Goethite with Quartz

The Restormel Royal Iron mine in Cornwall, England, had produced some of the most beautiful Goethite specimens of any mine in the British Isles, forming circular, radiating acicular rosettes and sinusoidal, finely crystallised bands. This mine was famously visited in 1846 by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Albert took a keen interest in mining and mineralogy and got himself a piece of ore by swinging a hefty sledgehammer, a act greatly appreciated by the onlooking miners. This particular small cabinet specimen appears to be a breccia but is more likely part of a vein section where the Goethite forms burnt orange to rich chocolate brown clasts in a snow white Calcite. It’s a lovely specimen from this old and historic mine.