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mineral collecting hobby, Specimen Galleries, Developing Crystallized Mineral Specimens, Mineral Collection And Display, Identifying Minerals, Etc.mineral collecting hobbyNobody blinks an eye at a man that spends thousands of dollars a year for just to hit a small white ball into a hole in the ground, or a grown woman that has a room lined with ugly plastic dolls; but if you say you're a mineral collector it simply does not compute. People look at you funny and assume you're touched in the head. Minerals surround us, we use them every day; our cars, toothpaste, and computers are made of them, but most people have absolutely no concept of what they actually are, and no idea that lots of people (not just geologists) spend their entire lives collecting and studying them. Collecting minerals actually makes a great deal of sense. Mineral specimens are beautiful, immensely collectible examples of natural artwork. The finest and rarest specimens can command six or seven digit prices, though the vast majority are well under $200. Every mineral specimen is unique, many are brilliantly colored and come in large, well-formed transparent crystals, but they're not just pretty, they often have tremendous economic and scientific value. The mineral collecting hobby is perfect for anybody living in an area of inhospitable winters - you can collect lots of neat stuff all summer, then sort it all out during the winter - a perfect balance of mental and physical activity not available to collectors of manmade items like stamps, coins, or ornate Albanian nutcrackers. Mineral collecting at its best is not just about mindless accumulation; the pleasures of identifying your finds, studying geology, and pursuing mineralogy to its fullest extent make this hobby far richer and more interesting than most. You don't need to be an athlete to collect minerals; you don't need to be a science nerd, or be rich, or have a Ph.D. in chemistry, and you don't have to buy a license to collect minerals. All you really need is some curiosity about the natural world around you. It's easy to get started in mineral collecting, as most cities will have one or more mineral clubs full of people that would be glad to show you the ropes. The hobby can be scaled to fit any budget, and can be done in whatever spare time and space you have available. You can simply collect minerals that you like, or you can specialize in any of dozens of areas of the hobby. From collecting minerals in the field to specializing in the minerals of one country, or making your own jewellery, or even collecting only the most perfect microscopic crystals - the possibilities are limitless. Check out a local club, or find a mineral show in your area, and I guarantee that you'll be hooked on the best hobby there is. You'll never be bored again, and will benefit greatly from the fresh air, companionship, and mental and physical exercise. Staple Food Online Side Dish Chanel Education Program Guide School Education Online Carefree Travel Info Great Destination Travel Some Travel Information Look Sport Integration Sport Healthy Live Prophylactic Online Help Medicineand Cure Procreant Health beauty recipe flower gardening tour ask Domain Registration Self Help Guide Site Trading Systems Data Recovery Playing Cards Marketing Web Backup Info Hotel Shopping WebSite BuildingWhat is a mineral? We're talking rocks and minerals here, not vitamins and minerals. And in fact we're not even talking rocks: most mineral collectors (AKA "rockhounds") collect minerals, only geologists collect rocks. Rocks are actually rather ugly and boring, unless you're a geologist or prospector. It's easy to differentiate rocks and minerals: all rocks are made up of minerals. There are about 4,000 different minerals now known. Ernest Nickel's definition of a mineral is probably the best: A mineral is an element or chemical compound that is normally crystalline and that has been formed as a result of geological processes. For more Mineral Specimens Info >> Related Links: Nehi | Kimonos | Parker Pens | Phonographs | Chobits | Dr. Seuss | Premiums | Danbury Mint | Avp Specimen Galleries
Online since 1996 MU34 - Barite A spectacular cluster of brilliantly lustrous, deep amber-hued barite crystals from one of the most famous barite localities in Europe, in the sulphur-mining areas of Poland. This is an old locality and few specimens of this quality and size are available on the market. It is a glassy, sparkling piece that looks for all the world like stained glass rather than a mineral specimen. It is complete all around with just a few trivial spots of damage, and is really nearly pristine. 
MU37 - Sphalerite and Quartz A brilliant, lustrous, very 3-dimensional piece with sharp, fiery orange-red , 2-cm sphalerite crystals perched on brilliantly lustrous quartz crystals. This is a very fine piece for the price, and has lots of metallic pizzazz. 
