carbonates
Cerussite
Pb(CO3)
- Also known as
- white lead ore
- Crystal system
- orthorhombic
- Hardness
- 3–3.5 on the Mohs scale
- Lustre
- adamantine
- Colour
- Colourless, white, grey
- Where it forms
- In the oxidised zone above galena deposits, where lead sulfide met carbonated groundwater.
- Chiefly from
- Tsumeb, NamibiaArizona, United StatesMoroccoScotland
Why it is that colour
Colourless when pure. Its interest is optical: cerussite has extremely high dispersion and a very high refractive index, so clear crystals are startlingly brilliant.
Safety
Lead carbonate — the same compound as the white lead pigment that poisoned painters and their sitters for centuries. Soft, heavy, and readily abraded. Handle minimally, wash hands, keep from children, never powder, never near food or water.
Where it comes from
Tsumeb in Namibia produced the world’s finest specimens from an orebody of extraordinary mineralogical richness; the mine is now closed and flooded.
Historical use
White lead, made industrially by corroding lead with vinegar and dung, was the principal white pigment in European painting and the base of cosmetic face paint. Venetian ceruse was applied to the face by women including, reputedly, Elizabeth I, and it damaged the skin, which encouraged heavier application.
Recorded as history and attributed where possible. That a stone was used for something establishes that people used it, not that it worked.
Worth knowing
Venetian ceruse is one of the more direct illustrations of a cosmetic problem that has not entirely gone away. Lead carbonate gave a smooth opaque white, it was the best available, and it damaged the skin it covered — which produced a demand for more of it. The loop is what makes it memorable: the remedy generating the condition it remedies.
Cerussite itself is a genuinely beautiful mineral, and clear crystals out-sparkle diamond in dispersion. They are also lead, and soft enough to mark with a fingernail.
Identity checked against IMA-CNMNC master list, June 2025.