There are various colors of sphalerite, including white, gray, yellow (yellow patterned stone), blue, green, pink, and brown, while the stripes are white. The zinc in the composition is sometimes replaced by iron or manganese, and occasionally by small amounts of magnesium, calcium, cadmium, copper, cobalt, or lead. Similar to most carbonate minerals, it dissolves in hydrochloric acid and produces bubbles. In the calcite group, sphalerite belongs to a type with high hardness and specific gravity. In nature, zinc containing minerals are mostly sphalerite, and the production of sphalerite is relatively much lower. In addition to extracting zinc, it can also be used as semi transparent green or green blue gemstone jewelry.