| Zaratite | |
| Category: | Carbonates |
| Formula: | Ni3CO3(OH)4·4H2O |
| Imasymbol: | Zar[1] |
| Strunz: | 5.DA.70 |
| Unit Cell: | a = 6.16 Å; Z = 1 |
| System: | Isometric (in part amorphous) |
| References: | [2] [3] [4] |
Zaratite is a bright emerald green nickel carbonate mineral with formula Ni3CO3(OH)4·4H2O. Zaratite crystallizes in the isometric crystal system as massive to mammillary encrustations and vein fillings. It has a specific gravity of 2.6 and a Mohs hardness of 3 to 3.5. It has no cleavage and is brittle to conchoidal fracture. The luster is vitreous to greasy.
It is a rare secondary mineral formed by hydration or alteration of the primary nickel and iron bearing minerals, chromite, pentlandite, pyrrhotite, and millerite, during the serpentinization of ultramafic rocks. Hellyerite, NiCO3·6H2O, is a related mineral. It was found originally in Manolita mine, Teixedelo, Cedeira, La Coruña province, Galicia, Spain[5] in 1851, and named after Spanish diplomat and dramatist Antonio Gil y Zárate (1793–1861).