Roughton Gill Mine, Roughton Gill, Caldbeck, Allerdale, Cumbria, England, UKi

Regional Level Types
Roughton Gill Mine	Mine (Inactive)
Roughton Gill	Group of Mines (Abandoned)
Caldbeck	Civil Parish
Allerdale	District
Cumbria	County
England	Constituent Country
UK	Country

Roughton Gill Mine, Roughton Gill, Caldbeck Fells Mining Region, Cumbria, England, UK

Description: Crystals to 25mm were found in the nineteenth-century workings (BM(NH)) but very little has been found since the mine closed. Specimens in old collections are often dull and opaque and rarely approach the quality of Red Gill crystals.

Description: A single specimen in the BM(NH) Collection, namely B.M. 31622a, bought of Mr. D. Lowry, 1860 (Bannister et al., 1950 and Kingsbury & Hartley, 1956). Bridges et al. (2011): "A specimen of this mineral in the NHM is labelled from ‘Roughtongill’. Kingsbury and Hartley (1956) consider the specimen actually originated from Potts Gill Mine, where Kingsbury claimed to have found further similar specimens. It has not been found in this study and is very unlikely to occur in the geochemical environment of Roughton Gill. It should not be included in a list of Roughton Gill minerals."

Description: Cooper & Stanley (1990): "Found here about 1852 by Bryce Wright (Allan-Greg Collection Catalogue, BM(NH)) and reported by Greg & Lettsom in 1858. This has been the most prolific locality (Davidson & Thomson, 1951) and it is likely that most specimens labelled simply 'Caldbeck Fells' originated here. Acicular tufted caledonite has been confused with aurichalcite in the past."

Description: Cooper & Stanley (1990): "From the 30fm and 90fm level dumps (Hartley, 1984). A specimen in the King Collection (National Museum of Wales, Cardiff), obtained from an old collection by W.F. Davidson, and reputed to come from Thief Gills [i.e. probably the ancient outcrop workings in higher Roughton Gill] in 1912 is, if authentic, easily the best azurite from the area. It shows a striated crystal 15mm in diameter with fibrous malachite on 'copper pitch'."

Description: Bridges et al. (2008): "Extremely thin blades of baryte occur encrusting ochres of limonite and wad. Individual crystals reach 5 mm long, but are less than 1 mm in height. The crystals are usually transparent and rosasite is in association on two of the specimens examined."

Description: Bridges et al. (2011): "Thin earthy to micro-crystalline crusts of yellow-brown material in cavities in quartz, resembling some forms of beaverite, were checked by EDS and found to contain lead, copper and iron. The copper peaks were quite significant, but detailed microprobe (WDS/EPM) analysis would be necessary to be sure the mineral was not plumbojarosite."

Description: Kingsbury reference.

Habit: powdery crusts

Colour: pale yellow

Description: Bridges et al. (2011): "This mineral has recently been re-named as part of the reclassification of the pyrochlore group of minerals (Atencio et al., 2010). It occurs rarely as pale yellow powdery crusts in cavities with cerussite, anglesite and in one case with leadhillite and linarite."

Description: Bridges et al. (2011): "Young (1987) notes that there is a specimen of this mineral in the Keswick Museum labelled ‘Roughton Gill’. However, the specimen consists of a small dark brown ochrous looking mass with white streaks. No bornite is visible from outside the cabinet and the matrix does not look typical of Roughton Gill Mine. It has not been found in the current study and it is considered that this mineral should not be included in the list of Roughton Gill Mine species."

Description: Kingsbury reference.

Description: Cooper & Stanley (1990): "The 'brewsterite' recorded by Hall (1868) as an associate of tenorite and chalcopyrite is unlikely to be the zeolitic brewsterite (of Brooke) as assumed by Young (1987). It is more likely to be the 'brewsterite' listed by Branston (1910) and Postlethwaite (1913) as 'protoxide of copper'. Although the latter is a synonym of cuprite, the name brewsterite in this context does not appear in any standard mineralogy or synonymy known to the authors and the precise definition of the term appears to be lost."

