# Zippeite

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> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zippeite
> Source revision: 1288288122
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{{Short description|Hydrous potassium uranium sulfate mineral}}
{{Infobox mineral
| name = '''Zippeite'''
| category = [Sulfate minerals](/source/Sulfate_minerals)
| boxwidth =
| boxbgcolor = 
| image = Zippeite-206357.jpg
| caption = Zippeite from Delta Mine in [Utah](/source/Utah), 6.4 cm long
| formula = [K](/source/potassium)<sub>4</sub>([U](/source/uranium)[O](/source/oxygen)<sub>2</sub>)<sub>6</sub>([S](/source/sulfur)O<sub>4</sub>)<sub>3</sub>(O[H](/source/hydrogen))<sub>10</sub>·4([H<sub>2</sub>O](/source/water))
| IMAsymbol   = Zip<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Warr|first=L.N.|date=2021|title=IMA–CNMNC approved mineral symbols|journal=Mineralogical Magazine|volume=85|issue=3|pages=291–320|doi=10.1180/mgm.2021.43|bibcode=2021MinM...85..291W|s2cid=235729616|doi-access=free}}</ref>
| molweight = 2,306.88 g/mol
| strunz = 7.EC.05
| dana = 31.10.04.01
| system = [Monoclinic](/source/Monoclinic) 
| class = Sphenoidal (2) <br/><small>(same [H-M symbol](/source/H-M_symbol))</small>
| symmetry = ''B2''
| unit cell =
| colour = Yellow, golden yellow, orange red, reddish brown
| habit = Encrustations&nbsp;– forms crust-like aggregates on matrix<ref name="Webmin"/>
| twinning = 
| cleavage = 
| fracture = 
| tenacity = 
| mohs = 2
| lustre = Silky, dull<ref name=Mindat/>
| refractive =
| opticalprop = 
| birefringence = 
| pleochroism = 
| streak = Yellow white
| gravity = 3.66
| density = 
| melt = 
| fusibility = 
| diagnostic = 
| solubility = 
| diaphaneity = Transparent to translucent
| other = 25px [Radioactive](/source/Radioactive)
| references = <ref name=Webmin>[http://webmineral.com/data/Zippeite.shtml Webmineral]</ref><ref name=Mindat>[http://www.mindat.org/min-4420.html Mindat.org]</ref>
}}
'''Zippeite''' is a hydrous [potassium](/source/potassium) [uranium](/source/uranium) [sulfate](/source/sulfate) mineral with formula: [K](/source/potassium)<sub>4</sub>([U](/source/uranium)[O](/source/oxygen)<sub>2</sub>)<sub>6</sub>([S](/source/sulfur)O<sub>4</sub>)<sub>3</sub>(O[H](/source/hydrogen))<sub>10</sub>·4([H<sub>2</sub>O](/source/water)). It forms yellow to reddish brown [monoclinic](/source/monoclinic)-prismatic crystals with perfect cleavage. The typical form is as encrustations and pulverulent earthy masses. It forms as efflorescent encrustations in underground uranium mines. It has a [Mohs hardness](/source/Mohs_hardness) of 2 and a [specific gravity](/source/specific_gravity) of 3.66. It is strongly [fluorescent](/source/fluorescent) yellow under [ultraviolet light](/source/ultraviolet_light) and is moderately [radioactive](/source/radioactive_decay).

==Historical usage==
A mineral which caught the attention of a [Bohemia](/source/Bohemia)n metallurgist, [Adolf Patera](/source/Adolf_Patera), in the 1850s by its striking colour. It was named after the [Austria](/source/Austria)n mineralogist [Franz Xaver Maximilian Zippe](/source/Franz_Xaver_Zippe) (1791–1863).<ref>Rösler, Hans Jürgen (1981) ''Lehrbuch der Mineralogie'' (''Manual of Mineralogy'') Deutscher Verlag für Grundstoffindustrie, Leipzig, page 418, {{ISBN|978-3-342-00288-8}}, in German</ref> This was during the period when the fame of the [Jachymov](/source/Jachymov) silver mines was dying out. On top of the large, forgotten pit-heaps, powdery minerals began to appear, vividly coloured, originating from the decomposition of the pitchblende. These colourful layers, in which zippeite was in the majority, gave [Patera](/source/Patera) the idea of utilizing the uranium minerals in the manufacture of paints. Mining began in 1859 not only for the products which resulted from uraninite's decomposition, but for [uraninite](/source/uraninite) itself. A variety of yellow paints were manufactured because among all the secondary minerals on the pit-heap there was a prevalence of the yellow powdery coatings.

Zippeite is one of the so-called 'uranium ochres'. It occurs in association with uranopilite, a monoclinic, complex water-soluble alkaline with other secondary uranium minerals in the weathered veins of uranium. Apart from Jachymov in [Bohemia](/source/Bohemia) it occurs mainly near [Wölsendorf](/source/W%C3%B6lsendorf) in [Bavaria](/source/Bavaria) ([Germany](/source/Germany)) and also in the US states of [Utah](/source/Utah) and [New Mexico](/source/New_Mexico). Zippeite is no longer used for the manufacture of paints, but is still used as a source of depleted uranium.

==See also==
* [List of minerals](/source/List_of_minerals)
* [List of minerals named after people](/source/List_of_minerals_named_after_people)

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* Palache, C., H. Berman, and C. Frondel (1951) ''Dana’s System of Mineralogy,'' (7th edition), v. II, 598–599.
*{{Cite journal|author1=Frondel, Clifford |author2=Ito, Jun |author3=Honea, Russell M. |author4=Weeks, Alice M.  |name-list-style=amp | year= 1976 | title=Mineralogy of the Zippeite Group| journal=The Canadian Mineralogist|volume=14|pages=429&ndash;436|url=http://rruff.geo.arizona.edu/doclib/cm/vol14/CM14_429.pdf}}

*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060512130031/http://www.uraniumminerals.com/UTh/Zippeite.htm Uranium minerals]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060317154444/http://mineral.galleries.com/minerals/sulfates/zippeite/zippeite.htm Mineral galleries]

{{Commons category}}

Category:Potassium minerals
Category:Sulfate minerals
Category:Uranium(VI) minerals
Category:Monoclinic minerals
Category:Minerals in space group 3

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Zippeite](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zippeite) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zippeite?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.