Blogs

New book announced - Genesis & Classifying Agates & Jaspers: A New Theory, By
Marco Campos-Venuti
In English

As described,

Cracked one of the greatest mysteries of the geology!
A Guide for the collector.
A Bible for a geologist.

This book shows a new model of geological which explains the formation of the majority of the varieties of microcrystalline silica. It has been written for collectors, geologists and people who are curious to find out.

So goes the advertising strapline, and my reaction to seeing this photograph of gold bars, coins, nuggets and mineral ore/specimens.

The haul of 30,000lbs, approx 1.5 tonnes was recovered from the wreck of the SS Central America from deep of off the South Carolina Coast.

The ship went down in a hurricane en route from San Francisco to New York on September 12, 1857.

The recovery from the site has been going on this year from the deep using RV by Odyssey Marine Inc.

Quite often minerals appear online from places that one is never likely to visit, some places like Tsumeb or Trepca are well photographed and beautiful, some of course ugly.

One place I have never visualised is the Tatra mountains spanning Poland and Slovakia.

Fortunately thanks to Facebook friend Ewa Makuch I can share some of her photos of the Polish side.

Not a bad place to go collecting!

The new e-Rocks database has been given sections for people to add pictures of localities - either from online or uploaded sources.

Before we say good bye to our old website we have just passed invoice #350000.

From our count start at 175762, we have raised a total of 174238 orders since we started in January 2006.

By the time we leave we should reach 175,000 completed sales.

Our old site has certainly worked hard for us in the 9 years plus 6 months it has been operational, but it is our sellers who have made this achievement possible.

A big thanks to them!

Cornish Explorers on Facebook usually carries a series of really interesting mining and exploration photographs for Cornish localities.

One of the members, Keith Russ has just got himself a Gro Pro and a lifting drone.

Fantastic toy and some fantastic photos - the ones shown below feature Wheal Coates taking with a 2K setting.

Probably not so easy on a windy day.

If you do Facebook Cornish Explorers is a great group - link below - and you dont need to be from Cornwall to join!

Belgian collector Jean Dehaye has recently been showing pictures of his recently collected specimen from Beez, Naumur, Belgium.

A little over 2cm across comprising a hollow fossil cast with calcified internal ribs covered with micro honey coloured sphalerite, and one very large (by comparison) bright galena crystal.

Just superb - what a Kinder surprise!

There are not that many UK minerals to be found with a species name beginning X.

Here is one classic example recently listed on e-Rocks by Mike Brooke, Broadstone Minerals.

Classic and interesting locality specimen from Wheal Maudlin, Lanlivery, Cornwall - ex Michael Bates Collection.

From Mike's description:

Size: H:5.5cm x W:3.5cm x D:2.4cm

Description

Kahki coloured matrix with a rich layer of radiating xanthosiderite over one surface. displays well.

Rupert Harrison recently posted these pictures of Ed Retallack, retired quarry manager for Dean Quarry, St Keverne, Lizard, Cornwall.

It features Ed holding his best collected specimen with the locality in the distance behind him.

To me, another interesting link between minerals and the people/places they come from.

Mike Merry, Cornish Collector and Dealer of Minerals and Bottles took some spectacular photos of the the Cligga cliffs in Cornwall whilst out collecting.

Captured on a sunny June day (15 June 2015) the weather and sea were just about perfect.

To crown it off, the specimen of scorodite on tourmaline also came from the same trip. Demonstrating Mike's talent for capturing things big and small.

Mike and I have a lot in common in minerals, bottles and of course Whippets!

Expert photographer and mineral collector from Austria, Andreas Schmid has recently being showing some excellent photographs using a light source at an extreme angle to the faces of the subject crystals.

I would have trouble explaining the physics behind resulting images; a combination of refraction, diffraction, reflection and dispersion just about covers everything!

These pictures posted on Facebook by Vasilis Stergiou Losanda feature the diversity of colour and form of smithsonite from the mines of Lavrion in Greece.

Some really nice specimens and colour on view, looking particularly brilliant in the Greek Sunshine.

A feature of the new website is the ability of our Database and your catalogue to hold and display items by Provenance.

Behind the scenes we provide a whole inventory system that connects minerals to people, collectors, historic dealers and institutions that are part of the history of items since they were collected.

Any item can be listed as "Ex [person/dealer/institution]" the catalogue will then optionally allow you/other users to then collaborate to build a whole range of information behind items - even recreating an online catalogue of items long since dispersed.

Recently reported the Michigan Tech website - Two leading Michigan universities have joined up to preserve a historic mineral collection.

The University of Michigan Collection, including the collection of Douglass Houghton will be located and displayed at the A E Seaman Museum within Michigan Technical University.

If not visited many people online will recognise the A E Seaman Museum as major US collection of historic and rare minerals, plus knowledge/artefacts from the Michigan copper mines.

We get to hear anecdotal stories about Grandad's collection getting thrown in a the landfill, or even more substantively a part of the Camborne School of Mines inventory going in a skip a few years back

It is alarming to see to see this is continuing to happen, this time in Ottawa Canada.

As reported the Canadian Geological Survey said it will dump tons of minerals and soil samples carefully collected for scientific research to make room in an Ottawa warehouse.

Just hope nothing is lost to Science or History by this.

