.75" Green Zincovoltaite on Zincocopiapite & Dietrichite - Ukraine

Zincovoltaite is the name given to zinc-bearing voltaite, a potassium, aluminum, and iron-bearing silicate mineral named for the inventor of the electric battery, Alessandro Volta.

Voltaite is an isometric mineral, so its crystals often form in cubes and decahedrons similar to pyrite. Voltaite is usually an oily green to black, while zincovoltaite tends towards green. Voltaite's type locality is within the Italian Alps, while zincovoltaite's type locality is in central China.

Zincocopiapite is a bright yellow zinc-bearing end member of the copiapite group, a group of iron-bearing sulfate minerals. Copiapites can be found around the world, but zincocopiapite is particularly rare: outside its type locality mine in central China, it is found sparingly around Europe and the American Rocky Mountains. Its crystals often form tiny tabular or sheet-like structures.

Dietrichite is a rare zinc-bearing aluminosulfate mineral. It is named for its discoverer, Dr. Gustav Dietrich, a Romanian scientist who analyzed the first known specimens. It is usually white to off-white and considered a halotrichite, a type of mineral that forms fibrous efflorescences after deposition by water. They are usually a product of surface weathering.