Zinc minerals

Sphalerite is a sulfide mineral with the chemical formula . It is the most important ore of zinc. Sphalerite is found in a variety of deposit types, but it is primarily in sedimentary exhalative, Mississippi-Valley type, and volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits. It is found in association with galena, chalcopyrite, pyrite (and other sulfides), calcite, dolomite, quartz, rhodochrosite, and fluorite.

Smithsonite, also known as zinc spar, is the mineral form of zinc carbonate (ZnCO3). Historically, smithsonite was identified with hemimorphite before it was realized that they were two different minerals. The two minerals are very similar in appearance and the term calamine has been used for both, leading to some confusion. The distinct mineral smithsonite was named in 1832 by François Sulpice Beudant in honor of English scientist James Smithson (c. 1765–1829), who first identified the mineral in 1802.

Adamite is a zinc arsenate hydroxide mineral, Zn2AsO4OH. It is a mineral that typically occurs in the oxidized or weathered zone above zinc ore occurrences. Pure adamite is colorless, but usually it possess yellow color due to Fe compounds admixture. Tints of green also occur and are connected with copper substitutions in the mineral structure. Olivenite is a copper arsenate that is isostructural with adamite and there is considerable substitution between zinc and copper resulting in an intermediate called cuproadamite. Zincolivenite is an intermediate mineral with formula CuZn(AsO4)(OH). Mang

Staurolite is a reddish brown to black, mostly opaque, nesosilicate mineral with a white streak. It crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system, has a Mohs hardness of 7 to 7.5 and the chemical formula: Fe2+2Al9O6(SiO4)4(O,OH)2. Magnesium, zinc and manganese substitute in the iron site and trivalent iron can substitute for aluminium.

Wurtzite is a zinc and iron sulfide mineral with the chemical formula , a less frequently encountered structural polymorph form of sphalerite. The iron content is variable up to eight percent. It is trimorphous with matraite and sphalerite.

Willemite is a zinc silicate mineral () and a minor ore of zinc. It is highly fluorescent (green) under shortwave ultraviolet light. It occurs in a variety of colors in daylight, in fibrous masses and apple-green gemmy masses. Troostite is a variant in which part of the zinc is partly replaced by manganese, it occurs in solid brown masses.

Hemimorphite is the chemical compound Zn4(Si2O7)(OH)2·H2O, a component of mineral calamine. It is a silicate mineral which, together with smithsonite (ZnCO3), has been historically mined from the upper parts of zinc and lead ores. Both compounds were originally believed to be the same mineral and classified as calamine. In the second half of the 18th century, it was discovered that these two different compounds were both present in calamine. They closely resemble one another.

Zincite is the mineral form of zinc oxide (ZnO). Its crystal form is rare in nature; a notable exception to this is at the Franklin and Sterling Hill Mines in New Jersey, an area also famed for its many fluorescent minerals. It has a hexagonal crystal structure and a color that depends on the presence of impurities. The zincite found at the Franklin Furnace is red-colored, mostly due to iron and manganese dopants, and associated with willemite and franklinite.

Aurichalcite is a carbonate mineral, usually found as a secondary mineral in copper and zinc deposits. Its chemical formula is . The zinc to copper ratio is about 5:4. Copper (Cu2+) gives aurichalcite its green-blue colors.

Gahnite, ZnAl2O4, is a rare mineral belonging to the spinel group. It forms octahedral crystals which may be green, blue, yellow, brown or grey. It often forms as an alteration product of sphalerite in altered massive sulphide deposits such as at Broken Hill, Australia. Other occurrences include Falun, Sweden where it is found in pegmatites and skarns; and, in the United States, Charlemont, Massachusetts; Spruce Pine, North Carolina; White Picacho district, Arizona; Topsham, Maine; and Franklin, New Jersey.

zinc ore group

Hydrozincite, also known as zinc bloom or marionite, is a white carbonate mineral consisting of Zn5(CO3)2(OH)6. It is usually found in massive rather than crystalline form.

Descloizite is a rare mineral species consisting of basic lead and zinc vanadate, , crystallizing in the orthorhombic crystal system and isomorphous with olivenite. Appreciable gallium and germanium may also be incorporated into the crystal structure.

Rosasite is a carbonate mineral with minor potential for use as a zinc and copper ore. Chemically, it is a copper zinc carbonate hydroxide with a copper to zinc ratio of 3:2, occurring in the secondary oxidation zone of copper-zinc deposits. It was originally discovered in 1908 in the Rosas mine in Sardinia, Italy, and is named after the location. Fibrous blue-green rosasite crystals are usually found in globular aggregates, often associated with red limonite and other colorful minerals. It is very similar to aurichalcite, but can be distinguished by its superior hardness.

Franklinite is an oxide mineral belonging to the normal spinel subgroup's iron (Fe) series, with the formula ZnFe3+2O4.

