Ok, so this is pretty cool. I got my hands on some Kelly Mine Smithsonite! The pieces aren't the most spectacular examples of it, but the prices will be good and it'll be a fun way to get a piece if it's on your bucket list. If you aren't familiar with the smithsonite from this mine, it's known for it's lovely seafoam green blue color that it gets from a copper salt present in the mines. Smithsonite in general is found all over the world where Zinc ore I s present. Formula - (ZnCO3) Smithsonite can come in grey, blue, pink, green, yellow, white, purple, and brown, but the smithsonite from the Kelly Mine is almost always teal in color. The finest examples that sell for hundreds or even thousands will show a shimmer on the surface of the botryoidal structure.
Fun facts about smithsonite and Kelly Mine Smithsonite...
- It's named after James Smithson (1754 - 1829) who founded the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C.
- One of very few locations for jeweler's grade Smithsonite comes from the Kelly mining district.
- Smithsonite is a mineral of dry climates and is formed in limestone outlets regions, occurring in veins up to an inch or two of thickness.
- At the Kelly Mine, the green Smithsonite lined the cavity in layers up to two inches thick yielding hundreds of pounds of high quality material that was cut into cabochons.
This specimen comes mounted with putty on the black acrylic base, and can easily be removed if you so desire.
Origin :: Kelly Mine, Magdalena Mining District, Socorro County, New Mexico, USA
Dimensions :: 41 x 30 x 21 mm
Weight :: 1.16 oz
Product code: Kelly Mine Smithsonite from New Mexico outlets