Cotterite - The World’s Rarest form of Quartz

This Heritage Week join National Museum of Ireland - Natural History Geology Curator, Dr Patrick Roycroft, for an online talk to discover the world’s rarest form of mineral quartz. Cotterite is the rarest variety on Earth of the most common mineral on Earth. Cotterite is a type of quartz that was only ever found in County Cork and that shows a unique trait. Instead of looking glassy, which is the lustre of all well-behaved quartz (e.g. amethyst, citrine, rock crystal, prase), cotterite displays a bizarre and distinctive silvery metallic sheen. Yet there is no metal! For quartz, as far as we currently know, this trait has only ever appeared once on Earth, in just one mineral vein, and found just once back in 1875 by a lady known for 137 years only as ‘Miss Cotter’ from Rockforest, after whom the mineral variety was named. This talk will explain this most weird-looking of quartzes and reveal not only who ‘Miss Cotter’ was but also who are her closest living relatives. How to ask a question: We hope that you enjoy the talk and that it might spark some curiosity about the Museum's geology collections. If you would like to ask Dr Patrick Roycroft a question about his talk please send it to [email protected] For more information about the event please email [email protected] If you enjoyed this video subscribe to our Youtube channel and we'll keep you up to date with our exhibitions and events. youtube.com/user/NatMuseumIrelandMAIN?sub_confirma… Sign up to the National Museum of Ireland Newsletter and get regular updates on exhibitions, events and opportunities to explore history. www.museum.ie/en-ie/newsletter

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