Home > Skorpion, Broken Hill, Salmo – July 24 > MS1384 Tarbuttite
Tarbuttite - Sold
- Broken Hill mine
- Kabwe
- Zambia
- 4.6 by 4.2 by 2.4 cm – Miniature specimen (fits into a 5 cm cube)
Tarbuttite is a zinc phosphate named in honor of Percy C. Tarbutt (?-1943), who provided material for characterization (Spencer, 1908). Generally zinc phosphates are much rarer and less widespread than their zinc arsenate counterparts. Tarbuttite has triclinic symmetry and the same crystal structure as paradamite (Finney, 1966).
This is a reference specimen of tarbuttite from Broken Hill. The mineral forms colorless crystals to 2 mm encrusting gossan matrix. George Burnham collected this material in Zambia and sold it in California for decades from his Monrovia based mineral store Burminco.