sphal·er·ite

(sfăl′ə-rīt′)

The primary ore of zinc, occurring in usually yellow-brown or brownish-black crystals or cleavage masses, essentially ZnS with some cadmium, iron, and manganese. Also called blende, zinc blende.

[Greek sphaleros, slippery, deceitful (from its being easily mistaken for galena) (from sphallein, to trip, from sphalos, fetter, pair of stocks; akin to Sanskrit skhalate, he stumbles, and Armenian sxalem, I stumble) + -ite.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

sphalerite

(ˈsfæləˌraɪt; ˈsfeɪlə-)

(Minerals) a yellow to brownish-black mineral consisting of zinc sulphide in cubic crystalline form with varying amounts of iron, manganese, cadmium, gallium, and indium: the chief source of zinc. Formula: ZnS. Also called: zinc blende

[C19: from Greek sphaleros deceitful, from sphallein to cause to stumble]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

sphal•er•ite

(ˈsfæl əˌraɪt, ˈsfeɪ lə-)

n.

an ore mineral, zinc sulfide, ZnS.

[1865–70; < Greek sphaler(ós) slippery, deceptive + -ite¹]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

sphalerite - an ore that is the chief source of zinc; consists largely of zinc sulfide in crystalline form

blende, zinc blende

atomic number 49, indium, In - a rare soft silvery metallic element; occurs in small quantities in sphalerite

atomic number 81, thallium, Tl - a soft grey malleable metallic element that resembles tin but discolors on exposure to air; it is highly toxic and is used in rodent and insect poisons; occurs in zinc blende and some iron ores

mineral - solid homogeneous inorganic substances occurring in nature having a definite chemical composition

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References in periodicals archive

Visible gold is found within quartz-calcite veinlets in association with sulfides including sphalerite and pyrite.

Amex Discovers Third Gold Zone at Perron Near-Surface Gold at Grey Cat Zone with Intercepts up to 26.90 meters of 3.42 gt Au

The industry includes establishments developing mine sites, mining and preparing lead ores including smithsonite mining, sphalerite mining, willemite mining, calamine mining, cerussite mining, galena mining, lead ore mining, and lead-zinc ore mining.

Global Lead Mining Market Report 2019

Mineralization consists not only of disseminated and banded massive sulphides, but also of vein style polymetallic occurrences consisting of pyrite, sphalerite, galena, chalcopyrite, tetrahedrite, argentite, electrum, bornite and ruby silver.

Bayhorse Reports on Extensive Historic Silver Sampling at Brandywine & Closes Final Tranche of Flow Through Private Placement

- Strong alteration over 500m in strike is associated with sphalerite and galena mineralisation.

Rumble Resources Ltd (ASX:RTR) 14 High Priority Targets and New Mineralisation Style

Mineralisation consists of native gold associated with pyrite, chalcopyrite and sphalerite disseminated in quartz veins within a linear body of diorite within volcanic rocks.

Globex Acquires 100% Interest in Standard Gold Property

Sphalerite ((Zn, Fe)S) is a mineral that is the chief ore of zinc.

ROLE OF NATURALLY SUBSTITUTED IRON IN CRYSTAL LATTICE OF ZINC SULFIDE MINERALS DURING LEACHING BY ACIDITHIOBACILLUS THIOOXIDANS AND ACIDITHIOBACILLUS FERROOXIDANS

This quartz occurs (1) at the borders of mineralized zones, together with sericite/muscovite and fine-grained pyrite and (2) at the borders of the massive quartz crystals, or filling cavities and micro-cracks in coarse-grained pyrite crystals, that occur associated with galena, chalcopyrite, sphalerite and gold.

Microthermometry and Raman spectroscopy of fluid inclusions from El Vapor gold mineralizations, Colombia/Microtermometria y espectroscopia Raman de inclusiones fluidas de las mineralizaciones auriferas de El Vapor, Colombia

The overarching goal of this work was to test the possibility of replacing sodium cyanide by chitosan polymer as a selective pyrite depressant in the bulk flotation of complex sulfide ore sample containing galena (PbS), chalcopyrite (CuFe[S.sub.2]), sphalerite (ZnS), pyrite (Fe[S.sub.2]), dolomite (CaMg[(C[O.sub.3]).sub.2]), and marcasite (a polymorph of pyrite).

Flotation Behavior of Complex Sulfide Ores in the Presence of Biodegradable Polymeric Depressants