Cerussite Archives - Cochise College Geology

Cerussite

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Chemical Group: Carbonate

Chemical Formula: PbCO₃

Color: White, gray, grayish black, or tinted blue or green

Streak: Uncolored Fracture: Conchoidal

Hardness: 3 to 3.5 Specific Gravity: 6.46 to 6.574

Cleavage: (110) and (021)

Luster: Adamantine, pearly, resinous, vitreous

Tenacity: Very brittle

Crystal Forms: Orthorhombic system. Crystals can be tabular, prismatic, or pyramidal. Elongated crystals are referred to as jackstraw cerussite. Twinning either as contact or penetration twins is common; 6-sided stellate twinning can be characteristic of cerussite.

Mineral Associations: Found in oxidized lead ore zones.

Identifying Characteristics: High density for a white mineral

Uses: Lead ore

Occurrences: Pennsylvania, Missouri, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico

Toxicity: When-swallowed: very high When-inhaled: very high

Additional Information: Cerussite comes from the Latin word, cerussa, meaning white lead. Cerussite is formed by carbonated water acting on galena.

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Photos

Cerussite 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

Cerussite - Cluster Of Elongated Crystals

cerussite-cluster of light gray crystals — Cerussite - Cluster Of Light Gray Crystals

cerussite-cream white jackstraw crystals — Cerussite - Cream White Jackstraw Crystals

cerussite-geometrical network of white crystals-Africa — Cerussite - Geometrical Network Of White Crystals - Africa

cerussite-cluster of light tan crystals — Cerussite - Cluster Of Light Tan Crystals

cerussite-hexagonal network of white crystals — Cerussite - Hexagonal Network Of White Crystals

cerussite-light tan jackstraw crystals — Cerussite - Light Tan Jackstraw Crystals

cerussite-light brown translucent crystal — Cerussite - Light Brown Translucent Crystal

cerussite-light gray crystal-close view — Cerussite - Light Gray Crystal - Close View

Cerussite - White Jackstraw Crystals - Close View - Arizona

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