Diusion of Pb was measured in natural and synthetic rutile under dry, 1 atmosphere conditions, using mixtures of Pb titanate or Pb sul®de and TiO 2 as the sources of diusant. Pb depth pro®les were then measured with Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS). Over the temperature range 700±1100°C, the following Arrhenius relation was obtained for the synthetic rutile: D 3.9´10 )10 exp()250 12 kJ mol )1 / RT) m 2 s )1 . Results for diusion in natural and synthetic rutile were quite similar, despite signi®cant dierences in trace element compositions. Mean closure temperatures calculated from the diusion parameters are around 600°C for rutile grains of $100 lm size. This is about 100°C higher than rutile closure temperature determinations from past ®eld-based studies, suggesting that rutile is more resistant to Pb loss through volume diffusion than previously thought.