Lanarkite

Lanarkite was erroneously identified by Wilhelm Maucher who, in 1926, sold a specimen to the Natural History Museum, London (catalogue number BM.1926,205). The "lanarkite" was recognised to be a new mineral and named schultenite by Spencer and Mountain (1926).

Lanarkite has been provisionally identified by XRD on a specimen in the Pinch Collection at Harvard University (MGMH 2020.7.2030). The specimen comprises smithsonite crystals with hemimorphite over a botryoidal crust of goethite. It was collected by TCL mineralogist John Innes on 28 May 1979 and bears his original handwritten label indicating that it was recovered from East 9 on 31 Level. Tiny spherules (< 0.2 mm) of silky-white lanarkite (XRD indicated), apparently intergrown with cerussite and hydrocerussite (XRD verified) are present on the matrix.

While the provenance of the Pinch specimen is impeccable, questionable status is retained for lanarkite pending further verification.