Wulfenite

Tabular Wulfenite is classified as common at Tsumeb, the famous lead-copper-zinc-silver mine in Namibia, but splendid octahedral crystals are rare. This magnificent large miniature has a completely matt, sooty black matrix of probable altered Tennantite richly coated with razor-sharp, highly reflective glassy Wulfenite crystals. Although these are a dark honey-tan, they adopt the darkness of the light-absorbing matrix, making them appear black or even dark blue. The Wulfenite initially looks like the dark blue variety Chillagite, but examination shows this is not the case. The Wulfenite crystals measure to about 4 mm across and range from complete octahedral crystals to tabular crystals distorted towards truncated octahedrons. This is an excellent and rather different miniature Tsumeb Wulfenite.