Lead

lead

rhodonite

hydrocerussite

galena

Images

Formula: Pb
Native element
Crystal System: Isometric
Specific gravity: 11.37 measured, 11.341 calculated
Hardness: 1½
Streak: Grey
Colour: Grey, but often coated with white hydrocerussite
Environments:

Metamorphic environments

Native lead is a rare mineral of hydrothermal origin, which requires conditions where both oxygen and sulphur are scarce in order to form (Ramdohr p337). Galena is the most important ore of lead. Anglesite and cerussite are other common lead-bearing minerals.

Localities

At Långban, Filipstad, Värmland county, Sweden, native lead occurs accompanied by manganese oxides in a granular limestone (Ramdohr p337).

At the Cheleken Peninsula, Balkan, Turkmenistan (former USSR), native lead has been deposited from hot brines (Ramdohr p337).

At Franklin, New Jersey, USA, native lead occurs in rhodonite in very fine lamellar inclusions (Ramdohr p337).

Back to Minerals