Detailed information
Species
Bournonite
Dimensions
48 x 25 x 22
mm
Weight
66 g
Locality
Wheal Boys, Port Isaac St. Endellion, Wadebridge Cornwall, England
Condition
No recorded repairs
A rare and superb Bournonite from its type locality at Wheal Boys at Port Isaac on the Cornish north coast. This locality tends to be overshadowed by Herodsfoot mine for its fine specimens of Bournonite which although rare, are much commoner in collections than from Wheal Boys. The mine was begun in the second half of the 1700s and worked antimony in the shallower sections of the lodes and then lead (Galena) at greater depths. The site of Wheal Boys is adjacent to the main road into Port Isaac, although hardly any trace is now visible. Unless you know exactly what to look for (landscape-wise, not mineralogical) the area is that of farmland and nothing more. This miniature is a characteristic stack of intergrown Bournonite crystals displaying a good cog wheel habit. Unlike its Herodsfoot counterpart, Wheal Boys’ Bournonites are not associated with drusy overgrowths of Quartz; the crystals remaining a crystallised metallic mass with no associated minerals. The crystals are gunmetal blackish-silver-grey with a bright, highly reflective metallic lustre and hints of iridescence in dull golds and marginal blues. This excellent Wheal Boys Bournonite is mounded vertical on a small acrylic base, held on by glue which can be easily removed, if desired.