Provenite

Carn Brea Mine

MineClosedDraft data

50.2222° N, 5.2610° W · ± 10 km

Bornite from Cornwall, United Kingdom, with photos of specimens from this locality.

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Minerals found here

Bornite

On the same specimen

Same specimen Quartz with Bornite

1 specimen photo(s) from this locality show bornite with quartz together. The pairing comes from the photographer's file name and label, so the relationship between the two minerals is not specified.

Bornite at Carn Brea Mine

Carn Brea is the classic English locality for crystallized bornite cited in the Handbook of Mineralogy.

Tree-like cluster of thick, elongated bornite crystals from the Carn Brea Mine.
Tree-like cluster of thick, elongated bornite crystals from the Carn Brea Mine.
Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
Dark gray bornite crystals on massive bornite from the Carn Brea Mine.
Dark gray bornite crystals on massive bornite from the Carn Brea Mine.
Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
Small group of iridescent bornite crystals from the Carn Brea Mine, Cornwall.
Small group of iridescent bornite crystals from the Carn Brea Mine, Cornwall.
Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
Lustrous gray pseudocubic bornite crystals to 2 cm on quartz from the Carn Brea Mine.
Lustrous gray pseudocubic bornite crystals to 2 cm on quartz from the Carn Brea Mine.
Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
Second view of the Carn Brea bornite crystals perched on a quartz shard.
Second view of the Carn Brea bornite crystals perched on a quartz shard.
Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
Formula
Cu₅FeS₄
Morphology
Pseudocubic crystals, also elongated branching aggregates, on quartz or massive bornite
Typical size
Crystals up to about 2 cm
Color / luster
Metallic dark gray, partly iridescent
Associated minerals
Quartz
Availability
Scarce
History
Old-time specimens from the nineteenth-century copper workings

Sources: SRC-664 SRC-668 SRC-676

About Bornite →

Geology of the locality

Setting
Tin-copper lodes on the northern flank of the Carn Brea granite, crossing the granite-killas contact; main lode the Tincroft North Lode
Host rock
Granite and killas (slate)
Region
Cornwall
Country
United Kingdom

Formed in 1832 by amalgamation of Wheal Druid, Wheal Fanny, Tregajorran and Barncoose; later merged with Tincroft and Cook's Kitchen and finally part of South Crofty. Coordinates are those of a listed mine chimney on the north side of Carn Brea that the listing ascribes, with some doubt, to Carn Brea Mine. The listed structure is only possibly part of this mine, so the position is treated as approximate.

Sources: SRC-668 SRC-669

Sources

  1. SRC-668 · Website
    Carn Brea MinesCornwall Calling · cornwall-calling.co.uk
  2. SRC-669 · Website
    Chimney stack at SW 674 408, Carn BreaBritish Listed Buildings / Historic England listing · britishlistedbuildings.co.uk
  3. SRC-664 · Book
    Handbook of Mineralogy - BorniteAnthony, J.W.; Bideaux, R.A.; Bladh, K.W.; Nichols, M.C. · 2005 · Mineral Data Publishing / Mineralogical Society of America
  4. SRC-676 · Website
    File:Bornite-177850.jpg; File:Bornite-197777.jpg; File:Bornite-Quartz-177849.jpg (Wikimedia Commons)Robert M. Lavinsky · Wikimedia Commons

Draft data from the Provenite workbook. Check entries against the cited sources before relying on them. Photos are open-licence images from Wikimedia Commons; the author and licence are given with each photo.