Zinc, like lead, is diffused in small quantities through all the igneous rocks. In places it is segregated in fissures or veins leading from the igneous rocks, along the contact between igneous rocks and either sedimentary or metamorphic rocks, in limestones where solution cavities have been formed and later filled with zinc minerals, and as a residue where limestones have been weathered away. In all these places it is closely associated with lead.
The sulphide, sphalerite, is the primary mineral, and the other minerals, like zincite, smithsonite, calamine, willemite, franklinite, etc., are secondary, resulting from modifications of the original sphalerite. In connection with zinc minerals the region of Franklin Furnace, N. J., is especially interesting, for at that place are found two large metamorphosed deposits containing a wide range of zinc minerals, several of which are not found anywhere else.
Zinc is soft and malleable, but is only slightly ductile, and has little tensile strength. It alloys with several metals, and in this form is most useful today; three parts of copper to one of zinc making brass; four or more parts of copper and one of zinc, making “gold foil”; copper and zinc (a little more zinc than copper) making “white metal”; three parts of copper to one of zinc and one of nickel making German silver; etc. Zinc is also used in large quantities in galvanizing iron, sheets of iron being dipped into melted zinc and thus thinly coated. It is also used in batteries and a wide range of chemical industries.
[Sphalerite]
ZnS
Pl. [19] & [20]
zinc blende, black jack
Occurs in grains, in fibrous or layered masses, or in isometric crystals; hardness 3.5; specific gravity 4; color yellow-brown to almost black; streak light yellow to brownish; luster resinous to adamantine; translucent on thin edges.
When in crystals sphalerite occurs most commonly either in dodecahedrons or in tetrahedrons (hemihedral forms of the isometric octahedron). The cleavage is fairly good and parallel to the faces of the dodecahedron. The difficulty usually is to get large enough crystalline masses to see this cleavage clearly, but by examining the angles between the faces of cleavage pieces they will be found to be the same as those on a dodecahedron. When the mineral is pure, it has the color of resin, but sometimes it is reddish to red-brown, and then it is called “ruby zinc,” more often it is dark brown due to the presence of iron as an impurity. This is what the miners call “black-jack.” The presence of iron also tends to make the streak darker. The hardness, streak and cleavage will usually determine this mineral readily.
Sphalerite is the primary ore of zinc and is usually found in fissures and veins leading from masses of igneous rocks, or along the surface of contact where igneous rocks like granite or lavas come against such metamorphic rocks as gneisses, schists, or crystalline limestones. In the region of Joplin, Mo., however, the sphalerite is of secondary character, having been gathered by waters circulating through the limestones, and deposited in them in irregular pockets. This Joplin district has produced more zinc than any other in the world. The United States annually produces about 25% of the world’s supply of this metal.
Sphalerite is always associated with galena, and such other minerals as argentite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, fluorite, quartz, calcite and barite, are very apt to be present. It will be found in almost every state, especially in fissures and veins, and less frequently in cavities in limestones.
[Zincite]
ZnO
Pl. [19] & [20]
red zinc ore
Usually occurs massive, but may be found in crystals; hardness 4; specific gravity 5.6; color deep red; streak orange; luster subadamantine; translucent on thin edges.