View source for Cerussite

{{Short description|Lead carbonate mineral}}
{{Distinguish|Sericite}}
{{Infobox mineral
| name        = Cerussite
| category    = [[Carbonate mineral]]
| image       = Cerussite - Nakhlak mine, Anarak, Esfahan, Iran.jpg
| imagesize   = 280px
| caption     = 
| formula     = Lead carbonate: PbCO<sub>3</sub>
| IMAsymbol=Cer<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Warr|first=L.N.|date=2021|title=IMA–CNMNC approved mineral symbols|journal=Mineralogical Magazine|volume=85|issue=3|pages=291–320|doi=10.1180/mgm.2021.43|bibcode=2021MinM...85..291W|s2cid=235729616|doi-access=free}}</ref>  
| molweight   = 
| strunz      = 5.AB.15
| system      = [[Orthorhombic]]
| class       = Dipyramidal (mmm) <br/>[[H-M symbol]]: (2/m 2/m 2/m)
| symmetry    = ''Pnma [62]''
| color       = Colorless, white, gray, blue, or green
| habit       = Massive granular, reticulate, tabular to equant crystals
| twinning    = Simple or cyclic contact twins
| cleavage    = Good [110] and [021]
| fracture    = Brittle conchoidal
| mohs        = 3 to 3.5
| luster      = Adamantine, vitreous, resinous
| refractive  = n<sub>α</sub> = 1.803, n<sub>β</sub> = 2.074, n<sub>γ</sub> = 2.076
| opticalprop = Biaxial (−)
| birefringence = δ = 0.273
| pleochroism = 
| streak      = White
| gravity     = 6.53–6.57
| density     = 
| melt        = 
| fusibility  = 
| diagnostic  = 
| solubility  = 
| diaphaneity = Transparent to translucent
| other       = May fluoresce yellow under LW UV
| references  = <ref>[https://www.mineralienatlas.de/lexikon/index.php/MineralData?mineral=Cerussite Mineralienatlas]</ref><ref>[https://rruff.info/doclib/hom/cerussite.pdf Cerussite]. Handbook of Mineralogy. (PDF) Retrieved on 2011-10-10.</ref><ref>[https://www.mindat.org/min-934.html Cerussite]. Mindat. Retrieved on 2011-10-10.</ref>
}}

'''Cerussite''' (also known as '''lead carbonate''' or '''white lead ore''') is a [[mineral]] consisting of [[lead carbonate]] with the chemical formula PbCO<sub>3</sub>, and is 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 [[François Sulpice Beudant|F. S. Beudant]] applied the name ''céruse'' to the mineral, whilst the present form, cerussite, is due to [[W. Haidinger]] (1845). Miners' names in early use were lead-spar and white-lead-ore.{{sfn|Spencer|1911}}

Cerussite [[crystal]]lizes in the [[orthorhombic crystal system]] and is isomorphous with [[aragonite]]. Like aragonite it is very frequently [[crystal twinning|twinned]], the compound crystals being pseudo-hexagonal in form. Three crystals are usually twinned together on two faces of the prism, producing six-rayed stellate groups with the individual crystals intercrossing at angles of nearly 60°. Crystals are of frequent occurrence and they usually have very bright and smooth faces. The mineral also occurs in compact granular masses, and sometimes in fibrous forms. The mineral is usually colorless or white, sometimes grey or greenish in tint and varies from transparent to translucent with an adamantine lustre. It is very brittle, and has a [[conchoidal fracture]]. It has a [[Mohs hardness]] of 3 to 3.75 and a [[specific gravity]] of 6.5. A variety containing 7% of zinc carbonate, replacing lead carbonate, is known as iglesiasite, from Iglesias in [[Sardinia]], where it is found.{{sfn|Spencer|1911}}

The mineral may be readily recognized by its characteristic twinning, in conjunction with the adamantine lustre and high specific gravity. It dissolves with effervescence in dilute [[nitric acid]]. A [[blowpipe (tool)|blowpipe test]] will cause it to fuse very readily, and gives indications for lead.{{sfn|Spencer|1911}}

