Cerussite

Cerussite from South Mine Opencut, Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia, measuring 49 × 37 × 25 mm and weighing 66 grams. This compact example brings a specifically identified Broken Hill working into the collection. The mine name gives it an individual place among Cerussite specimens from the district, where locality distinctions can be as interesting as differences in appearance.

Cerussite is the carbonate of lead and is characteristically associated with the oxidised portions of lead deposits. Its formation illustrates the conversion of metals from primary ore minerals into later compounds as conditions change. For collectors, it provides a direct link between ore-deposit geology and the secondary minerals recovered from the weathered parts of those deposits.

Warm cream to yellowish blades overlap into an angular cluster, broader above and narrower toward the base. Changes in direction between the plates give the piece much of its visual interest, breaking the outline into a series of intersecting edges. It is worth considering several viewing angles, because the arrangement of the blades contributes as much as the overall colour. This specimen comes from the Anne McDonald Collection and was collected in the early 1980s. That collecting period gives it a particular place in the history of Broken Hill material, connecting the South Mine Opencut attribution with an earlier generation of field collecting. The intergrown blades and compact scale make it an inviting example to place beside Cerussite from other workings in the district.