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Smithsonite
Smithsonite, also known as zinc spar, is the mineral form of zinc carbonate ( Zn CO3). 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 chemist and mineralogist James Smithson (c.1765–1829), who first identified the mineral in 1802. Smithsonite is a variably colored trigonal mineral which only rarely is found in well formed crystals. The typical habit is as earthy botryoidal masses. It has a Mohs hardness of 4.5 and a specific gravity of 4.4 to 4.5. Smithsonite occurs as a secondary mineral in the weathering or oxidation zone of zinc-bearing ore deposits. It sometimes occurs as replacement bodies in carbonate rocks and as such may constitute zinc ore. It commonly occurs in association with he ...
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Calamine (mineral)
Calamine is a historic name for an ore of zinc. The name ''calamine'' was derived from ''lapis calaminaris'', a Latin corruption of Greek ''cadmia (καδμία)'', the old name for zinc ores in general. The name of the Belgian town of Kelmis, ''La Calamine'' in French, which was home to a zinc mine, comes from this. In the 18th and 19th centuries large ore mines could be found near the German village of Breinigerberg. During the early 19th century it was discovered that what had been thought to be one ore was actually two distinct minerals: * Zinc carbonate Zn C O3 or smithsonite and * Zinc silicate Zn4 Si2O7(O H)2·H2O or hemimorphite. Although chemically and crystallographically quite distinct, the two minerals exhibit similar massive or botryoidal external form and are not readily distinguished without detailed chemical or physical analysis. The first person to separate the minerals was the British chemist and mineralogist James Smithson in 1803. In the mining industry ...
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James Smithson
James Smithson (c. 1765 – 27 June 1829) was an English chemist and mineralogist. He published numerous scientific papers for the Royal Society during the late 1700s as well as assisting in the development of calamine, which would eventually be renamed after him as "smithsonite". He was the founding donor of the Smithsonian Institution, which also bears his name. Born in Paris, France, as the illegitimate child of Elizabeth Hungerford Keate Macie and Hugh Percy, the 1st Duke of Northumberland, he was given the French name Jacques-Louis Macie. His birth date was not recorded and the exact location of his birth is unknown; it is possibly in the Pentemont Abbey. Shortly after his birth he naturalized to Britain where his name was anglicized to James Louis Macie. He adopted his father's original surname of Smithson in 1800, following his mother's death. He attended university at Pembroke College, Oxford in 1782, eventually graduating with a Master of Arts in 1786. As a student ...
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Zinc
Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic table. In some respects, zinc is chemically similar to magnesium: both elements exhibit only one normal oxidation state (+2), and the Zn2+ and Mg2+ ions are of similar size.The elements are from different metal groups. See periodic table. Zinc is the 24th most abundant element in Earth's crust and has five stable isotopes. The most common zinc ore is sphalerite (zinc blende), a zinc sulfide mineral. The largest workable lodes are in Australia, Asia, and the United States. Zinc is refined by froth flotation of the ore, roasting, and final extraction using electricity ( electrowinning). Zinc is an essential trace element for humans, animals, plants and for microorganisms and is necessary for prenatal and postnatal development. It ...
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Siderite
Siderite is a mineral composed of iron(II) carbonate (FeCO3). It takes its name from the Greek word σίδηρος ''sideros,'' "iron". It is a valuable iron mineral, since it is 48% iron and contains no sulfur or phosphorus. Zinc, magnesium and manganese commonly substitute for the iron resulting in the siderite-smithsonite, siderite- magnesite and siderite-rhodochrosite solid solution series. Siderite has Mohs hardness of 3.75-4.25, a specific gravity of 3.96, a white streak and a vitreous lustre or pearly luster. Siderite is antiferromagnetic below its Néel temperature of 37 K which can assist in its identification. It crystallizes in the trigonal crystal system, and are rhombohedral in shape, typically with curved and striated faces. It also occurs in masses. Color ranges from yellow to dark brown or black, the latter being due to the presence of manganese. Siderite is commonly found in hydrothermal veins, and is associated with barite, fluorite, galena, and others. It i ...
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Botryoidal
A botryoidal ( ) texture or mineral habit, is one in which the mineral has an external form composed of many rounded segments, named for the Ancient Greek (), meaning "a bunch of grapes".Adjective form: ''botruoeidēs'' This is a common form for many minerals, particularly hematite and malachite, which are known for frequently forming botryoidal masses. It is also a common form of goethite, smithsonite, fluorite, and chrysocolla. Similar habits are ''reniform'' (kidney-shaped) and ''mammillary'' (breast-shaped or partial spheres). Formation Minerals take on a botryoidal habit when they form in an environment containing many nuclei, specks of sand, dust, or other particulate matter to serve as sources of crystal nucleation. Acicular or fibrous crystals grow outward from these "seeds" at the same or very similar rate, resulting in radial crystal growth. As these spheres grow, they can run into or overlap with others that are nearby, fusing together to form a botryoidal clust ...
