Crocoite

specimen number:
2062494

location:
Adelaide Mine, Dundas, Tasmania, Australia

description:
Brilliant orange red lustrous prismatic crystals of crocoite to 1.5 cm in size on matrix. Some damage present, still very pretty.

The Adelaide Mine in the Dundas mineral field of western Tasmania, Australia, was opened for prospecting during the regional mining boom of the 1880s. Rather than operating continuously, the mine has been worked intermittently from the late nineteenth century through the present day, shifting from early silver-lead mining objectives to modern, small-scale specimen recovery without a permanent closure date. Geologically, the deposit is situated within Cambrian metasedimentary and volcanic sequences where a primary lead-zinc sulphide orebody underwent deep supergene weathering. This oxidation zone created rich gossanous cavities in fault zones near ultramafic rocks, allowing descending groundwater containing chromium to react with ascending lead solutions and precipitate world-class crystals in open voids.

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