Finely crystallized specimens have been obtained from the [[Lahnstein#Friedrichssegen|Friedrichssegen]] mine in [[Lahnstein]] in [[Rhineland-Palatinate]], [[Johanngeorgenstadt]] in [[Saxony]], [[Stříbro]] in the [[Czech Republic]], [[Phoenixville]] in [[Pennsylvania]], [[Broken Hill, New South Wales|Broken Hill in New South Wales]], and several other localities. Delicate [[Acicular (crystal habit)|acicular]] crystals of considerable length were found long ago in the Pentire Glaze mine near [[St Minver]] in [[Cornwall]].{{sfn|Spencer|1911}} Cerussite is often found in considerable quantities, and has a lead content of up to 77.5%.<ref name="LeadAmount">{{Cite FTP |url=ftp://ftp.conservation.ca.gov/pub/dmg/pubs/cg/1949/02_11.pdf |title=Mineral Information Service |date=November 1949 |accessdate=4 June 2016 |server=California Division of Mines |url-status=dead |pages=2 }}</ref>

Lead(II) carbonate is practically insoluble in neutral water (solubility product [Pb<sup>2+</sup>][{{chem2|CO3(2−)}}]&nbsp;≈&nbsp;{{val|1.5e-13}} at 25&nbsp;°C), but will dissolve in dilute acids.

==Commercial uses==
"[[White lead]]" is the key ingredient in (now discontinued) [[lead paint]]s. Ingestion of lead-based paint chips is the most common cause of [[lead poisoning]] in children.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lead Poisoning in Children |url=http://familydoctor.org/617.xml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060925103949/http://familydoctor.org/617.xml |archive-date=September 25, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.calpoison.org/public/lead.html |title=California Poison Control System: Lead Poisoning |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070114141758/http://www.calpoison.org/public/lead.html |archive-date=2007-01-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Lightening the lead load in children |journal=Am Fam Physician |date=August 2000 |pmid=10950212|last1=Ellis |first1=M. R. |last2=Kane |first2=K. Y. |volume=62 |issue=3 |pages=545-54, 559-60 }}</ref>

Both "white lead" and [[Lead(II) acetate|lead acetate]] have been used in cosmetics throughout history, though this practice has ceased in Western countries.<ref>Gunn, Fenja. (1973). The Artificial Face: A History of Cosmetics. — as cited in [http://websites.umich.edu/~ece/student_projects/leisure/leadfacepowder.html Leisure Activities of an 18th Century Lady] and [http://leda.law.harvard.edu/leda/data/788/Schaffer06.pdf Reading Our Lips: The History of Lipstick Regulation in Western Seats of Power] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060905135116/http://leda.law.harvard.edu/leda/data/788/Schaffer06.pdf |date=2006-09-05}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery widths="145px" heights="130px">
File:cerussite09.jpg|[[Crystal]]s of cerussite, a secondary lead ore
File:Light of the Desert.jpg|At 890 carats, the [[Light of the Desert]] (located at [[Toronto]]'s [[Royal Ontario Museum]]) is the world's largest faceted cerussite.<ref>{{cite web |title=Iconic: Light of the Desert |date=2009-11-26 |url=https://www.rom.on.ca/en/collections-research/rom-channel/iconic-light-desert |accessdate=2012-07-25}}</ref>
File:Cerussite-Malachite-Mimetite-158529.jpg|Colorless cerussite crystal that has been included by wisps of light green [[malachite]]
File:Cerussite-18566.jpg|Fine example of reticulated growth
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[Venetian ceruse]] – Cerussite-based cosmetic popularly thought to be worn by [[Elizabeth I of England]]

==References==
*{{EB1911|wstitle=Cerussite |volume=5 |page=762 |first=Leonard James|last=Spencer|author-link=Leonard James Spencer}}
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040404192328/http://mineral.galleries.com/minerals/carbonat/cerussit/cerussit.htm Mineral galleries]

[[Category:Carbonate minerals]]
[[Category:Gemstones]]
[[Category:Lead minerals]]
[[Category:Luminescent minerals]]
[[Category:Minerals in space group 62]]
[[Category:Orthorhombic minerals]]
[[Category:Aragonite group]]
[[Category:Minerals described in 1845]]