Diaboleite with MENDIPITE and CHLOROXIPHITE

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A dense mass of fine-grained manganese oxides contains several small 'pods' of white lead mineralization dominated by fibrous/bladed Mendipite within which are two of the rarer species for which the Mendip Hills are famous. Most striking, is the bright turquoise blue species - Diaboleite - which forms a 4 x 1 mm area enclosing a tiny (1 to 2 mm long) bladed crystal of olive-green Chloroxiphite. A second tiny (1 mm) Chloroxiphite crystal is located embedded within a larger (10 x 9 mm) area of fibrous Mendipite. The specimen is from Torr Works quarry - known to mineral collectors by the more famous name Merehead quarry. No date of collection is recorded, but it is likely that this specimen came from the famous finds of lead oxychlorides made during the 1970s and early 1980s.