Habit: earthy

Description: Cooper & Stanley (1990): "Greg & Lettsom (1858: 327) described brochantite from Roughton Gill: 'lately in small but very perfect and brilliant crystals ... on a white quartzose rock, associated with fibrous malachite.' Specimens fitting this description may still be found on the extensive dumps below the 90fm level. An occasional associated species is tsumebite."

Habit: 'nail head' crystals (Davidson & Thomson, 1951); massive (Dewey & Eastwood, 1925); scalenohedral moulds in quartz from the 90fm level dump may be pseudomorphs after calcite

Habit: fibrous, velvet-like encrustation; acicular

Description: Cooper & Stanley (1990): "it is found, principally, in the old workings on the South vein in higher Roughton Gill where it occurs with leadhillite, susannite, lanarkite, mattheddleite, and, very rarely, scotlandite."

Description: Kingsbury reference.

Habit: sprays (<10mm); tabular (10-20mm); acicular

Colour: white

Description: Bridges et al. (2011): "Kendall (1884) reported chalcocite from Roughton Gill, but at that time it would not have been possible to differentiate it from related copper sulphides. An attempt to positively identify the sulphides on two samples by XRD was only partially successful. One was clearly a bad sample, but chalcocite seemed to be the dominant component of the other."

Description: Bridges et al. (2011): "Chalcopyrite was one of the principal ores in the veins and is common on the 90-fathom level dumps, mainly as blebs reaching no more than a few centimetres across in quartz. Oxidation to brown ‘limonite’ is common and alteration to grey copper(I) sulphides is apparent on a few specimens."

Description: Bridges et al. (2011): "Iridescent purple coatings on chalcopyrite have been confirmed as covelline by XRD. Similar coatings occur on several specimens of sphalerite and galena."

Description: Bridges et al. (2011): "Cuprite is rare, but has been found as bright red encrustations, generally of the order of 2 mm across, associated with grey copper(I) sulphides and malachite on a small number of specimens."

Habit: massive

Colour: brown to dark brown

Description: Bridges et al. (2011): "Day (1928) and Davidson and Thomson (1951) reported dolomite from the dumps. Certainly dolomitic material is common on the 90-fathom dumps as quite large blocks, cavity infills in quartz and as veinlets in weathered rocks. The surface is always oxidised to a light brown colour, indicating the presence of iron, but analysis shows the iron content to be no more than 2 to 3%. The material is, therefore, dolomite with a minor iron content."

Habit: encrustations

Colour: pink

Description: From the 90fm level dumps. Probably formed on the dumps. Bridges et al. (2011): "Cooper and Stanley (1990) and Young (1987) report erythrite as pale pink coatings on quartz and calcite. Small amounts have been found in the course of this study as minute balls up to 0.5 mm in diameter, with a radiating structure, and encrusting fractured quartz surfaces."

Description: Cooper & Stanley (1990): "The only notable galena specimen seen in this study is purported to come from here: it is a Bryce M. Wright specimen, in the Russell Collection, BM(NH), and comprises an almost solid mass of cube-octahedra to 9mm with 'hacked quartz'." Bridges et al. (2011): "Galena was the main ore from the mine and worked from all the levels. Shaw (1970) notes that it was the main ore in the central part of the ‘Great Bunch’ opened up from the 60-fathom level, occurring as ‘cubical galena’. Good crystalline specimens appear to be rare and Cooper and Stanley (1990, p. 96) are doubtful that an excellent specimen of cubo-octahedral galena in the Russell Collection in the NHM actually originated from the mine. In this study, it is surprisingly uncommon in specimen material but occurs as cleavage fragments on some specimens, mainly in quartz, and as small cubo-octahedral crystals to 2 mm in cavities in quartz with sphalerite in one case."