Tomii Mine in Tochigi Prefecture, Honshu Island, Japan is quite well known for its quartz and amethyst clusters with crystals arranged in sprays around a central crystal.

This specimen recently posted on Facebook by Shigeki Nishimura in the Quartz group, shows a spray perched on top of another crystal.

Quite a different habit.

This amazing specimen of dolomite was collected today from the mines at Trepca in Kosovo.

Well known for its excellent common sulphide and carbonate crystallisation, I have never seen on like this before!

Topical with some work we have been doing on locality database this newslink has been circulating the web mineral chat areas recently.

The content of the article is about the intention to re-open Tsumeb again for specimen (crystal) mining and as an underground tourist attraction.

Generally there has been some scepticism in the comments I have read.

It would be fantastic if it were possible, but from what I know from dealings with one of the founders of Tsumeb Specimen Mining (TSM) I think the sceptics will win the day.

Recently I have been enjoying the micro photos of Yaiba Sakaguchi from Wakayama, Japan posted on Facebook.

Yaiba has kindly let me share some of these on e-Rocks. I am sure you will agree these shine a new perspective on the minerals/localities.

Well worth a visit to his page to see more - referenced below.

e-Rocks seller and Austrian collector Andreas Wallisch has been showing off a new addition to his collection.

A fine specimen of a variety of Lumachelle, called Bleiberg Shell Marble (Muschelmarmor)from Bleiberg in Carinthia in Austria.

This particular variety is essentially heavily included with brightly opalescent fragments of ammonite shell, often seen as single fossils or fragments dubbed ammolite.

Not well known for its mineral collecting Albania seldom figures as a source in many collections or available minerals.

In 9 years of e-Rocks we have only ever seen 2 specimens and localities.

The current specimen is a newly "discovered" combination of dawsonite and red realgar from Komana in the Drin Valley.

Hopefully there are more out there and we will get to hear about them over time!

Heads up for a new book entitled Minerals of Georgia, by Bob Cook and Julian Gray, edited by Jose Santamaria, is done and on its way to the printer!

Release date is February 1, 2016 and it is already listed in the University of Georgia Press catalogue.

This is a revision of the original Minerals of Georgia by Bob Cook in 1978. The new edition contains new locations, updated information, and hundreds of photographs.

Facebook friend and collector Michael Pfeil posted a gallery of fine micro photos of specimens collected in the Bergischen Land area of North Rhine - Westphalia.

Here is a translation of his album introduction and a few of his 165 photos.

George turned up today with a little collection of mainly Scottish Minerals.

This is some native silver from Alva Mine, Central Scotland.

8mm across - rare stuff!

The discovery of a native silver deposit in 1715 also coincided with the Jacobite rebellion led to a remarkable story of fortunes made and lost along with betrayal and intrigue.

In the late 19th century the mines were later worked for cobalt which was sold Buchan's Pottery of Portobello near Edinburgh to make blue glaze.

The new e-Rocks has an archive of approximately 180,000 specimens accrued over 9 years of listing.

We have now made these available to registered users of our site with further mineral and location details tied in.

Here is a rather good specimen of Herodsfoot bournonite sold back in April 2007.

I have had this little box of granular and crystalline gold on my desk since 2007. It originates from Pilgrims Rest, Witwatersrand in South Africa.

It belonged to the Warren Taylor collection part of which will be making a splash later on in the year.

There is not far short of a troy ounce in this little pot, but most of the pieces are very tiny - it looks great altogther!

George has been working with us for nearly 6 months and the mess in the shed is beginning to get organised - it is a very big shed!

Recently pulled out of a box of dealer stock I bought from Liz and Dave Hacker over 10 years ago is this Florence Mine fluorite specimen.

The colour blue in the fluorite is incredible, though the pocket small and obscured in the haematite matrix.

Resting on the face of one crystal is a quartz prism, less than 1mm across.

A month ago we replaced our photography system from a very old but very fast and reliable bridge camera to DSLR.

We also started using LED lighting - we have a unit with 7 dimmable and programmable panels all around. This is great for flooding the image with white light (or black background).

This can also be enhanced by a "sparkler" spotlight pick out reflections - especially in spin photography.

We have now introduced and additional system for spotlighting all around - more like our original "bridge" system.

Now veteran e-Rocks seller Ikram Muhammad of Pakistan Minerals celebrates his birthday today.

Marking the occasion is the finale of his birthday auction, featuring this cracking specimen of beryl var vorobyevite from Afghanistan.

Vorobyevite is a recently discovered caesium rich beryl characterised by deep blue, sometimes zoned or frilled flat hexagonal crystals.

Previously quite often passed off as apatite - get checking those collection drawers!

Here is an interesting ovoid form embedded in obisidian from Coso Range, Inyo County, California.

But what is inside?

Answer - cristobalite tridymite & fayalite (brown crystals)

Happy Easter

As an online seller it is always good to hear something we have sent out has been received and lived up to expectations.

Here is one from Leor Goldberg recently published on Facebook.

Recent acquisition! Gypsum with included thometzekite on matrix. Both gypsum and thometzekite are rare from tsumeb. This is in my opinion an excellent example of both! Most of the thometzekite that I've seen is flat lying on matrix and most of the gypsum is either found in cleavages or crude crystals. Love this piece! It measures .9 x 2.6 x 1.6 cm. Enjoy!

Thanks Leor!