Sphalerite, also known as zinc blende, is a zinc sulfide (ZnS) mineral.[1] It has been known since ancient times, although in Europe no metal could be extracted from it. This fact, its resemblance in some cases to galena, and its common association with other minerals led Georgius Agricola, in his work De natura fossilium (On the Nature of Minerals), to give it the name galena inanis ("useless galena").