Bornite

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Carn Brea mine famously lay toward the western end of the lower northern foot of Carn Brea, an elongated granite boss emanating from the Carnmenellis Granite. This mine is well known for its specimens of crystallized Bornite and this is a very fine small miniature. A 3.2 x 1.0 x 1.5 cm cluster of sharply defined sooty black to semi-metallic purple Bornite crystals project out either side of a creamy-tan thin block of Orthoclase mixed with Quartz matrix. The Bornite crystals range in size from about 1 mm up to 1 cm with some faces forming precise hexagonal plates. On one side the Bornite displays a play of iridescent peacock colours so characteristic of this species. Accompanying the specimen are several old labels alluding to its history. One, notes that it is from Burdett-Coutts collection (no. 10). This is Baroness Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts (1814-1906). The specimen then passed to Ward's Natural Science Establishment in Rochester, New York, possibly via Arthur Russell who acquired much of Burdett-Coutts' collection.