White lead ore, the English name Cerussite, is derived from the Latin Cerussa, which means “white lead”.
White lead is a kind of carbonate mineral. Its composition often contains a mixture of particles of lead sulfide and silver sulfide: it belongs to the orthorhombic crystal system, and the crystals are in the shape of plate, needle or pseudo-hexagonal bipyramid. They often penetrate double crystals or triples. The crystal aggregates are massive, granular, dense and stalactite, with diamond luster to grease luster, transparent to translucent, and hardness of 3-3.5. The color is colorless, there are also white, グレー, green or black in purple pink or yellow tones of fluorescence, and light blue or green tones of fluorescence under ultraviolet shortwave irradiation. The hardness of white lead ore is low, a group of cleavage is developed, it is brittle, soluble in acid, especially soluble in dilute nitric acid and generates bubbles.
Although white lead is small in hardness and brittle, it has outstanding characteristics such as high dispersion, height and diamond-like luster. Colorless and transparent crystals are often processed and polished into standard round diamond gems, which can become precious white lead like diamonds. Cat’s eye gems. Intact crystals or clusters can also be used as ornamental stones. White lead is sometimes confused with colorless gems, but it can be distinguished by measuring specific gravity and density.
White lead is a secondary mineral in the oxidation zone of lead-zinc sulfide deposits. It is formed by the oxidation of galena to lead alum, which is then formed by the action of aqueous carbonic acid solution, so it often coexists with minerals such as galena and lead alum. The world’s best large colorless or light yellow completely transparent white lead ore gemstone crystals are mostly produced in Namibia, such as a light yellow, 4.7 carat white lead ore collected by the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, United States, Calgary, Canada The 126 carats of white lead ore crystals collected by the Wo group are all produced in Tsumeb, Namibia. The white lead ore opals are mainly produced in Arizona, アメリカ合衆国. 加えて, オーストリア, Scotland, the Czech Republic, Italy, Australia and Zambia are also the main producers of gem-grade white lead.