Minerals from South Africa

South Africa is one of the world’s most important countries for mineral specimens, both historically and in the present day.

The Kalahari Manganese Field, particularly the N’Chwaning and Wessels mines, is world-famous for its manganese minerals. These include exceptional specimens of rhodochrosite, manganite, ettringite, and inesite. The rhodochrosite from here often forms deep red scalenohedral crystals, sometimes with a slight translucency, and is highly sought after.

The Northern Cape is also known for superb hematite, andradite garnet, and occasionally unusual species like olmiite and sturmanite, which are rarely found elsewhere in such quality or quantity.

The Bushveld Complex, one of the largest layered igneous intrusions in the world, is a major source of platinum group elements. While most of this material is industrially processed, it has also produced rare specimen-grade platinum, chromite, and associated minerals. Native gold and palladium have been found in smaller quantities.

South Africa is also one of the world’s top producers of both diamonds and gold. The diamond mines at Kimberley, including the famous Big Hole, were historically significant and yielded many well-formed octahedral diamonds, though most of this material is cut rather than sold as specimens. Similarly, the Witwatersrand Basin has produced enormous quantities of gold, including rare native gold specimens and gold in quartz matrix, though again, most is processed rather than collected.

Quartz, calcite, and prehnite are widespread in South African localities, especially in basalt cavities. Some attractive zeolite-group minerals have also been found in minor amounts.

Tsumeb is often mistakenly assumed to be in South Africa but is in Namibia. Labels should be checked carefully, particularly on older material that may be broadly marked as “South West Africa.”

Specimens from South Africa are usually well-labelled and documented, especially from larger commercial sources, and the country remains a key supplier to the international collector market.

South Africa