Baryte
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Crystal ClassicsFeatured
Tucson, Arizona, USARenowned since the late 1800s for some of the world's finest Baryte crystals both for size and overall lustre, the mines of the West Cumberland Iron Field were a mineral collectors paradise. This fine small cabinet specimen from Martin Kershaw's collection in Newcastle, comes from Cleator Moor, which was one of the most important areas for impressive Baryte crystals. Complex in its overall shape, it is an unusually wide, extended tabular crystal, or more likely group of perfectly aligned tabular to bladed crystals all of which are the classic greyish-creamy-beige colour and extremely glossy with a fine resinous lustre. Its outer edges appear in remarkably good condition, but under magnification are slightly bruised, and in the middle of the aggregate a small wedge of cream coloured Dolomite extends outwards and is itself coated in tiny colourless Calcite prisms. Dolomite is of course a classic associated mineral for the West Cumbrian mines. End-on, it is noticeable that the Baryte crystals are not perfectly alligned, but are curved, and on one side crystals fan-off from the main body to give the impression of a butterfly. A fascinating smaller Baryte cluster which is full of character. A tiny worn handwritten label clinging on to one side faintly reads "Cleator".
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