Phosphophyllite is a rare phosphate mineral with the chemical formula . It is prized among mineral collectors for its delicate bluish green colour, but rarely cut due to its difficult properties.

Legrandite is a rare zinc arsenate mineral, Zn2(AsO4)(OH)·(H2O).

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 ().

Minrecordite, CaZn(CO3)2, is a very rare mineral belonging to the dolomite group, the member with Ca and Zn. It was discovered, associated with dioptase, in a specimen from the Tsumeb mine (Namibia), which is consequently its type locality. Its name is a tribute to The Mineralogical Record magazine, representing the collaboration between professional and amateur mineralogists. In this locality it is associated primarily with dioptase, and less frequently with duftite, calcite and malachite. It is a rare mineral, which has been found only in a few deposits in the world. In addition to the type

Briartite is an opaque iron-grey metallic sulfide mineral, with traces of Ga and Sn, found as inclusions in other germanium-gallium-bearing sulfides.

Tsumcorite is a rare hydrated lead arsenate mineral that was discovered in 1971, and reported by Geier, Kautz and Muller. It was named after the TSUMeb CORporation mine at Tsumeb, in Namibia, in recognition of the Corporation's support for mineralogical investigations of the orebody at its Mineral Research Laboratory.

Renierite is a rare copper zinc germanium bearing sulfide mineral with the chemical formula . It occurs at the Kipushi Mine, Democratic Republic of the Congo; and Namibia, among other places.

Quetzalcoatlite is a rare tellurium oxysalt mineral with the formula Zn6Cu3(TeO6)2(OH)6 · AgxPbyClx+2y. It also contains large amounts of silver- and lead(II)chloride with the formula AgxPbyClx+2y (x+y≤2). It has a Mohs hardness of 3 and it crystallizes in the trigonal system. It has a deep blue color. It was named after Quetzalcoatl, the Aztec and Toltec god of the sea, alluding to its color. It is not to be confused with tlalocite, which has a similar color and habit.

Hopeite is a hydrated zinc phosphate with formula: Zn3(PO4)2·4H2O. It is a rare mineral used mainly as a collectors specimen.

Fraipontite is a zinc aluminium silicate mineral with a formula of .

Esperite is a rare complex calcium lead zinc silicate (PbCa3Zn4(SiO4)4) related to beryllonite and trimerite that used to be called calcium larsenite.

Zemannite is a very rare oxide mineral with the chemical formula Mg0.5ZnFe3+[TeO3]3·4.5H2O. It crystallizes in the hexagonal crystal system and forms small prismatic brown crystals. Because of the rarity and small crystal size, zemannite has no applications and serves as a collector's item.

Tarbuttite is a rare phosphate mineral with formula Zn2(PO4)(OH). It was discovered in 1907 in what is now Zambia and named for Percy Coventry Tarbutt.

Warikahnite is a rare zinc arsenate mineral of the triclinic crystal system with Hermann-Mauguin notation , belonging to the space group P. It occurs in the Tsumeb mine in Namibia on corroded tennantite in the second oxidation zone under hydrothermal conditions in a dolomite-hosted polymetallic ore deposit. It is associated with adamite, stranskiite, koritnigite, claudetite, tsumcorite, and ludlockite. The origin of discovery was in a dolomite ore formation within an oxidized hydrothermal zone, in the E9 pillar, 31st level of the Tsumeb Mine in Namibia, Southwest Africa. It has also been found

Zhanghengite is a mineral consisting of 80% copper and zinc, 10% iron, and 10% chromium and aluminium. Its color is golden yellow. It was discovered in 1986 during the analysis of the Bo Xian meteorite and is named after Zhang Heng, an ancient Chinese astronomer.

Kalininite (ZnCr2S4) is a thiospinel mineral found in Russia in 1985 in the Pereval Marble Quarry, Slyudyanka (Sludyanka), Lake Baikal area, Irkutskaya Oblast', Prebaikalia (Pribaikal'e), Eastern-Siberian Region. It was named for P. V. Kalinin, Russian mineralogist and petrologist, investigator of the southern Baikal region.

Zincmelanterite is a mineral, a sulfate of zinc, copper and iron with the chemical formula . It is a soft monoclinic yellow green mineral with Mohs hardness of 2 and a specific gravity of 2.02.

Danbaite is a native element mineral of copper and zinc. It was first described in 1982.

Stilleite is a selenide mineral, zinc selenide, with the formula ZnSe. It has been found only as microscopic gray crystals occurring as inclusions in linnaeite associated with other selenide and sulfides. It was originally discovered in Katanga Province, Zaire in 1956 and is named for the German geologist, Hans Stille (1876–1966).

