Thermal decomposition of pure basic zinc carbonate (BZC) and doped or mixed with iron ions were studied using TG, DTA and kinetics of isothermal decomposition. The TG and DTA investigations revealed that, the presence of iron ions retards the decomposition processes of (BZC). Also, the retardation effect increases on increasing of iron concentration up to 50 at.%. The curves of isothermal decomposition show the usual sigmoidal character. The decomposition velocity contsant (K) values are plotted vs. 1/Taccording to Arrhenius equation gave a plot of good straight lines with activation energies of 43.7, 48.2, 53.2 and 57.1 kJ mol−1for pure (BZC) and incorporated with 1, 10, 30 and 50 at.% Fe2+respectively. The products of the thermal decomposition of pure BZC and mixed with iron ions are characterized using X-ray diffraction, IR spectroscopy, surface area determination and the surface porosity. These investigations showed that iron ions are effectively incorporated into zinc oxide lattice in the range of 30–50 at.%, which gave a ZnFe2O4spi