Minium (mineral)
| Minium | ||
|---|---|---|
Specific gravity 8.9 - 9.2 | | |
| Optical properties | Uniaxial | |
| Refractive index | n = 2.42 | |
| References | [1][2][3][4] | |
Minium is the naturally occurring form of
tetragonal crystal system.[2]
Minium is rare and occurs in lead-mineral deposits that have been subjected to severe oxidizing conditions. It also occurs as a result of mine fires. It is associated with cerussite, galena, litharge, massicot, mimetite, native lead, and wulfenite.[2]
It occurs in relatively small amounts throughout the world:
Leadville district, Lake County, Colorado; and in the Tonopah-Belmont mine, Maricopa County, Arizona. It also occurs in Eschuchapa and Guerrero, Mexico.[2] Good specimens were produced by a mine fire at the Broken Hill mine in New South Wales, Australia.[5]
Minium has been identified as one of the pigments at Angkor Wat in Cambodia. [6]
Minium was named for the
Iberian river known to the imperial Romans as Minius, now known as the Spanish Miño and the Portuguese Minho. The name was originally applied to certain forms of cinnabar that had been coated with the minium oxide; however, once the red lead contaminant was determined to be chemically distinct from cinnabar crystals, the name, minium, was applied.[3]
For properties and uses of minium see
lead tetroxide
.
References
- ^ Mineralienatlas
- ^ a b c d Handbook of Mineralogy
- ^ a b Mindat.org
- ^ Webmineral data
- ^ Mineral Galleries
- ^ Uchida, Archaeometry 54:549-64 2012
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