If you attend a mineral show or visit a museum, you will see hemimorphite specimens with beautiful crystals and in spectacular colors. Most hemimorphite has an unremarkable appearance. It usually occurs in a massive or granular habit and is white, gray, colorless or brown in color.
Individual crystals, when distinguishable, can be prismatic, tabular and asymetric. When hemimorphite crystals grows into an unfilled cavity they often develop into a botryoidal habit or into a druse that covers the walls of the cavity. Associated minerals include: smithsonite, sphalerite, cerussite, anglesite, and galena.
Diagnostic properties in hand specimens are its crystal habit, hardness, specific gravity, and its effervescence with cold hydrochloric acid.
| Physical Properties of Hemimorphite | |
| Chemical Classification | Silicate |
| Color | Usually white, brown, gray, or colorless. Sometimes displays spectacular blue, greenish blue, or green colors. Beautiful color and interesting crystal habits make hemimorphite popular with mineral collectors. |
| Streak | White |
| Luster | Vitreous to pearly |
| Diaphaneity | Translucent to semi-transparent |
| Cleavage | Perfect on {110}, poor on {101}. Brittle with uneven fracture. |
| Mohs Hardness | 4 1/2 to 5 |
| Specific Gravity | 3.4 to 3.5 |
| Diagnostic Properties | Crystal habit, hardness, specific gravity |
| Chemical Composition | Zn4Si2O7(OH)2*H2O |
| Crystal System | Orthorhombic |
| Uses | An ore of zinc. Specimens are popular with mineral collectors. Sometimes cut into gems for collectors. |