Plattnerite

Biehl (1919) described blackish brown crusts of plattnerite (to 2 mm thick) on cerussite and on massicot.

Strunz et al. (1958a) mentioned plattnerite as a questionable occurrence in the first oxidation zone but omitted it from their list of second oxidation zone minerals. Similarly, Strunz and Tennyson (1967) considered plattnerite as questionable in the first oxidation zone and absent from the second.

Geier (1973/1974) mentioned a single find of plattnerite in the second oxidation zone which he described as inconspicuous, fine, needle-like black-brown crystals.

Pinch and Wilson (1977), Keller (1984) and Gebhard (1991, 1999) merely repeated the descriptions of Bartelke (1976) and Geier (1973/1974).

Lombaard et al. (1986) listed plattnerite as "extremely rare".

A specimen in the Natural History Museum, London (BM.1921,437) is labelled as "plattnerite" in the display case. It consists of a matrix of amorphous arsenates with sprays of pinkish-yellow mimetite prisms (to 2 mm). The matrix and the mimetite are partly encrusted with an earthy brown-black crust of "plattnerite". There is no evidence that this material has been verified but its vintage implies that it came from the upper part of the first oxidation zone at a similar time that plattnerite was mentioned by Biehl (1919).

There appears to be no record of a verified specimen of plattnerite from Tsumeb, for which reason its occurrence is considered questionable.