wurtzite
Wurtzite is a zinc and iron sulfide mineral with the chemical formula , a less frequently encountered structural polymorph form of sphalerite. The iron content is variable up to eight percent. It is trimorphous with matraite and sphalerite.
Key facts
- Mineral.class
- Dihexagonal pyramidal (6mm) H-M symbol: (6mm)
- Mineral.symmetry
- P63mc
- Mineral.color
- Brownish black, orange brown, reddish brown, black
- Mineral.habit
- Radial clusters and colloform crusts and masses. Also as tabular crystals
- Mineral.cleavage
- [110] and [0001]
- Mineral.fracture
- Uneven – irregular
- Mineral.mohs
- 3.5–4
- Mineral.luster
- Resinous, brilliant submetallic on crystal faces
- Mineral.refractive
- nω = 2.356 nε = 2.378
- Mineral.opticalprop
- Uniaxial (+)
- Mineral.birefringence
- δ = 0.022
- Mineral.streak
- light brown
Article
4 sectionsContents
- Structure
- See also
- References
- External links
Wurtzite is a zinc and iron sulfide mineral with the chemical formula , a less frequently encountered structural polymorph form of sphalerite. The iron content is variable up to eight percent. It is trimorphous with matraite and sphalerite.
It occurs in hydrothermal deposits associated with sphalerite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, barite and marcasite. It also occurs in low-temperature clay-ironstone concretions.