Conichalcite with Cuprite, Calcite

specimen number:
2262133

location:
Tsumeb Mine, Otjikoto, Namibia

description:

Very choice miniature for the species and locality, green botryoidal conichalcite crystallized across the top of the cuprite matrix with minor calcite. This is in very good condition.

The Tsumeb Mine, located in the Otavi Mountain Land of northern Namibia, is widely regarded as the most significant mineral locality in history due to its unparalleled diversity of species. Geologically, the deposit is a polymetallic pipe-like ore body hosted in Precambrian dolomite, where massive sulfide ores were subjected to deep and intense oxidation by meteoric waters over millions of years. This process created three distinct oxidation zones that produced over 300 different minerals, many of which are unique to this site or found nowhere else in such high quality. Historically, mining and quarrying activities at the Tsumeb pipe began in 1900 under the Otavi Minen- und Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft (OMEG) after centuries of surface exploitation by the local San and Owambo people. The mine operated with few interruptions for nearly a century, passing through various ownerships until its final closure in 1996 due to the depletion of the main ore body and increasing extraction costs.

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