[ Top ] [ Japanese ]

Wurtzite (Photo) [abbr. Wur ]

Year of discovery: 1861 (San José mine, Bolivia), 1926 (Japan)

Locality list: 25 localities of wurtzite

• ZnS
• (Zn,Fe)S
• β-[Zn²⁺][S]^2-

• Class: Wurtzite group
• Class: Sulfide
• Soluble in: HCl
• Fluorescence: UV excitation (Red)
• Paramorph: Replaced by Sphalerite.

• Polymorph: Sphalerite (α, Cubic)

• Zn => Cd: Hawleyite (α), Greenockite (β)
• Zn => Hg: Metacinnabar (α), Cinnabar, Hypercinnabar
• Zn => Fe: Rudashevskyite, Troilite
• Zn => Mn: Alabandite (α), Rambergite (β)
• Zn => Ni: Millerite (β)
• Zn => Cu: Covellite

• S => Se: Stilleite

• Color: Dark reddish brown, Black
• Streak: Brown
• Luster: Resinous
• Diaphaneity: Translucent

• Habit: Hemimorphic pyramidal by {50-52} and {10-11}, Short prismatic or tabular by {0001}
• Aggregate: Reniform
• Striation: Parallel to {10-10} and {10-11}

• Cleavage: Perfect on {1120} (3 planes), Distinct on {0001} (1 plane)
• Hardness: 3.5-4
• Density: 4.0

• System: Hexagonal (2H, 4H, 5H, 6H, 8H), Trigonal (12R, 15R, 18R, 21R) (Layer-stacking polytype)
• Group: 6mm, P6₃mc
• Lattice: a=3.8, c=6.3

Etymology: Charles Adolphe Wurtz (1817-1884), French chemist