This is a VERY rare piece of legrandite from the TYPE LOCALITY for the species: This is NOT Ojuela as most people think, but a small earlier find in Nuevo Leon , a completely different location and geology! This specimen is attractive in that the legrandite is contrasted against white smithsonite (this association is a dead giveaway of its true origin, aside from the unique crystal form and notably radiating habit of the legrandite clusters themselves). Overall, it is a rich piece and one of the best I have seen for sale since I first learned this fact about a decade ago, myself. Who knew?! Well, these can only get rarer with time, even more so than the comparbly plentiful Ojuela Mine material. NOTE: There are more crystals on the backside, as well!

Many people never even see a piece like this, and assume all pink smithsonites are cobaltian. But there is an exception, as here: An ivory colored limestone matrix is nearly covered by intergrown, lustrous and translucent, crystals of maroon-pink mangano-smithsonite, that reach 5 mm across. This is a VERY rare variety of smithsonite where the red is induced by MANGANESE and not by COBALT, as usually seen in pink smithsonites. This style was found once, in a special pocket circa 1984, and remains unkown from other locales. The pieces of this pocket are recognizable to a trained eye by the combination of a subtly different color and sharp crystal form, compared to most other smithsonite finds at Tsumeb. This is a very rich, large specimen from the pocket. Ex. collection of A. Balhao, Kombat, Namibia.

Unusual in many respects, because native copper is rare at Tsumeb and when found, is usually not associated with the lead minerals there, this is a very interesting combination piece: In a vug lined with a thick sheet of native copper are emplaced well-formed rhombohedrons of lustrous and translucent, colorless to ivory-colored smithsonite, to 1.25 cm in length. The copper bubbles up in parts through the smithsonite coverage, and is composed of hackly masses that offset the luster and form of the smithsonite. An old specimen, from the noted collection of Tsumeb specialist Charlie Key. a rare copper specimen from a rich copper mine, that produced paradoxically few examples of specimen-quality native copper!