Tasmania, Australia

Minerals

The Red Lead Mine is best known as a source of the rare mineral crocoite. However, a number of other minerals are known to occur.

Anglesite

Transparent crystals to about 5mm occur in small cavities in and on remnant galena.

Cerussite

Green chrome cerussite has been found on occasion, always associated with crocoite. Twinned and reticulated crystals to 25mm have been found in recent years.

Chalcophanite

Occurs as small(2mm) tabular crystals coating cavities in FeMn ore, and more rarely as spongy crystalline masses to several centimetres across.

crocoite

Crocoite occurs commonly right across the outcrop. It has two distinct modes of occurrence.

Firstly, the most common occurrence is filling fractures and tension gashes that are common in the area of the main lode. These fractures trend north west, are parallel and are up to three centimetres wide. The occurrence of manganese, as gossan, is an aid to precipitation of crocoite, which completely fills these fractures. The nature of this material is such that undamaged specimens are nearly impossible to recover, as the veins do not pod out and produce cavities. All the sheared material on the market is from these areas.

The best specimens are recovered from the large gossanous lode that runs right through the lease. Cavities range from only a couple of centimetres up to about one metre long, by a few centimetres wide. In these cavities there is room for crystals to grow to several centimetres long, and form as floaters or as upstanding crystals on black gossan.

One unique occurrence that was mined over ten years ago, and will be accessed from underground by late summer, is an open water-course up to fifteen centimetres wide, that is parallel to, and about a metre to the east of the flux stope. This was never mined out, and randomly scattered throughout it were pods of single crystals, some complexly terminated, others contact terminated. Length reached fifteen centimetres. On the walls were huge crystals, to thirty centimetres by three that were completely fractured, so that not a piece was recoverable. The specimen in the mineral hall at LA County Museum is from this area.

Crocoite has been named the State Mineral Emblem of Tasmania, Australia.

Galena

Remnant masses of coarsely crystalline galena have been found rarely in lode structures.

Gorciexite

Petterdite

Occurs as mauve earthy to crusty masses in cavities near remnant galena slugs. May be up to several centimetres across.

Phillipsbornite

Pyrolusite

Occurs as metallic blades to one centimetre lining cavities in an outcrop on the extreme south eastern corner of the mineralised zone. Makes a very attractive combination with crocoite, which occurs with it.

Weilerite

Occurs as conical aggregates to 2cm of metallic platy microcrystals.