Liroconite

Both crystalline and massive deep greenish turquoise Liroconite infills numerous small vugs across one face of a porous iron-stained gossan matrix from Wheal Gorland in the parish of Gwennap, Cornwall.  This most famous of Cornish mines is now within the village of St. Day, east of Redruth, but when first operating in the early days of the eighteenth century, St. Day did not exist.  Liroconite takes on many colours influenced by its state of hydration and variation in aluminium content.  In this case it is a rich deep turquoise and where crystals do form, the maximum size is about 3 mm wide.  A great miniature example of this most prized species from Wheal Gorland.