Gunningite is one of the minerals in the Kieserite group, with the chemical formula . Its name honours Henry Cecil Gunning (1901–1991) of the Geological Survey of Canada and a professor at the University of British Columbia.

Herbertsmithite is a rhombohedral green-coloured mineral with chemical formula ZnCu3(OH)6Cl2. It is named after the mineralogist Herbert Smith (1872–1953) and was first found in 1972 in Chile. It is polymorphous with kapellasite and closely related to paratacamite. Herbertsmithite has also been found near Anarak, Iran, hence its other name, anarakite.

Zincochromite is a zinc chromium oxide mineral with the formula ZnCr2O4. It is the zinc analogue of chromite, hence the name. It was first described in 1987 as an occurrence in a uranium deposit near Lake Onega, Russia. It has also been reported from Dolo Hill, New South Wales, Australia, and from the Tarkwa Mine in the Ashanti gold belt of Ghana.

Brianyoungite is a secondary zinc carbonate mineral. The Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification (CNMNC) of the International Mineralogical Association (IMA) classifies it as a carbonate with the formula , but sulfate groups SO4 also occupy the carbonate CO3 positions, in the ratio of about one sulfate to three carbonates, so other sources give the formula as , and Gaines et al. classify the mineral as a compound carbonate. It is similar in appearance to hydrozincite, another zinc carbonate. It was discovered in 1991 and designated IMA1991-053. In 1993 it was named "briany

Keyite is a mineral with the chemical formula . The name comes from Charles Locke Key (born 1935), an American mineral dealer who furnished its first specimens. Keyite is monoclinic-prismatic, meaning its crystal form has three unequal axes, two of which have 90° angles between them and one with an angle less than 90°. Keyite belongs to the biaxial optical class, meaning it has more than one axis of anisotropy (optic axis), in which light travels with zero birefringence, and three indices of refraction, nα = 1.800, nβ, and nγ = 1.870. Being a very rare cadmium copper arsenate, keyite is only f

Paradamite is a very rare zinc arsenate mineral with the chemical formula Zn2(AsO4)(OH). It is closely related to the better-known mineral adamite: both have the same chemical composition, but the atoms are arranged differently in the crystals. Because of this different structure, paradamite and adamite belong to different crystal systems (triclinic for paradamite, orthorhombic for adamite) and are considered polymorphs of each other.

Hardystonite is a rare calcium zinc silicate mineral first described from the Franklin, New Jersey, U.S. zinc deposits. It often contains lead, which was detrimental to the zinc smelting process, so it was not a useful ore mineral. Like many of the famous Franklin minerals, hardystonite responds to short wave ultraviolet (254 nm wavelength) light, emitting a fluorescence from dark purple to bright violet blue. In daylight, it is white to gray to light pink in color, sometimes with a vitreous or greasy luster. It is very rarely found as well formed crystals, and these are usually rectangul

Tlalocite is a rare and complex tellurate mineral with the formula Cu10Zn6(TeO4)2(TeO3)(OH)25Cl · 27 H2O. It has a Mohs hardness of 1, and a cyan color. It was named after Tlaloc, the Aztec god of rain, in allusion to the high amount of water contained within the crystal structure. It is not to be confused with quetzalcoatlite, which often looks similar in color and habit.

Alvanite (IMA symbol: Alv) is a zinc nickel aluminium vanadate mineral with the chemical formula O. It was originally discovered in the Karatau Mountains.

Köttigite is a rare hydrated zinc arsenate which was discovered in 1849 and named by James Dwight Dana in 1850 in honour of Otto Friedrich Köttig (18241892), a German chemist from Schneeberg, Saxony, who made the first chemical analysis of the mineral. It has the formula and it is a dimorph of metaköttigite, which means that the two minerals have the same formula, but a different structure: köttigite is monoclinic and metaköttigite is triclinic. There are several minerals with similar formulae but with other cations in place of the zinc. Iron forms parasymplesite ; cobalt forms the distinctiv

Sauconite is a complex phyllosilicate mineral of the smectite clay group, formula Na0.3Zn3(SiAl)4O10(OH)2·4H2O. It forms soft earthy bluish white to red-brown monoclinic crystals typically massive to micaceous in habit. It has a Mohs hardness of 1 to 2 and a specific gravity of 2.45. Optically it is biaxial positive with refractive index values of nα = 1.550 – 1.580, nβ = 1.590 – 1.620 and nγ = 1.590 – 1.620. It is found in vugs and seams in the oxidized zones of zinc and copper deposits. It occurs in association with hemimorphite, smithsonite, chrysocolla, coronadite and various iron oxides.

Arsendescloizite is a lead-zinc mineral, approved by the IMA in 1982. It is an arsenate analog of descloizite. Its first description was published in 1982.

Hemihedrite is a rare lead zinc chromate silicate mineral with formula Pb10Zn(CrO4)6(SiO4)2(F,OH)2. It forms a series with the copper analogue iranite.

