What metal is cerussite an ore of?
Cerussite is an ore of lead: Pb(CO3), 77.54% lead by mass. Its sheet says it may be an important ore in the oxidised zone of lead deposits. What the word means.
Lead. Cerussite is lead carbonate, Pb(CO3), and 77.54% of its mass is lead, worked from standard atomic weights. Its Handbook sheet calls it common in the oxidized zone of lead deposits, where it may constitute an important ore. Galena, PbS at 86.60% lead, is the one its own sheet calls the most important ore mineral of lead.
In short
- The verdict. Cerussite is an ore of lead. The September 2026 IMA-CNMNC Master List writes it Pb(CO3), status G, 1845, Italy. Worked on standard atomic weights it is 77.54% lead; the Handbook of Mineralogy sheet’s ideal column, PbO 83.53 and CO2 16.47, is the same figure as oxide, and its Tsumeb analysis gives 77.30%.
- The sheet’s word is “may”. The cerussite sheet says: “Common in the oxidized zone of lead deposits, where it may constitute an important ore.” That makes it an ore where there is enough of it, not in every specimen. The galena sheet is firmer about its own species: “The most important ore mineral of lead.”
- The associate ore ledger. The cerussite sheet names 7 associates. Searched by script, 6 of those 8 sheets use the word ore: cerussite, anglesite and galena for lead; smithsonite for zinc (“may constitute an ore”); malachite and azurite for copper. Phosgenite and pyromorphite, 75.99% and 76.38% lead, print none.
- Documented failure: lead content is not the test. Phosgenite and pyromorphite carry nearly as much lead as cerussite, yet their sheets give them no ore wording and call phosgenite uncommon. And cerussite shares its zone with ores of zinc and copper, so “ore from a cerussite deposit” does not by itself mean lead.
- Weight per kilogram of lead. Worked: 1.155 kg of galena, 1.290 kg of cerussite or 1.464 kg of anglesite each carries 1 kg of lead. Lead is a hazard question too; that is on is cerussite toxic, which is not advice.
| Sheet | Formula (sheet) | Main metal, % by mass | Ore wording on the sheet, as printed | Deposit named |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cerussite | PbCO3 | Pb 77.54 | “where it may constitute an important ore” | Lead deposits, oxidized zone |
| Anglesite | PbSO4 | Pb 68.33 | “where it may constitute an important ore” | Lead deposits, oxidized zone |
| Galena | PbS | Pb 86.60 | “The most important ore mineral of lead” | Lead |
| Phosgenite | Pb2(CO3)Cl2 | Pb 75.99 | None; “Uncommon” | Hydrothermal lead deposits |
| Pyromorphite | Pb5(PO4)3Cl | Pb 76.38 | None | Lead deposits, oxidized zone |
| Smithsonite | ZnCO3 | Zn 52.14 | “where it may constitute an ore” | Zinc-bearing deposits |
| Malachite | Cu2(CO3)(OH)2 | Cu 57.48 | “locally may be an ore of copper” | Copper deposits |
| Azurite | Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2 | Cu 55.31 | “may constitute an ore of copper” | Copper deposits |
Cerussite is an ore of lead: the sheet’s words
One sentence decides it. The Handbook of Mineralogy cerussite sheet gives the Occurrence as “Common in the oxidized zone of lead deposits, where it may constitute an important ore.” Cerussite is lead carbonate, PbCO3 on the sheet and Pb(CO3) on the September 2026 IMA list (G, 1845, Italy), so the metal it can be an ore of is lead. Worked with Pb 207.2, C 12.011 and O 15.999, the formula mass is 267.208, of which lead is 77.54%: the figure on is cerussite toxic.
What “ore” means here. The sheet uses the word without defining it, and with “may”: cerussite is an ore where a deposit holds enough of it, not in every crystal. The twinned groups its sheet records from Tsumeb and the fine twins from the Touissit mine, Morocco, are the same mineral; whether any given occurrence was worked as ore is a fact about the deposit, which the sheet does not record. This page makes no claim about any mine’s production.
The name. The sheet derives it “From the Latin cerussa, for white lead, synthetic lead carbonate.” The USGS image page “Sample of Cerussite” calls cerussite “once an important source of lead for paints and pigments”.
Which minerals are ores of lead? Cerussite, galena and anglesite
The associate ore ledger, method. The cerussite sheet lists its associates as anglesite, smithsonite, malachite, azurite, phosgenite, pyromorphite and galena. Each of those eight sheets, cerussite included, was searched by script for the word ore, whole-word and case-insensitive; the table quotes every hit that describes the mineral itself.
Lead. Three sheets attach ore wording to lead deposits. Galena’s Distribution opens: “The most important ore mineral of lead.” Anglesite carries the same sentence as cerussite, word for word: common in the oxidized zone of lead deposits, where it may constitute an important ore. Phosgenite (“Uncommon”) and pyromorphite are lead minerals of the same zones with no ore wording at all.
Zinc and copper. The smithsonite sheet says it forms in the oxidized zone of zinc-bearing deposits “where it may constitute an ore”; malachite “locally may be an ore of copper”; azurite “may constitute an ore of copper”. All three name cerussite among their own associates. A USGS chapter titled Supergene ore and gangue characteristics, Koski (USGS, 2010), says secondary Pb carbonate and sulfate minerals (it names cerussite, smithsonite and anglesite) occur in gossanous zones over massive sulfide containing significant amounts of galena; it does not say which of them is ore.
Is every cerussite an ore? Where the answer changes
Documented failure: lead content does not make the word. By formula, phosgenite is 75.99% lead and pyromorphite 76.38%, within two points of cerussite’s 77.54%. Neither sheet calls its mineral an ore, and the phosgenite sheet calls it uncommon. On these sheets, the word follows how abundant a mineral is in a deposit, not how much lead a gram of it holds.
Documented failure: the zone is shared. Cerussite’s own associates include ores of zinc (smithsonite) and copper (malachite, azurite). “Ore from the oxidized zone” can therefore mean any of three metals; the sentence on the cerussite sheet names lead only through the words “lead deposits”, and the formula does the rest.
Weight per kilogram of lead, worked. 1 kg of lead is carried by 1.155 kg of galena (86.60%), 1.290 kg of cerussite (77.54%) or 1.464 kg of anglesite (68.33%). The densities on the sheets are 7.58, 6.55 and 6.38; a 20.00 g piece reads 17.36, 16.95 and 16.87 g in water, the figures on anglesite and cerussite. The carbonate is told from its look-alikes on cerussite vs hydrocerussite and is cerussite fluorescent, and galena from anglesite on anglesite or galena.
Is cerussite a mineral? And what this page does not cover
Yes, a mineral. Cerussite has its own row on the IMA list, Pb(CO3), status G, which marks a species described before the IMA was founded and generally considered valid. A field scan of the formula column finds 13 rows written as a single element with (CO3), from calcite and aragonite to witherite; cerussite is the only one with lead.
Lead. Cerussite is 77.54% lead. Hazard questions go to is cerussite toxic and toxic minerals in a collection; this page is not health or safety advice. More guides are in the collecting guides. We hold no catalogue and nothing here is offered for sale; the wanted list is the only commercial route.