Home > Lead Minerals – December 10 > MS1459 Cerussite after Phosgenite
Cerussite after Phosgenite - Sold
- Tarnowskie Góry (Tarnowitz)
- Śląskie (Upper Silesia)
- Poland
- 14 by 6 by 4 mm – Thumbnail specimen (fits into a 2.5 cm cube)
Tarnowskie Góry is a historic silver mining area. The mines carried a lot of oxidized lead, mainly in the form of cerussite. Cerussite is simple lead carbonate while phosgenite is a combination lead carbonate chloride. Cold water, especially meteoric waters carrying dissolved carbon dioxide, free chlorine from phosgenite and leave behind cerussite. These unusual pseudomorphs have been known since the nineteenth century, and this specimen likely dates to that time period.