Mineralpedia Details for Hopeite
Hopeite
Named after Thomas Charles Hope who was the Professor of Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Hopeite is a rare mineral that forms late-stage in hydrothermal zinc deposits and in complex granite pegmatites, and also occurs as incrustations on bone breccias in a limestone cave. Hopeite occurs in Belgium, Germany, Zambia, Canada, and the United States including here in the Black Hills of South Dakota in the Tip Top mine, among only a few others.
Ref. Handbook of Mineralogy, Anthony et al (1995) and MSA at http://www.handbookofmineralogy.org/pdfs/hopeite.pdf
- Formula
- Zn3(PO4)2·4H2O
- Crystal System
- Orthorhombic
- Crystal Habit
- Prismatic, Reniform, Encrustations
- Cleavage
- Perfect, Good, Poor
- Luster
- Vitreous (Glassy)
- Color
- colorless, gray white, yellow, white, light yellow
- Streak
- white
- Class
- Orthorhombic - Dipyramidal
- Fracture
- Uneven
- Hardness
- 3
- WebMineral
- View Hopeite
- Mindat
- View Hopeite
Hopeite from Kabwe mine, Broken Hill, Kabwe dist., Central Province, Zambia
These are actually clear prismatic crystals with domed terminations. The orange color is likely due to some kind of staining. The crystals also have an overgrowth of unknown micro crystals, which show a preferential growth to one side of the Hopeite crystals. These micro crystals are perhaps second generation Hopeite. About 3mm long.
Reddish to white to light red perfect tabular crystals bounded on all sides by pyramidal terminations. Crystals to 3mm.
