Cerussite

A gorgeous lead mineral with a chequered past – Cerussite can occur in fantastic reticulated crystals, often twinned.

Cerussite is a lead mineral and should be handled with care, making sure to wash your hands afterwards.

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Appearance

A gorgeous lead mineral with a chequered past – it can occur in fantastic reticulated crystals, often twinned. Some of the crystals I’ve seen genuinely look rather like snowflakes.


Uses and History

Cerussite is an important ore of lead, but is also prized by collectors. Rarely, pieces are facet cut for jewellery – while they are too soft for frequent wear, the mineral does have a very high refractive index.

A long, long history, this one. We cannot attribute it all to cerussite, but white lead has been used for hundreds of years for cosmetics and paints.

White lead makeups like ‘Venetian ceruse’ were famous in the 16th century for the skin-whitening effects they had – and there is debate as to whether one user was Elizabeth I of England.

One famous user was Maria Coventry, the Countess of Coventry, who died of lead poisoning in 1760, at the age of 27.

 

Locales

 


Mineralogy

Chemistry
A lead carbonate mineral with the formula PbCO3.
Colours and Variations
White, grey, yellow, colourless/clear
Streak
White
Luster
Adamantine, vitreous, resinous
Fracture
Conchoidal
Crystal habit
Prismatic, tabular, reticulated, or massive.
Mohs hardness
3 – 3.5
Fluorescence
May fluoresce.
Specific Gravity
6.53 – 6.57
Easiest testing method
High specific gravity.

Hazards and Warnings

Toxic, lead ore. Wash hands after handling.

Almost all rocks, minerals (and, frankly, almost all other substances on earth) can produce toxic dust when cutting, which can cause serious respiratory conditions including silicosis.

When cutting or polishing rocks, minerals, shells, etc, all work should be done wet to minimise the dust, and a suitable respirator or extraction system should be used.


Translations

Arabic:

Hindi:

Portuguese:

  • cerussita

Bengali:

Indonesian:

Punjabi:

English:

  • cerussite

Italian:

Russian:

  • церуссит

French:

  • cérusite

Japanese:

Spanish:

  • cerusita

German:

  • Cerussit

Korean:

  • 세루사이트

Thai:

  • เซรัสไซต์

Gujurati:

Mandarin Chinese:

  • 白鉛礦

Urdu:


Further Reading / External Links