zaratite
Sign in to saveZaratite is a bright emerald green nickel carbonate mineral with formula Ni3CO3(OH)4·4H2O. Zaratite crystallizes in the isometric crystal system as massive to mammillary encrustations and vein fillings. It has a specific gravity of 2.6 and a Mohs hardness of 3 to 3.5. It has no cleavage and is brittle to conchoidal fracture. The luster is vitreous to greasy.
Key facts
- Mineral.name
- Zaratite
- Mineral.image
- Zaratite Hydrous basic nickel carbonate Lor Brassey mine Heeazlewood Tasmania 1966.jpg
- Mineral.caption
- Zaratite from Tasmania
- Mineral.category
- Carbonates
- Mineral.formula
- Ni3CO3(OH)4·4H2O
- Mineral.IMAsymbol
- Zar
- Mineral.strunz
- 5.DA.70
- Mineral.unit cell
- a = 6.16 Å; Z = 1
- Mineral.system
- Isometric (in part amorphous)
via Wikipedia infobox
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Encyclopedic overview
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Zaratite is a bright emerald green nickel carbonate mineral with formula Ni3CO3(OH)4·4H2O. Zaratite crystallizes in the isometric crystal system as massive to mammillary encrustations and vein fillings. It has a specific gravity of 2.6 and a Mohs hardness of 3 to 3.5. It has no cleavage and is brittle to conchoidal fracture. The luster is vitreous to greasy.
It is a rare secondary mineral formed by hydration or alteration of the primary nickel and iron bearing minerals, chromite, pentlandite, pyrrhotite, and millerite, during the serpentinization of ultramafic rocks. Hellyerite, NiCO3·6H2O, is a related mineral. It was found originally in Manolita mine, Teixedelo, Cedeira, La Coruña province, Galicia, Spain in 1851, and named after Spanish diplomat and dramatist Antonio Gil y Zárate (1793–1861).
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “zaratite” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.