Descloizite

specimen number:
2354291

location:
Abenab Mine, Grootfontein, Otjozondjupa, Namibia

description:
Classic cluster of lustrous descloizite crystals with very little attached matrix on the backside. Slight damage present, this still quite good. Crystallized completely all around. The specimen comes with a previous label from the collection of Milton Speckels.

The Abenab Mine in the Otavi Mountain Land of northern Namibia is hosted within complexly folded and faulted Precambrian carbonate rocks of the Otavi Group, where extensive weathering and hydrothermal alteration formed rich secondary ore deposits. Operating primarily during the first half of the twentieth century, Abenab became world renowned as a massive producer of high grade base metal and vanadium ores from deep pipe like collapse structures and solution cavities. Within the oxidized zones of this deposit, secondary mineralisation flourished, yielding spectacular specimens of descloizite. Descloizite forms as dark brown, reddish black, or nearly black crystal crusts and sharp, lustrous tabular to prismatic crystals lining fractures and cavities, often prized by mineral collectors for their rich colors and association with other secondary species.

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