Smithsonite and Adamite

ID	413
Mineral	Smithsonite Adamite
Location	Ojuela Mine - Mapimi - Durango - Mexico
Fluorescence	LW-UV: close SW-UV: close
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Mindat data

ID	3688
Long ID	1:1:3688:3
Formula	`Zn(CO₃)`
IMA Status	0 1
Other Occurrences	Oxidised zones of zinc ore deposits.
Industrial	Ore of zinc.
Discovery Year	1832
Diapheny	Translucent
Cleavage	On {10_11}.
Tenacity	brittle
Colour	White, grey, yellow, green to apple-green, blue, pink, purple, bluish grey, and brown; colourless or faintly tinted in transmitted light.
Hardness (min)	4.0
Hardness (max)	4.5
Lustre	Vitreous to Pearly
About the name	Lapis calaminaris was a name used by Agricola in 1546. In 1747, Johan Gottschalk Wallerius (Vallerius) used the simplified form calamine for the zinc carbonate. In 1780, Torbern Bergmann analyzed calamines and found they were mixed ores of zinc carbonates and silicates. In 1803, James Smithson made a systematic investigation of calamines and showed that ores identified as calamine consisted of several different minerals: a carbonate and a silicate. The carbonate "calamine" was re-named smithsonite in 1832 by François Sulpice Beudant in honor of James Smithson [1754-1829], British chemist, mineralogist, and benefactor of the Smithsonian Institution (Washington, DC, USA).
Streak	White
Crystal System	Trigonal
Cleavage Type	Very Good
Fracture type	Irregular/Uneven,Sub-Conchoidal
Morphology	Crystals rhombohedral {101_1}; less commonly {022_1}. Crystal faces usually curved and rough or composite; rarely scalenohedral. Botryoidal, reniform, or stalactic; incrustations; coarsely granular to compact massive; earthy, friable.
Twinning	None observed.
UV	May fluoresce pale green or pale blue.
key_elements	0
shortcode_ima	Smt
Group	Calcite Group

ID	21
Long ID	1:1:21:1
Formula	`Zn₂(AsO₄)(OH)`
IMA Status	0 1
Other Occurrences	A secondary mineral in the oxidised zone of zinc- and arsenic-bearing hydrothermal mineral deposits.
Discovery Year	1866
Diapheny	Transparent,Translucent
Cleavage	on {101}, good; on {010}, poor.
Tenacity	very brittle
Colour	Ideally white, colourless, frequently pale yellow, honey-yellow, brownish yellow, rose red; blue, pale green to green, may be zoned; bright green (Cu-bearing); bright pink, purple (Co-bearing)
Hardness (min)	3.5
Hardness (max)	3.5
Luminescence	None?
Lustre	Vitreous
About the name	Named by Charles Friedel in 1866 for Gilbert Joseph Adam (7 April 1795 Seine-et-Marne, Fontainbleau, France - 8 June 1881 Paris, France), Inspector (Auditor) of Finance for the French Government, who supplied the first specimens of his mineral. Adam was a wealthy mineral collector and his mineral collection was described in Annales des Mines in 1869 and later in a published catalog (1869). Adam was also the discoverer of aerugite, chenevixite, corkite, cuprotungstite, scacchite, and xanthiosite. Adam's mineral collection was acquired by the École des Mines, Paris, France. Adam was a member of Société géologique de France and received the honor of Commandeur de la Légion d'Honneur.
Streak	white
Crystal System	Orthorhombic
Cleavage Type	Distinct/Good
Fracture type	Irregular/Uneven,Conchoidal
Morphology	Crystals of variable morphology. Often elongated [010], also elongated [001], rarely elongated [100]. Tabular at times {101} or equant. Commonly forms radial aggregates, fanlike rosettes or crystalline crusts.
UV	May fluoresce or phosphoresce lemon-yellow under SW and LW UV.
Thermal Behaviour	Heated in a closed tube, it decrepitates feebly, and gives a little water, becoming white and porcelanous. On charcoal, it fuses, producing a coating of zinc oxide, and a faint odor of arsenic. In a closed tube with soda and charcoal, it gives a ring of arsenic.
Publication Year	1866
key_elements	0 1
shortcode_ima	Ad
Group	Olivenite Group

Price: € 20

Dimensions: Not registered

Weight: 254 g

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Notes:

Symbol	Element
As	Arsenic
C	Carbon
H	Hydrogen
O	Oxygen
Zn	Zinc

Smithsonite and Adamite

Mindat data

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