Plumbogummite

It's advisable to handle plumbogummite carefully to avoid generating dust and wash hands thoroughly afterward. When cutting or polishing plumbogummite, wear a dust mask to prevent inhaling heavy metal particles. Store plumbogummite 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.

The type locality is Huelgoat, Finistère, Brittany, France, and the type material is stored in the Natural History Museum, Paris, France. Plumbogummite has been found in the Central Cobar Mines, New South Wales, Australia and the Nifty Copper Mine, Western Australia. Also in the Kintore open cut at Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia, but it is generally inconspicuous there and only a few specimens have been collected. Material from the Siglio XX Mine, Llallagua, Bolivia, is an unusual pale yellow color, rather than the more common blue or green, forming crusts on quartz and cassiterite, and enclosing crude octahedral jeanbandyite crystals with orange colored shells of plumbogummite.

The basic structural units of plumbogummite are PO4 tetrahedra, with phosphorus atoms (P) at the center and oxygen atoms (O) at the corners, together with AlO6 octahedra, aluminium atoms (Al) at the center and oxygen atoms at the corners. The tetrahedra and octahedra combine by sharing corners, to form composite layers. Lead atoms (Pb) occupy sites between the layers.