Kermesite
specimen number:
2262317
location:
Globe and Phoenix Mine, Kwekwe, Midlands, Zimbabwe
description: The Globe and Phoenix mine, located in Kwekwe (formerly Que Que), Zimbabwe, was one of the most prominent and highest-grade underground gold producers in Africa. Geologically, the deposit is situated within the Archean-age Midlands Greenstone Belt, where ancient metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks are intruded by the Rhodesdale granitic gneiss complex. Structural deformation along regional shear zones created favorable pathways for ascending hydrothermal fluids, which deposited quartz-carbonate vein networks, known as the Globe reef and the Phoenix reef, heavily mineralized with native gold, pyrite, arsenopyrite, and stibnite within the deformed greenstone schists. Historically, the site was long exploited by indigenous Shona miners before European prospectors Edward Thornton Pearson and Joseph Schukala identified the extensive pre-colonial surface workings and registered modern claims in May 1894. The properties were consolidated by the Globe and Phoenix Gold Mining Company, which initiated large-scale mechanized milling in August 1900. The underground operations extended down to a vertical depth of 1460 meters, maintaining continuous and highly profitable production for decades until the exhaustion of the primary high-grade ore bodies led to the formal cessation of major corporate underground operations in 1977, though the surrounding district has remained subject to ongoing small-scale cooperative extraction and historical preservation.
A choice thumbnail sized example for this old classic. A spray of kermesite crystals with little attached matrix. At the time these were found, these were considered the world's finest for the species. They have since been surpassed by Chinese material.
Questions about this specimen?
Send an email
or call us: 314-341-1811.