Botallackite

The find of Botallackite at Cligga was made by Cornish mineral dealer Mike Merry in the early 2000’s in zones where copper lodes run out to sea and the chemistry of which has interacted with sea water; Botallackite being a copper oxychloride.  The Botallackite forms bright lustrous platy crystals of 1 to 2 mm tall of a metallic blue green, almost the colour and texture of Christmas glitter.  On this small cabinet specimen drusy coatings richly coat a 1.5 cm thick plate of weathered, tan and white coloured granite, chiselled from the intertidal exposure adjacent to Cligga mine.  This is a lovely specimen of this classic Cornish mineral, the type locality of which is Botallack mine near to Land’s End.