Sulfate minerals

Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, drywall and blackboard or sidewalk chalk. Gypsum also crystallizes as translucent crystals of selenite. It forms as an evaporite mineral and as a hydration product of anhydrite. The Mohs scale of mineral hardness defines gypsum as hardness value 2 based on scratch hardness comparison.

thumb|upright=1.5|Crystal of potassium alum,

thumb|Calcite alabaster: The tomb of Tutankhamun (d. 1323 BC) contained a practical objet d’art, a cosmetics jar made of Egyptian alabaster, which features a lid surmounted by a lioness (goddess Bast).

Baryte or barite ( ), also called barytes ( ), is a mineral consisting of barium sulfate (BaSO4). Baryte is generally white or colorless, and is the main source of the element barium. The baryte group consists of baryte, celestine (strontium sulfate), anglesite (lead sulfate), and anhydrite (calcium sulfate). Baryte and celestine form a solid solution .

Anhydrite, or anhydrous calcium sulfate, is a mineral with the chemical formula CaSO4. It is in the orthorhombic crystal system, with three directions of perfect cleavage parallel to the three planes of symmetry. It is not isomorphous with the orthorhombic barium (baryte) and strontium (celestine) sulfates, as might be expected from the chemical formulas. Distinctly developed crystals are somewhat rare, the mineral usually presenting the form of cleavage masses. The Mohs hardness is 3.5, and the specific gravity is 2.9. The color is white, sometimes greyish, bluish, or purple. On the best deve

strontium sulfate mineral

chemical compound

Anglesite is a lead sulfate mineral with the chemical formula PbSO4. It occurs as an oxidation product of primary lead sulfide ore, galena. Anglesite occurs as prismatic orthorhombic crystals and earthy masses, and is isomorphous with barite and celestine. It contains 74% of lead by mass and therefore has a high specific gravity of 6.3. Anglesite's color is white or gray with pale yellow streaks. It may be dark gray if impure.

Alunite is a hydroxylated aluminium potassium sulfate mineral, formula KAl3(SO4)2(OH)6. It was first observed in the 15th century at Tolfa, near Rome, where it was mined for the manufacture of alum. First called aluminilite by J.C. Delamétherie in 1797, this name was contracted by François Beudant three decades later to alunite. left|thumb|Alunite from Slovakia Alunite crystals morphologically are rhombohedra with interfacial angles of 90° 50', causing them to resemble cubes. Crystal symmetry is trigonal. Minute glistening crystals have also been found loose in cavities in altered rhyolite. Al

Chalcanthite (, ) is a richly colored blue-green water-soluble sulfate mineral . It is commonly found in the late-stage oxidation zones of copper deposits. Due to its ready solubility, chalcanthite is more common in arid regions.

rose-like formations of crystal clusters of gypsum or baryte which include abundant sand grains

cave in Mexico

mineral variety

Brochantite is a sulfate mineral, one of a number of cupric sulfates. Its chemical formula is Cu4SO4(OH)6. Formed in arid climates or in rapidly oxidizing copper sulfide deposits, it was named by Armand Lévy for his fellow Frenchman, geologist and mineralogist A. J. M. Brochant de Villiers.

Kainite ( or ) (KMg(SO4)Cl·3H2O) is an evaporite mineral in the class of "Sulfates (selenates, etc.) with additional anions, with H2O" according to the Nickel–Strunz classification. It is a hydrated potassium-magnesium sulfate-chloride, naturally occurring in irregular granular masses or as crystalline coatings in cavities or fissures. This mineral is dull and soft, and is colored white, yellowish, grey, reddish, or blue to violet. Its name is derived from Greek [kainos] ("(hitherto) unknown"), as it was the first mineral discovered that contained both sulfate and chloride as anions. Kainite f

Epsomite, Epsom salt, or magnesium sulfate heptahydrate, is a hydrous magnesium sulfate mineral with formula .

