Smithsonite (classic old Ireland locale)

Item Description

The vuggy sculptural miniature hosts juicy, translucent, lemon-yellow bubbly cadmium-rich smithsonite botryoids with satin lustre surfaces. The vugs rest on colorless, granular smithsonite. This extinct small Irish zinc deposit was worked in about 1862-63 (MINDAT). The smithsonite is a classic and desirable old-time species. Mined for the sphalerite, the smithsonite was originally left on the spoil mounds as gangue material! We almost never see these for sale today! Pieces like this were said to be collected in remining of the dumps in the 1960s and 1970s, but few are to be found today. The periphery wear has negligible impact to the quality of this rarity. Valued by the former dealer at $380 for richness, color and size.