Willemite

specimen number:
2354194

location:
Kabwe Mine, Central Province, Zambia

description:
Colorless blocky crystals of lustrous willemite measuring to 0.6 x 0.4 x 0.3 cm in size across the top of one side of matrix. Collected by Al McGuinness in 1960. In good condition, a neat locality example for the species.

Located in the Central Province of Zambia, the Kabwe Mine (formerly known as Broken Hill) is a historically significant carbonate-hosted lead-zinc deposit discovered in 1902 during railway exploration. The deposit consists of pipe-like ore bodies formed by epigenetic hydrothermal mineralization within Precambrian dolomite bedrock, where rich lead and zinc sulfide ores underwent deep supergene oxidation to create a diverse suite of secondary phosphate, vanadate, and carbonate minerals. Commercial underground and open-pit mining operations spanned nearly a century, producing massive quantities of lead and zinc metals until operations ceased in 1994. The locality gained worldwide renown among mineralogists and collectors as the type locality for several rare species, including tarbuttite and hopeite, making it one of the most famous classic mineral localities on the African continent.

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