Crocoite

specimen number:
2292280

location:
Adelaide Mine, Dundas, Tasmania, Australia

description:
A cluster of three prismatic sharp crystals of crocoite. In good condition.

The Adelaide mine, situated within the Dundas mineral field of western Tasmania, Australia, is a historic underground operation famous for producing exceptional crocoite specimens. Geologically, the deposit is located within a highly fractured Cambrian sedimentary and volcanic sequence that was heavily intruded by a serpentinized ultramafic body. Deep, localized weathering during the Tertiary period created a highly oxidized zone, where surface waters dissolved lead from primary galena veins and mixed with chromium released from the surrounding serpentinite, precipitating vibrant, reddish-orange prismatic crystals of crocoite alongside gibbsite and dundasite within open gossan cavities. Originally staked in 1890 during the western Tasmanian silver rush, the mine operated intermittently as a commercial silver and lead producer until the early twentieth century when large-scale mining ended. Following decades of abandonment, the lease was secured by private collectors in the late twentieth century who successfully shifted operations toward dedicated, small-scale specimen mining, an effort that has continued to yield fine collector pieces through subsequent decades and into the 2020s.

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