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Anglesite mineral

Anglesite is the Pb(SO4) mineral species listed with grandfathered status G and original-description year 1832 in the September 2026 IMA compilation. It is distinct from elemental lead, galena, dissolved lead and a mixed lead-bearing concentrate or battery paste. The observation below concerns a laboratory reaction product identified in leached galena-concentrate residues. It does not establish the identity of every lead-sulfate reagent or inherit a criticality designation from lead.

Microbial & Biochemical Mechanisms (1)

Culture-associated anglesite formation in a galena-concentrate residue

biomineralization Microbial

Associated Organisms: Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans (NCBITaxon:920)

Leaching a natural galena-rich concentrate with a living F3-02 culture produced a residue containing X-ray-diffraction-identified anglesite. The source reports a higher relative anglesite proportion in the inoculated residue than in its sterile-labelled control, which also contains anglesite. This supports culture-associated formation in a mixed reaction system, not a requirement for cells to precipitate lead sulfate or direct enzymatic crystallization. The proposed iron/sulfur oxidation and passivating-film explanations remain interpretations. The product is a component of a laboratory residue, not an isolated anglesite or lead recovery yield. This is the same experiment represented from the substrate perspective in the galena record, not an independent replication.

Experimental Context & Analytical Limits:
The ZGH Boleslaw flotation feed was reported as approximately 80% galena with hydrocerussite, marcasite, sphalerite, pyrite, gypsum and quartz; the approximate listed phase percentages total about 101%. Table 1 gives 69.3% Pb. The source-labelled F3-02 isolate came from ferruginous mineral water at Piwniczna-Lomnica and was grown in modified sulfate-containing 2K medium without prior lead adaptation. Assays used 300 mL flasks, a reported 5% weight/volume concentrate loading, 100 mL solution and 10 mL culture, 25 degrees C and 130 rpm. The final-volume basis of that loading is not fully specified. Nominal initial pH 2 and Fe(II) 2.0 g/L differ from Table 2's initial pH 2.2 and Fe(II) 2.159 g/L. Sampling extended through 384 h; the reported residue phase comparison is at 288 h. Cu-Kalpha XRD with a Philips PW3710 supports bulk phase identification. SEM specimens were dried on a filter in ambient air and gold-coated. Sterilization details, biological replicate counts and phase-fraction uncertainties are not supplied. The cultures and controls developed different pH and redox trajectories, so they do not isolate a biological effect at matched solution chemistry.
Curated Evidence Points:
Phase Analysis of Residues on p. 286 and Figure 1 on p. 287 identify anglesite peaks in both leached residues. The source estimates about 40% anglesite and 43% galena in the inoculated 288 h residue, compared with about 25% anglesite and 62% galena in the control. These are approximate proportions of different mixed residues, not fractions of initial lead converted to anglesite, absolute product masses or an isolated-product yield. No phase-quantification procedure or uncertainty supports a more precise comparison. Other phases, including pyrite and jarosite, remain present.
Table 2 records faster Fe(II) depletion and different pH/Eh in the inoculated concentrate, consistent with an indirect role for microbial oxidation but not an isolated molecular pathway. Dissolved Pb at 288 h is 0.0021 g/L in the inoculated arm versus 0.0022 g/L in the control; these solution measurements do not demonstrate enhanced soluble-lead recovery. The medium itself contains sulfate, and the feed contains other sulfur minerals, so product sulfate cannot be assigned exclusively to oxidation of galena sulfur. The separate synthetic-PbS arm developed pH near 5, retained Fe(II) and lacked observed bacterial colonies while a chemically formed PbSO4 coating was reported. It is not a matched low-pH test of the natural concentrate.
The Table 3 quantity called sulfur conversion is the residue sulfate-sulfur divided by total sulfur minus sulfate-sulfur, expressed as a percentage. This operational difference term does not identify each residual sulfur phase, and the ratio is not an initial-feed sulfur or lead mass balance. Its printed control entries at 96 and 192 h do not reproduce the displayed constituent ratios; no corrected values or conversion yield are adopted. The statement of no further change at 384 h also overstates the displayed ratio's plateau. Figures 2-3 show surface coatings and cell-like objects, but morphology alone does not authenticate F3-02 or chemically identify every coating. A passivating role of anglesite with possible elemental sulfur is proposed rather than independently measured or established for all media.
NCBI resolves taxon 920 as Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans at species rank. The primary paper supplies the F3-02 isolate designation; no culture-collection or sequence accession is established here and no separate strain identifier is invented.

Sources & References

  1. ima_2026_09: IMA-CNMNC. The New IMA List of Minerals, September 2026. Anglesite row on original PDF page 11; definitions and terms on pages 1-2. Previously acquired dated original rechecked on the access date.
    https://cnmnc.units.it/files/editor/IMA_Master_List_(2026-09).pdf (accessed 2026-10-11)
  2. pacholewska2004: Pacholewska, M. (2004). Bioleaching of galena flotation concentrate. Physicochemical Problems of Mineral Processing 38, 281-290. Experimental methods pp. 282-284, Tables 1-3, phase analysis p. 286 and original Figures 1-3. Complete publisher PDF; no DOI verified.
    https://www.journalssystem.com/ppmp/Bioleaching-of-galena-flotation-concentrate,79494,0,2.html (accessed 2026-10-11)
  3. ncbi_aferrooxidans: NCBI Taxonomy 920, Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, species node. Current official taxonomy response; not an identifier for isolate F3-02.
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?id=920 (accessed 2026-10-11)

Curation History

Timestamp Curator Action Summary
2026-10-11T21:41:35Z codex (GPT-6; codex) CREATE Created the anglesite mineral record with a qualified product-phase observation from the previously curated galena experiment. Preserve anglesite in the control, approximate mixed-residue phase proportions, source sulfur-accounting limitations and the absence of a recovered product yield; defer the incompletely accessed reduction study.

Record source: data/records/anglesite.yaml