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Polymorph of:
Sphalerite Group.
Sphalerite, also known as blende or zinc blende, is the major ore of zinc. When pure (with little or no iron) it forms clear to white crystals (known ascleiophane). Yellow to orange sphalerite is often called 'golden sphalerite'.
Red shades of sphalerite have been called 'ruby blende' or 'ruby jack' in the past.
As iron content increases, sphalerite forms dark, opaque submetallic crystals (known asmarmatite or, in the past, 'black jack').
Very rarely, green crystals owe their colour to trace amounts of cobalt (Henn & Hofmann, 1985; Rager et al., 1996).
Sphalerite may also contain considerable manganese, grading intoalabandite. Samples containing up to 0.36 apfu (atoms per formula unit) manganese (21.4 wt.% MnO) have been described by Hurai & Huraiová (2011). It can also be mercury-rich and form a series withmetacinnabar.
Sphalerite is an important source of rare metals like gallium (Ga) and indium (In), and the semi-metal germanium (Ge). Samples from the Restauradora vein of the Capillitas deposit, Argentina, bears a record, at 24.89 wt% In (and 13.49 wt% Cu) it is, astonishingly, still a sphalerite (Márquez-Zavalía et al. 2024).
See article on theschalenblende variety, by Harjo Neutkens:https://www.mindat.org/a/best_schalenblende
According to Haussühl and Müller (1963), there are numerous polytypes; the ones identified by them are 3R (=3C); 2H, 4H, 6H; and 9R, 12R, 15R and 21R. Note that this can be taken to infer that wurtzite (all the H polytypes) is merely a series of polytypes of sphalerite!
CompareUM1993-16-S:CdInZn andUM1993-15-S:CdInZn.
Visit gemdat.org forgemological information about Sphalerite.
Sphalerite, also known as blende or zinc blende, is the major ore of zinc. When pure (with little or no iron) it forms clear to white crystals (known ascleiophane). Yellow to orange sphalerite is often called 'golden sphalerite'.
Red shades of sphalerite have been called 'ruby blende' or 'ruby jack' in the past.
As iron content increases, sphalerite forms dark, opaque submetallic crystals (known asmarmatite or, in the past, 'black jack').
Very rarely, green crystals owe their colour to trace amounts of cobalt (Henn & Hofmann, 1985; Rager et al., 1996).
Sphalerite may also contain considerable manganese, grading intoalabandite. Samples containing up to 0.36 apfu (atoms per formula unit) manganese (21.4 wt.% MnO) have been described by Hurai & Huraiová (2011). It can also be mercury-rich and form a series withmetacinnabar.
Sphalerite is an important source of rare metals like gallium (Ga) and indium (In), and the semi-metal germanium (Ge). Samples from the Restauradora vein of the Capillitas deposit, Argentina, bears a record, at 24.89 wt% In (and 13.49 wt% Cu) it is, astonishingly, still a sphalerite (Márquez-Zavalía et al. 2024).
See article on theschalenblende variety, by Harjo Neutkens:https://www.mindat.org/a/best_schalenblende
According to Haussühl and Müller (1963), there are numerous polytypes; the ones identified by them are 3R (=3C); 2H, 4H, 6H; and 9R, 12R, 15R and 21R. Note that this can be taken to infer that wurtzite (all the H polytypes) is merely a series of polytypes of sphalerite!
CompareUM1993-16-S:CdInZn andUM1993-15-S:CdInZn.
Visit gemdat.org forgemological information about Sphalerite.
