Calcite

$1,500.00

$40.00 shipping
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Ships from USA

Crystal ClassicsFeatured

Tucson, Arizona, USA

7,543 for sale·132 sold

Wheal Wrey was a lead-silver mine situated to the southwest of the small village of St. Ive, close to Liskeard in Cornwall. Please note this is not the much more famous town of St. Ives on the north Cornish coast! The mine was begun in 1846 by the prominent Cornish mine captain Peter Clymo, although production had just about ended by 1862. Wheal Wrey became most famous for its magnificent Calcite crystals occurring as thin acicular crystals and much larger, sometimes twinned crystals. Prior to its redevelopment, the Rashleigh Gallery at the Royal Cornwall Museum had an enormous stunning Wheal Wrey Calcite as a centrepiece inbetween the cabinets (obviously from a later collection than Rashleigh's). The example here is a fine cabinet specimen of classic Wheal Wrey Calcite with many well-formed prismatic crystals measuring to 3.5 cm in length covering the specimen. The crystals fan out on two sides of the specimen from a central core of Pyrite-coated Calcite, but are much better developed and better preserved on one side - the main display surface. All the crystals display the iconic, classic prismatic 'hexagonal' habit associated with this mine and are translucent white. The main larger crystals are extremely well-formed and in stunning condition. Under longwave UV light the Calcite fluoresces bright peachy orange. An excellent example of Wheal Wrey Calcite most likely collected before 1875.