Description: Bridges et al. (2011): "Eastwood (1921) notes that the pigment umber was worked at Roughton Gill Mine from the dumps, although there is some doubt about this since the main dumps seem to be undisturbed. Cooper and Stanley (1990) note the presence of ‘limonite’. Brown stains and crusts of limonitic ochres are very abundant on dump material and are probably mostly goethite. Rarely it is found as pseudomorphs of small pyrite crystals and saddle-shaped crystals of dolomite up to 0.5 mm long. Less common are very dark brown to black botryoidal crusts which can reach 3 mm in thickness."

Description: Kingsbury reference. Bridges et al. (2011): "The Kingsbury Collection in the NHM contains a single specimen of gold labelled from the 90-fathom level dumps of Roughton Gill Mine and claimed to have been collected in 1960. It consists of a small area of hackly gold in a brown quartz matrix with grey copper sulphide oxidising to malachite. The specimen has obviously been broken into at least two parts, but there is no sign of the remainder of the specimen in the collection. Grey copper sulphides are rare at Roughton Gill, the specimen does not look typical of the site and no other collector has found gold here. This specimen must be considered fraudulent."

Description: Bridges et al. (2011): "Davidson and Thomson (1951) note the presence on the dumps of a ‘red massive substance’ that they considered to be hematite. In this study, it has been noticed that some of the goethite encrustations have dehydrated to give a red colour and streak. However, these seem to be X-ray amorphous and to consist of an iron-rich silica gel and it is safest not to include hematite in the list of minerals for the site."

Habit: botryoidal; euhedral crystals

Colour: colourless, pale to sky blue, blue-grey, and green

Description: Embrey (1978): "A specimen of bluish-grey plumbogummite from Roughton Gill, Cumberland, appeared to be a mixcrystal of hinsdalite, plumbogummite, and hidalgoite. E. B. Förtsch (1967), Mineral. Mag. 36, 530." Cooper & Stanley (1990): "Supposedly a component of 'plumbogummite' (Förtsch 1967). However, the analysis of plumbogummite by Hartley (1900) - used by Förtsch - shows no sulphate and only trace amounts of arsenic."

Description: Embrey (1978): "A specimen of bluish-grey plumbogummite from Roughton Gill, Cumberland, appeared to be a mixcrystal of hinsdalite, plumbogummite, and hidalgoite. E. B. Förtsch (1967), Mineral. Mag. 36, 530." Cooper & Stanley (1990): "Förtsch (1967) suggested that hinsdalite was a constituent of 'plumbogummite' with hidalgoite."

Description: Cooper & Stanley (1990): "From the 30fm level dumps (Kingsbury & Hartley, MS); from the 60fm and 90fm level dumps (Hartley, 1984)." Bridges et al. (2011): "Hartley (1984) notes the presence of hydrocerussite on specimen material collected by Kingsbury from all three levels, but no specimens could be found in Kingsbury’s collection in the NHM. It is very rare, but has been found on a few specimens from the 90 fathom dumps where it occurs as crusts of thin white plates, often with a near semi-circular shape, and with individual crystals up to 1.6 mm across, in cavities in quartz. One of the specimens of quartz examined contained a mass of white material 5 mm across with the appearance of cerussite, but with a distinct cleavage in places. It is probably a mass of hydrocerussite partly altered to cerussite."

Description: Kingsbury reference.

Habit: blades; radiating sprays of crystal sections to 20mm; thin laths to 2mm

Colour: pale sea-green; grey

Description: Cooper & Stanley (1990): "As pale sea-green blades and radiating sprays of crystal sections to 20 mm with leadhillite, from the outcrop workings on the South vein in higher Roughton Gill (Kingsbury Collection, BM(NH)). Recently found in situ in the same area forming thin grey laths to 2 mm with mattheddleite, leadhillite, caledonite, and scotlandite in pods of altered galena (D.I. Green in prep.)."

