noun
definition
A mineral form of zinc carbonate, ZnCO3, mined as an ore of zinc or as an ornamental stone.
Examples of smithsonite in a Sentence
In the vicinity there are the most important deposits of zinc and lead in the state, and the city derives its name from the deposits of sulphide of lead (galena), which were the first worked about here; below the galena is a zone of zinc carbonate (or smithsonite) ores, which was the main zone worked between 1860 and 1890; still lower is a zone of blende, or zinc sulphide, now the principal source of the mineral wealth of the region.
Many semi-precious and precious stones are found in Utah, including garnet (long sold to tourists by the Navaho Indians), amethyst, jasper, topaz, tourmaline, opal, variscite (or " Utahlite "), malachite, diopside and Smithsonite.
The lead ores are galena and carbonate; the zinc ores, calamine, smithsonite and blende.
The principal ores are galena, sphalerite or zinc blende and smithsonite or zinc carbonate, which is locally called "dry bone" and which was the first zinc ore mined in the state.
The mineral name "smithsonite" was originally given in his honour by Beudant to zinc carbonate, but having also been applied to the silicate, the name is now rarely used.