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Plumbojarosite mineral

Plumbojarosite is a lead ferric hydroxysulfate mineral with ideal formula Pb0.5Fe3(SO4)2(OH)6, equivalently PbFe6(SO4)4(OH)12, with ferric iron. The September 2026 IMA list marks the species redefined (1987 s.p.). It is distinct from potassium jarosite, natrojarosite and mixed industrial jarosite residues. The curated experiment used an X-ray-diffraction-characterized synthetic analogue, not a natural ore or industrial waste. No constituent-element criticality or industrial deployment is inferred.

Microbial & Biochemical Mechanisms (1)

CN32-associated reductive dissolution of synthetic Pb-jarosite

redox transformation Microbial

Associated Organisms: Shewanella putrefaciens CN-32 (NCBITaxon:319224)

Washed living CN32 cells were associated with increased filtered ferrous iron during anaerobic exposure to synthetic Pb-jarosite relative to sterile mineral controls. Lead in the filtrate rose transiently and subsequently became very low; electron-dense Pb-enriched particles were observed with cells. These observations support a laboratory reduction and redistribution process. They do not establish complete mineral dissolution, a named pure lead-phosphate product, isolated lead recovery or a demonstrated gene mechanism.

Experimental Context & Analytical Limits:
Synthetic Pb-jarosite was prepared in chloride/sulfate solution at about 98 degrees C for 72 hours, washed with hot sodium chloride and water, dried at 110 degrees C and checked by powder diffraction (SI S1/Figure S1). The reduction assay used 0.0500 +/- 0.0013 g mineral with 16 mL modified M1 medium in 20 mL tubes, approximately 0.016 g wet cells per inoculated tube, 24 mM sodium lactate and 20 mM PIPES, initially adjusted to pH 7.3 without added phosphate. Tubes were rotated in a 96% nitrogen/4% hydrogen chamber. Mineral arms were sampled destructively in triplicate through nominal 768 hours; inoculated and sterile medium-only controls were sampled in duplicate. Cultures had been grown aerobically at 32 degrees C; a separate dissolution-incubation temperature is not specified in the inspected methods, so 32 degrees C is not assigned to that assay. Filtrate passed a 0.20 micrometre nylon filter; ICP-OES and ferrozine assays have different fractions and do not measure a recovered product.
Curated Evidence Points:
Chapter 2 sections 2.2-2.3 and Figure 2.1 show ferrous iron increasing in inoculated mineral tubes, while sterile mineral controls remain near baseline. The text reports about 197 micromolar Fe(II) at the nominal 768-hour endpoint. Filtered lead peaks early and later falls below the stated 0.09 micromolar instrumental detection limit; this is not zero lead or an extraction percentage. Figure 2.1 error bars are standard errors for three mineral tubes. All tubes share the same inoculum preparation, not three independently prepared cultures.
SI S2-S3 and Tables S1-S4 constrain interpretation. PIPES masks sulfur release, so sulfate was not an independent dissolution measure. Acidified filtrate may include iron-bearing colloids; saturation indices predict possible secondary phases but do not identify precipitates. Final Table S3 Fe(III) is 1.90 micromolar whereas the chapter text gives 12.4 at a differently labeled endpoint. Methods use 192/408/768 hours while prose also uses 198/400/776; these conflicts are not silently harmonized. Table S3 zero lead is a modeling input in a below-detection context, not a measured absence.
Figures 2.2-2.3, sections 2.3.2-2.3.3 and supporting microscopy show cell-associated electron-dense material and Pb-enriched granules within prepared cell cross sections. Intracellular phosphate precipitation and ATPase-mediated detoxification are author interpretations; no gene-expression or perturbation experiment establishes them. Viability is an ATP-luminescence proxy, not a direct viable-cell count, and the prose time/value assignments conflict with the plotted series. Neither these images nor aqueous depletion provide a complete solid/liquid lead balance.
SI S5 explicitly uses 0.1 M phosphate-buffered glutaraldehyde and osmium fixation before TEM. Thus phosphorus in prepared granules alone cannot establish its intracellular metabolic origin or rule out preparation effects; no phosphate-free fixation comparator is reported. Near-immediate SEM supports cell-associated particles before TEM processing, but does not settle their intracellular chemistry. Table S5 spot compositions are local EDS measurements, with non-normalized totals in some cellular spots; they are not bulk mineral stoichiometry. Figures S2-S3 show secondary precipitates in both sterile and inoculated arms; modeled magnetite/green-rust phases and hypothetical ATPase roles remain unconfirmed. This is a qualified laboratory observation, not industrial deployment.

Sources & References

  1. ima_2026_09: IMA-CNMNC. The New IMA List of Minerals, September 2026. PDF page 174, Plumbojarosite row; page 1 status definitions. Previously acquired official list rechecked.
    https://cnmnc.units.it/files/editor/IMA_Master_List_(2026-09).pdf (accessed 2026-10-15)
  2. handbook_plumbojarosite: Handbook of Mineralogy. Plumbojarosite, complete one-page entry, version 1 (2001-2005). Secondary identity source; website posting date is not the mineral description date.
    https://www.handbookofmineralogy.org/pdfs/plumbojarosite.pdf (accessed 2026-10-15)
  3. smeaton2009: Smeaton CM, Fryer BJ and Weisener CG (2009). Intracellular Precipitation of Pb by Shewanella putrefaciens CN32 during the Reductive Dissolution of Pb-Jarosite. Environmental Science & Technology 43:8086-8091. DOI and bibliographic identity verified; full study assessed through the author dissertation chapter and original publisher supplement, not an acquired final journal PDF.
    https://doi.org/10.1021/es901629c (accessed 2026-10-15)
  4. smeaton2012_chapter2: Smeaton CM (2012). Investigating the Susceptibility of Jarosite Minerals to Reductive Dissolution by a Dissimilatory Metal Reducing Bacterium (Shewanella putrefaciens CN32). University of Windsor PhD dissertation. Chapter 2, printed pages 25-60 (PDF 50-85): main text, Figures 2.1-2.3 and supporting information S2.1-S2.6, Tables S2.1-S2.5 and Figures S2.1-S2.6. Reproduces the 2009 experiment; not independent replication.
    https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/thesescanada/vol2/002/NR78584.PDF (accessed 2026-10-15)
  5. smeaton2009_si: Original ACS supporting information for DOI 10.1021/es901629c, 16-page deposited PDF including visible revision markup; sections S1-S6, Tables S1-S5 and Figures S1-S6. Retrieved from DOI-matched ACS Figshare article 2817442.
    https://doi.org/10.1021/es901629c.s001 (accessed 2026-10-15)
  6. ncbi_cn32: NCBI Taxonomy 319224, Shewanella putrefaciens CN-32. Current authority label checked through the Taxonomy XML endpoint; CN32 in the experiment is mapped to this strain entry.
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/datasets/taxonomy/319224/ (accessed 2026-10-15)

Curation History

Timestamp Curator Action Summary
2026-10-15T09:30:48.984608+00:00 codex (GPT-6; codex) CREATE Added a distinct plumbojarosite mineral record with controlled synthetic-feed bacterial reduction evidence; retained source version, assay, microscopy preparation and mass-balance limitations.

Record source: data/records/plumbojarosite.yaml