Habit: tabular to 0.25mm

Colour: pale yellow

Description: Bridges et al. (2011): "Early specimens of leadhillite, attributed to Roughton Gill Mine, may well have originated from Higher Roughton Gill or Red Gill. In the present study, it is very rare, but has been found as thin hexagonal plates reaching 2.5 mm across on quartz with small crystals of linarite and cerussite in association."

Description: Bridges et al. (2011): "Some early excellent linarite specimens are attributed to Roughton Gill Mine, but Davidson and Thomson (1951) expressed doubts about the provenance, an opinion supported by Bridges et al. (2008) who used mineralogical and geochemical evidence to support the view that these specimens actually originated from Red Gill Mine. In this study linarite is a fairly rare mineral; most specimens taking the form of a thin blue crust and are clearly a dump alteration product of galena and chalcopyrite. Crystals, when found, take the form of royal blue blades up to a maximum of 3 mm long."

Habit: fibrous; acicular; botryoidal encrustations

Colour: emerald green

Description: Bridges et al. (2011): "Excellent specimens of malachite have long been known from Roughton Gill Mine (Greg and Lettsom, 1858; Goodchild, 1884). Cooper and Stanley (1990) note that it was an important ore. It remains abundant in specimen material and it is interesting to note that several of the specimens examined appear to be iron stained brecciated quartz and metasomatised rock cemented by malachite, which may be small examples of malachite as an ore. In cavities, it is common as mats of fibrous needles a few millimetres high which can cover areas over 10 cm across and botryoidal encrustations of similar size. Aggregates of radiating bright emerald green needles reach 10 mm in length in some cavities and small blocky crystals also occur. By far the commonest associated minerals are cerussite and hemimorphite."

Habit: minute needles with caledonite, lanarkite, leadhillite, hydrocerussite, etc.

Description: Bridges et al. (2011): "Mattheddleite is very rare having only been noted on a single 4 cm specimen where it lines four 5 mm cavities as sprays of minute (<0.1 mm) needles. The matrix is iron stained quartz-galena and associated minerals are susannite, cerussite, and hydrocerussite. On the reverse of the specimen is yellow pyromorphite. Regrettably, although the specimen was found on the 90-fathom dumps, it is very similar to material from Higher Roughton Gill and the possibility of it having originated there cannot be dismissed. For this reason, the provenance is considered doubtful."

Colour: wax-yellow

Habit: grades into globular or botryoidal aggregates

Habit: rounded

Colour: pistachio green; brown

Description: Cooper & Stanley (1990): "In debris below Iron Crag, probably originating from the outcrop of the Roughton Gill (South) vein: as minute translucent pistachio green rounded crystals on goethite and quartz (D. Middleton Collection); and as greasy lustred brown rounded crystals encrusting quartz with pyromorphite (N. Thomson Collection). Both occurrences det. BM(NH): XRD."

Description: Cooper & Stanley (1990): "Kendall (1884) listed 'olivienite' among the 'metallic minerals' from Roughton Gill on the authority of Postlethwaite or Bryce Wright. However, neither of these authors cite any locality in the Caldbeck Fells for this species in their publications (Postlethwaite, 1877; 1899; Wright in Jenkinson, 1875 and subsequent editions)."

Description: Bridges et al. (2011): "Hartley (1984) noted the presence of parahopeite on a specimen Kingsbury claimed to have collected from the 60-fathom dumps. The specimen could not be found in the NHM and no other collector has found the mineral in the Caldbeck Fells. It has to be considered fraudulent."

Habit: drusy to minutely botryoidal

Colour: almost colourless through shades of blue-grey and lavender, to a deep cobalt blue (smalt-blue)

Description: Sometimes as epimorphs after small prisms of pyromorphite.

Description: Kingsbury reference. Bridges et al. (2011) [on 'beaverite']: "Thin earthy to micro-crystalline crusts of yellow-brown material in cavities in quartz, resembling some forms of beaverite, were checked by EDS and found to contain lead, copper and iron. The copper peaks were quite significant, but detailed microprobe (WDS/EPM) analysis would be necessary to be sure the mineral was not plumbojarosite."

