the previous years at Tsumeb, none had been found until the miners went down to a third oxidation zone and encountered a bizarrely germanium-rich zone from which new species came in profusion. Ludlockite and leiteite are among the most well known. This is a shimmering, pearlescent lath of elongated fibers.