Mineral Collection

A China Clay Pit, Leswidden, Harold Harvey (1874-1941)
Oil on canvas, Newlyn School, 1920 or 1924. This painting shows the harsh, labour-intensive working conditions of a china clay pit

Close-up shot of a cross-section of agate stone showcasing intricate layered patterns in varying shades of brown and white

Bolivia, Southern Altiplano, Laguna Colorada. The dramatic other world landscape of the Laguna Coloroda otherwise know as the coloured lake

The Clay Pit, Harold Harvey (1874-1941)
Oil on canvas, Newlyn School, 1923. View of Leswidden China Clay Works near St Just. This painting shows the harsh, labour-intensive working conditions of a china clay pit

Geological crosssection through the Earths crust.. Chromolithograph from Dr. Fr. Rolles Geology and Paleontology section in Gotthilf Heinrich von Schuberts Natural History, Schreiber, Munich, 1886

Coal mine in England, 1850s
Removing coal in the Bradley mine, Staffordshire, England, 1850s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th century illustration

Picture No. 10984558
Grand Prismatic Spring Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA Date:

Copper and magnesium sulphate, LM
Copper and magnesium sulphate crystals. Polarised light micrograph (LM) of copper sulphate (CuSO4) and magnesium sulphate (MgSO4) crystals

Jurassic reptiles, dinosaurs, fish and birds.. Chromolithograph from Dr. Fr. Rolles Geology and Paleontology section in Gotthilf Heinrich von Schuberts Natural History, Schreiber, Munich, 1886

Gold, Carnon Stream Works, Perranarworthal, Cornwall, England
Gold is a native element and precious metal which has been prized by mankind for thousands of years for its beauty, malleability and resistance to corrosion

Quarry in Mabe or Constantine, Cornwall. 1903-1904
A view of the quarry face showing two workers with sledge hammers standing by a granite block that is being dressed. Part of the Freeman & Sons, Penryn Collection. Photographer: Unknown

Polkanuggo Quarry, Stithians, Cornwall. September 1902
A view of the quarry face showing workers sitting on a granite block weighing an estimated 2, 738 tons. It was claimed to be the largest single block ever quarried

Polkanuggo Quarry, Stithians, Cornwall. 1903-1904
A general view of Polkanuggo Quarry with steam traction engine BETA No 483 and workers posing for the camera

Crysotile asbestos
Scanning electron micrograph of 5-Fold symmetry in crysotile asbestos. Magnification on the 5 x4 transparency = X 600, 000

Picture No. 11091681
Galena and Sphalerite the main ore minerals of lead and zinc respectively Date:

Birthstone Series: Amythest Quartz
An Amythest quartz specimen. Amythest is a form of quartz that is usually purple in colour, it is the birthstone for the month of March. Natural History Museum specimen number 84817

Calcareous phytoplankton, SEM
Calcareous phytoplankton. Coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of the external mineralised structures (coccospheres) of small marine algal organisms called coccolithophores

Polarised LM of a thin section of gabbro rock
Gabbro. Polarised light micrograph of a thin section of gabbro, an igneous rock. Gabbro is coarse-grained, containing the minerals olivine and plagioclase feldspar

Aquamarine crystal. Aquamarine is a transparent blue or blue-green variety of beryl (beryllium aluminium silicate). The colour is due to trace amounts of iron within the crystal structure

Salt grains and ground peppercorn, SEM
Salt grains and ground peppercorn, coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM). Each salt (sodium chloride) crystal (white) is composed of a cubic lattice of sodium and chloride ions

Australian Gold Rush prospectors, 1850s
Australian prospectors panning for gold, 1850s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

Leadville, a Colorado boom town, 1870s
Chestnut Street in Leadville, Colorado, during the mining boom, 1870s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

Waxing gibbous Moon, computer-enhanced image. The colour saturation of this image has been enhanced to accentuate the natural variation in colour of the Moons surface

Malachite - Lumumbashi, Katanga Province, Congo, Africa
CAN-2366 Malachite - Lumumbashi, Katanga Province, Congo, Africa John Cancalosi Please note that prints are for personal display purposes only and may not be reproduced in any way

Discosphaera tubifera, coccolithophore
Scanning electron microscope (SEM) showing the unicellular planktonic algae Discosphaera tubifera from the North Atlantic surrounded by a sphere of calcite plates - coccoliths

Green apophyllite from Jalgaon, India

Perovskite crystal structure. Perovskite is the name for the mineral calcium titanium oxide (CaTiO3)

Laguna Banded Agate, Quartzsite, AZ

Wiesbaden - Kochbrunen Hot Spring
Wiesbaden, Germany - Kochbrunen ( Cook Well ) Hot Spring. This building is the Pump Room. Date: 1913

Martian landscape, artwork. Mars is a rocky desert world with no surface water. The red colour of the rocks is due to a high content of iron oxides

Citrus fruits. Lemon and lime slices. The juices of citrus fruits are rich in vitamin C, needed for healthy skin and gums

