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?

Glandore Mine

On Wednesday we had something that in Ireland we call a pet day- a single day of good weather in a stretch of cloudy, rainy days. We used this opportunity and jumped into a car. We had had this trip planned before, we were just waiting for the right time!
First, we went to Laharran Mine to collect some wavellite and indeed, we found a few beautiful specimens. But about this I will tell you the next time :) Happy, we quickly ate our sandwiches, loaded energy with something sweet, changed shoes and singing out loud drove to Glandore. On our way, totally by accident, we saw a small quarry. We quickly turned the car and asked the only person there, a guy on a tractor, if we could have a quick look at what they have there. He said the boss wasn`t there and told us to work away ;) With no tools, in the wrong shoes, off we went- as fast as we could, afraid that he could change his mind. Klaudia`s "crystal nose" did a good job again, as it smelled beautiful, clear quartz crystals! I will post pictures in the next post (about Laharran), as I still have to take some decent ones. My New Year`s resolution is to learn how to take good photos of minerals :) Back to the crystals- as I told you, we didn`t take tools with us, so Klaudia literally tore the crystals out of the rock with bare hands! Her palms were cut in ten different places and bled, but I don`t think she minded at all! :D
When we finally got to Glandore, it was already late and just about to get dark. We decided we would have a look at the place, see what we would need the next time there and leave soon. We were trying to find the old adit level (see video on YT about Glandore Mine, where it is marked), as we were told stuff was found there. By "stuff" I mean Corkite- Glandore being the type locality for it! Corkite is only interesting under the microscope, so this is something Klaudia definitely would not enjoy. Other interesting minerals can be found there, for example goethite, malachite, rhodochrosite, or cuprite. We found the adit but it is now heavily overgrown and one wouldn`t be able to check it without a decent shovel. And a pick axe ;)

Old adit level

Then we went up to see the engine house and the shaft, which is a verrrrry deep hole! I would never ever even try to check the bottom of it.

It`s hard to see in the picture, but the tree has its roots in the hole.

View from the other side of the shaft, the hole not so deep but still too dangerous to go inside.

The engine house

The mine worked for copper from 1811, then for manganese and iron from 1840, and closed completely in 1910.

View of the fields around

Fields around

I picked up some yellow stones hoping they could be corkite, but still haven`t checked them. We didn`t do any collecting on that day there, but it still was a nice history and geology lesson- definitely worth it! We will go back to Glandore one day!

"The Calcite Quarry"

We did it again ;)

25.10.2015, afternoon.
The quarry is located about 15 km from Mallow.

After a dangerous, 20 min long walk along a busy road, we were finally able to go in. But first, we had to face nettle and mud. Klaudia tripped and landed in the nettle but did it discourage her?- noooo! Just the opposite- we had a great laugh and the situation made the adventure even better! :D

We didn`t expect to find real treasures, we knew Iceland Spar was found there years ago, only in one corner of the quarry, but we didn`t know which corner it was. In this case getting to know the place and learning this and that about the geology had more meaning than the calcite.

Gaining entrance took more time than expected and we could only stay there for a short hour, as it was going to get dark soon. One day we may go back and look for the Iceland Spar...

Nettle... ouch!!! Klaudia ready to fight it!

The part of the quarry we checked

Our first finding- a huge boulder of calcite. We broke it and managed to extract a few clean pieces

This place was full of calcite, it was everywhere

Klaudia on her way to check the most interesting looking rocks

A weathered goniatite (left)?

A good view for the quarry

Earlier mentioned clean calcite pieces. Parts of them very clear.

And bye-bye! As you can see it was windy (and a bit rainy, too). Not the best selfie in the world :P

See you next time!

Ballyhass Lakes... again... :)

My.Life.Is.Busy.


On Monday I`m starting a new job. I`m excited, happy, positive and I can`t wait! For that reason we had to buy another car, which made us both busy (looking for a new car, travelling for a new car, fixing some things on the new car, paperwork for the new car...) and broke :P BUT!- right now I don`t depend on my boyfriend`s car anymore and I have more freedom (and comfort). I used it yesterday. My son was sleeping at my mom`s place and Klaudia and I had a short and quick trip to the Ballyhass. The damp (or heap) of soil was washed by heavy rains and we were hoping to find some goodies revealed by that. And we did indeed.

We found lots, and lots of fossils!
The most interesting is probably this one

This is a massive block of about 8-10kg with numerous crinoid stems. 

