The Economic Aspect of GeologyLeith, C. K. (Charles Kenneth)
Science
The Economic Aspect of Geology
Leith, C. K. (Charles Kenneth)
Geology, Economic
The most important mineral of zinc is the sulphide, sphalerite or "zinc
blende." The minerals of the oxide zone are smithsonite (zinc carbonate)
and calamine (hydrous zinc silicate), which yield minor amounts of zinc
and are especially productive at Leadville, Colorado. Zincite (zinc
oxide) and willemite (zinc silicate) are the important minerals in the
deposits of Franklin Furnace, New Jersey. The association of most
deposits of zinc with more or less lead has been noted.
The ores of zinc are of two general classes, corresponding to the two
classes of lead ores (pp. 211-212). Zinc ores of the first type are in
veins and replacements in sedimentary rocks at shallow depths,
independent of igneous association, and are supposed to have been formed
by cold solutions. They are found in the Mississippi Valley, in Silesia,
and in many of the smaller European deposits. They were formerly the
leading zinc-producers, and now produce about 45 per cent of the world's
total. Zinc ores of the second type consist of veins and replacements
related to intrusive rocks, sometimes extending to considerable depths,
and of more complex composition. They include most of the deposits of
the American Cordilleran region (Butte, Coeur d'Alene, Leadville,
etc.), of Franklin Furnace, of Australia, of Burma, and of many other
places.
The zinc-lead ores of the type found in the Mississippi Valley are of
special interest, in that they are sulphide ores of an origin apparently
independent of igneous agencies. These ores occur as fissure-fillings
and replacements, mainly in nearly flat-lying Paleozoic limestones and
dolomites--the Bonne Terre dolomitic limestone of southeastern Missouri,
the Boone formation of southwestern Missouri and Oklahoma, the Galena
dolomite of Wisconsin and Illinois. They are variously associated with a
gangue of dolomite, calcite, quartz, iron pyrite, barite, and chert. Not
infrequently they are spread out both in sheets and in disseminated form
along carbonaceous layers within or at the base of the limestone.
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