Schmidite

schmidite

phosphophyllite

zincostrunzite

whitmoreite

Images

Formula: Zn(Fe3+0.5Mn2+0.5)2ZnFe3+(PO4)3 (OH)3(H2O)8
Hydrated phosphate, schoonerite group, zinc- and manganese- bearing mineral
Crystal system: Orthorhombic
Specific gravity: 2.89 measured, 2.82 calculated for the empirical formula
Colour: Orange-brown, red, copper-red
Environments

Pegmatites

Schmidite is a relatively new mineral, approved in 2017 and to date (September 2025) reported only from the type locality.

Localities

At the type locality, the Hagendorf South Pegmatite, Hagendorf, Waidhaus, Neustadt an der Waldnaab District, Upper Palatinate, Bavaria, Germany, schmidite, in close association with altered phosphophyllite, was the most common secondary phosphate assemblage in a heavily corroded triphylite nodule, located at 67 m from the surface of the mine, in the granitic pegmatite. The triphylite in the nodule had been replaced by phosphophyllite and vivianite, and these minerals, together with apatite, had been further altered to a rich spectrum of secondary phosphate minerals including laueite, whitmoreite, jahnsite subgroup minerals, mitridatite, scholziteparascholzite, stewartite, zincostrunzite, hopeite, parahopeite and schoonerite group minerals. Schmidite was also found in fissures in phosphophyllite, collected at depths between 60 and 67m. Other closely associated minerals in these specimens are vivianite and decomposed, white chalky zwieselite.
Schmidite occurs as aggregates of orange–brown to red laths on the surface of altered phosphophyllite in a corroded triphylite nodule. The lath dimensions are typically 0.1 to 0.5 mm long but only a few μm thick. Schmidite also forms sprays of shiny copper-red, needle-like rectangular laths in fissures in altered phosphophyllite. The schmidite laths are brittle and have one perfect cleavage (MM 83.2.181-190).
Schmidite from the Hagendorf South Pegmatite - Image

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