Cuprite

Intensely deep maroon to mahogany red octahedral Cuprite crystals richly cover the top surface of a highly porous Quartz gossan, from the upper levels of Wheal Gorland in Gwennap parish, just east of Redruth in Cornwall, England. Although the locality for Wheal Gorland is usually given as St. Day, at the time the supergene gossan section was being mined, the village of St. Day did not exist, hence it is more accurate to write ‘Gwennap Parish, near Redruth’. From a typical viewing distance of one or two feet the Cuprite appears silver grey, but its true colour is evident once looked at close to. The Cuprite forms granular clusters and octahedral crystals, the largest crystals attaining about 7 mm long.