Description

Small, richly crystallized specimen of hemimorphite in elongated, white, glassy tabular crystals. They are partially covered by greenish-brown smithsonite, well expressed in this sample.

Rare mineral association of this famous locality in the province of Liège in Belgium, the Altenberg mine at La Calamine (Kelmis), which was located near Moresnet, in the Vieille Montagne concession.

World-famous as the cradle of the zinc industry in the 19th century, the mine closed when it was exhausted in 1884. At the time, it was located in what was known as “neutral Moresnet”, a territory that belonged to no country, wedged between Belgium, Prussia (later Germany) and the Netherlands.

This post is also available in: French