CERUSSITE WITH WULFENITE

ABOUT THE SPECIMEN

Contemporary finds in Isfahan have produced some fantastic reticulated cerussite specimens, though typically smaller loose samples without matrix. This here is a rich, small cabinet cluster on matrix that shows off the classic reticulated 'snowflake' growth habit from multiple different angles. To top this all off, there are numerous bright orange and well crystallized wulfenites on all sides!

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MORE INFO

One of the oldest continuously worked lead deposits on earth, Nakhlak has documented mining activity stretching back to the Sassanid Empire and possibly as far as the Parthian period; tools and smelting equipment remain preserved in historical adits to 80 meters depth. Geologically, the deposit is an MVT-type system in which low-temperature basinal brines (~152°C) migrated through east-west fault structures in Upper Cretaceous dolomitized carbonates of the Yazd-Anarak Metallogenic Belt, depositing galena and barite as primary ore. Cerussite formed abundantly in the supergene oxidation zone above, crystallizing as reticulated "snowflake" twins - flat, interlocking V-shaped individuals building into open lattice groups of striking geometric complexity - while wulfenite precipitated from molybdenum-bearing descending fluids as tabular orange to red-orange crystals perched on massive cerussite groundmass. The combination pieces, with wulfenite crystals set against dark cerussite matrix, are the signature Nakhlak specimens and have no close parallel at any other locality. Western access to the mine has been intermittent due to geopolitical constraints, which has kept fine material chronically undersupplied relative to the quality it represents.