Diamond, computer artwork
Cut and polished diamond, computer artwork. Diamond is a naturally occurring form of carbon that has crystallised under great pressure

Cut agates. Assortment of cut and polished agates. Agate is a variety of quartz (silicon oxide). The colours are produced by impurities in the mineral

Copper sulphate crystals, LM
Copper sulphate crystals. Polarised light micrograph (LM) of copper sulphate (CuSO4) crystals

WY, Yellowstone National Park, West Thumb Geyser Basin, on the shore of Yellowstone Lake, Blue Funnel Spring

Badoit Discovered
A druidess of Ancient Gaul, holding the sacred mistletoe, reveals to a group of warriors the spring which to this day gives us naturally sparkling BADOIT MINERAL WATER

Aquamarine crystal. Aquamarine is a transparent blue or blue-green variety of beryl (beryllium aluminium silicate). The colour is due to trace amounts of iron within the crystal structure

Peridot. The specimens at top right and middle right are polished and the specimens at left are in their natural state. Peridot is a variety of the mineral olivine (magnesium iron silicate)

Star of the East Gold Mine, Ballarat, 1901. Creator: Unknown
Star of the East Gold Mine, Ballarat, 1901. Ballarat on the Yarrowee River in the Central Highlands of Victoria, was transformed during the Victorian gold rush. From " Federated Australia"

Copper with Quartz, South Caradon Mine, St Cleer, Cornwall, England
Copper with crystalline quartz

Liroconite, Wheal Gorland, St Day, Gwennap, Cornwall, England
A large, rare, liroconite crystal on strashimirite found in 1808. At 2.5cm, the specimen is the largest known crystal from any locality worldwide

Freeman & Sons dressing floor, probably Penryn, Cornwall. 1903-1904
Classical granite columns on the dressing floor of Freeman & Sons works. The man pictured is either Bernard Freeman or his brother. Part of the Freeman & Sons, Penryn Collection. Photographer: Unknown

Transporting granite blocks for King Alfreds statue to Penryn Station
Fowler traction engines 7974 and 9016 are pictured hauling blocks of granite from one of the Mabe quarries to Penryn Station, for onward transportation by train to Winchester, Hampshire

Bournonite with Quartz, Herodsfoot Mine, Lanreath, Cornwall, England
Steel-grey twinned bournonite crystals, in distinctive cog wheel formation, with colourless quartz

Ammonite fossil
Ammonite, Biology, Black Background, Color Image, Cross Section, Extinct, Fossil, Geology, Invertebrate, Mineral, No People, Paleontology, Photography, Polish, Shell, Single Object, Spiral

Cassiterite, Wherry Mine, Wherrytown, Penzance, Cornwall, England
Cassiterite with quartz. A very rich tin ore of a brown colour with black crystals of a curious form on the surface intermixed with white quartz

Blue Lagoon geothermal spa, Grindavik, Iceland

Plant landscape of the Permian.. Chromolithograph from Dr. Fr. Rolles Geology and Paleontology section in Gotthilf Heinrich von Schuberts Natural History, Schreiber, Munich, 1886

Trilobite, sponge and zoophyte fossils.. Chromolithograph from Dr. Fr. Rolles Geology and Paleontology section in Gotthilf Heinrich von Schuberts Natural History, Schreiber, Munich, 1886

Advertisement for Stocksbridge Mineral Water and Bottling Company Ltd
Original at Sheffield Local Studies PAMP

Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison (1847 - 1931), American inventor of the carbon telephone transmitter (1877), phonograph (1878), and incandescent lamp with carbon filament (1879)

Tremolite asbestos from France
Tremolite (calcium magnesium silicate hydroxide) is a mineral from the Amphibole group, it is commonly used for industrial purposes

Martian landscape
Martian canyon landscape. Mars is a rocky desert world with no surface water. The red colour of the rocks is due to a high content of iron oxides

The Yellowstone River and canyon from Grandview Point, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA

Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic - The Sprudel at the Spa
Karlovy Vary or Carlsbad (Karlsbad), in western Bohemia, Czech Republic - The Sprudel (Mineral Hot Water Spring Fountain or Geyser) and Spa Attendants in their waterproof uniforms! Date: circa 1911

Tresahor Quarry, Constantine, Cornwall. 1903-1904
A general view of the quarry with the crane used for moving the granite blocks. Part of the Freeman & Sons, Penryn Collection. Photographer: Unknown

Polkanuggo Quarry, Stithians, Cornwall. Around 1900
A view of the quarry face showing workers holding the tools of their trade while dressing stones. Blocks of granite are ready to be moved using the cranes based at the edge of the quarry

Feldspar Crystals from Summit of Mount Erebus (Natural Size), 1909. Specimens of crystallised magma from the volcano Erebus