Habit: prismatic; tabular; botryoidal encrustations; stalactites; acicular

Colour: white; grey, yellow, oil-green to emerald-green; brown; orange; bicolour (green/orange, green/yellow)

Description: Sometimes as epimorphs/pseudomorphs after cerussite.

Description: Bridges et al. (2011): "Quartz is by far the main gangue mineral remaining on the dumps today. It occurs as large blocks, often partly encrusted with supergene minerals such as goethite, malachite and pyromorphite. Much of the quartz has been brecciated and is cemented by later quartz and other minerals. Small to large blocks often have a hackly appearance, which is often assumed to indicate they are pseudomorphs or epimorphs of baryte. Small pyramidal crystals are common but rarely reach more than 10 mm across. Small bands of white chalcedony are also common on many of the specimens examined, the chalcedony grading into crystalline quartz."

Habit: spherical aggregates and masses

Colour: pale blue

Description: Bridges et al. (2011): "Rosasite was first reported in the British Isles by Kingsbury and Hartley (1957), who described several occurrences in the Lake District, mainly in the Caldbeck Fells and including Roughton Gill Mine. Although rosasite is widespread, usually in small amounts in British orefields, it is very common at Roughton Gill and it is surprising the mineral was overlooked for as long as it was. The Kingsbury Collection contains a group of small specimens of rosasite from the 60-fathom dumps. Collected in 1950, the rosasite is associated with hemimorphite; the specimens are typical of the site and there is no reason to doubt the validity of the Kingsbury and Hartley report. On the 90-fathom dumps, it occurs as small (up to 1 mm) blue-green hemispheres perched as individuals on other minerals, particularly hemimorphite, but commonly the hemispheres aggregate to form continuous botryoidal crusts which can cover areas up to 20 cm2."

Description: Cooper & Stanley (1990): "Recently found on a few small specimens collected from an outcrop of the Roughton Gill South vein in higher Roughton Gill. It occurs as a sparkling pale brown encrustation on altered galena with mattheddleite, lanarkite, leadhillite and caledonite (det. Leeds Univ.: XRD, D.I. Green in prep.)".

Description: Bridges et al. (2011): "This mineral is surprisingly rare considering how common other supergene carbonates are on the site and the abundance of hemimorphite. It has been found as typical crusts of rounded buff coloured crystals, individual crystals being less than 1 mm diameter. It is usually associated with hemimorphite and sphalerite."

Description: Bridges et al. (2011): "Hartley (1984) lists sphalerite as occurring on material from the 60 fathom level, claimed to have been collected by Kingsbury, but the specimen could not be found in the NHM. In this study, sphalerite is uncommon, but has been found mainly as brown cleavage fragments, a few millimetres across, in the matrix of specimens of supergene minerals such as hemimorphite and smithsonite. One specimen in the Tim Neall Collection consists of a layer 10 mm thick, with a crystalline surface, on wallrock and partly coated with 2 to 3 mm nailhead calcite crystals. Minor oxidation to hemimorphite is evident on this specimen."

Habit: equant to tabular

Colour: very pale blue

Description: Cooper & Stanley (1990): "Ludlam Collection (BM(NH)) (det. BM(NH): XRD, 1988)." Bridges et al. (2011): "Cooper and Stanley (1990) report susannite with caledonite from Roughton Gill on a specimen in the Ludlam Collection in the NHM, but the specimen has the appearance of material from the Roughton South Vein on Balliway Rigg. In this study, it has only been found on one specimen, where it is associated with mattheddleite in one cavity with several minute crystals in another cavity. However, the provenance is considered doubtful for the reasons outlined previously under ‘mattheddleite’."

