Hematite

specimen number:
2262347

location:
Egremont, Cumbria, England, UK

description:
Large classic example of what is often referred to as kidney ore hematite. Lustrous botryoidal hematite in good condition. Classic British material. This old timer comes with a label from the Foote Mineral Company glued to the bottom as shown in the video.

The Egremont mining area, located in the West Cumberland iron ore district of Cumbria, England, is a major historical locality for high-grade iron deposits. Geologically, the area is defined by extensive replacement deposits, known as flats and irregular veinform bodies, hosted within faulted Carboniferous limestone strata that lie unconformably beneath Permo-Triassic sandstones. Hydrothermal fluids circulating along these major fault lines dissolved the limestone and deposited dense masses of hematite, which frequently developed spectacular open cavities lined with classic specularite, botryoidal kidney ore, and sharp, transparent crystals of calcite and barite. Small-scale iron extraction occurred intermittently from medieval times, but systematic industrial-scale mining and deep shaft sinking expanded rapidly in the nineteenth century, particularly from the 1870s onward with the development of major operations like the Florence and Ullcoats mines. These underground operations drove the local economy and produced millions of tons of premium low-phosphorus iron ore through both World Wars until declining reserves, high pumping costs, and changing global steel markets led to the final cessation of primary mining activities at the Florence shaft in 2007.

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