Crinoid stems

My sample needs good cleaning and trimming ;) I was thinking of careful cleaning with a small brush, so I could reveal more stems. Unfortunately, I have no air brush or water pressure cleaner (yet).

Then, there is this one. I still don`t know what it is but I will let you know as soon as I find out.
Edit (02.12.15): I know what it is now- it`s a brachiopod, Productus (Thanks, Richard!) 

 

Another one is that one. Small shells. I already have a similar sample from Ballyhass. 

 And I also found a few blocks with thick stems, but I only took two ( I may go back for the rest)+ the syringopora coral block of 20kg ;) that I left there before

It was very windy and rainy that day, and the wind was cold. My hands were freezing. We stayed there for maybe 45 minutes and only checked the surface, no digging. Having enough of being soaking wet I exclaimed "Klaudia, let`s go!" and the moment I did it I found this!

A beautiful, large quartz crystal. The tip a bit broken, but the size is impressive! Now imagine, if THIS was on the surface, what`s underneath?! They are planning to plant some grass on that damp early spring next year, so we have to be quick with checking it out! We will definitely go back there!

And the last one. The tip is intact and very clear, see through, but much smaller in size

There will be another post soon, so keep checking!
Monika

Busy life

Hello everyone!

The reason why I have been quiet for a while now is that my life has been really, really busy recently. There`ve been a lot of changes and I`ve had no time for minerals. But I think, however, that it will slowly start changing in the coming days and maybe I will be able to post some pictures soon.
I don`t know if I will go collecting anytime soon. Winter is coming, it`s getting colder, more rainy and windy, and Klaudia is busy in her new job.  But I will try.

We have moved into a new house, but still renting. I have lots of space now for my minerals, but I will wait with a display cabinet until we actually buy our own house. I would like to have it custom made and exactly the way I want it- something that would look good in our modern interiors :) So for now, my collection is still safely packed in boxes.

I learn as much as I can. I check Mindat regularly, and I am in touch with Thomas on everyday basis. We have minerals-elements behind and now we are concentrating on oxides. I am learning chemistry, imagine!!!!

Hopefully I`ll be able to post on something more interesting soon ;)
Keep warm,
Monika

The Mourne Mountains- day 2

Thank you very much for the positive feedback I got about my last post. I have to tell you that I`ve just got over a thousand hits (in two months) and I`m very happy about it. I`m thrilled to know that someone enjoys my blog and there are people who read it regularly.

Today I`m going to tell you about day 2 in the Mournes.
As you know, the first day was exhausting and at the end of it all of us were wrecked! We walked about 12 km in the mountains. That`s why Stephen suggested that on Sunday we go to the Bloody Bridge quarry, because it doesn`t involve so much walking, "I can remember up to an hour walking at slow pace"- he said. All right! Sounds good! Klaudia`s boots were soaking wet and she had blisters on her feet, so she had to wear regular snickers, but as it was supposed to be an easy walk it was not much of a problem. Off we go!
Walking, walking... half an hour... Still walking though, an hour... And walking, `n walkin even more...
To make the story short, it was about 11 km both ways! You can imagine what we looked and felt like when we eventually got down... ;)

There are three quarries at the Bloody Bridge (from what I noticed)- the lower quarry, where we found nothing (just a broken base of at least a few cm long smoky quartz crystal), a quarry on the left on a steep slope, where we didn`t go, and a quarry on the right where we found only one, but REALLY NICE thing. If not that, we would be going down with empty hands.

At the start of the walk- Stephen taking pictures

Nice views

The lower quarry

Martin, me and Klaudia- the Isle of Man visible on the horizon. The lower quarry on the right. Klaudia wearing rain throusers, but it didn`t rain that day...

 And here it is! Our finding of the day! It was lying there, right on the path, waiting for Martin (oh! lucky him!) to discover it! He was very excited about his finding and I was very proud!!! :)

A severly weathered granite boulder with MANY aquamarine/beryl crystals filling small veins. Some smoky quartz on it, too

Working to take it out

Here it is!

On the way back

The lower quarry on the left and the upper, right quarry- top, right

And here is a close-up on the best pieces, although the other parts of the stone were also not bad!

I think I will go back to the Mournes one day to check two other localities. One involves twice as much walking, so we need to be prepared and maybe even sleep in a tent in the mountains, the other is quite well-known and has produced good minerals. But there are so many places on my list that I don`t think I`ll be able to go there for the next two years.

Thanks for reading!