Evening mood, Salar de Uyuni, Salt Lake, Altiplano, Bolivia
Dramatic evening mood, Salar de Uyuni, Salt Lake, Altiplano, Bolivia. The dramatic scenery, colours and rugged horizons of the Bolivian Altiplano

Cut Emerald gemstone

Kaolinite
Scanning electron microscope image of kaolinite (x 4.00K). Its a common phyllosilicate mineral, its structure is composed of silicate sheets bonded to aluminum oxide/hydroxide layers

Selection of diamond crystals
Diamond crystals from the Natural History Museum collections

Blue John vase
A vase carved out of the mineral Blue John. The mineral is so far unique to one location in the Derbyshire Peak District, England

Jasper
A polished slab of jasper from Campsie Fells, Stirlingshire. Jasper is cryptocrystalline agate quartz (silicon dioxide)

Panning for gold, California
Reenactor panning for gold on the American River, where the Gold Rush started, Coloma, California. Digital photograph

Prospectors panning for gold in the California Gold Rush. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th century illustration

Meteorite Jepara, thin section, LM
Polarized light micrograph of a thin section of the meteorite Jepara, found in Java, Indonesia in 2008

Smokejacks Brickworks, Surrey
Smokejacks Brickworks in Ockley, Surrey shows part of the Upper Weald Clay Formation of Lower Cretaceous (Barremian) age

Eocene London clay
Eli Marsden Wilsons impression of the Eocene (55 to 34 million years ago) London Clay landscape

Industrial Revolution. England. Mining. Nineteenth-century engraving

Castle Geyser, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad on the Animas River
The Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad on the Animas River, San Juan National Forest, Colorado, USA

Granite Statues in front of the Biblioteca. Venice. Italy

Moeraki Boulders in the morning light, Moeraki Beach, Hampden, Otago Region, New Zealand

Native silver
Silver found in pure form in the ground is called native silver (Ag) - it is an elemental metal and structure is dendritic or branch-like

Picture No. 11050139
Coquina St. Augustine, Florida, USA Date:

Baking soda crystals, SEM C016 / 8041
Sodium bicarbonate. Coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of crystals of sodium bicarbonate (or sodium hydrogen carbonate). Sodium bicarbonate is a white solid commonly used in baking powder

Plate 4, fig 2 Puddingstone - from Mineralienbuch
An illustration of a polished section of puddingstone. Puddingstone is a conglomerate sedimentary rock. Plate 4, fig 2 from Mineralienbuch by F. A. Schmidt, Stuttgart 1855

Tonguestone (sharks tooth) with lateral denticles
Tooth of the extinct shark (Lamna obliqua Agassiz). Specimen orgininating from the London Clay (Eocene), Sheppey, Kent

Garnet Peridotite
Garnet-peridotite, a major constituent in the make-up of the Earth. Image published in Natures Connections An Exploration of Natural History. Published in 2000

Coelosphaeridium, calcareous alga

Cut diamond and crystals
A cut diamond surrounded by rough crystals. Diamond is comprised of compacted carbon and is the hardest natural substance known on Earth

Crucifix set with sapphires, zircon, spinel, cairngorm and amethyst. The whole cross is bordered by diamonds

Franklinite, zinc ore
A granular rock composed of white calcite, dull green willemite, red zincite and black franklinite (Zinc Iron Manganese Oxide). See T00387 for a fluorescent view

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EDITORS COMMENTS

"Unearthing the Beauty: Exploring the World of Minerals" Step into a world where nature's treasures shine bright. From the depths of Cornwall, England, to the coal mines of the 1850s and beyond, minerals have captivated humanity for centuries. In Carnon Stream Works, Perranarworthal, Cornwall, England, gold gleams in its purest form. Its allure has sparked dreams and ambitions throughout history – just like during the Australian Gold Rush in the 1850s when prospectors flocked to unearth their fortunes. Harold Harvey's masterpiece "The Clay Pit" transports us back to a time when coal mining shaped communities in England during the 19th century. The grit and determination of those miners echo through time as they delved deep into darkness to fuel industrial progress. Polkanuggo Quarry in Stithians witnessed an era of extraction that left lasting imprints on both land and culture. Harold Harvey captures this momentous period with his skilled brush strokes – from copper and magnesium sulphate discoveries to calcareous phytoplankton fossils preserved for eternity. Leswidden's China Clay Pit reveals another facet exploration; here lies a delicate balance between human intervention and natural beauty. Harold Harvey once again immortalizes this scene with his artistic prowess. As we delve deeper into our planet's geological cross-section through Earth's crust, we uncover secrets hidden beneath our feet. Picture No. 10984558 serves as a window into these mysteries waiting to be unraveled by curious minds. Aquamarine crystals glisten like drops from Poseidon himself – enchanting all who lay eyes upon them with their ethereal hues reminiscent of tranquil waters, and are not mere commodities; they represent stories etched within Earth itself – tales told through layers upon layers over millions of years. They remind us that even amidst chaos and change, there is enduring beauty waiting patiently to be discovered.