Occurrence of Bismuthinite in Somerset

Abstract

AT the end of July last year, while examining the material on the waste-heaps of the Langham Hill Mine, one of the group on the Brendon Hills, Somerset, which was worked for iron during the middle and latter half of last century, I noticed small stains and patches of malachite on some of the crystalline chalybite at one end of the main dump. A number of these pieces were collected and, on being broken open, were found to contain small amounts of chalcopyrite, bornite, and occasionally chalcocite, while a few had, in addition, thin veins and patches of a steel-grey metallic mineral scattered through them, in some cases closely intergrown with the copper minerals.