Smithsonite

Smithsonite is a very common mineral of the  "carbonates and nitrates" class

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Two smithsonites from Tsumeb, Namibia

Origin of name: lapis calaminaris, a latin corruption of Greek καδμία cadmia [for cadmium, a medieval term for zinc, used in alchemy]  was a name used by Agricola in 1546. In 1747, Johan Gottschalk Wallerius (Vallerius) used the simplified form calamine for the zinc carbonate. In 1780, Torbern Bergmann analyzed calamines and found they were mixed ores of zinc carbonates and silicates. In 1803, James Smithson [1754-1829], British chemist, mineralogist, and benefactor of the Smithsonian Institution (Washington, DC, USA) conducted a systematic investigation of calamine and showed that it consists of two different minerals: a carbonate and a silicate. The carbonate "calamine" was re-named smithsonite in 1832 by François Sulpice Beudant in honour of James Smithson .
^{Source: mindat.org}

Synonyms and trade names: zinc spar, calamine (historic, not in use any more)

Can be confused with: a wide range of similarly coloured or colourless minerals

Localities: very common worldwide, mindat.org lists more than 2840 localities [2024]
Significant localities are USA, Namibia (Tsumeb) and Australia, to name just a few. In Europe more than 1000 deposits are known, more than 100 in Austria.

Smithsonite from Lavrion, Greece

Handling: smithsonite is soft, sports perfect cleavage, is easily soluble in hydrochloric acid and it is heat-sensitive. Thus smithsonite is no good for use in jewellery

Worth knowing: until the end of the 18th century calamine (smithsonite and other zinc ores) were used to produce brass.  The only known method for producing the alloy was by heating copper and calamine together in the cementation process. Upon heating zinc dissociated from the calamine, diffused into the copper producing the alloy brass. The process was also known as the Dutch Method. For a long time it was not known that calamine supplied the zinc necessary to produce the alloy. One rather thought calamine to act as a colouring agent which turns the red copper golden yellow

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