How do I identify Scotlandite?

Scotlandite can be identified by its hardness of 2 on the Mohs scale, Pale yellow color. Look for these key characteristics when examining specimens.

What color is Scotlandite?

Scotlandite typically appears in Pale yellow, greyish-white, colourless, white. Color can vary depending on impurities and formation conditions.

How hard is Scotlandite?

Scotlandite has a hardness of 2 on the Mohs scale. This makes it a soft mineral that can be scratched easily.

Scotlandite

A variety of Minerals

What is Scotlandite?

Scotlandite is a sulfite mineral first discovered in a mine at Leadhills in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, an area known to mineralogists and geologists for its wide range of different mineral species found in the veins that lie deep in the mine shafts. This specific mineral is found in the Susanna vein of Leadhills, where the crystals are formed as chisel-shaped or bladed. Scotlandite was actually the first naturally occurring sulfite, which has the ideal chemical formula of PbSO3. The mineral has been approved by the Commission on New Minerals and Mineral Names, IMA, to be named scotlandite for Scotland.

Scotlandite Market Value Calculator

Estimate the market value of Scotlandite using size, quality, and finish. This preview calculator is for quick context and is not a formal appraisal.

Scotlandite Localities Map

See where Scotlandite is found with a localities map, collecting zones, and geology context. Generate a sample map preview below.

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North ZoneCentral RidgeSouth Basin

Key Characteristics

Characteristics of Scotlandite

Scotlandite is a pale yellow, greyish-white, colorless, transparent mineral with an adamantine or pearly luster. It exhibits a hardness of 2 on the Mohs hardness scale. Scotlandite occurs as chisel-shaped or bladed crystals elongated along the c-axis, with a tendency to form radiating clusters. Its crystals are characterized by the {100}, {010}, {011}, {021}, {031}, and {032}. faces. Scotlandite shows perfect cleavage along the {100} plane and a less good one along the {010} plane. The measured density is 6.37 g/cm.

Formation of Scotlandite

Scotlandite is found in association with pyromorphite, anglesite, lanarkite, leadhillite, susannite, and barite. It occurs in cavities in massive barite and anglesite, and is closely associated with lanarkite and susannite. Scotlandite represents the latest phase in the crystallization sequence of the associated lead secondary minerals. It can often be found in the vuggy anglesite as yellowish single crystals up to 1 millimeter in length that sometimes arrange in a fan-shaped aggregates. Anglesite can usually be recognized in a very thin coating on scotlandite which is used to protect the sulfite from further oxidation. A second variety of scotlandite can also occur in discontinuously distributed cavities between the anglesite mass containing the first variety and the barite matrix. This variety is characterized by tiny, whitish to water-clear crystals, and crystal clusters less than one millimeter in size, which encrust large portions of the interior of the cavities. Scotlandite is a uniquely rare mineral, as it occurs in small amounts in few locations around the world.