Home > Mexico II Type Locales – December 22 > MS1709 Zemannite

Zemannite - Sold


Zemannite is a hydrous magnesium zinc iron tellurite. Mandarino et al. (1969) first announce the new mienral species, and later Mandarino et al. (1976) provided a full description. The mineral name honors Professor Josef Zemann (1923- ), Austrian crystallographer, University of Vienna, Austria, a specialist in tellurium minerals. Structural study by Miletch (1995) proved that magnesium and iron are essential in zemannite, and set the currently accepted formula.

This piece of bull quartz has a fracture surface on which zemannite crystals to 0.5 mm have grown. This specimen dates to 2007, when exploration for gold around Moctezuma enabled collecting of a ton or two of tellurate bearing rock.