Siderite with Quartz

Unknown Owner

Carn Brea mine is situated at the foot of the northern slope of Carn Brea, an elongated hill between Camborne and Redruth and featuring the monolithic Bassett monument midway along the ridge. This provides a prominent landmark when heading towards this part of Cornwall. Carn Brea mine itself is in the parish of Illogan and although tiny, this thumbnail specimen of Siderite on Quartz is a wonderful specimen, given the perfection and large size of the Siderite crystals. The milky white Quartz crystal is perfectly terminated, yet much of it is masked by the overgrowths of chunky pyramidal Siderite prisms, the largest of which measures 1.2 cm on edge. Despite being opaque, the Siderite crystals have an near-surface translucency of smoky clove brown, similar to the colour of translucent cassiterite. This beautiful specimen has belonged to at least four previous collectors, most of whom are documented on the accompanying labels.