Description: Cooper & Stanley (1990): "Tetrahedrite-tennantite was recorded from the old workings in higher Roughton Gill by Hartley (1984)." Green et al. (2008): "Tetrahedrite-tennantite with an intermediate composition is listed from higher Roughton Gill by Hartley (1984). We have been unable to trace the specimen in the Kingsbury Collection at the NHM. Tetrahedrite has been confirmed along the easterly strike extension of the Roughton Gill South Vein at Driggith Mine (Stanley and Vaughan, 1981), but tennantite remains unconfirmed. There is no reference to tetrahedrite or tennantite from higher Roughton Gill in any of Kingsbury's X-ray catalogues and it may be that specimens were found independently by Jack Hartley. A more extensive investigation of the primary mineralisation is required to resolve this problem."

Description: Bridges et al. (2011): "Greg and Letsom (1858) and Day (1928) note the presence of this mineral at Roughton Gill, but Davidson and Thomson (1951) comment that they were unable to find it. This mineral can only be identified reliably by XRD and as it has not been identified in this study it is considered that it should not be included in the list of Roughton Gill minerals."

Habit: drusy aggregates; scaly crystals

Colour: apple green

Description: Cooper & Stanley (1990): "An arsenatian tsumebite was recorded by Embrey (1977) from 'Carrock Fell', but the collector of the material subsequently reported the locality more precisely at Roughton Gill at [NY302343]; i.e. between the 60 and 90fm level (Moffit, 1979). The authors have found tsumebite to be an occasional associate of brochantite in specimens collected from the main dumps of Roughton Gill. It forms tiny (c. 0.25mm) pale apple green drusy aggregates and rarely scaly crystals on compact quartz. Associated brochantite crystals reach 2-3mm and cerussite is occasionally present. First identified on a specimen collected by D.R. Middleton (det. BM(NH): XRD; University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST): IR." Bridges et al. (2011): "Small (c. 0.25 mm) apple green drusy crystals of ‘tsumebite’ in association with brochantite were noted by Cooper and Stanley (1990). It remains an uncommon mineral but has been found in the current study as crusts of similar sized crystals, again associated with brochantite. Tindle et al. (2006) analysed four ‘tsumebite aggregates’ and showed the presence of arsenic in all of them. The arsenic becomes richer towards the outside of the crystals and in one case, at the outer edge of the AsO4/PO4 site, is 53 mol% AsO4 and just falls within the arsentsumebite field."

Habit: tapering blades/prisms

Colour: aquamarine blue

Description: Cooper & Stanley (1990): "Sprays of tapering bladed aquamarine blue transparent crystals to 1.5mm on chrysocolla in quartz have been shown by XRD (BM(NH) & Leeds Univ.) and semi-quantitative EPMA (M. Rothwell, pers. comm.) to be a probable new species. Only two very small specimens have been found (J. Dickinson & P. Braithwaite Collections). The XRD pattern is closely related to that of the magnesium phosphate bobierrite (D.I. Green, pers. comm.)." Bridges et al. (2011): "A copper calcium sodium pyro-phosphate hydrate occurring as ‘sprays of tapering bladed aquamarine crystals’ was described as an unknown species from the dumps of Roughton Gill Mine by Cooper and Stanley (1990, pp. 132-133). [...] Wooldridgeite was identified on a few small specimens collected by the late Peter Braithwaite and the late John Dickinson on the 90-fathom level dumps at Roughton Gill Mine. It occurs as pale ice-blue tapering prismatic crystals, which exceptionally reach 1.8 mm in length, but are usually much smaller than this. The crystals are commonly associated with ‘chrysocolla’ in porous quartz. They are very late in the paragenetic sequence. A few overgrow recent fractures in the quartz matrix which indicate a post-mining origin. It has not been found in this study."

Description: Bridges et al. (2011): "A single small specimen of pyromorphite on a cellular quartz matrix in the Tim Neall Collection has a scattering of minute thin yellow plates of wulfenite which reach a maximum size of 0.5 mm on edge. The size of the crystals is so small that they are easily overlooked and the mineral may be more common than this single specimen implies."