greenockite

[ gree-nuh-kahyt ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

a yellow mineral, cadmium sulfide, CdS, associated with zinc ores and used as a source of cadmium.

greenockite

/ ˈɡriːnəˌkaɪt /

a rare yellowish mineral consisting of cadmium sulphide in hexagonal crystalline form: the only ore of cadmium. Formula: CdS

1840–45; named after Charles Cathcart, Lord Greenock (1807–43), Englishman who discovered it; -ite ¹

C19: named after Lord C. C. Greenock, 19th-century English soldier

Cadmium occurs in nature as cadmium sulphide in greenockite, CdS, which is very rare.

Isomorphous with greenockite is the hexagonal zinc sulphide (ZnS) known as wurtzite.

It occurs in combination with sulphur in greenockite, and in some ores of zinc.

The zinc oxide minerals in the surficial zone also are sometimes colored yellow by small amounts of greenockite.

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