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Mourne Mountains Minerals

Diamond Rocks is a famous locality in County Down, Northern Ireland ( http://www.habitas.org.uk/escr/site.asp?item=540), known for its aquamarine and topaz since the 19th Century. The crystals occur in pockets within Paleogene granite.

Crystals are mostly small, less then a couple of cm, but occasionally larger examples appear, such as the sherry coloured topaz reported (from Slieve Binnian) in the UK Journal of Mines and Minerals vol. 33 (pg 10), 2012.

The small group shown here includes aquamarine, topaz, smoky quartz, feldspar (including a unique Carlsbad twin), mica (with dark interiors and lighter green exteriors), allanite, hematite and stilbite-Ca. Fluorite also occurs rarely at Pigeon Rock.

The topaz crystals occur as beautifully lustrous complex forms, hence the informal locality name of "Diamond Rocks".

Two other Mourne Mountains localities are represented here, being Lindsay's Leap and Pigeon Rock Mountain.
Slievenamiskan, Mourne Mountains transparent terminated aquamarine, 19 mm long Slievenamiskan, Mourne Mountains transparent terminated aquamarine, 19 mm long Terminated beryl, 8 mm, on 75 mm matrix. Diamond Rocks, Mourne Mountains, Co Down. Topaz (Mourne Diamond), 7mm loose crystal, Diamond Rocks, Mourne Mountains.
Fine sharp topaz crystal, ca 7 mm, on 6 cm matrix, Diamond Rocks, Mourne Mountains. Fine sharp topaz crystal, ca 7 mm, on 8 cm matrix, Diamond Rocks, Mourne Mountains. Smoky quartz, 29 mm, Diamond Rocks, Mourne Mountains. Mica crystals to ca 9 mm with smoky quartz, albite and perthite on 7 cm matrix, Diamond Rocks, Mourne Mountains.
Mica crystals to ca 9 mm with smoky quartz, albite and perthite on 7 cm matrix, Diamond Rocks, Mourne Mountains. 8 cm specimen with smoky quartz crystals to 1 cm and feldspar crystals to 2 cm. Diamond Rocks. Zoned mica, albite and smoky quartz. Slieve Binnian microperthite feldspar crystals to 12 mm, smoky quartz to 10 mm and tiny hematite crystals to 1 mm.
Slieve Binnian microperthite feldspar crystals to 12 mm, smoky quartz to 10 mm and tiny hematite crystals to 1 mm. Carlsbad twinned 12 mm orthoclase crystal with smoky quartz, albite and mica on 4 cm matrix. Diamond Rocks. Unique. Carlsbad twinned 12 mm orthoclase crystal with smoky quartz, albite and mica on 4 cm matrix. Diamond Rocks. Unique. Carlsbad twinned 12 mm orthoclase crystal with smoky quartz, albite and mica on 4 cm matrix. Diamond Rocks. Unique.
Carlsbad twinned 12 mm orthoclase crystal with smoky quartz, albite and mica on 4 cm matrix. Diamond Rocks. Unique. Allanite crystals (4 mm across) with fluorite, Pigeon Rock Mountain, Mourne Mountains Slieve Binnian microperthite feldspar crystals to 12 mm, smokey quartz to 10 mm and tiny hematite crystals to 1 mm. Stilbite crystals with smoky quartz, orthoclase and albite. Lindsay's Leap, Mourne Mountains, County Down, Northern Ireland.
Prehnite, quartz and orthoclase, Pigeon Rock Mountain, Mourne Mountains. 35 mm specimen. Sector zoned fluorite, ca 2 mm, Pigeon Rock Mountain, Mourne Mountains Sector zoned fluorite, Pigeon Rock Mountain, Mourne Mountains Sector zoned fluorite, Pigeon Rock Mountain, Mourne Mountains

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Stephen Moreton 01-Mar-2015 20:37
Note that the sherry coloured topaz pictured in UK Journal of Mines & Minerals, vol. 33, p. 10, did not come from Diamond Rocks. It was found by a friend of mine on Slieve Binnian. I saw it when still covered in dirt just hours after it had been found, and shortly after I found a fine smoky quartz and orthoclase crystal group, also pictured in the same issue of UKJMM (p.11), in a boulder a few tens of metres away. The same spot also produced specimens of orthoclase with tiny crystals of hematite on them. I suspect those pictured here are the same. The cavity that produced them was less than two metres from the one that yielded the large topaz.
John 17-Dec-2014 00:31
Great selection of images!
Paolo Peggi (aka Bracciodiferro)16-Nov-2012 18:54
Great work,thx for sharing! Vote
Ciao,
Paolo!
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