Mineralpedia Details for Adamite

Named to honor French mineralogist Gilbert-Joseph Adam who supplied the first samples. Adamite is an uncommon secondary mineral that can be found in oxidized zinc and arsenic bearing hydrothermal deposits. Well studied material and fine specimens come from localities in Chile, Mexico, the United States, France, Germany, England, Greece, Namibia, and Australia. Adamite can fluoresce and phosphoresce a lemon-yellow under long- and short-wave ultraviolet light. Often as formless glassy crystalline crusts in zinc rich load deposits with slight yellow tinge. Typically translucent, vitreous or glassy yellow to yellowish green fanlike crystals (Mina Ojuela). Colored by impurities, especially Copper, when green or Manganese when purple.

 Ref. Handbook of Mineralogy, Anthony et al (1995) and MSA at http://www.handbookofmineralogy.org/pdfs/adamite.pdf

Formula

Zn₂AsO₄(OH) 

Crystal System

Orthorhombic 

Crystal Habit

Tabular, Druse, Encrustations 

Cleavage

One Good 

Luster

Vitreous - Resinous 

Color

yellow, green, violet, pink, yellowish green 

Streak

white 

Class

Orthorhombic - Dipyramidal 

Fracture

Brittle 

Hardness

3.5 

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Very lustrous, large, lime green to clear-white, translucent crystals to 1cm covering a large pocket in limonitic matrix.

1cm fan-like crystals.

1cm crystal aggregate.

Deep green Adamite "balls" to 3mm in vuggy limonitic matrix

Well-formed, curved, deep green cuprian Adamite crystals to 2mm.

Light bluish green bow-tie aggregates of prismatic crystals to 1mm.

Aqua, fanlike adamite crystal clusters up to 1mm in a small vug approximately 1 cm across.

Deep emerald green crystals to 1mm and copper rich deep emerald green crystals to 5mm.

Deep green balls of Adamite to 1mm throughout limonite matrix.