Reinerite is a rare

arsenite In chemistry, an arsenite is a chemical compound containing an arsenic oxyanion where arsenic has oxidation state +3. Note that in fields that commonly deal with groundwater chemistry, arsenite is used generically to identify soluble AsIII anions. ...

(arsenate(III)) mineral with chemical formula Zn₃(AsO₃)₂. It crystallizes in the orthorhombic

crystal system In crystallography, a crystal system is a set of point groups (a group of geometric symmetries with at least one fixed point). A lattice system is a set of Bravais lattices. Space groups are classified into crystal systems according to their poin ...

Physical properties

Reinerite is most commonly found as a sky blue colored mineral, however, it may also be a light yellowish green color. Reinerite has a relative hardness of 5 to 5.5 on the

Mohs Scale The Mohs scale of mineral hardness () is a qualitative ordinal scale, from 1 to 10, characterizing scratch resistance of various minerals through the ability of harder material to scratch softer material. The scale was introduced in 1812 by th ...

which is equivalent to that of a knife blade and or shard of glass. It has a density of 4.27 g/cm³, and it exhibits a nonmetallic luster that may be described as glassy or vitreous.Lutgens, Frederick, and Edward Tarbuck. Essentials of Geology. 10th. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009. 42. Print.

Environment

Reinerite develops in

dolomite Dolomite may refer to: *Dolomite (mineral), a carbonate mineral *Dolomite (rock), also known as dolostone, a sedimentary carbonate rock *Dolomite, Alabama, United States, an unincorporated community *Dolomite, California, United States, an unincor ...

-hosted locations. It is known especially from

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

, Africa, within the mines of

Tsumeb , nickname = , settlement_type = City , motto = ''Glück Auf'' (German for ''Good luck'') , image_skyline = Welcome to tsumeb.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = , image_flag ...

. At the Tsumeb location, Reinerite develops within the

polymetallic In chemistry or mining, polymetal or polymetallic is a substance composed of a combination of different metals. When the substance contains only two metals the term '' bimetal'' (''bimetallic'') is sometimes preferred. A (or ') is an ore that ...

lead-zinc-copper deposit, below the surface, in the second oxidation zone. It occurs in association with

chalcocite Chalcocite (), copper(I) sulfide (Cu2S), is an important copper ore mineral. It is opaque and dark gray to black, with a metallic luster. It has a hardness of 2.5–3 on the Mohs scale. It is a sulfide with a monoclinic crystal system. ...

bornite Bornite, also known as peacock ore, is a sulfide mineral with chemical composition Cu5 Fe S4 that crystallizes in the orthorhombic system (pseudo-cubic). Appearance Bornite has a brown to copper-red color on fresh surfaces that tarnishes to v ...

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 vari ...

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 a ...

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 incru ...

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 ...

, adamite,

olivenite Olivenite is a copper arsenate mineral, formula Cu2 As O4O H. It crystallizes in the monoclinic system (pseudo-orthorhombic), and is sometimes found in small brilliant crystals of simple prismatic habit terminated by domal faces. More commonl ...

and gebhardite.

History

Reinerite was first described in 1958 for an occurrence in the Tsumeb Mine,

Tsumeb , nickname = , settlement_type = City , motto = ''Glück Auf'' (German for ''Good luck'') , image_skyline = Welcome to tsumeb.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = , image_flag ...

and named for senior chemist Willy Reiner (1895–1965) of Tsumeb Corporation, who analyzed this mineral.

References

{{reflist Arsenic minerals Zinc minerals Orthorhombic minerals Minerals in space group 55 Minerals described in 1958