Calamine

Calamine is a mineralogically historical today because it is ambiguous for mineral mixtures of various sulfur-free zinc ores (in particular zinc carbonate with / or zinc silicate ), essentially a distinction is made between carbonatic calamine such as smithsonite ( zinc spar ) and silicate calamine such as hemimorphite ( zinc silicate ).

history

The name Galmeistein or Galmei and Kalemin ( Middle High German also kalemīn ) was derived from Lapis lazuli calaminaris , a Latin corruption of the Greek καδμία cadmia , which was the common name for zinc ores of any kind. In the 18th and 19th centuries there were large calamine zinc ore mines in Neutral Moresnet , including the Breinigerberg ore near Stolberg and the Altenberg zinc mines of the Vieille Montagne in Neutral Moresnet .

In the early 19th century, it was discovered that the ore known as calamine actually consists of two different, often occurring together, zinc minerals:

Zinc carbonate - Zn [CO ₃ ] or Smithsonite and

Zinc silicate - Zn ₄ [(OH) ₂ | Si ₂ O ₇ ] · H ₂ O or hemimorphite , or silica zinc ore H ₂ Zn ₂ SiO ₅ , maybe also zinc blossom ( hydrozincite , Zn ₅ [(OH) ₃ | CO ₃ ] ₂ ).

The calamine was of great importance for the production of brass from ancient times until the 18th century , since metallic zinc does not occur in nature and no technology was known to produce it.

The name of the Belgian municipality Kelmis , French La Calamine , is derived from Galmei . At this deposit there was mostly silicate calamine, i.e. silica zinc ore, hemimorphite, which is known in this area as Kelms or Kelmes and has been mined there since the early Middle Ages.

In medicine, calamine was used because of its drying effect.

chemistry

Although quite different chemically and crystallographically , the two minerals have similar external shapes and are not easily distinguishable without detailed chemical or physical analysis. The British chemist and mineralogist James Smithson was the first to separate the minerals in 1803. Historically, the term calamine was used indiscriminately in the mining industry for both minerals. In mineralogy, calamine is no longer an official name.

Calamine is mainly produced by metasomatosis of existing zinc ore deposits. Due to weathering , calamine can also occur as so-called earth calamine , as an earthy mass ( mulm ). For the alloy of brass, calamine can be melted directly with copper , a previous fraction of the zinc from the calamine or even just grinding is not necessary.

literature

Stolberg alphabet of local history, keyword Galmei
Johann Georg Krünitz: Galmey. In: Economic Encyclopedia. Volume 15. Berlin 1786, p. 800

Web links

Commons : Galmei - collection of images, videos and audio files

Mineral Atlas: Calamine
Calamine. In: mindat.org. Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, accessed February 26, 2020 .

Individual evidence

↑ Dieter Lehmann: Two medical prescription books of the 15th century from the Upper Rhine. Part I: Text and glossary (= Würzburg medical-historical research . Volume 34 ). Horst Wellm, Pattensen (now at Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg) 1985, ISBN 3-921456-63-0 , p. 201 .
↑ Stefan Weiß: The large Lapis mineral directory. All minerals from A - Z and their properties. Status 03/2018 . 7th, completely revised and supplemented edition. Weise, Munich 2018, ISBN 978-3-921656-83-9 .
↑ Jürgen Martin: The 'Ulmer Wundarznei'. Introduction - text - glossary on a monument to German specialist prose from the 15th century (= Würzburg medical historical research . Volume 52 ). Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 1991, ISBN 3-88479-801-4 , p. 129 and 146 (also Medical Dissertation Würzburg 1990): Galmei , Galmeistein or Lapis calaminaris , there “lapis kalami” and “kalmis” or “kalmis stain”: zinc spar, zinc carbonate with silica zinc; maybe zinc bloom too
^ Wolfgang Schneider: Pharmaceutical chemicals and minerals. Supplements (to Volume III of the Lexicon for the History of Medicines) . Govi Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1975, p. 209 .
^ George Brown Goode: The Smithsonian Institution, 1846-1896, The History of Its First Half Century . De Vinne Press, Washington, DC 1897, pp. 12-13 (English).
↑ Galmei ( memento of August 9, 2016 in the Internet Archive ). Entry on the website of the Museum Zinkhütter Hof .

[Lehmann-1] Dieter Lehmann: Two medical prescription books of the 15th century from the Upper Rhine. Part I: Text and glossary (= Würzburg medical-historical research . Volume 34 ). Horst Wellm, Pattensen (now at Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg) 1985, ISBN 3-921456-63-0 , p. 201 .

[Lapis-2] Stefan Weiß: The large Lapis mineral directory. All minerals from A - Z and their properties. Status 03/2018 . 7th, completely revised and supplemented edition. Weise, Munich 2018, ISBN 978-3-921656-83-9 .

[Martin-3] Jürgen Martin: The 'Ulmer Wundarznei'. Introduction - text - glossary on a monument to German specialist prose from the 15th century (= Würzburg medical historical research . Volume 52 ). Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 1991, ISBN 3-88479-801-4 , p. 129 and 146 (also Medical Dissertation Würzburg 1990): Galmei , Galmeistein or Lapis calaminaris , there “lapis kalami” and “kalmis” or “kalmis stain”: zinc spar, zinc carbonate with silica zinc; maybe zinc bloom too

[Schneider-4] Wolfgang Schneider: Pharmaceutical chemicals and minerals. Supplements (to Volume III of the Lexicon for the History of Medicines) . Govi Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1975, p. 209 .

[goode-5] George Brown Goode: The Smithsonian Institution, 1846-1896, The History of Its First Half Century . De Vinne Press, Washington, DC 1897, pp. 12-13 (English).

[zinkhoetterhof-6] Galmei ( memento of August 9, 2016 in the Internet Archive ). Entry on the website of the Museum Zinkhütter Hof .