Ankerite – Mineral Properties, Photos and Occurrence
Ankerite is interesting and surprisingly uncommon carbonate, mostly limited to metasomatic rocks and hydrothermal veins. It can form outstanding crystals and clusters.
Articles
Report from Munich Mineral Show 2023
The Munich Show 2023 was back to the standard. Lot of new and outstanding mineral specimens, good bargains and many new publications. The main show exhibition was truly magnificent, with outstanding specimens and their paintings.
Introduction to Tourmaline Group Minerals
Minerals of the tourmaline supergroup occur in a wide range of colors and form spectacular crystals, which makes them highly popular among mineral collectors. Tourmaline is also important geochemical and petrological indicator.
Marcasite – Mineral Properties, Photos and Occurrence
Marcasite is very common mineral, but it is often ignored by mineral collectors. Despite its nice crystal forms, it lacks the luster of some other sulfides and its quite brittle. Its infamous instability in just slightly wet air does not help its popularity either.
Native Sulphur – Mineral Properties, Photos and Occurrence
Native sulphur is one of the few non-metallic and naturally occurring native elements. Despite huge drop of its industrial use, the native sulphur is still mined today. It can form highly aesthetic bright yellow crystals, which are very popular among mineral collectors.
Staurolite – Mineral Properties, Photos and Occurrence
Staurolite belongs to the scientifically important but otherwise quite overlooked minerals. It is not very popular among mineral collectors, as most of the specimens looks similar to each other. Also industrial application of staurolite is very limited.
Native Antimony – Mineral Properties, Photos and Occurrence
Native antimony is a naturally occurring semi-metallic element. It usually occurs in minor amounts in hydrothermal antimony deposits, but crystals are very rare. Special physical properties of antimony are important for various industrial applications.
Report from Munich Mineral Show 2021
The 2021 Munich was simply a bit strange. There was obviously a lot of anticipation and preparations after the cancelled show last year - but in the end, it was a well worth to visit! There were some serious new mineral finds to be seen and some bargains to be made.
Kyanite – Mineral Properties, Photos and Occurrence
The blue blades of kyanite are important for metamorphic petrology, but they are also attractive for collectors and rarely occur in gem quality. Big accumulations of kyanite are crucial for ceramics industry.
Albert Russ - Mineral Photographer Interview
Albert is a mineral photographer and a serious mineral collector from Slovakia. So far he managed to self-publish two books but he claims there is more to come in the future. You can enjoy his photos in most of the major mineral magazines. We will dive deeper into mineral photography and collecting in this interview.