Yunnan Province

Yunnan — carbonate color from the southwest

Yunnan Province in southwest China draws on polymetallic Pb-Zn belts and, at Tengchong, a young volcanic field. Its collector signature is colorful secondary minerals: sky-blue hemimorphite, cobalt-pink calcite, fibrous rhodochrosite, and blue aragonite.

What Yunnan is known for

• Botryoidal sky-blue hemimorphite
• Cobaltoan calcite, often paired with hemimorphite
• Fibrous pink rhodochrosite
• Blue aragonite needle clusters
• Lemon-yellow sulfur from the Tengchong volcanic area
• Calcite and quartz from workings such as the Lanwen Mine

Typical specimen style

Color-first material: saturated blues and pinks in botryoidal, fibrous, and needle habits. Combination pairs — cobaltoan calcite with hemimorphite — are a Yunnan specialty.

Collector value

Hemimorphite color saturation sets the price ladder; undamaged botryoidal crusts with deep sky-blue tone lead. Tengchong sulfur offers sharp crystals at entry-level prices.

From our inventory

Browse Yunnan specimens or the hemimorphite guide.

Gejiu and the tin district

Alongside its colourful secondary minerals, Yunnan is one of China's principal tin provinces. The Gejiu field in the south-east — long called the tin capital of China, with ore areas such as Malage, Songshujiao, Laochang and Kafang — yields cassiterite as its main ore, and well-crystallised cassiterite on matrix from Gejiu is sought after by collectors. The Dongchuan district to the north is an important copper area.