Art. L.—On the Occurrence of some new Minerals in New Zealand.

Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Volume 16, 1883, Page 448

Art. L.—On the Occurrence of some new Minerals in New Zealand. By S. Herbert Cox, F.C.S., F.G.S., Assist. Geologist & Inspector of Mines. [Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 15th August, 1883.] Chalcotrichite. I have to call attention to the occurrence in New Zealand of another copper mineral not hitherto found here. The specimen in question is the rhombic form of the red oxide of copper, known as Chalcotrichite, and it occurs as a number of fine acicular crystals in the ordinary red oxide or Cuprite at the Champion Copper Mine, Aniseed Valley, Nelson. This being the first time that this mineral has been found in New Zealand, it is interesting to note its occurrence. Epidote. In July a specimen was forwarded from Greymouth for analysis by Mr. J. E. Warner, of which he states:—“In the locality whence this was taken there are thousands of tons of boulders of the same material, most of them from a foot to two feet in diameter.” Mr. Skey determined this mineral to be Epidote, traversed by thin veins of quartz. It has a specific gravity of 3.464. Hardness 6 to 6.5, and is of a pale brown colour.

Tellurium Minerals. In October, Dr. Hector received from Mr. Pond two specimens obtained from the Maria Mine, Karangahake, and the Moa Mine, Te Aroha, which yielded respectively to Mr. Pond's assay:— Silver. Gold. Maria Mine 447 oz. 10 dwt. Trace. Moa Mine 3,928 oz. 234 oz. 5 dwt. per ton. These minerals were subsequently tested for Tellurium by Mr. Skey, with the result that in each case its presence in considerable quantities was proved, and from that from the Moa Mine the Tellurium was isolated. In the case of the Maria Mine the Tellurium is evidently in combination with silver, and the mineral is accordingly Hessite; but at the Moa Mine the presence of gold, in the proportion of 1 gold to 16.5 silver, would indicate that the mineral must be Petzite if the gold is in combination with the Tellurium, or Hessite if the gold occurs in an uncombined state. This is the first instance of Tellurium being found in New Zealand, and is therefore of special interest.