For those in the lapidary community, you have plenty of time to work with what you have in stock, but that’s it. For mineral collectors, your library is there to enjoy. With the regular arrival of monthly mineral magazines, you can at least enjoy stories and adventures while learning more about your mineral collection. Thank goodness for the internet and magazines! With the internet, we can keep in touch with fellow collectors, share knowledge, photographs, and anecdotes about collecting.
INVESTING IN THE ‘BRIGHT SIDE’
On the bright side, with no group activities possible, the internet opens up a whole new way of enjoying minerals. Dealers are still marketing their minerals, and collectors, as you know, are more than willing to talk minerals online. Also, if club leaders are on the ball, they have set up some sort of group communication online, so club members can use the internet and email to keep in touch, share stories, talk about past field trips, and share photos.
We have such a group here in Phoenix, with about thirty of us communicating daily about minerals. The group began over ten years ago, just some good collector friends informally visiting each other’s homes to see and talk about minerals, and even enjoy lunch. The group grew, with friends inviting friends. Now the group is more formal, and we even set up a mineral exhibit in Tucson each year.
This story is from the August 2020 edition of Rock&Gem Magazine.
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This story is from the August 2020 edition of Rock&Gem Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
MORGAN HILL POPPY JASPER
In California, there are very few places to collect semi-precious stones. Many locations from the past have been either exhausted of the material or the land has been developed.
THE ACORN
The briolette gemstone has the same design attributes of a regular gemstone, however, the pavilion is elongated and the crown is usually domed. This is perfect for an elegant pendant, earrings or a pendulum.
HOW TO PUT A PROTECTIVE CAP ON A CAB
To protect a specimen cab, often a cap is needed. In my case, I had a slab with the because of the color of the background and the pattern. This background had a more silicified consistency than most sandstones. It had no graininess like most sandstone, so I'm inclined to compare it to a jasper. The pattern was typical of a dendrite.
The Resilient Revival of Anne Brontë & Her Stones
For the first time, the Anne Brontë rock collection underwent complete description and identification, and along with Professor Hazel Hutchison of Leeds University and Dr. Enrique Lozano Diz at ELODIZ (a company specializing in spectroscopy analysis), an analysis of that collaboration, Anne Brontë and Geology: A Study of her Collection of Stones, was published in April 2022 in Volume 47, Issue 2 of the peer-reviewed journal, Brontë Studies & Gazette.\"
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Asteroid Samples Are Said to Hold Invaluable Secrets
If Only Scientists Can Pop the Lid!
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Need a Map of the Ocean Floor?
Call in the Seals!
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As I reported last June, the world is racing to find sustainably renewable, nonpolluting sources of energy to replace our carbon-based reserves of coal, oil and gas.
