Descloizite with Aragonite

specimen number:
2262341

location:
Berg Aukas Mine, Grootfontein, Otjozondjupa, Namibia

description:
Crystallized descloizite throughout matrix. Minimal damage present, still in good condition. Originally acquired in 1961, so this is in early one. Typical of these, when this first came out of the ground, these were labeled as coming from Tsumeb. minor aragonite is present.

The Berg Aukas mine, located near Grootfontein in the Otjozondjupa Region of northern Namibia, is a historical underground operation celebrated for its distinct lead, zinc, and vanadium mineralization. Geologically, the deposit is a carbonate-hosted Mississippi Valley Type (MVT) or Otavi-type polymetallic body situated within Neoproterozoic dolomites of the Damara Supergroup. Primary zinc and lead sulfides underwent intense supergene alteration and deep karstic weathering, resulting in an extensive network of solution cavities filled with a secondary mineral assemblage that includes descloizite, willemite, cerussite, and smithsonite. Discovered in the early twentieth century by the South West Africa Company, systematic mining operations began in the 1920s and continued intermittently through shifts in corporate ownership. Industrial production scaled up heavily from the 1950s through the 1970s, establishing the mine as a major global source of vanadium, until fluctuating metal prices and the depletion of easily accessible high-grade ore bodies led to the permanent closure of primary industrial mining operations in 1978.

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