hydrozincite

Hydrozincite occurs in a characteristic paragenesis, with aurichalcite and hemimorphite, in the upper portion of the first oxidation zone (Maucher 1908a; Gebhard, 1999).

Geier and Weber (1958) listed hydrozincite in the type assemblage for reinerite, on 29 Level in the second oxidation zone.

Pinch and Wilson (1977) noted that hydrozincite is found as white to grey crusts, stains, powdery masses and coatings on smithsonite and, rarely, as efflorescences of minute, tabular crystals.

Lombaard et al. (1986) considered hydrozincite a sparsely distributed and rare mineral, but Gebhard (1999) classified it as very rare.

Williams (1990) pointed out that, as with hydrocerussite, the stability of hydrozincite depends on both elevated pH and a lower value for pCO₂ relative to smithsonite.

It is fair to say that hydrozincite is somewhat inconspicuous and, unless accompanied by other minerals, it is unlikely to have been recovered as specimen material. Its representation in collections therefore almost certainly understates its abundance in the mine.

adamite; aurichalcite; bornite; calcite; chalcocite; hemimorphite; olivenite; reinerite; smithsonite; willemite