Calcite with Duftite

Item Description

This is one of the more unusual calcite association styles from Tsumeb mine, Tsumeb, Otavi-Bergland District, Oshikoto, Namibia. It is well known from a single pocket of the early to mid 1970s, and features calcite rhombohedral crystals coated with Duftite in a highly unusual, unique, pattern that we term 'oriented.' This oriented growth is due to molecular bonding energies in the solution as the calcite is forming, and the other minerals are in solution around it, so that the edges of the calcites pull duftite out of solution, but not the faces, incorporating it during growth. From: Westaus Mineral Museum, Blair and Robyn Gartell, Western Australia, February 16, 2008. They were known for having a superb collection of Tsumeb thumbnails in particular, having been close friends with mine manager John Innes (1970s). We almost never see an example from this pocket turn up for sale, and this is a fine, balanced thumbnail specimen. The Schauss collection had a superb suite of famous inclusions, in calcite, from different locations.