Quartz and Dolomite

Unknown Owner

Help improve this recordNo owner is registered for this specimen yet. If it's yours or you know more about it, you can add the owner, provenance, publications and other details.

A highly unusual specimen of very flat, tabular crystals of transparent, lustrous Quartz growing in parallel from Tregardock mine in the civil parish of St Teath, Cornwall, England. This less well-known mine lies between Port Isaac and Tintagel, being closer to the latter. Either side of this ridge of flattened Quartz crystals are more equant hexagonal Quartz crystals plus a dusting of transparent, caramel Dolomite rhombs to 2 mm. The formation to these flattened crystals is fascinating and subject to conjecture, probably related to the tandem growth of Calcite and Quartz where the Calcite was dissolved out later by the natural circulation of fluids, possibly aiding the formation of the later stage dolomite mineralisation. The specimen is accompanied with the label of a well-known and respected British collector.\n