Melanterite is a mineral form of hydrous iron(II) sulfate: FeSO4·7H2O. It is the iron analogue of the copper sulfate chalcanthite. It alters to siderotil by loss of water. It is a secondary sulfate mineral which forms from the oxidation of primary sulfide minerals such as pyrite and marcasite in the near-surface environment. It often occurs as a post mine encrustation on old underground mine surfaces. It also occurs in coal and lignite seams exposed to humid air and as a rare sublimate phase around volcanic fumaroles. Associated minerals include pisanite, chalcanthite, epsomite, pickeringite,

Mirabilite, also known as Glauber's salt, is a hydrous sodium sulfate mineral with the chemical formula Na2SO4·10H2O. It is a vitreous, colorless to white monoclinic mineral that forms as an evaporite from sodium sulfate-bearing brines. It is found around saline springs and along saline playa lakes. Associated minerals include gypsum, halite, thenardite, trona, glauberite, and epsomite.

Kieserite, or magnesium sulfate monohydrate, is a hydrous magnesium sulfate mineral with formula (MgSO4·H2O).

Thénardite is an anhydrous sodium sulfate mineral, Na2SO4 which occurs in arid evaporite environments, specifically lakes and playas. It also occurs in dry caves and old mine workings as an efflorescence and as a crusty sublimate deposit around fumaroles. It occurs in volcanic caves on Mount Etna, Italy. It was first described in 1825 for an occurrence in the Espartinas Saltworks in Ciempozuelos, Spain, by the Spanish chemist José Luis Casaseca (1800 - 1869). Casaseca named the mineral after his master, the French chemist Louis Jacques Thénard (1777–1857).

Aluminite is a hydrous aluminium sulfate mineral with formula: Al2SO4(OH)4·7H2O. It is an earthy white to gray-white monoclinic mineral which almost never exhibits crystal form. It forms botryoidal to mammillary clay-like masses. It has a very soft Mohs hardness of 1–2 and a specific gravity of 1.66–1.82. thumb|left|An outcrop of aluminite at the top of the white chalk of the cliff at Newhaven, East Sussex, England.

Nosean, also known as noselite, is a mineral of the feldspathoid group with formula: . It forms isometric crystals of variable color: white, grey, blue, green, to brown. It has a Mohs hardness of 5.5 to 6 and a specific gravity of 2.3 to 2.4. It is fluorescent. It is found in low-silica igneous rocks. There is a solid solution between nosean and hauyne, which contains calcium.

Ettringite is a hydrous calcium aluminium sulfate mineral with formula: . It is a colorless to yellow mineral crystallizing in the trigonal system. The prismatic crystals are typically colorless, turning white on partial dehydration. It is part of the ettringite-group which includes other sulfates such as thaumasite and bentorite.

Glauberite is a monoclinic sodium calcium sulfate mineral with the formula Na2Ca(SO4)2.

Polyhalite is an evaporite mineral, a hydrated sulfate of potassium, calcium and magnesium with formula: . Polyhalite crystallizes in the triclinic system, although crystals are very rare. The normal habit is massive to fibrous. It is typically colorless, white to gray, although it may be brick red due to iron oxide inclusions. It has a Mohs hardness of 3.5 and a specific gravity of 2.8. It is used as a valuable fertilizer.

Linarite is a somewhat rare, crystalline mineral that is known among mineral collectors for its unusually intense, pure blue color. It is formed by the oxidation of galena and chalcopyrite and other copper sulfides. It is a combined copper lead sulfate hydroxide with formula PbCuSO4(OH)2. Linarite occurs as monoclinic prismatic to tabular crystals and irregular masses. It is easily confused with azurite, but does not react with dilute hydrochloric acid as azurite does. It has a Mohs hardness of 2.5 and a specific gravity of 5.3 – 5.5.

Beudandite is a secondary mineral occurring in the oxidized zones of polymetallic deposits. It is a lead, iron, arsenate, sulfate with endmember formula: PbFe3(OH)6SO4AsO4.

Copiapite is a hydrated iron sulfate mineral with formula: Fe2+Fe3+4(SO4)6(OH)2·20(H2O). Copiapite can also refer to a mineral group, the copiapite group.

Cyanotrichite is a hydrous copper aluminium sulfate mineral with formula Cu4Al2[(OH)12|SO4]·2H2O, also known as lettsomite. Cyanotrichite forms velvety radial acicular crystal aggregates of extremely fine fibers. It crystallizes in the monoclinic system and forms translucent bright blue acicular crystal clusters or drusey coatings. The Mohs hardness is 2 and the specific gravity ranges from 2.74 to 2.95. Refractive indices are nα = 1.588 nβ = 1.617 nγ = 1.655.

