Brunckite
Brunckite was named in honor of Bergrat Otto Brunck (born 1866) from Freiberg in
Germany. The mineral was described as amorphous zinc sulfide, similar to Sphalerite
but without the internal organisation of atoms, without the crystal structure. It was later
shown to be cryptocrystalline Sphalerite, that is composed of aggregates of microscopic
Sphalerite crystals.
The type locality is the Cercapuquio Mine (Cerro Pasco, Peru), but the material has later
been found in Broken Hill (New South Wales, Australia). Today Brunckite is considered
a morphological variety of Sphalerite, forming masses of densely intergrown micro
crystals.
Specimen Handling
Brunckite is for all practical purposes stable in a normal household environment. It is
not harmed by light, changes in temperature in the normal comfort range, or known to
decompose. Brunckite specimens can be fragile and should be handled with care like any
other mineral specimen. Brunckite is not appreciably soluble in water.
Bibliography
Herzenberg, Robert. 1938. Zentralblatt für Mineralogie, Abteilung A.,
1938, 373
Palache, Charles, Harry Berman & Clifford Frondel. 1944. The system of
mineralogy of James Dwight Dana and Edward Salisbury Dana, Yale University
1837-1892, 7th ed. Vol. 1.
Zemann, J. 1950. "Brunckit" - kryptokristalliner Zinkblende. Tschermak's
Mineralogische und Petrographische Mitteilungen, Serie 3, 1(4), 417-419
This page is authored by Claus Hedegaard.
Mineraler