Calamine (mineral)

Calamine (mineral)

: "This article is about calamine in mineralogy. For calamine used in calamine lotion, see calamine, for other uses of the word, see calamine (disambiguation)."

Calamine is a historic name for an ore of zinc. The name "calamine" was derived from the Belgian town of Kelmis, whose French name is "La Calamine", which is home to a zinc mine. In the 18th and 19th century large ore mines could be found near the German village of Breinigerberg.

During the late 18th century it was discovered that what had been thought to be one ore was actually two distinct minerals:

* Zinc carbonate ZnCO3 or smithsonite and
* Zinc silicate Zn4Si2O7(OH)2·H2O or hemimorphite.

The two minerals are usually very similar in appearance and can only be distinguished through chemical analysis. The first to separate the minerals was the British chemist and mineralogist James Smithson in 1803. In the mining industry the term calamine is still used to refer to both minerals indiscriminately.

In mineralogy calamine is no longer considered a valid term. It has been replaced by smithsonite and hemimorphite in order to distinguish it from the pinkish mixture of zinc oxide (ZnO) and iron(III) oxide (Fe2O3) used in calamine lotion (see: calamine).

Until the 18th century, "calamine" was essential for the production of brass since metallic zinc does not exist in nature and no technique was known to produce it. Brass produced using calamine is called calamine brass.

See also

* Calamine, a mixture used in calamine lotion
* Smithsonite
* Hemimorphite


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  • Calamine (Minéral) — Pour les articles homonymes, voir calamine. Appellation désuète qui peut désigner l hémimorphite , ou la smithsonite ; mais aussi d autres minéraux de néoformation des fourneaux (oxydes de zinc). Le terme dérive du grec kadmeia = la Cadmée.… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Calamine (mineral) — Calamine (minéral) Pour les articles homonymes, voir calamine. Appellation désuète qui peut désigner l hémimorphite , ou la smithsonite ; mais aussi d autres minéraux de néoformation des fourneaux (oxydes de zinc). Le terme dérive du grec… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Calamine (minéral) — Pour les articles homonymes, voir calamine. Calamine est une appellation désuète qui peut désigner l hémimorphite ou la smithsonite, mais aussi d autres minéraux de néoformation des fourneaux (oxydes de zinc). Toutefois on parle encore en… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Calamine (disambiguation) — Calamine has different meanings, depending on the context:* Calamine, a pinkish powder used in calamine lotion * Calamine (mineral), a historic name for a zinc mineral * Calamine brass, an early method of making brass, by reacting copper metal… …   Wikipedia

  • Calamine (Mélange) — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Calamine. Voir aussi la page d homonymie Calamine La calamine est une poudre rosâtre composée d un mélange d oxyde de zinc et d oxyde ferrique. La poudre était utilisée dans des lotions pour traiter les coups de… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Calamine (melange) — Calamine (mélange) Pour les articles homonymes, voir Calamine. Voir aussi la page d homonymie Calamine La calamine est une poudre rosâtre composée d un mélange d oxyde de zinc et d oxyde ferrique. La poudre était utilisée dans des lotions pour… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Calamine (minerai) — Calamine (minéral) Pour les articles homonymes, voir calamine. Appellation désuète qui peut désigner l hémimorphite , ou la smithsonite ; mais aussi d autres minéraux de néoformation des fourneaux (oxydes de zinc). Le terme dérive du grec… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • calamine lotion — cal|a|mine lo|tion [ˈkæləmaın ˌləuʃən US ˌlou ] n [U] [Date: 1800 1900; Origin: calamine mineral from which zinc is obtained 1500 1600 French, from Medieval Latin calamina, from Latin cadmia, from Greek, from kadmeios of Thebes, city in ancient… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • Calamine brass — is brass produced by a particular alloying technique using calamine, a zinc ore, rather than metallic zinc. Calamine brass was produced using proportions of two sevenths fine copper, four sevenths calamine, and one seventh shruff (old plate… …   Wikipedia

  • Calamine — Cal a*mine (k[a^]l [.a]*m[imac]n or m[i^]n), n. [F. calamine, LL. calamina, fr. L. Cadmia. See {Cadmia}.] (min.) A mineral, the hydrous silicate of zinc. [1913 Webster] Note: The name was formerly applied to both the carbonate and silicate of… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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