Alunogen (from French alun, "alum"), also called feather alum and hair salt is a colourless to white (although often coloured by impurities, such as iron substituting for aluminium) fibrous to needle-like aluminium sulfate mineral. It has the chemical formula Al2(SO4)3·17H2O.

Halotrichite, also known as feather alum, is a highly hydrated sulfate of aluminium and iron. Its chemical formula is . It forms fibrous monoclinic crystals. The crystals are water-soluble.

Leadhillite is a lead sulfate carbonate hydroxide mineral, often associated with anglesite. It has the formula Pb4SO4(CO3)2(OH)2. Leadhillite crystallises in the monoclinic system, but develops pseudo-hexagonal forms due to crystal twinning. It forms transparent to translucent variably coloured crystals with an adamantine lustre. It is quite soft with a Mohs hardness of 2.5 and a relatively high specific gravity of 6.26 to 6.55.

Devilline is a sulfate mineral with the chemical formula CaCu4(SO4)2(OH)6·3H2O. The name originates from the French chemist's name, Henri Etienne Sainte-Claire Deville (1818–1881).

Blödite or bloedite is a hydrated sodium magnesium sulfate mineral with the formula Na2Mg(SO4)2·4H2O. The mineral is clear to yellow in color often darkened by inclusions and forms monoclinic crystals.

thumb|Putnisite (animation) Putnisite is a mineral composed of strontium, calcium, chromium, sulfur, carbon, oxygen and hydrogen. It was discovered on the Polar Bear Peninsula in Shire of Dundas, Western Australia in 2007 during mining activity. Following identification and recognition by the IMA in 2012 the mineral was named after mineralogists Andrew and Christine Putnis. The formal description was published in 2014.

Antlerite is a greenish hydrous copper sulfate mineral, with the formula Cu3(SO4)(OH)4. It occurs in tabular, acicular, or fibrous crystals with a vitreous luster. Originally believed to be a rare mineral, antlerite was found to be the primary ore of the oxidised zones in several copper mines across the world, including the Chuquicamata mine in Chile, and the Antler mine in Arizona, US from which it takes its name. It is chemically and optically similar in many respects to other copper minerals such as malachite and brochantite, though it can be distinguished from the former by a lack of effer

Langite is a rare hydrated copper sulfate mineral, with hydroxyl, found almost exclusively in druses of small crystals. It is formed from the oxidation of copper sulfides, and was first described in specimens from Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is dimorphous with wroewolfeite. Langite was discovered in 1864 and named after the physicist and crystallographer Viktor von Lang (1838–1921), who was Professor of Physics at the University of Vienna, Austria.

Thaumasite is a calcium silicate mineral, containing Si atoms in unusual octahedral configuration, with chemical formula Ca3Si(OH)6(CO3)(SO4)·12H2O, also sometimes more simply written as CaSiO3·CaCO3·CaSO4·15H2O.

Caledonite, whose name derives from Caledonia, the historical name of its place of discovery (Scotland), is a richly colored blue-green sulfate-carbonate mineral of lead and copper with an orthorhombic crystal structure. It is an uncommon mineral found in the oxidized zones of copper-lead deposits.

Bentorite is a mineral with the chemical formula . It is colored violet to light violet. Its crystals are hexagonal to dihexagonal dipyramidal. It is transparent and has vitreous luster. It has perfect cleavage. It is not radioactive. Bentorite is rated 2 on the Mohs scale.

Langbeinite is a potassium magnesium sulfate mineral with the chemical formula K2Mg2(SO4)3. Langbeinite crystallizes in the isometric-tetartoidal (cubic) system as transparent colorless or white with pale tints of yellow to green and violet crystalline masses. It has a vitreous luster. The Mohs hardness is 3.5 to 4 and the specific gravity is 2.83. The crystals are piezoelectric.

Goslarite is a hydrated zinc sulfate mineral () which was first found in the Rammelsberg mine, Goslar, Harz, Germany. It was described in 1847. Goslarite belongs to the epsomite group which also includes epsomite () and morenosite (). Goslarite is an unstable mineral at the surface and will dehydrate to other minerals like bianchite (), boyleite () and gunningite ().

