Smithsonite (classic material)

Item Description

A beautiful example of Smithsonite from the Rush District in Arkansas. This area is best-known for its beautiful yellow and silvery colored Smithsonite specimens, but this one has a light white hue, which is fairly rare in my experience. It was mined in the 1970s and originally was sold by Chris Wright to Dave Bergman. The piece features beautiful botryoidal groups of Smithsonite with a gentle vitreous luster, and a bit of internal translucency (some of the smaller aggregates are actually fairly gemmy) measuring up to 6 mm across on matrix. Good quality overall, most of the main Smithsonite "balls" are undamaged, though there are some rough spots here and there.
As mentioned, this piece is from the collection of Colorado mining legend, Dave Bergman. Dave is now retired, but among other things, he was the foreman and primary person in charge of recovering specimens at the famous Sweet Home Mine near Alma, Colorado during the late 1970s. He is also the maternal grandfather of Brian Kosnar. See Dave's photo mining at the Sweet Home on page 58 of Peter Bancroft's book "Gem and Crystal Treasures".