Notes on Irish mines. No. III. Mines of Kenmare valley, county of Kerry / by Samuel Haughton.

  • Haughton, Samuel.
Date:
1855
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Notes on Irish mines. No. III. Mines of Kenmare valley, county of Kerry / by Samuel Haughton. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    Ccdcareo-argillaceous Slate, accompanying Veins of Copper Ore, Green- lane, county of Kerry. Argillum, 49-25 Peroxide of iron and alumina, .... 2-03 Carbonate of lime, 38-74 Carbonate of magnesia, 7-83 Water, 1*26 99-11 It is worthy of remark, that if this limestone consisted only of the pure carbonates of lime and magnesia, they would exist in the pro- portions of 83-18, and 16-82 per cent., i.e. in the atomic proportion of 4*16 :1—a composition which, although not that of dolomite, ap- proaches to it. The mention of these calcareous beds in the micaceous red slate, associated with veins of copper, reminds me of a fact to which my attention was drawn by Mr. Charles P. Cotton, of the occurrence of similar veins of copper ore, in the neighbourhood of Ardmore, county Waterford. On examining Mr. Cotton's section of the limestone and associated beds, at Ardmore, it becomes evident thaf the copper veins occupy the same position in his section, and my own at Kenmare; and on inspecting and submitting to analysis his specimens of the calcareo-argillaceous rock, in which the copper veins occur, the identity of composition appears as striking as the similarity of posi- tion :— Calcareo-argillaceous Slate, accompanying Veins of Copper Ore, at Whiting Bay, Ardmore, County Waterford. Argillum, 55-21 Peroxide of iron and alumina, .... 1-87 Carbonate of lime, 22 31 Carbonate of magnesia, 15-09 Water, 1-92 96-40 Besides the constituents above given, the rock contained a quan- tity of green carbonate of copper, in thin sheets disseminated through the specimen. This limestone, if pure, would contain in one hundred parts 59*65 of carbonate of lime, and 40-35 of carbonate of magnesia;