History · Geology
About Cornwall Mining District
The Cornwall mining district of southwestern England is one of the most historically important mineralogical regions in the world — mined for tin and copper from the Bronze Age onward, and the type locality for many Cu phosphate-arsenate species (libethenite, liroconite, olivenite, clinoclase) and the iconic cogwheel sulfosalt bournonite.
Geology
The district is centered on the Cornubian batholith — a Permian granitic intrusion with extensive Sn-W-Cu-As mineralization in vein, skarn, and greisen settings. Multi-stage hydrothermal fluids and deep oxidation produced an exceptionally diverse paragenesis.
Notable Minerals
Cassiterite (twinned tablets), bournonite (cogwheel twins — world-classic), native copper, olivenite, libethenite, liroconite (sky-blue Cu arsenate, Cornwall-exclusive), torbernite, autunite, fluorite (purple, green), quartz, arsenopyrite, siderite, pyromorphite, cuprite, chalcopyrite, azurite, malachite, cassiterite, plus many type-locality Cu species.
Collector Notes
Old “Cornish” specimens from Wheal Gorland, Wheal Jane, Botallack, and Levant are 19th-century mineralogical heirlooms. Cornwall is the historical taproot of British mineral collecting.
Minerals Produced Here
- Agate (玛瑙)
- Amethyst (紫水晶)
- Arsenopyrite (毒砂矿)
- Autunite (钙铀云母)
- Azurite (蓝铜矿)
- Bournonite (车轮矿)
- Cassiterite (锡石)
- Chalcedony (玉髓)
- Chalcocite (辉铜矿)
- Chalcopyrite (黄铜矿)
- Citrine (黄水晶)
- Copper (Native) (自然铜)
- Cuprite (赤铜矿)
- Fluorite (萤石)
- Goethite (针铁矿)
- Jamesonite (脆硫锑铅矿)
- Jasper (碧玉)
- Kaolinite (高岭石)
- Leadhillite (白铅矿)
- Libethenite (橄榄铜矿)
- Linarite (蓝铅矿)
- Ludlamite (磷铁锰石)
- Malachite (孔雀石)
- Manganite (水锰矿)
- Olivenite (橄榄铜矿)
- Pyromorphite (磷氯铅矿)
- Quartz (石英 / 水晶)
- Rose Quartz (玫瑰石英)
- Siderite (菱铁矿)
- Tetrahedrite (黝铜矿)
- Torbernite (铜铀云母)
- Wavellite (银星石)
