Cotterite

Today I`m going to write about a very rare mineral that was found in 1874 by Miss E.Cotter in the town of Mallow, county Cork, Ireland. Mallow is my current home and this is unlikely to change in the nearest future, if ever. Only FOUR specimens of cotterite have been found to date, and the mineral is referred to as a one time occurrence.  The area of Rock Forest where it was found is now farmland and finding another specimen would be like winning a lotto.

Together with Klaudia, we have recently had this opportunity to see this beautiful mineral at University College Cork, thanks to a fellow-collector`s kindness. It was taken out of the safe especially for us :D

Here are some photos

Klaudia with cotterite :)

Me with cotterite :)

Cotterite

Cotterite

Cotterite

Cotterite

Cotterite

Cotterite

Cotterite

 Cotterite is a quartz variation. Regular quartz crystals are covered with coating of pearly/opalic luster. You can see it very well in the above photo.

Cotterite

Cotterite bottom with a label

The above specimen is the type specimen. This means that if you think you have found cotterite, it has to be compared to THIS specimen :)
A nice one, huh?