Description

Association of pale green botryoidal smithsonite on brown smithsonite in rhombohedral crystals. Specimens from this deposit are rarely so aesthetically pleasing and colorful. The gangue is particularly typical.

Both technical and pleasing, this antique specimen comes from the Altenberg mine at La Calamine (Kelmis), which was located near Moresnet, in the Vieille Montagne concession, in the province of Liège, Belgium.

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.

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