Lanarkite is a mineral, a form of lead sulfate with formula Pb2(SO4)O. It was originally found at Leadhills in the Scottish county of Lanarkshire, hence the name. It forms white or light green, acicular monoclinic prismatic crystals, usually microscopic in size. It is an oxidation product of galena.

Picromerite (synonyms: schoenite, schönite) is a mineral from the class of hydrous sulfates lacking additional anions, and containing medium to large cations according to the Nickel–Strunz classification.

Botryogen is a hydrous magnesium sulfate mineral with formula: MgFe3+(SO4)2(OH)·7H2O. It is also known as quetenite.

Bassanite is a sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate hemihydrate, with the chemical formula or . It has half a water molecule per CaSO4 unit.

Siderotil is an iron(II) sulfate hydrate mineral with formula: FeSO4·5H2O which forms by the dehydration of melanterite. Copper commonly occurs substituting for iron in the structure. It typically occurs as fibrous or powdery encrustations, but may also occur as acicular triclinic crystals.

Johannite is a rare uranium sulfate mineral. It crystallizes in the triclinic crystal system with the chemical composition Cu[UO2(OH)SO4]2·8H2O. It crystallizes in the triclinic system and develops only small prism or thin to thick tabular crystals, usually occurs as flaky or spheroidal aggregates and efflorescent coatings. Its color is emerald-green to apple-green and its streak is pale green.

Pickeringite is a magnesium aluminium sulfate mineral with formula MgAl2(SO4)4·22(H2O). It forms a series with halotrichite.

Connellite is a rare mineral species, a hydrous copper chloro-sulfate, Cu19(OH)32(SO4)Cl4·3H2O, crystallizing in the hexagonal system. It occurs as tufts of very delicate acicular crystals of a fine blue color, and is associated with other copper minerals of secondary origin, such as cuprite and malachite. Its occurrence in Cornwall, England was noted by Philip Rashleigh in 1802, and it was first examined chemically by Prof Arthur Connell FRSE in 1847, after whom it is named.

any mineral of Nickel–Strunz 9 ed mineral class number 7 (isolated tetrahedral units, mainly)

Uranopilite is a minor ore of uranium with the chemistry (UO2)6SO4(OH)6O2·14H2O or, hydrated uranyl sulfate hydroxide.

Zippeite is a hydrous potassium uranium sulfate mineral with formula: K4(UO2)6(SO4)3(OH)10·4(H2O). It forms yellow to reddish brown monoclinic-prismatic crystals with perfect cleavage. The typical form is as encrustations and pulverulent earthy masses. It forms as efflorescent encrustations in underground uranium mines. It has a Mohs hardness of 2 and a specific gravity of 3.66. It is strongly fluorescent yellow under ultraviolet light and is moderately radioactive.

Svanbergite is a colorless, yellow or reddish mineral with the chemical formula SrAl3(PO4)(SO4)(OH)6. It has rhombohedral crystals.

Posnjakite is a hydrated copper sulfate mineral. It was discovered in the Tungsten deposit of Nura-Taldy in Karaganda Region in Kazakhstan and described in 1967 by Aleksandr Ivanovich Komkov (1926–1987) and Yevgenii Ivanovich Nefedov (1910–1976) and named after geochemist Eugene Valdemar Posnjak (1888–1949).

Hanksite is a sulfate mineral, distinguished as one of only a handful that contain both carbonate and sulfate ions (a sulfate carbonate). It has the chemical formula Na22K(SO4)9(CO3)2Cl.

Corkite is a phosphate mineral in the beudantite subgroup of the alunite group. Corkite is the phosphate analogue of beudantite and with it, a complete solid solution range exists. Corkite will also form a solid solution with kintoreite.

Osarizawaite is a greenish yellow sulfate mineral with the chemical formula: PbCuAl2(SO4)2(OH)6. It has rhombohedral crystals.

Arcanite is a potassium sulfate mineral with formula K2SO4.

Bukovskyite (also known as "clay of Kutná Hora") is an iron arsenate sulfate mineral with formula: Fe2(AsO4)(SO4)(OH)·7H2O which forms nodules with a reniform (kidney-shaped) surface. Under a microscope, these nodules appear as a collection of minute needles similar to gypsum. Some can be seen with the naked eye and occur inside the nodules.