Scholzite

scholzite

parascholzite

tarbuttite

parahopeite

Images

Formula: CaZn2(PO4)2.2H2O
Hydrated normal phosphate, orthorhombic paramorph of monoclinic parascholzite
Crystal System: Orthorhombic
Specific gravity: 3.11 to 3.13 measured, 3.10 calculated
Hardness: 3 to 3½
Streak: White
Colour: White, colourless
Environments:

Pegmatites
Sedimentary environments

Scholzite may be a primary mineral, but it is more commonly a secondary mineral in zinc phosphate-bearing granite pegmatites and sediments (HOM). Common associates include collinsite, muscovite, parascholzite and sphalerite (Mindat).

Localities

At the Block 14 opencut, Broken Hill, Broken Hill district, Yancowinna county, New South Wales, Australia, cavities and fractures in garnet sandstone are commonly lined with a thin crust of yellow corkite-hinsdalite. Some of these spaces contain scholzite, pyromorphite and cuprian tarbuttite AJM 3.1.51).

At Reaphook Hill, Martins Well station, South Flinders Ranges, Flinders Ranges, South Australia, scholzite is associated with parahopeite and collinsite (HOM).

At Richelle, Visé, Liège, Wallonia, Belgium, scholzite occurs as a secondary mineral produced during weathering of sedimentary rocks containing low-grade zinc and phosphate minerals (Dana).

At the Otov II pegmatite, Otov, Domažlice District, Plzeň Region, Czech Republic, scholzite occurs as a primary product of crystallisation in zinc and phosphate bearing pegmatites (Dana).

There are two co-type Localities, the Hagendorf North and South Pegmatites, Hagendorf, Waidhaus, Neustadt an der Waldnaab District, Upper Palatinate, Bavaria, Germany. There scholzite occurs as a secondary mineral derived from alteration of phosphates in a granite pegmatite (Dana). Associated minerals include parascholzite, sphalerite, triplite, feldspar and quartz; these are primary minerals and scholzite is secondary (AM 36.382, HOM).

At the Kabwe mine, Central Province, Zambia, scholzite has been found with parahopeite on goethite (R&M 94.2.134) associated with tarbuttite (HOM).

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