Description
Collectors say that minerals are the universe’s autobiography, written in atoms. No mineral is more aggressively orange than crocoite — lead chromate in crystalline form. Tasmania’s Adelaide Mine is the only source of world-class material: long prismatic crystals in intense orange-red, matte on surfaces, bright within. The toxicity of both lead and chromium makes these specimens beautiful and sobering in equal measure.
This specimen originates from Adelaide Mine, Dundas, Tasmania, one of the world’s most significant localities for this type of material. Collectors and scientists have drawn from this region for generations, and for good reason: the combination of geological conditions here produces specimens of exceptional quality and clarity.
Every specimen is unique. Photographs approximate the visual experience, but the real thing — its weight, its luster under a raking light, the way it catches the corner of your eye — can only be experienced directly.
