Visiting the Adelaide Mine, the Crocoite’s dream world!

Marc Campeny Crego a PhD student from the BCN-SGA Student Chapter is carrying out a scientific stage in the University of Tasmania (Australia), relatively close to one of the most wonderful mineralogical places in the world: the crocoite’s mines from Mt.Dundas in Zeehan, NW Tasmania.

Crocoite is a very rare lead chromate (PbCrO₄) famous for its amazing red colour and its delicate acicular crystallizations. Its type locality is the Tsvetnoi Mine in the Urals region, Russia but the Tasmanian crocoites are considered without doubt the most exceptional specimens all around the world.

Marc visited the Adelaide Mine, an ancient lead and chromium mine now only exploited to extract crocoite specimens for mineralogical collections.