Mineral Notes

Bismuthinite from Penberthy Croft Mine, Cornwall
John Betterton

Laurionite a second Cornish occurrence from Penberthy Croft Mine
Peter Wallace

Bismuth Minerals from Wheal Remfrey Pit, Cornwall
Steve Rust

Phosgenite. A first Irish Occurrence from Killiney, Co. Dublin
David Green

Scorodite and Pharmacosiderite from The Isle of Man
Roy Starkey

Earth's Treasury: A New Exhibition in the Earth Galleries of the Natural History Museum

Andrew M. Clark

This new exhibition at The Natural History Museum, London, was opened in summer 1998. It contains an outstanding display of minerals and gemstones from the Museum's collections and one of the aims of the exhibition is to enable the visitor to appreciate more deeply the wealth of resources provided by the Earth.

Galena: a group of large bright composite cubes with purple fluorite from Cave-in-Rock, Hardin Co., Illinois, USA (BM 1968,401).

FAMOUS MINERAL LOCALITIES:
TING TANG MINE, GWENNAP, CORNWALL

Ian Bruce
David Aubrey Jones

Recent systematic excavations at one of the old dumps of Ting Tang mine, Gwennap, Cornwall (national grid reference SW 727 409) have yielded a suite of supergene minerals including fine specimens of liroconite, olivenite, pharmacosiderite and scorodite as well as the rare copper arsenates parnauite and strashimerite, the former in perhaps the finest specimens ever collected in the British Isles.

Dark blue liroconite crystals to 3 mm with green parnauite. Ian Bruce collection. Photo: David Green

Tucekite, a Mineral New to Britain, and other rare ore minerals from the Central Wales orefield.

John S. Mason

A detailed review of the primary paragenesis of the Pb-Zn dominated Central Wales Orefield has led to the discovery of a number of rare minerals, most of which were previously unreported from the area. These include occurrences of the extremely rare nickel antimony sulphide, tucekite, and the relatively (in UK terms) uncommon to rare minerals siegenite, cobalt pentlandite, millerite, gersdorffite, ullmannite, tetrahedrite, bournonite, boulangerite and electrum. Some of these may be recognised in hand specimens, while others require ore petrology for their determination

Tucekite: aggregate of rhombic tetragonal crystals in a polished section from Eaglebrook mine, intergrown with galena (grey) and chalcopyrite (yellow) in quartz. The obvious isolated crystal in the centre of the field is 0.2 mm in length. These photomicrographs are taken under crossed polars with the analyser rotated slightly in each case to reveal the highly distinctive anisotropy of tucekite. The blue colours are close to extinction position: brown is with the analyser rotated 8 degrees anticlockwise from this position while white is with the analyser rotated 8 degrees clockwise from the same.Photos: John Mason.

Book Reviews

Dana's New Mineralogy
by Richard V. Gaines et al. (1997)
John Betterton

Photographing Minerals, Fossils & Lapidary Materials
by Jeffrey Scovil (1996)
David Green

Gem Minerals of Victoria
by William D. Birch and Dermot A. Henry (1997)
David Green

De Septaria - Guida Alle Septarie e al Loro Minerali e Macrofossili
by Giancarlo Emiliani
Tony Brittain