Yellow orange crystal aggregate of the very rare mineral zincobotryogen (IMA 2015-107) from the famous Bisbee mine in Arizona (Bisbee, Warren District, Mule Mountains, Cochise County, Arizona, United States of America). Ex Vandenbroucke Museum collection from Waregem, Belgium. — Photo: David Hospital · CC BY-SA 4.0
Zincobotryogen
A bright orange-red zinc-iron sulfate of oxidizing mine environments.
Intro adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Zincobotryogen is an IMA-recognized mineral species in the sulfate class, with the chemical formula ZnFe³⁺(SO₄)₂(OH)·7H₂O.
It crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system (space group P2_1/n). It is a member of the Botryogen structural group.
Key properties: specific gravity 2.2; Light yellow streak; Vitreous luster; optically biaxial.
IMA symbol Zbyg, IMA status: approved, named in 1964.
Found as a secondary mineral in the oxidation zone of Pb-Zn ore bodies hosted in marble and greenschists.
It is found associated with Jarosite, copiapite, zincocopiapite, fibroferrite, quartz.
As the zinc-dominant analog of botryogen.