Smithsonite (Cadmium-bearing)

Item Description

When these pieces showed up on the market, people thought they were contemporary specimens, but they were actually mined circa 2002-2003 and were held back for many years, and only made their way to the market a few years ago. The thought was that perhaps more of these beautiful yellow Smithsonites would be found, but ultimately everything you see for sale came from the initial discoveries. The alluring color is due to a small amount of cadmium content, which is often the case when one encounters yellow Smithsonites like this. These Chinese pieces are similar to the famous old classic yellow Cadmian Smithsonites from the Masua Mine in Italy that were mined many decades ago. The Wenshan specimens with their excellent color, flowing botryoidal forms and the superb luster puts them among the best of their kind ever found. This piece is a features a layer of botryoidal Smithsonite with a velvety / vitreous luster and colors ranging from golden to yellow to almost a silvery hue sitting on matrix. There is a smaller "finger"-like formation measuring 9 mm, standing up on the lower portion of the piece. This material was limited on the market when it was first discovered, but now it's incredibly hard to get your hands on good pieces. There is one contact on the top/display side, but otherwise in very good shape. The underside of the piece has been sawn. Very attractive and now sought after since nothing has been found in many years.