Chrysocolla on/after Veszelyite (Scotland!)

Item Description

A mining district in southern Scotland, Wanlockhead was first active in the late Bronze Age (really, just try to wrap your mind around that). Before the mines closed in the 1930s, they produced many interesting and attractive copper, lead, and zinc minerals. This vintage, large miniature is one such example, comprised of Chrysocolla and Veszelyite. The Chrysocolla botryoids are up to 2.5 mm, averaging 1-2 mm, and the well-formed, euhedral blue Veszelyites are about 1 mm. The Chrysocolla coats many of the blue Veszelyites, and where you see the green crystals those are actually Chrysocolla after Veszelyite pseudomorphs! True GREEN Chrysocolla is so uncommon, and here it is green in both forms. These liberally line this 3 cm wide double-pocket in the limonite matrix. Although not good crystals by any means, this is a really interesting representative locality specimen. I like the attractive color combination, and love the interesting chemistry that is at play here. Recently deaccessed from the Tim Sherburn collection.