Detailed information
Species
Cerussite
Dimensions
48 x 65 x 34
mm
Weight
150 g
Locality
Friedrichssegen Mine, Frücht Bad Ems District, Lahn Valley Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
Condition
No recorded repairs
Well crystallised Cerussite forms a large miniature from Friedrichssegen mine at Frücht in the Bad Ems District in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, just 4.5 km southwest of Bad Ems (town). This long since abandoned zinc-lead-copper-silver mine closed in 1913, the ore having been hosted in a series of Siderite-Quartz veins. Over its working life this mine clocked-up a most impressive 183 mineral species and is type locality to the zinc sulphate hydrate Lahnsteinite., a species I have never encountered. This is a terrific example of the lead carbonate Cerussite from Friedrichssegen , a matrix covered in translucent to transparent, colourless to milk Cerussite crystals forming tabular prisms. Characteristic of this species, many crystals form as V-twins and these also cluster into reticulated and stellate habits.