Paradamite

This Article is Under Construction

Click here to view Best Minerals P, click here to view and here for Best Minerals A to Z and here for Fast Navigation of completed Best Minerals articles.



Can you help make this a better article? What good localities have we missed? Can you supply pictures of better specimens than those we show here? Can you give us more and better information about the specimens from these localities? Can you supply better geological or historical information on these localities?



[bParadamite[/b]
Zn2AsO4(OH) Monoclinic


The mineral paradamite was first discovered at the Ojuela Mine, Mapimi, Durango, Mexico by George Griffith and was submitted for analysis by George Burnham. The description was published in Science (1956), Vol. 123, p. 1039, by George Switzer. The type specimen is in the U. S. National Museum, Cat. No. 107443. Paradamite crystallizes in the triclinic system and is dimorphous with adamite.

Ojuela Mine, Mapimi, Durango, Mexico

At the Ojuela mine, paradamite has been found associated with legrandite, mimetite, murdochite, plattnerite, and rarely with adamite. It occurs as lemon-yellow, or brownish yellow, sheaf like aggregates up to 1 cm, one exceptional find had paradamite crystals to 3 cm.[1], and orange-yellow blocky single crystals to 2 mm[2]. It also occurs as white lozenge shaped micro-crystals[3].

Tsumeb Mine, Tsumeb, Namibia

Paradamite has been found at this location as creamy-white lozenge shaped crystals and as lemon-yellow sheaf like aggregates up to 1 cm. A green mass of platy cuprian paradamite is known.[4]

Kamariza Mines, Laurium, Greece

According to Branko Rieck[5];

“In the German magazine LAPIS 7/8 1999 I have published some discoveries from adit 132 in the Christiana Mine. It contains a paragraph on paradamite, which I have translated for your information:

Paradamite forms pale yellow masses that fill cavities in alveolar quartz. These are easily recognized by their perfect cleavage. Paradamite is accompanied by mimetite, köttigite and duftite. It can be confused with fluorite, which has a very similar luster and cleavage. With paradamite however the planes of cleavage never cross, which can be used to distinguish it from fluorite.

The identification was done with the probably most reliable means by single crystal analysis, as well as a ‘quick and dirty’ (i.e.: only internal standards used) EDX scan.”

Other Localities

No other localities are known for paradamite.


[1] Mineralogical Record, Vol. 34, No. 5, “Ojuela” issue.

[2] Specimen in the Ronald J. Pellar collection.

[3] Specimen in the Richard Thomssen Collection.

[4] Photo in Tsumeb II, George Gebhard, p. 309.

[5] Private message on MinDat to Ronald J. Pellar, 08/03/2010.


Here will go the various localities and their pictures and discussion.




















Click here to view Best Minerals P, click here to view and here for Best Minerals A to Z and here for Fast Navigation of completed Best Minerals articles.

Rock Currier
Crystals not pistols.



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 06/10/2011 11:36PM by Rock Currier.