Smithsonite

specimen number:
2062526

location:
Kelly Mine, Socorro Co., New Mexico, USA

description:
Beautiful classic specimen from New Mexico, the entire top of this matrix is covered with highly lustrous slightly translucent bluish green botryoidal crystallized smithsonite. The color is good, the condition is excellent. The specimen comes with a previous label from the collection of Ray DeMark who acquired the piece via trade from the New Mexico Bureau of Mines Museum.

The Kelly Mine in Socorro County, New Mexico, was established after the initial local discovery of silver and lead outcroppings in 1866 and officially registered in 1879, subsequently operating through various economic booms and depressions until commercial production wound down following World War II in the 1950s. Geologically, the deposit is situated within the Magdalena mining district, where mineralized replacement ore bodies formed primarily in faulted Paleozoic carbonate layers—specifically Mississippian limestone—yielding rich concentrations of lead, zinc, and silver alongside notable secondary minerals like smithsonite.

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