Africa to me is all N'Chwaning and Rhodochrosite. OK…I'm biased, but one of my favorite Rhodos comes from there. Undoubtedly, some of the finest specimens of the mineral world have come from South Africa, but the King of the African continent has to be Tsumeb, the world's greatest mineral locality. Cerussite, Smithsonite, Malachite, Duftite, Mottramite, Mimetite, Willemite, Wulfenite, Azurite, Dioptase, Adamite, Olivenite, and Anglesite are some of the most common Tsumeb mineral specimens. Tuckers me out just picturing all these in my head. I know what you're thinking! Keep your comments to yourself!
My suggestion to you would be to get yourself a book on Tsumeb and study up. A friend of mine in Weaverville recently turned me onto a great book which I would highly recommend for your reading and mineralogical pleasure. It's titled Tsumeb II and its author is Georg Gebhard. It was originally written in German and recently translated into English. Buy it, you won't regret it, I plan to! When you talk about African mineral localities, one can't forget about Morocco. Touissit, Mibladen, Bou Azzer are all well-known localities for any number of excellent mineral specimens. Bottom line, there's plenty to keep a mineral aficionado busy when you're looking to add to your collection of African minerals. |
