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Dominant species
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Adamite
Adamite
Chemical
Formula
Zn2AsO4OH
Species
Phosphates
Crystal
System
Orthorhombic
Mohs
Scale
3
Specific
Gravity
4.32-4.48
Color
Pale yellow, honey-yellow, brownish yellow, reddish; rarely white, colorless, blue, pale green to green, may be zoned;
Streak
white to pale green
Luster
Vitreous, Sub-Vitreous, Waxy, Greasy
Refractive
Index
n = 1.708 - 1.722 n = 1.742 - 1.744 n = 1.763 - 1.773
Diaphaneity
Transparent, Translucent
Cleavage
Distinct/Goodon , good; on , poor.
Fracture
Irregular/Uneven, Conchoidal
Crystal Habit:Wedge-like prisms typically in druses and radiating clusters - also smooth botryoidal masses.
Geological Setting:A secondary mineral in the oxidised zone of zinc- and arsenic-bearing hydrothermal mineral deposits.
Adamite is a zinc arsenate hydroxide mineral, Zn2AsO4OH. It is a mineral that typically occurs in the oxidized or weathered zone above zinc ore occurrences. Pure adamite is colorless, but usually it possess yellow color due to Fe compounds admixture. Tints of green also occur and are connected with copper substitutions in the mineral structure. Olivenite is a copper arsenate that is isostructural with adamite and there is considerable substitution between zinc and copper resulting in an intermediate called cuproadamite. Zincolivenite is a recently discovered mineral being an intermediate mineral with formula CuZn(AsO4)(OH). Manganese, cobalt, and nickel also substitute in the structure. An analogous zinc phosphate, tarbuttite, is known.

Occurrence

Adamite occurs as a secondary mineral in the oxidized zone of zinc- and arsenic-bearing hydrothermal mineral deposits. It occurs in association with smithsonite, hemimorphite, scorodite, olivenite, calcite, quartz and iron and manganese oxides.

The yellow to bright lime-green colored crystals and druze along with its distinctive fluorescence make adamite a favorite among mineral collectors. Found in Mapimi, Mexico; Greece; and California and Utah in the United States.

Adamite was named after the French mineralogist Gilbert-Joseph Adam (1795-1881). It was first described in 1866 for an occurrence at the type locality of Cha?arcillo, Copiapó Province, Atacama Region, Chile.