Tennantite

Without doubt Tennantite, a copper arsenic sulfosalt, is pervasive and ubiquitous throughout the Tsumeb orebody but is, of course, much rarer as good, well developed crystals. This top-class specimen has several Tennantite crystals of tetrahedral habit attached to a shard of naturally etched milky-white Quartz. The tetrahedral crystals measure to 2.8 cm on edge and form sharp mid-grey crystals with modified edges, of rough textural appearance and a semi-metallic lustre. Such crystals are thought to have formed within the ore matrix through processes of dissolution and recrystallisation, rather than in open cavities. A delightful Tennantite from the classic Tsumeb mine in Namibia.