Sweetite has a general formula of Zn(OH)₂. The name is given after a curator of mineral department of The British Museum, Jessie May Sweet (1901-1979). It occurs in an oxidized vein

Vein (geology)

In geology, a vein is a distinct sheetlike body of crystallized minerals within a rock. Veins form when mineral constituents carried by an aqueous solution within the rock mass are deposited through precipitation...

 in limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

 bedrock with galena

Galena

Galena is the natural mineral form of lead sulfide. It is the most important lead ore mineral.Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It crystallizes in the cubic crystal system often showing octahedral forms...

, ashoverite

Ashoverite

Ashoverite is one of three polymorphs of zinc hydroxide, Zn2. It is a rare mineral first found in a limestone quarry near Ashover, Derbyshire, England, in 1988. It has also been found in the Harz mountain range in Germany, and in Namibia....

, wülfingite, anglesite

Anglesite

Anglesite is a lead sulfate mineral with the chemical formula PbSO4. It occurs as an oxidation product of primary lead sulfide ore, galena. Anglesite occurs as prismatic orthorhombic crystals and earthy masses, and is isomorphous with barite and celestine. It contains 74% of lead by mass and...

, cerussite

Cerussite

Cerussite is a mineral consisting of lead carbonate , and an important ore of lead. The name is from the Latin cerussa, white lead. Cerussa nativa was mentioned by Conrad Gessner in 1565, and in 1832 F. S. Beudant applied the name cruse to the mineral, whilst the present form, cerussite, is due to...

, hydrocerussite, litharge

Litharge

Litharge is one of the natural mineral forms of lead oxide, PbO. Litharge is a secondary mineral which forms from the oxidation of galena ores. It forms as coatings and encrustations with internal tetragonal crystal structure. It is dimorphous with the orthorhombic form massicot...

, fluorite

Fluorite

Fluorite is a halide mineral composed of calcium fluoride, CaF2. It is an isometric mineral with a cubic habit, though octahedral and more complex isometric forms are not uncommon...

, palygorskite

Palygorskite

Palygorskite or attapulgite is a magnesium aluminium phyllosilicate with formula 2Si4O10·4 which occurs in a type of clay soil common to the Southeastern United States. It is one of the types of fuller's earth.-Name:...

 and calcite

Calcite

Calcite is a carbonate mineral and the most stable polymorph of calcium carbonate . The other polymorphs are the minerals aragonite and vaterite. Aragonite will change to calcite at 380-470°C, and vaterite is even less stable.-Properties:...

.

Sweetite is tetragonal, which means crystallographically it contains one axis of unequal length and two axes of equal length. The angles between three of the axes are all 90°. It belongs to the space group 4/m. Some crystals show evidence of a basal plane and a few are tabular. In terms of its optical properties, sweetite has two indices of refraction, 1.635 along the ordinary ray and 1.628 along the extraordinary ray. The index of refraction is the velocity of light in a vacuum divided by the velocity of light in medium. It also has the birefringence of 0.007. The birefringence means the decomposition of light into two rays when passing through a mineral. Sweetite is 1.64 - 1.65 in relief, which is medium to high in intensity and means a measure of the relative difference between the index of refraction of a mineral and its surrounding medium.

Sweetite is mostly found from a limestone quarry 200–300 m northwest of Milltown, near Ashover, Derbyshire, England.