Cerussite

specimen number:
8311395

location:
Touissit, Oujda, Morocco

description:

Large thick sharp twinned crystal grouping of cerussite with minor matrix. Classic stuff for this locality. This is in really good condition.

The Touissit Mine, located in the Oujda-Angad Prefecture of eastern Morocco near the Algerian border, is a legendary locality within the Touissit-Bou Beker mining district. Geologically, it is a Mississippi Valley-Type (MVT) deposit hosted in Middle Jurassic (Bajocian) dolomitized limestones, where mineralizing fluids replaced the host rock to form massive sulfide bodies that later underwent extensive oxidation. This mine is internationally celebrated for producing some of the world's finest twinned cerussite crystals, which typically occur as colorless, transparent, and highly lustrous V-shaped or heart-shaped twins, as well as complex reticulated groups. Historically, the French mining company Compagnie Miniere de Touissit (CMT) began large-scale industrial operations in the early 20th century, specifically around 1920, focusing on the extraction of high-grade lead and zinc ores. While the primary industrial production for base metals flourished for several decades, the mine gained significant status among mineralogists in the 1970s and 1980s for its world-class specimens. Though large-scale commercial mining has largely ceased and many sections are now flooded, the site remains an iconic reference for secondary lead minerals and continues to be a source of pride for Moroccan mineralogy.

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