Fluorescent NJ 27 Zincite in Calcitic Marble with Willemite

Description

Zincite in Calcitic Marble with Willemite from the Franklin Mineral Museum ex; Doug Wahl collection with an attached tag that reads M0361.

“Here, we have a specimen with large sections of zincite. The zincite, a zinc oxide, appears in this specimen as glassy, deep red sections and grains in a pale pink, coarse, semi-vitreous calcite matrix. Some of the zincite might be altering to black, sooty pyrochroite. Zincite is one of the earliest, if not the earliest, described mineral species in the United States. It was originally named “red oxide of zinc” in 1810 by Archibald Bruce as a chemical name typical of then-current mineral nomenclature practice and renamed “zincite” in 1845 by Wilhelm Karl von Haidinger. Francis Alger called this mineral “sterlingite” in 1844, while Henry James Brooke and William Hallowes Miller named this mineral “spartalite” in 1852. The Franklin and Sterling mines are considered co-type localities as the original location is lost in the haze of history.”

Photos were taken in a blackout box with a Nikon CoolPix L-1 under a Way Too Cool 254 nm SW 9-Watt Lamp. Own a Classic!

Specimen weighs 24.1 oz or 1.5 lbs (683 g) and measures 4.4 x 2.9 x 1.8 inches (11.2 x 7.5 x 4.7 cm)