Hausmannite

Unknown Owner

A very rich and quite rare specimen of Hausmannite for its location, from the Wyndham Pit by the village of Bigrigg in west Cumbria. Numerous cavities in the massive sooty grey Hausmannite are lined with black lustrous octahedral crystals to 2 mm, associated with spots of creamy Dolomite. This rare location specimen comes with a Sir Arthur Russell label stating it was collected by him in May 1938. Hausmannite is an oxide of manganese containing both di- and tri-valent manganese. A fine, reasonably large cabinet specimen of Hausmannite from this well-known locality in west Cumbria.