Smithsonite

Smithsonite from the Kamariza Mine, Agios Konstantinos, Attica, Greece, measuring 79 × 53 × 37 mm and weighing 212 grams. A good weighty piece of secondary zinc carbonate from the same famous district as the Adamite elsewhere in this sale.

Smithsonite is zinc carbonate, ZnCO3, trigonal, usually forming as botryoidal crusts or granular masses, and at Lavrion it is one of a long list of secondary zinc and lead minerals that developed as the district's ancient silver-lead workings weathered near the surface. The oxidised zone at Lavrion is exceptionally well documented, having been studied by mineralogists for well over a century, and Smithsonite from Kamariza specifically is recognised as some of the better material the district has produced.

Lavrion's reputation rests on the sheer range of secondary species it has yielded rather than any one mineral, and a good Smithsonite from Kamariza sits comfortably alongside the district's more famous Adamite and Olivenite. This piece carries a double provenance, the David Vince Collection and the Ruth Coulsell Collection.