map page of Scottish minerals

Minerals of Scotland

LEADHILLS & WANLOCKHEAD

PHOTO GALLERY

Secondary Zinc Minerals
& Cadmium Species

including photographs of

Hemimorphite - Greenockite/ Hemimorphite
Veszelyite - Veszelyite/ Chrysocolla

HEMIMORPHITE

Secondary enrichment of the primary ores took place throughout the Leadhills & Wanlockhead deposit and secondary lead species are common to both sites. Wanlockhead, richer in zinc ores, has a greater prevalence of secondary zinc species such as hemimorphite (hydrous zinc silicate).

Hemimorphite occurs generally either as tiny crystals forming crusts or as botryoidal aggregates. It has a wide array of colours, with colourless, white, sky blue, green, yellow to brown-hued specimens being encountered. Less common is yellow hemimorphite, coloured by inclusions of the rare species, greenockite (Cadmium Sulphide).

Greenockite occurs at Wanlockhead as inclusions in hemimorphite or as powdery coatings.
It colours hemimorphite a bright canary yellow or yellowish-green colour.
(for information on Greenockite as crystals from its type locality in Scotland, see link at bottom)

HEMIMORPHITE
New Glencrieff Mine, Wanlockhead.

Radiating, prismatic, hemimorphite crystals stained yellow
by greenockite inclusions (view c 10x7mms).

HEMIMORPHITE
New Glencrieff Vein, Wanlockhead.

VESZELYITE

Around 1988, collectors found the rare, hydrous copper phosphate mineral, veszelyite, at Wanlockhead.

This rare species was previously unrecorded at Wanlockhead or Leadhills and it is also the first recorded occurence of the species in the United Kingdom.
Crystals were generally small and found in two or three habits.

Some specimens encountered contained pseudomorphs of chrysocolla (hydrous copper silicate) after veszelyite, particularly with larger crystals. Both full and partial replacements were found. In the latter case, the outer area of veszelyite was replaced by chrysocolla and the core left unaltered.

Veszelyite has not been encountered since and the site
of the find has now been grassed over.

VESZELYITE
Straitsteps Mine, Wanlockhead, Dumfries, Scotland.
Pyramidal crystals to over 6mms partially pseudomorphed to chrysocolla on botryoidal hemimorphite.
A cleaved edge on one crystal reveals an unaltered, dark blue veszelyite core within the replacing, outer shell of chrysocolla.

VESZELYITE
Straitsteps Mine, Wanlockhead.

Twinned crystals with a pyramidal habit to c. 1mm with green globules of chrysocolla
on hemimorphite.

VESZELYITE
Straitsteps Mine, Wanlockhead.
Intergrown, tabular, wedge-shaped crystal
to 1mm.

HEMIMORPHITE
Straitsteps Mine, Wanlockhead.

A 1cm cavity infilled with tiny, elongated, radiating sky blue crystals.

the end

Leadhills - Wanlockhead Main Page	Ore & Gangue Species Galena, Barite, Sphalerite, Quartz, Calcite, Pyrite.	Secondary Lead Species Anglesite, Cerussite	Secondary Lead/ Copper Species Linarite
Main Site Links page	Secondary Lead Species Pyromorphite, Vanadinite, Descloizite, Minium	Type Locality Species Caledonite, Leadhillite, Lanarkite	Scottish Type Locality Species
Home page	Site Photos, Map & Locality Species List	Copper Species Aurichalcite - Brochantite Malachite - Chalcopyrite	Galloway Region Dumfries & Kirkcudbright