ARSENTSUMEBITE with AZURITE

SPECIMEN DESCRIPTION

Usually, Arsentsumebite specimens from the Type Locality of Tsumeb mine are micromounts or at best thumbnail in size, but this one is a whopper. It could, to the untrained eye, be mistaken for a much more common copper secondary species - perhaps Malachite - because of its richness, but under magnification there is no confusing this Arsentsumebite with anything else, as it has the classic blade-like crystal form and soft pale emerald-green colour. The Arsentsumebite extends through the specimen, along cracks and within cavities, and in all areas it forms well-formed microcrystals. To add additional character, it is not just a flat specimen, but undulating, with larger open cavities infilled with large (to 1.5 cm across) and glossy deep blue Azurite crystals, and the paragenesis is revealed: showing the Arsentsumebite overgrown by later Azurite. Small Cerussite crystals are present too, but they are earlier still, and in places completely encrusted in Arsentsumebite as intringing 'fingers'. A super-rich Tsumeb classic.