SOLD
MUN13-1161
Smithsonite Var. Cuprian With Calcite
79 Mine (79th Mine; Seventy-Nine Mine; Seventy-Nine property; McHur prospect), Chilito, Hayden area, Banner District, Dripping Spring Mts, Gila Co., Arizona, USA
Cabinet, 10.8 x 9.3 x 5.4 cm
SOLD
An unusual CRYSTALLIZED green smithsonite from this locality! Green smithsonite is rare enough. These are the only fine green (copper-rich) smithsonites from the USA. From this small mine, rarely, a few pockets of smithsonites are produced. About once per decade in the last 30 years a good pocket was hit. However, all the others I have seen are botryoidal growth (smoothly rounded) while this piece is made up of finely CRYSTALLIZED smithsonite in round aggregates. Small white calcites provide accents, which seems to me most unusual. When one considers the price for smithsonites these days from other locales, which produced a ton of them (quite literally in some cases), it is very difficult to not see such a rare locality piece with unusual color as a value in comparison. Joe Budd photos.