Hematite var. Kidney Ore

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.

Once plentiful, good specimens of classic Kidney Ore, the mamillated botryoidal form of Hematite, are becoming ever increasingly rare, even within the British Isles. Although the iron mines of West Cumbria in Northern England produced only a limited suite of mineral species, wow, what a magnificent suit they were. Perhaps Kidney Ore, like this specimen, is the most iconic for the area, for this was its principal ore. This heavy, cabinet size specimen is composed of just one hemispherical crystal, with a mirror-smooth rounded botryoidal surface with its underside nicely displaying the radial inner crystalline structure. The latter is graphite-grey while the Kidney surface has a beautiful dark chocolate-brown patina with a bright metallic lustre and occasional blood-red smears and streaks running over it. This Hematite is from Cleator Moor mines, about midway between the famous mining towns of Frizington to the north and Egremont to the south.