Ashburtonite is a rare lead-titanium silicate mineral found primarily in Western Australia. It typically occurs as tiny, thin, colorless to pale blue bladed crystals associated with other lead minerals like cerussite and plumbophyllite.
Is this ashburtonite?
5-step field checkRun through these checks against the specimen in your hand. The more boxes tick, the more confident the ID.
- 1Test the hardnessTry to scratch ashburtonite with a known reference. Ashburtonite sits at Mohs 3-4, softer than the next harder reference, harder than the previous one.
- 2Check the streakDrag the specimen across an unglazed porcelain plate. Streak: light blue.
- 3Read the lusterHold the specimen under a strong light. Luster: vitreous.
- 4Match the color rangeCompare against the expected color range: blue.
- 5Look at form & habitCrystal system: tetragonal. Typical habit: prismatic.
Often confused with
Ashburtonite vs. its common look-alikes, and how to tell them apart in the field.
How to tell apart: Plumbophyllite is the harder of the two (Mohs ~5 vs. 3-4); streak differs, so Ashburtonite leaves light blue, Plumbophyllite leaves white.
How to tell apart: Streak differs, so Ashburtonite leaves light blue, Cerussite leaves white; luster reads vitreous on Ashburtonite and adamantine, tending toward vitreous, resinous on Cerussite.
Often found alongside ashburtonite
Minerals reported to co-occur with ashburtonite. Spotting these in float or country rock is a strong cue you are in the right ground.
All properties
- Chemical formula
- HPb₄Cu₄(Si₄O₁₂)(HCO₃)₄(OH)₄Cl
- Mohs hardness
- 3-4
- Density
- 4.69 g/cm³
- Colors
- Streak
- Light blue
- Luster
- Vitreous
- Transparency
- Transparent
- Crystal system
- Tetragonal
- Crystal habit
- Prismatic
- Cleavage
- None
- Rarity
- Rare
- Uses
- Collector
- Host rock
- In a weathered shear zone cutting shales and graywackes, as an alteration of galena and probably chalcopyrite
Where rockhounds find ashburtonite
Classic worldwide localities
- Anticline prospect, 11 km west-southwest of Ashburton Downs homestead, Capricorn Range, Western Australia
Field-hunting tip
Where it forms: In a weathered shear zone cutting shales and graywackes, as an alteration of galena and probably chalcopyrite. If you start seeing diaboleite, duftite, beudantite in float, you are in the right ground. Typical habit: prismatic. Train your eye for that shape before scanning the outcrop.
Common questions
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Find ashburtonite on the map
RockHoundR shows mapped rockhounding spots, access rules, and lets you log every find.
