FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[Roger Warin]

Zunyite from the Francis Coune collection.
with chalcopyrite?
locality:: Silverstone Canada.
Do you know?

[Bob Carnein]

I wonder whether this might be sphalerite? Try the hardness--zunyite is very hard (7).

[alfredo]

I too suspect sphalerite.

[David K. Joyce]

The whole thing is suspect. I have never heard of a Silverstone locality. I don't know ALL of the localities, though. Zunyite is not listed in the "Catalogue of Canadian Minerals". The association certainly does look like it could be sphalerite.

[Roger Warin]

Hello,

Thank you very much for your relevant opinions.
Moreover, are there aluminous rocks in Canada whose alteration could have given zunyite?
Roger.

[David K. Joyce]

Yes, of course there are aluminous rocks in Canada. What is more important is the location. Are there the right conditions present at this locality to result in zunyite. The "Silverstone" locality is a mystery so we cannot look up any geological/mine/exploration data about it. There is a Silverton, British Columbia, which was a well known and well studied silver mining area.https://www.mindat.org/loc-209672.html Zunyite has not been reported from there.

[alfredo]

As David points out, "Silverstone" is likely an error for Silverton, and Silverton has plenty of sphalerite and chalcopyrite, which this specimen appears to be. It does not look to me like zunyite, and the only zunyite I know in association with sulphides is in "roseki"-type deposits, which are hydrothermal acid alteration halos around volcanic rocks, consisting largely of pyrophyllite and sericite. I'm not personally familiar with Silverton but I doubt that is the case there, is it? My opinion would be that you have a completely screwed up label and no zunyite, but I'd be happy to be proven wrong.