Herbertsmithite is a
mineral
In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. ...
with chemical structure
Zn Cu3(
OH)
6 Cl2. It is named after the mineralogist
Herbert Smith
Herbert Smith LLP was a multinational law firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom. The firm was founded in the City of London in 1882 by Norman Herbert Smith and merged with the Australian law firm Freehills on 1 October 2012, forming Herber ...
(1872–1953) and was first found in 1972 in
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...
. It is
polymorphous
Polymorphism, polymorphic, polymorph, polymorphous, or polymorphy may refer to:
Computing
* Polymorphism (computer science), the ability in programming to present the same programming interface for differing underlying forms
* Ad hoc polymorphism ...
with
kapellasite and closely related to
paratacamite
Paratacamite is a mineral in the halide minerals category. Its chemical formula is . Its name is derived from its association with atacamite.
It is found in Chile, Botallack Mine in Cornwall, Broken Hill
Broken Hill is an inland mining ...
. Herbertsmithite is generally found in and around
Anarak
Anarak ( fa, انارک, also Romanized as Anārak) is a city and capital of Anarak District, in Nain County, Isfahan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 1,285, in 462 families. It is situated at an altitude of .
Anarak is l ...
, Iran, hence its other name, anarakite.
Herbertsmithite is associated with copper mineralizations in syenitic
porphyries and
granites
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergrou ...
in Chile and