Leiteite (Ref: 5807)

Leiteite is an extremely rare Zinc Arsenate, and good specimens such as this one came from a single discovery in 1977 at the Tsumeb Mine. It was named for Portuguese amateur mineralogist and mineral dealer Luis Leite. Further discoveries in Tsumeb were extremely sporadic and sparse and only happened in the so-called Germanium levels in the deepest and last mined zones of the mine before it closed. Leiteite that is found in a small handful of European places are secondary mineralizations on slag dumps. As a result, good pieces with abundant crystals such as this one are extremely rare and therefore difficult to obtain. That makes this massive and extremely rich matrix piece with highly lustrous, platy crystals of a light yolk yellow color exceptional. This is a super specimen of this rare species from the TYPLOCALITY in top quality, size, and aesthetics.