Calamine is a historical term often associated with hemimorphite or mixtures of zinc minerals. Collectors typically prize it for its unique blue-green botryoidal or crust-like habits found in oxidized zinc deposits.
Is this calamine?
5-step field checkRun through these checks against the specimen in your hand. The more boxes tick, the more confident the ID.
- 1Test the hardnessTry to scratch calamine with a known reference. Calamine sits at Mohs 4.5-5 — softer than the next harder reference, harder than the previous one.
- 2Check the streakDrag the specimen across an unglazed porcelain plate. Calamine leaves a white streak.
- 3Read the lusterHold the specimen under a strong light. Calamine typically shows a vitreous luster.
- 4Match the color rangeCompare against the expected color range: white, colorless, blue, green, brown.
- 5Look at form & habitCrystal system: orthorhombic. Typical habit: botryoidal, tabular, massive.
Often confused with
Calamine vs. its common look-alikes — and how to tell them apart in the field.
Often found alongside calamine
Minerals reported to co-occur with calamine. Spotting these in float or country rock is a strong cue you are in the right ground.
All properties
- Chemical formula
- Zn₄Si₂O₇(OH)₂·H₂O
- Mohs hardness
- 4.5-5
- Density
- 3.4-3.5 g/cm³
- Streak
- White
- Luster
- Vitreous
- Transparency
- Transparent
- Crystal system
- Orthorhombic
- Crystal habit
- Botryoidal, Tabular, Massive
- Cleavage
- Perfect in One Direction
- Fluorescence
- Bright White or Green Under SW UV
- Rarity
- Common
- Uses
- Collector, Specimen, Ore of Zinc
- Host rock
- Oxidized Zinc Deposits
- Typical price
- $10-100 per specimen
Where rockhounds find calamine
8 mapped spotsClassic worldwide localities
- Mexico
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- China
- Namibia
- United States
Field-hunting tip
Look in oxidized zinc deposits country — that is the host setting where calamine typically forms. If you start seeing smithsonite, cerussite, galena in float, you are in the right ground. Field specimens usually show a botryoidal, tabular, massive habit, so train your eye for that shape before scanning the outcrop. In the U.S., the densest reported localities are in Tennessee, Utah, Connecticut — start trip planning there.
Common questions
How do you identify calamine?+
Where is calamine found?+
Can I find calamine in the United States?+
How much is calamine worth?+
What rocks look like calamine?+
What minerals are found with calamine?+
What kind of rock does calamine form in?+
What is calamine used for?+
Find calamine on the map
RockHoundR shows mapped rockhounding spots, access rules, and lets you log every find.
