Aurichalcite with Calcite
One of one. Pay securely by PayPal or direct bank deposit at checkout.
Aurichalcite with Calcite from Gabbs, Nye County, Nevada, U.S.A., measuring 74 × 68 × 60 mm and weighing 267 grams. A good solid piece from a Nevada locality better known for a very different kind of mineralisation.
Aurichalcite, a hydrated zinc copper carbonate, (Zn,Cu)5(CO3)2(OH)6, forms as fine acicular sprays and crusts in the oxidised zone of a mixed zinc-copper deposit, where weathering releases both metals together into solution. Gabbs is better known for the large-scale magnesite and brucite deposit worked there for decades, but smaller base-metal occurrences in the surrounding Nevada mining country have also produced secondary copper-zinc minerals including Aurichalcite, with Calcite forming alongside it as a common later-stage gangue mineral.
A Gabbs Aurichalcite is a less expected find for anyone who knows the locality mainly for its industrial minerals, which makes it a worthwhile conversation piece as much as a specimen. This piece carries a double provenance, the David Vince Collection and Ruth Coulsell Collection.