Calamine is the common name of two zinc ores - one being a hydrous silicate also known as smithsonite, hemimorphite, or electric calamine; the other being the carbonate. Both occur frequently in veins which carry zincblende, the commonest of the zinc ores. They are pale yellow, pink, brown, blue, green or colourless and are often mixed in a fine powder known to miners as ' dry bone'. Calamine is used in medicine as a skin soother to relieve rashes and other skin irritations. Research Calamine
Conichalcite is a mineral of the adelite group, often brilliant green in colour, it is a secondary mineral that forms in the oxidation zones of copperore bodies. It is often found as an encrustation on rocks composed mainly of limonite, where it is associated with adamite, azurite, bayldonite, linarite, malachite, olivenite and smithsonite. Conichalcite was confirmed as a distinct species of mineral in 1849 and is sometimes used as an ore of copper. Research Conichalcite
Hydrozincite (zincbloom) is a hydrous carbonate of zinc, usually occurring in white earthy incrustations mainly in deposits associated with smithsonite and occurs as a result of the oxidation of zinc bearing minerals. A major ore of zinc if found in economic quantities. It has the formulae Zn5(CO3) 2(OH)6 and a relative hardness of 3. Research Hydrozincite
Smithsonite is a secondary mineral formed in parts of zinc and copper deposits that have been oxidised by the action of air and water. It is one of the calamines and was confirmed as a distinct species of mineral in 1832 and named after James Macie Smithson the British chemist and mineralogist. Smithsonite is grey, white, light green or brown in colour with a glassy lustre. It has the formulae ZnCO3 and a relative hardness of 6. It is an ore of zinc usually found with zinc deposits in limestone beds. Research Smithsonite
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Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Calamine
