the.com/blende
The mineral that named itself after fooling every miner who dug it up.
means A mineral (especially zinc sulfide, also called sphalerite) that has a bright, often resinous luster but doesn't contain the metal its look-alike ores suggested.
from From German 'Blende,' tied to the verb 'blenden' — to blind or deceive. German miners kept digging up zinc blende expecting lead or silver ore, since it could resemble galena in luster and heft, but it yielded nothing of the sort — so they named it for the way it tricked the eye, the same root behind English 'blend' is only a distant, uncertain cousin at best.
- name origin
- german for blind or deceiving, since it hid zinc
- real identity
- mostly zinc sulfide, aka sphalerite
- fooled miners
- looked like lead ore but yielded none
- modern use
- main global source of zinc metal today