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Aurichalcite
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. Occurrence Aurichalcite typically occurs in the oxidized zone of copper and zinc deposits. Associated minerals include: rosasite, smithsonite, hemimorphite, hydrozincite, malachite and azurite. It was first described in 1839 by Bottger who named the mineral for its zinc and copper content after the Greek ''όρειχαλκος'', for "mountain brass" or "mountain copper", the name of ''orichalcum'', a fabulous metal, mentioned in the legend of the mythic lost continent Atlantis. The type locality is the Loktevskoye Mine, Upper Loktevka River, Rudnyi Altai, Altaiskii Krai, Western Siberia, Russia. Crystallography Aurichalcite displays prismatic An optical prism is a transparent optical element with flat, polished surfaces that are designed to refract light. At least one surface must be angled — elements ...
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Willemite
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. It was discovered in 1829 in the Belgian Vieille-Montagne mine. Armand Lévy was shown samples by a student at the university where he was teaching. Lévy named it after William I of the Netherlands (it is occasionally spelled villemite). The troostite variety is named after Dutch-American mineralogist Gerard Troost. Occurrence Willemite is usually formed as an alteration of previously existing sphalerite ore bodies, and is usually associated with limestone. It is also found in marble and may be the result of a metamorphism of earlier hemimorphite or smithsonite. Crystals have the form of hexagonal prisms terminated by rhombohedral planes: ...
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Hydrozincite
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. It occurs as an oxidation product of zinc ores and as post mine incrustations. It occurs associated with smithsonite, hemimorphite, willemite, cerussite, aurichalcite, calcite and limonite. It was first described in 1853 for an occurrence in Bad Bleiberg, Carinthia, Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ... and named for its chemical content. References Mineral galleries data Carbonate minerals Zinc minerals Monoclinic minerals Minerals in space group 12 Luminescent minerals Minerals described in 1853 {{carbonate-mineral-stub ...
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Hemimorphite
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. The silicate was the rarer of the two and was named ''hemimorphite'' because of the hemimorph development of its crystals. This unusual form, which is typical of only a few minerals, means that the crystals are terminated by dissimilar faces. Hemimorphite most commonly forms crystalline crusts and layers, also massive, granular, rounded and reniform aggregates, concentrically striated, or finely needle-shaped, fibrous or stalactitic, and rarely fan-shaped clusters of crystals. Some specimens show stro ...
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Zinc Carbonate
Zinc carbonate is the inorganic compound with the formula ZnCO3. It is a white solid that is insoluble in water. It exists in nature as the mineral smithsonite. It is prepared by treating cold solutions of zinc sulfate with potassium bicarbonate. Upon warming, it converts to basic zinc carbonate (Zn5(CO3)2(OH)6). Zinc carbonate adopts the same structure as calcium carbonate. Zinc is octahedral and each carbonate is bonded to six Zn centers such that oxygen atoms are three-coordinate. References Cited sources * zinc carbonate A carbonate is a salt of carbonic acid (H2CO3), characterized by the presence of the carbonate ion, a polyatomic ion with the formula . The word ''carbonate'' may also refer to a carbonate ester, an organic compound containing the carbonate g ...
{{Inorganic-compound-stub ...
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Manganese
Manganese is a chemical element with the symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese is a transition metal with a multifaceted array of industrial alloy uses, particularly in stainless steels. It improves strength, workability, and resistance to wear. Manganese oxide is used as an oxidising agent; as a rubber additive; and in glass making, fertilisers, and ceramics. Manganese sulfate can be used as a fungicide. Manganese is also an essential human dietary element, important in macronutrient metabolism, bone formation, and free radical defense systems. It is a critical component in dozens of proteins and enzymes. It is found mostly in the bones, but also the liver, kidneys, and brain. In the human brain, the manganese is bound to manganese metalloproteins, most notably glutamine synthetase in astrocytes. Manganese was first isolated in 1774. It is familiar in the laboratory in the form of the ...
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Anglesite
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. It was first recognized as a mineral species by William Withering in 1783, who discovered it in the Parys copper-mine in Anglesey; the name anglesite, from this locality, was given by F. S. Beudant in 1832. The crystals from Anglesey, which were formerly found abundantly on a matrix of dull limonite, are small in size and simple in form, being usually bounded by four faces of a prism and four faces of a dome; they are brownish-yellow in colour owing to a stain of limonite. Crystals from some other localities, notably from in Sardinia, are transparent and ...
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