Smithsonite (Cadmium-bearing)

Item Description

Smithsonite is one of those species that love chromophores, allowing for a wide range of hues in the species. You can find Smithsonite in virtually every color of the rainbow from various localities around the world. When these particular pieces showed up on the market from China, 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, which is often the case when one encounters yellow Smithsonites like this. These Chinese pieces are similar to the famous old classic, and highly desirable 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 a rich buttery yellow hue sitting on matrix. 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.