Detailed information
Dimensions
50 x 75 x 39
mm
Weight
102 g
Locality
Camborne - Redruth - St Day District Cornwall England
Condition
No recorded repairs
An old-time classic crystallized copper sulphide specimen from the famous tin-copper mining area surrounding the town of Redruth in Cornwall. Dominated by a vuggy crystal-coated bed of deep purple-blue Bornite with scattered embedded fragmentary white Quartz, this larger miniature-sized specimen also features a small number of larger (up to 4 mm) dark indigo-blue-grey hexagonal Chalcocite crystals. Several mines in the wider Camborne-Carn Brea-Redruth area produced really well crystallized Chalcocite from the 18th century, and Bornite during the 19th and early 20th centuries and with some detailed detective work it might be possible to assign a more accurate provenance. The whole upper surface is liberally covered in small (sub mm), well-formed intergrown pseudorhombic Bornite crystals with some areas bruised but showing the classic purplish internal colour aiding identification. Ex Malcolm Southwood Collection, no. MS 2014.178, it also comes with an old Krantz dealer label and a label from the "Cowen Collection".