MU32 - Tourmaline on Quartz A really interesting specimen with 8 separate crystals of classic multicolored Stak Nala tourmaline jutting out perpendicular to the plane of the big quartz crystal. You just do not see large matrix specimens from here at all - most are floaters and in any case smaller in size. This piece, thus, is really quite unique in appearance. The tourmalines are extremely glassy and more colorful in person. They are mostly undamaged, save for the smallest which is broken off and the rightmost cluster which has one clean repair. Overall, I think this is a bargain for the bucks, admittedly priced a little low because of the repair; but it displays much better than it appears in these photos and is as i said very unusual for the find (early 1990s) For more Specimen Galleries ...... Related Links : Pictures | Pistol | Lithos | Patricia Breen | Men | Emblems | Cuba | Nantucket | Tree Stand | Greeting Card Benitoiteby John Veevaert Introduction Of all the known minerals few have has a distinguished a place in the world of mineralogy and the hobby of mineral collecting as benitoite (pronounced "ben-ee-toe-ite"). Benitoite is named after San Benito County, California where it was discovered in 1907 (The locality is at the very southern tip of San Benito County. A few more kilometers to the south and benitoite could have ended up with an entirely different name!). The history of the discovery of the Benitoite deposit is a bit clouded with several accounts but the main characters in the discovery are James M. Couch, L. B. Hawkins, T. E. Sanders and R.W. Dallas. James Couch is credited as the person who first found the deposit but thereafter who owned it gets a bit convoluted and contentious. When first discovered it was initially thought to be sapphire. Samples were sent to the University of California, Berkeley for confirmation/identification and soon, after careful analysis by Dr. George Louderback, it was found to be a new mineral. Louderback recognized the mineral as being new to science and began the process of describing it along with two other minerals found that he thought were also new to science. He formally named the mineral benitoite and called the other two new minerals carlosite and joaquinite. After further analysis carlosite was found to be neptunite (see Figures 22, 23 and 24), which had been previously described from specimens found in Greenland and the Ural Mountains in Russia. Even so, the specimens of neptunite from the Gem Mine were far superior to any of the other known occurrence for the species. Joaquinite (see Figures 23 and 28) was a new mineral species but remained incompletely described until the 1970s. On October 1, 1985 California Governor George Deukmejian signed Assembly Bill No. 2357 formally designating benitoite as the official gemstone of California. Benitoite of gem quality is found only in California. Since the discovery of benitoite its popularity and appeal as a gemstone and mineral specimen have continued to expand. Good specimens of benitoite are in constant demand as new collectors enter the hobby and are exposed to the unique crystal form and striking contrast of both benitoite and neptunite on the same specimen. It is still only found in California in anything resembling good crystals and gem quality material is only found at the Benitoite Gem Mine. The mine was sold by Bill Forrest and Elvis “Buzz” Gray in 2001 to Benitoite Mining, Inc. (BMI) a subsidiary of The Collector’s Edge based out of Golden, Colorado. BMI is currently operating the mine for the production of gem rough and specimens. Trinity Mineral Company (John Veevaert) and Steve Perry Gems (Steve Perry) are working with BMI to market specimens on the Internet through BenitoiteMine.com. Related Links: Quaker State | Gordon Setter | Chesterfield | Pink Panther | Wands | Hot Air Balloons | War | Scrolls Mineral Specimens Displaylegrandite, paradamite, spessartine garnet, orpiment, anatase, hausmannite, powellite, heliodor, cuprite, delafossite, erythrite, wulfenite, on this page and anatase, apatite, berthierite, calcite, cinnabar, cylindrite, danbutrite, dinosaur egg, dioptase, erythrite, ferberite, fluorite, gaudefroyite, hematite, hubnerite, ludlamite, manganite, neptunite, orthoclase, pyrosmalite, realgar, rhodochrosite, rhodonite, rutile, spinel, topaz, vivianite on the other B pages
Related Links: Planet Of The Apes | Factory Manufactured | Florida Mixed Lots | Vampires | Mineral Specimens Famous mineral localities: The San Francisco Mine Sonora, MexicoMineralogical Record, Nov/Dec 2004 by Moore, Thomas The San Francisco mine in Sonora is among the world's most important and prolific wulfenite localities, having yielded well over 100,000 specimens since the early 1970's. Beautiful examples of large, thin, transparent crystals and clusters may be found in collections and museums around the world. Introduction The San Francisco mine lies 12 kilometers by dirt road from the village of Cucurpe, which in turn is about 50 kilometers southeast of the town of Magdalena, Sonora, Mexico, and 110 km from the international border at Nogales, Arizona/Mexico. The city of Hermosillo, about 140 km to the south, is easily reachable from Cucurpe along paved Mexico Highway 15. Two old mining claims cover the immediate area: the San Francisco claim and the San Felix claim. The wulfenite occurrence takes its name from the former. The San Francisco claim, covering about 10 hectares, is underlain by the mine workings; the much larger San Felix claim, extending over 211 hectares, completely encloses the San Francisco claim. Both are presently held by Rosa Whitmire of Yuma, Arizona, widow of mineral prospector and dealer John Whitmire; John was one of several prominent southwestern American mineral prospectors and dealers to have worked in the San Francisco mine during the past four decades. Rosa Whitmire may be reached through her associate Ing. Ruben Rodrigeuz, to whom she has given power of attorney (Megaw, 1995). When the fabulous wulfenite and mimetite specimens from this locality first emerged on the specimen market in the early 1970's, the source was most often cited as "Cerro Prieto" (White, 1972; Bideaux, 1972), or "Sierra Prieto," after the Cerro Prieto ridge of dark limestone which rises more than 300 meters above the mine's portal, or perhaps after Rancho Cerro Prieto, owned and operated by Don Pedro Trelles-the facilities of the mining camp lie on this ranch. Although "Cerro Prieto" may still occasionally be seen on older labels, "San Francisco