Funky textures.

We should abolish eponymous mineral names.

Getting my needed dose of 234-year-old drama.

I have a solution, but nobody’s going to like it. news.umich.edu/whats-in-a-m...

I have received interesting mail.

I haven’t opened this app in months and I have no idea what’s happening here, but hi to all the folks who are following me?

If you find yourself intrigued by calcite crystallography, I strongly recommend browsing Goldschmidt’s Atlas Der Krystallformen, which has 150 pages of this. Available to view here (log-in is required to view the PDF - but an account is free and easy!): www.mindat.org/reference.ph...

When evaluating rocks for personal use, it’s not just about shape (although that better be gratifying). Texture, strength, hardness, solubility (in water & acid) are all important considerations, occasionally along with more obscure characteristics like smell or stability under surface conditions.

My vote is for #adamite because of the adamite bat. The bat is largely mummified but adamite has started to replace around its face - fluorescent light highlights the adamite. Found by John Seibel, late 1980s at the Gold Hill Mine, Utah, collection of Mark Mitterman.

I’m pretty ambivalent here but I’m gonna vote for #vivianite solely because of this excellent (and amusing) article, “A Scientific Study of the Absorption of Evil by Vivianite” by Alfredo Petrov: www.mindat.org/article.php/...

I <3 pseudos!

This round is going to break my heart because #goethite is the only mineral in the bracket I REALLY like, and it’s going to get beat out by a mineral I can’t see. Vote #goethite to make me wrong, and thus happy. 🥺

If you’ve ever wondered how miners get incredibly delicate specimens out of the ground, this crocoite extraction video is a good place to start. #TeamCrocoite #MinCup23 youtu.be/5_0noXIhIGg

Crocoite has an unusually frequent tendency to grow into such crystals so extremely hoppered that the crystals are HOLLOW. Orange lead-chromium straws does it perfectly for me. 🥰 #TeamCrocoite #MinCup23 www.mindat.org/photo-219055...

This is what happens when stibnite “rusts.” I had to unpack a backpack full of rocks for the TSA over this specimen once, and the man was so, so very disappointed when we opened the box and I’m still laughing about it.

Want an early start to #MinCup23? Read Howard Lee’s great article about U-Pb dating of zircons, and use of magnetic data to find out how surprisingly fast the Pilbara Craton was moving 2.7 billion-years ago. This incredible usefulness is why zircon is called the Time Lord. Expect more Time Lord soon

One of my favorite things, for being so plain but so incredibly cool: the oldest mineral yet found. Jack Hills zircons have been dated to ~4.4 billion years ago. They were formed during the Hadean (all of earth was more-or-less molten), then cycled into sedimentary grains. #MinCup #TeamZircon

I waffled because cinnabar is neat, but the pseudocubic habit of quartz might just be my favorite crystal habit, and the very best are found in New Mexico. 😍 www.mindat.org/photo-280989...

Oh, also, cinnabar isn’t toxic. Containing an element that is harmful does not make a mineral harmful. This is a matter of bioavailability - whether the body can absorb any of the harmful element. Largely this boils down to solubility, and cinnabar isn’t very soluble. #MinCup23

Mineral Cup now has its own feed. Add it & don’t miss a minute of the fun. Always use the hashtag #MinCup23. Now back to looking at all the great posts on #Cinnabar and #Quartz. Campaign & Vote! Vote here: www.mineralcup.org/2023/campaig... And view results here: www.mineralcup.org/results/roun...

An argument for clay mineral kaolinite: one of mindat’s very best Easter eggs. When @jolyon.bsky.social added the pronunciation feature, he also added a ton of the pronunciations himself. He got bored somewhere in that process. “Clay” is one of the best - go listen: mindat.org/min-49430.html

PIG’S EGGS PIG’S EGGS PIG’S EGGS PIG’S EGGS PIG’S EGGS PIG’S EGGS PIG’S EGGS PIG’S EGGS PIG’S EGGS PIG’S EGGS PIG’S EGGS PIG’S EGGS PIG’S EGGS PIG’S EGGS PIG’S EGGS PIG’S EGGS PIG’S EGGS PIG’S EGGS PIG’S EGGS PIG’S EGGS PIG’S EGGS (Go kaolinite!)

This is the most amazing thing I have ever seen.

I think it’s fucking stupid I can’t properly yell at @jolyon.bsky.social anymore. Worst life update, super unimpressed.

Wait, what's that? A list of all the minerals competing in #MinCup23? YES! www.mineralcup.org/mineral-cup-... Bracket released as soon as we finish checking for typos & accidental repeated matchups. Voting starts September 1 on our website.

Behold, a kitten.

I do not understand how a New Mexico territorial geologist with a mineral cabinet valued at over a quarter million dollars (adjusted for inflation) has just disappeared into history. How do you lose a dude like that?

Ah, look, a new void to yell into.