Burra Blue Bits

Mineral Matters #448

I recently attended the Mildura Gem Show in northwest Victoria, Australia, about five and a half hours drive from home.

One of the things that I came back with was a box of copper mineral specimens from the famous Burra Mine in South Australia. See the second photo. This is a box of rocks essentially. They need to be broken up to see what may be inside. A job for a rainy day when I have nothing else to do!

I did pick out one specimen that has some nice azurite crystals on malachite in a small cavity.

So the question is, are the Burra box’s blue bits better in the box of Burra bits of blue? Challenge yourself! Say that quickly three times if you can!

As an aside, tongue twisters have been around for centuries and are designed to be difficult to articulate properly. They often serve as a type of spoken word game or exercise to improve pronunciation and fluency. The term “tongue twister” was first applied to these expressions in 1895. Some of the most famous tongue twisters, like “she sells seashells,” were originally published as diction exercises in the 19th century. These tricky phrases often use a combination of alliteration and rhyme to create sequences of sounds that are challenging to say quickly. Interestingly, many tongue twisters have fascinating origin stories. For example, “Peter Piper” first appeared in print in 1813, and some believe it may have been inspired by an 18th-century French horticulturalist named Pierre Poivre.

Below: One of the pieces from the Burra box’s blue bits. Azurite on malachite. Width of view 6mm. Click on the image for a higher resolution version.

Below: The box of Burra bits of blue. The box measures 370x275mm.