Zincolivenite is a copper zinc arsenate mineral with formula CuZn(AsO4)(OH) that is a member of the olivenite group. Its colors range from green to blue, and its name comes from its composition of zinc and olivenite.

Cleusonite is a member of the crichtonite group of minerals with the chemical formula . This group of minerals contains approximately thirteen complex metal titanates. The structures of minerals of this group is complicated by frequent fine-scale twinning and metamictization due to radioactive elements. The crichtonite group consists of members of related mineral species of the type A{BC2D6E12}O38 which are characterized by their predominant cations (as seen in crichtonite (Sr), senaite (Pb), davidite (REE + U), landauite (Na), loveringite (Ca), lindsleyite (Ba), and mathiasite (K).

Clinohedrite is a rare silicate mineral. Its chemical composition is a hydrous calcium-zinc silicate; CaZn(SiO4)·H2O. It crystallizes in the monoclinic system and typically occurs as veinlets and fracture coatings. It is commonly colorless, white to pale amethyst in color. It has perfect cleavage and the crystalline habit has a brilliant luster. It has a Mohs hardness of 5.5 and a specific gravity of 3.28–3.33.

Nezhilovite is a magnetoplumbite mineral discovered in 1996 by Bermanec et al., who gave it the ideal elemental formula PbZn2(Mn4+, Ti4+)2Fe8O19. It forms black magnetic crystals up to 1mm with a tabular, hexagonal outline. The mineral is optically anisotropic, bireflectant and is paramagnetic. The minerals occurs in a matrix of "pink dolomitic marble from a Precambrian metamorphic complex of gneisses, schists and marbles in the Nezhilovo area" of the Pelagonian massif.

Chvilevaite (, in its own name) is a rare hydrothermal polymetallic mineral from the class of complex sulfides, forming microscopic grains in related minerals, its composition is a rare combination of alkali (combining lithophile) and chalcophile metals — sodium ferro-sulfide, zinc and copper with the calculation formula Na(Cu,Fe,Zn)2S4, originally published and confirmed as Na(Cu,Fe,Zn)2S2.

Junitoite is a mineral with formula CaZn2Si2O7·H2O. It was discovered at the Christmas mine in Christmas, Arizona, and described in 1976. The mineral is named for mineral chemist Jun Ito (1926–1978).

Mawbyite is a lead iron zinc arsenate that was named in honor of Maurice Alan Edgar Mawby. It has been approved by the IMA in 1988, and was published just a year after being described by Pring. Mawbyite is a member of the tsumcorite group, the monoclinic dimorph of carminite. It was first believed to be tsumcorite; however, crystal-structure determination showed iron and zinc occupying the same crystallographic site instead, and through the analysis it turned out mawbyite is isostructural with tsumcorite, meaning the two share a similar formula. More accurately, mawbyite appears to be the ferr

Ferraioloite is a rare mineral with formula MgMn2+4(Fe2+0.5Al0.5)4Zn4(PO4)8(OH)4(H2O)20. It is related to the phosphate mineral falsterite. Ferraioloite was found in pegmatites of the Foote Lithium Company Mine, Cleveland County, North Carolina, US. The name honors James (Jim) A. Ferraiolo (1947–2014).

Reinerite is a rare arsenite (arsenate(III)) mineral with chemical formula Zn3(AsO3)2. It crystallizes in the orthorhombic crystal system.

Zaccagnaite is a mineral, with a formula Zn4Al2CO3(OH)12·3H2O. It occurs as white hexagonal crystals associated with calcite in cavites in Carrara marble of the Italian Alps and is thought to have formed by hydrothermal alteration of sphalerite in an aluminium rich environment. It is named after Domenico Zaccagna (1851–1940), an Italian mineral collector.

Alterite (IMA symbol: Atr) is a yellow-green mineral with the chemical formula ZnFe(SO)(CO)(OH)·17HO. Its type locality is Coconino County, Arizona. It is found exclusively in logs that have mineralized.

Changoite is a rare zinc sulfate mineral with the formula Na2Zn(SO4)2·4H2O. Chagoite was discovered in the San Francisco Mine near Sierra Gorda, Antofagasta, Chile. The mineral is a zinc-analogue of blödite, cobaltoblödite, manganoblödite and nickelblödite - other representatives of the blödite group. In terms of chemistry changoite is somewhat similar to gordaite. The mineral's name comes from the Chango people, a group of early inhabitants of northern Chile.

Zincoberaunite is an iron and zinc phosphate mineral, the Zn analogue of beraunite. It was first described by Chukanov et al. for an occurrence in Hagendorf Sud pegmatite in Germany. Zincoberaunite occurs as a secondary mineral as an alteration product of primary phosphate minerals in granite pegmatites.