Crocoite

It's advisable to handle crocoite carefully to avoid generating dust and wash hands thoroughly afterward. When cutting or polishing crocoite, wear a dust mask to prevent inhaling heavy metal particles. Store crocoite in a sealed container in a well-ventilated area, away from children and pets. For those involved in crystal healing, never put it in your mouth.

Crocoite from Tasmania has been mined from the Dundas Extended Mine by Mike and Eleanor Phelan since the mid-1980s, but the mine's origins date back to 1892 when it was used as a prospecting tunnel for silver lead. As at April 2019, the mine is for sale (A$300,000) with the owners then continuing to operate the nearby Stichtite mine.

Crocoite was once used as an ore of chromium, but is now so rare that this is not commercially viable. Instead, specimens from Tasmania and Russia, the two main sources, are highly desired by collectors.

Crocoite is a birthstone for the sign of Aries. It was declared the official state mineral of Tasmania, Australia in 2000. It was used as a paint pigment to decorate the walls of Nefertari's tomb in Thebes in Egypt. Furthermore, it was used to to paint murals in the church of St. Gallus in northern Bohemia in today's Czech Republic

Abundant masses with exceptional examples of crocoite crystals have been found in the Extended Mine at Mount Dundas as well as the Adelaide, Red Lead, West Comet, Platt and a few other Mines at Dundas, Tasmania; they are usually found in long slender prisms, usually about 10–20 mm but rarely up to 100 mm (4 inches) in length, with a brilliant lustre and color. Crocoite is also the official Tasmanian mineral emblem. Other localities which have yielded good crystallized specimens are Congonhas do Campo near Ouro Preto in Brazil, Luzon in the Philippines, Mutare in Mashonaland, near Menzies in Western Australia, plus Brazil, Germany and South Africa.

It was discovered at the Berezovskoe Au Deposit (Berezovsk Mines) near Ekaterinburg in the Urals in 1766; and named crocoise by F. S. Beudant in 1832, from the Greek κρόκος (krokos), saffron, in allusion to its color, a name first altered to crocoisite and afterwards to crocoite. In the type locality the crystals are found in gold-bearing quartz-veins traversing granite or gneiss and associated with crocoite are quartz, embreyite, phoenicochroite and vauquelinite. Phoenicochroite is a basic lead chromate, Pb₂CrO₅

with dark red crystals, and vauquelinite a lead and copper phosphate-chromate, Pb₂CuCrO₄PO₄OH, with brown or green monoclinic crystals. Vauquelinite was named after Louis Nicolas Vauquelin, who in 1797 discovered (simultaneously with and independently of M. H. Klaproth) the element chromium in crocoite.

Crocoite is said to have a high frequency that will energize the whole body. Its positive action stimulates creativity and restores passion. It is often kept in the bedroom to improve sexual relationships, improve vitality, and allow the user to see the joy in everyday events. It connects the Base and Heart chakras to create a strong spiritual bond that promotes a sense of love and understanding.