mine" had already begun to replace it by the mid-1970's, during the earlier of two exciting episodes of wulfenite pocket discoveries. By this time the San Francisco mine had already won fame as the source of some of Mexico's finest wulfenite specimens, in crystals that are transparent, paper-thin yellow to orange "windows" spotted with yellow to fiery red spherules of mimetite. By the time of renewed, extensive work in the early 1990's, the mineral world was well primed to appreciate San Francisco mine wulfenite (Moore, 1994; Robinson et al., 1995), and today the material is firmly established as "classic"-particularly since no new specimens have been recovered since 1994. No collection specializing in major wulfenite occurrences around the world is complete without a glowing yellow-orange wulfenite/mimetite crystal group from the San Francisco mine. more about Mineral Specimens ...... Related Links: Skeleton Key | Knights Of Columbus | Amulets | Accessories | Niagara Falls | German Shorthaired Pointer Mineral Cleaning for Amateursby John H. Betts, All Rights Reserved Many specimens collected in the field do not look like the ones that dealers are selling. Most collectors become discouraged or frustrated. These articles will give a few simple techniques clean the pieces you collect. Oxalic Acid Anything that has the word "acid" sounds ominous. But oxalic acid is easy to find, use and the safest for the home. In fact it is found in many vegetables including spinach. It is used to dissolve the iron oxide (brown) stain on all minerals. Specimens collected at Phoenixville, Ellenville, Case Quarry, NH smoky quartz and many others clean up beautifully with oxalic acid. Zeolites do not respond as well, so you should test beforehand on small specimens to see how they react. To make this as simple as possible I will give a step by step guide to its use. Do not take any shortcuts or make substitutions. Purchase a one pound box of Oxalic Acid (OA) powder at your local hardware store in the paint department or at a paint store. It is used as wood bleach and will be labeled as such. The most common brand is Rainbow. Fill a plastic one gallon container 3/4 full with distilled water. Pour in the OA crystals and stir for five minutes. Be careful not to inhale any powder when adding the crystals. Once the OA is dissolved top off the container to a full gallon. Label the container and put out of reach of children or pets. When you are ready to use it place your specimens in a plastic container and add enough OA solution to cover. Set aside for several days. Heat speeds up the reaction, as does agitation. If you have a hot plate and can set up outdoors or in an area with good ventilation the repeat step 4 but heat the solution to bath water hot (110o f.). Never Boil! You will find that an hour in hot solution will usually do the trick. Best of all is an ultrasonic cleaner with built in heater. Sometimes only 30 minutes is necessary. But you should not put the OA directly into the stainless steel basin. Make a double boiler type of arrangement by partially filling the ultrasonic cleaner basin with water. Then place your specimens and OA solution in a plastic container or heavy duty plastic bag that is suspended in the water. More Mineral Cleaning for Amateurs Info >> Related Links: Cairn Terrier | Snowmen | Snowflakes | Hen | Stablemates | Butter Churns | Street Fighter | National Guard Developing Crystallized Mineral SpecimensALFRED C. HAWKINS Bartlesville, Okla. 
Among the most attractive and highly prized specimens in any collection are the crystallized ones. The most valuable crystal is usually the one which is attached to the matrix in a manner which by suitable contrast of color and form serves to show forth its beauty and symmetry to the greatest possible degree. We naturally prefer also that the crystal should never have been removed from this matrix, nor artificially attached to either its natural matrix, or, (as sometimes occurs), to a kind of rock or mineral aggregate where it never belonged. While it is true that an occasional specimen in which the crystals are imbedded in a solid matrix will break at the time of original collecting in such a way as to expose the crystals to the best advantage, yet probably the best of such matrix specimens seen in our collections have been "developed" to some extent. Crystallized material of this type is often put upon the market in the crude form in which it was obtained from the quarry. In such cases the wise purchaser will have ample opportunity to increase the beauty of appearance, as well as the value, of his "finds." There are two principal ways of removing the superfluous matrix which surrounds and covers the crystals; the first is by solution, the second by cutting it out with tools. Regarding the use of either of these methods a few words of caution are necessary. The method of attack will vary with the nature of the matrix. Dilute hydrochloric or nitric acid is used in the solution process. Limestone matrix is easily removed in this way; it goes into solution quickly and the only requirement for continued action is the addition of fresh acid when necessary. Other less common matrix materials may be treated in a similar way, but react differently; as, for instance, the natrolite surrounding the benitoite and neptunite crystals from California, which, during treatment with acid, forms a thick, insoluble jelly. This colloidal substance collects in a layer which protects the surface of the mineral below; it must be scraped off at intervals before fresh acid is applied. Above all things else it is necessary when treating specimens with acid, to make sure that the crystals which are to be brought into relief are not themselves attacked by the solvent, which would result in the destruction of the luster of crystal faces or of the solid angles of the crystals. Many Franklin Furnace specimens have been permanently ruined in this way. Careful reference to a standard Textbook on mineralogy will determine this important point in advance. After treatment with acid, specimens should be soaked for some time in water, preferably warm, providing, of course, that the crystals are insoluble in water, or in a weak ammonia solution, to remove and neutralize all traces of acid which may be left. Acid remaining gives a yellow color, acidic odor, and corrosive action on labels and trays. [ more related Textbook about Mineral Specimens ] List of MineralsCONOCO / HGMS Collection
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