Smithsonite (Cadmium-bearing)

Item Description

Beautiful, rich yellow, translucent smithsonite botryoids with satin luster cover this sculptural, large layered plate from Wenshan, China. The gorgeous color is from cadmium content. A layer of translucent, gray smithsonite and thin matrix underlies the piece. These colorful specimens reached the market recently, but where actually mined circa 2002-2003 and held back for many years. They strongly resemble old classic and expensive smithsonite from the Masua Mine in Sardinia, Italy. A showy and colorful, highly representative example of the species and locale.