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PNW-Minez
Joined: 07 Dec 2020
Posts: 6
Location: King county
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Posted: Dec 07, 2020 15:34 Post subject: Smithsonite pseudo from Santa Eulalia and other Mexican pieces |
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I know that New finds out of Mexico - (10) is a pretty dated thread but I just stumbled upon it looking up some info on another mineral from the mine and saw you all had posted some smithsonite pseudos... here’s one I’ve had for a few years...
Peter Megaw wrote: | I have seen most of what Jean has mentioned here...although I still
am looking for a mimetite as nice as his!
Jean is right that very few of the smithsonite pseudomorphs are undamaged and even fewer have great color like his...and the one below. Despite this three or four remain some of the best pseudos of this kind ever to emerge. They show successive replacement shells showing that the calcite was partially replaced, some was dissolved and the next layer was attacked. I have put several in acid and the internal structure shows that the smithsonite protrudes into the calcite...they are not simple epimorphs although they may have begun that way.
Apparently there is some production beginning from the top levels (8-9) of the Main Silicate Orebody in the Potosi Mine. This body is the.source of rhodochrosite and friends. The production stems from a Joint Venture between Grupo Mexico (owners of the Buena Tierra Mine and operators of the JV) and Minerales Nacionales de Mexico aka MINAMEX who own the Potosi Mine. This has reopened access to a lot of the upper level workings of the West Camp over the last 2 years, and we have already seen some benefits in the form of some large botryoidal smithsonites that came out in 2011 and 2012.
The hemimorphites that are coming out all come from the Oxide Zinc Orebody that extends from the 13th to the 17th Levels of the Potosi Mine. Some of the pieces have come out with brilliant black chalcophanite perched on the hemimorphite...and a few very nice willemites have also appeared.
On top of that are some nice and sharp triangular calcites from somewhere in the northern West Camp...probably the old Parcionera Mine (aka Goat Cave or Cueva de Chivas) another one of the major collctor access points for the West Camp.
Milpillas continues its decline. A few nice azurites have come out from under beds, but no decent material in any quantity has emerged. There have been a few oddly shaped malachite blobs...on and off matrix and a few large Barytes (to 5 cm) with a nice pale green-blue color. The cuprites that were available at Tucson time have disappeared. |
Mineral: | Smithsonite pseudo calcite with calcite on pyrite included matrix |
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9085 Time(s) |
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PNW-Minez
Joined: 07 Dec 2020
Posts: 6
Location: King county
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Posted: Dec 07, 2020 15:35 Post subject: Re: Smithsonite pseudo from Santa Eulalia and other Mexican pieces |
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More..
Mineral: | Smithsonite pseudo calcite with calcite on pyrite included matrix From Santa Eulalia, Chihuahua Mexico |
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9078 Time(s) |
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PNW-Minez
Joined: 07 Dec 2020
Posts: 6
Location: King county
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Posted: Dec 07, 2020 15:40 Post subject: Re: Smithsonite pseudo from Santa Eulalia and other Mexican pieces |
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Not sure how to make the pictures bigger for viewing
Mineral: | Smithsonite pseudo calcite with calcite on pyrite included matrix From Santa Eulalia, Chihuahua Mexico |
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9095 Time(s) |
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PNW-Minez
Joined: 07 Dec 2020
Posts: 6
Location: King county
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Posted: Dec 07, 2020 15:44 Post subject: Re: Smithsonite pseudo from Santa Eulalia and other Mexican pieces |
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More calcites!
Mineral: | Twinned Calcite On Calcite |
Locality: | Palmarejo Mine, Palmarejo, Municipio Chinipas, Chihuahua, Mexico | |
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PNW-Minez
Joined: 07 Dec 2020
Posts: 6
Location: King county
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Posted: Dec 07, 2020 15:46 Post subject: Re: Smithsonite pseudo from Santa Eulalia and other Mexican pieces |
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Twinned Calcite On Calcite Specimen, Palmarejo Mine, Chinipas, Chihuahua Mexico
Mineral: | Twinned Calcite On Calcite |
Locality: | Palmarejo Mine, Palmarejo, Municipio Chinipas, Chihuahua, Mexico | |
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PNW-Minez
Joined: 07 Dec 2020
Posts: 6
Location: King county
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Posted: Dec 07, 2020 15:47 Post subject: Re: Smithsonite pseudo from Santa Eulalia and other Mexican pieces |
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Twinned Calcite On Calcite Specimen, Palmarejo Mine, Chinipas, Chihuahua Mexico
Mineral: | Twinned Calcite On Calcite |
Locality: | Palmarejo Mine, Palmarejo, Municipio Chinipas, Chihuahua, Mexico | |
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9073 Time(s) |
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