'Kupferschiefer lithologies and ore from the Lubin District, Poland - The bottom right image shows the lower section of the Kupferschiefer sensu stricto, with the lower contact marked by the sharp colour change most evident to the right of the scale card. Note the mainly layer parallel veinlets, bands and disseminations of bornite, some of which are indicated by arrowheads. The rock also contains very finely disseminated grains of bornite not evident to the naked eye. The Kupferschiefer is a little thicker and less broken than on the image of the previous page, but still has a brecciated and sheared lower contact zone of several centimetres thickness at the competency break.
The bottom left image illustrates ore within the Weissliegendes sandstones below the Kupferschiefer, from historic core stained by sulphide oxidation following exposure to the atmosphere, while the centre left image shows similar, but fresh ore from the Rudna mine. Note the 'flyspeck' disseminations and aggregates of bornite, as indicated by arrowheads.
The upper left image shows a hematitic Rote Fäule patch within Weissliegendes sandstone (from historic core), in which microscopic studies indicate hematite is replacing earlier formed bornite and other sulphide minerals.
The top right image is of poorly mineralised stylolitic and carbonate veined dolostone that occurs above the Kupferschiefer black shale/siltstone, while the top centre image is of the same carbonate rock, but more magnified, which is mineralised with disseminations of fine bornite, an example of which is indicated by the arrowhead. The apparent banding in this image is saw-cut striations. The arrow head is parallel to actual bedding and the elongation of sulphide blebs.   Photographs by Mike Porter.