Cochise College Photos of Minerals

Roger Weller, geology instructor

[email protected]
copyright 2006-R.Weller

Mineral Information on:
cerussite

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: