scotlandite

{{Infobox mineral | name = Scotlandite | category = Sulfite | image = | caption = | formula = PbSO3 | IMAsymbol = Sct | molweight = 287.26 | strunz = 4/K.01-10 | system = Monoclinic | class = 2/m - Prismatic | symmetry = P21/m (no. 11) | unit cell = a = 4.505 Å, b = 5.333 Å c = 6.405 Å; β= 106.24°; Z = 2 | color = Pale yellow, greyish-white, colorless, transparent | habit = Spear-shaped crystals | twinning = | cleavage = Perfect along {100} and good along {010} | fracture = | tenacity = Radiating clusters | mohs = 2 | luster = Adamantine, Pearly | polish = | refractive = nα= 2.035 nβ= 2.040 nγ= 2.085 | opticalprop = Biaxial positive | birefringence = δ = 0.050 | dispersion = v >> r strong | pleochroism = | fluorescence= | absorption = Strong 900 cm−1 | streak = | gravity = | density = 6.37 g/cm3 | melt = | fusibility = | diagnostic = | solubility = | diaphaneity = Transparent | other = | references = }}

Scotlandite is a sulfite mineral first discovered in a mine at Leadhills in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, an area known to mineralogists and geologists for its wide range of different mineral species found in the veins that lie deep in the mine shafts. This specific mineral is found in the Susanna vein of Leadhills, where the crystals are formed as chisel-shaped or bladed. Scotlandite was actually the first naturally occurring sulfite, which has the ideal chemical formula of PbSO3. The mineral has been approved by the Commission on New Minerals and Mineral Names, IMA, to be named scotlandite for Scotland.