Witherite

specimen number:
8821983

location:
Rosebery Mine, West Coast, Tasmania, Australia

description:
Yellow green lustrous translucent crystals of witherite on matrix. Interesting locality example for the species. In good condition.

The Rosebery Mine, located on the West Coast of Tasmania, Australia, is one of the country's longest-running underground polymetallic mining operations. Its history began in 1893 when prospector Tom McDonald discovered gold in alluvial wash and zinc-lead sulphide boulders on the slopes of Mount Black. While initial development was severely delayed by complex metallurgical challenges in separating the exceptionally fine-grained sulphides, large-scale commercial production finally commenced in 1936 under the Electrolytic Zinc Company after effective processing techniques were established. Geologically, the deposit is a major Cambrian-aged volcanic-hosted massive sulphide system situated within the Mount Read Volcanics. The orebodies are hosted in a sequence of folded and faulted volcaniclastics and shales, yielding substantial quantities of zinc, lead, copper, silver, and gold.

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