Sphalerite
Hardness: 3.5 to 4
Sphalerite is the most important mineral of zinc ore. Pure sphalerite is nearly colorless, but it is commonly brown, yellow, black, or dark red because of impurities. It has a white to dark-brown streak, always lighter than the color of the specimen. As a rule the mineral crystals are shaped like triangular pyramids, with three sides and a base. Because it has good cleavage in six directions, sphalerite will break into 12-sided blocks. It has a
brilliant resinous or almost metallic luster, and it can be scratched by a knife.
Read more about sphalerite in Rocks and Minerals of the Ozark Plateau.
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The sample pictured above is from Cherokee County, Kansas |
Sources
Buchanan, Rex C., Tolsted, Laura L., and Swineford, Ada, 1986, Kansas Rocks and Minerals: Kansas Geological Survey, Educational Series 2, 60 p.
Klein, Cornelis, 1993, Manual of Mineralogy (after James D. Dana), 21st Edition: New York, Wiley, 681 p.
Unless noted otherwise, illustrations by Jennifer Sims, Kansas Geological Survey; photographs by John Charlton, Kansas Geological Survey; text by Liz Brosius, Kansas Geological Survey.
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