In July of 2008 I traveled to Greenland for what may be my last venture to this remote part of the world. I have traveled there yearly since 2001 and have felt genuinely lucky that each year was as productive and safe as it was.

Greenland Geo-Adventure Tour 2008

At the top of the mine, long black veins of compressed mica ran along the walls. We had found Nuevo Silica mine!

Finding the Nuevo Silica Mine

Chinese Fluorescent Minerals hunting trip in Xianghualing mine, HuNan province, China in 2007

Hunting trip in Xianghualing mine

Egypt is a huge Country, with a very interesting geology and a widely under-exploited mineralogical potential.

Egyptian Minerals

Guatemalan jade occurs in a wide variety of colors. Among the most prized being lavender, referred to as lilac or \"lila\" in Spanish, and blue.

Guatemalan Jadeite

In the Mineralogical Magazine 1975, Vol. 40. P208 this mineral was declared a rare variety of the Zeolite family and named Barrerite in honor of Richard M. Barrer of New Zealand.

Barrerites from Alaska

Metallic looking bands vary greatly from one stone to another. Thin, thick, straight or curly waves can be seen. Anything is possible!

Hypersthene

Spectrolite is a semi-precious gem stone that belongs to feldspars. It is only found in south-eastern Finland in a condense area and in very tiny pockets scattered around Finland.

Finnish spectrolite

Burgam is a little mine, worked for lead and probably started in the early 1800\'s. It was last worked in about 1962. Some barite was also produced.

Burgam Mine, England

The author recently obtained a number of mineral specimens from the Phalaborwa Mine and since then has have been fascinated by the beauty, variety and complexity of the minerals from this locality.

A Forgotten Mineral Treasure - The Phalaborwa Complex

Information about this productive andesite quarry first filtered out in the summer of 1992. It is located immediately north of the Tayside town of Monifieth near Dundee.

Ardownie quarry, Scottish agates

The Summit mine is located in the southern portion of the Radersburg mining district in Broadwater County, Montana. The Summit is the source of the finest hemimorphite specimens in the United States as well as a number of other secondary minerals.

The Summit Mine - Montana

The Scyphocrinites Crinoids site, few miles from Erfoud (Morrocco), a strange feeling overwhelm you when you imagine ...

Finding Crinoids

Whether interested in an adventure, or pondering the origin of nature, Paleontology can be fascinating and educational hobby. One of the most exciting activities in this field is attending a fossil dig.

Fossil Collecting, NY and PA sites

It may seem surprising that bacteria can leave fossils at all. However, one particular group of bacteria, the cyanobacteria or \"blue-green algae,\" have left a fossil record...

Bacteria: Fossil Record

Type of Camera - Most cameras are capable of taking photos of fossils without too many problems, for best results choose a digital camera with a high resolution and 'Macro' facility.

Photographing Fossils

Aquamarine - various shades - blue, green, pale blue and green. Feldspar - solid material, takes excellent polish. Unakite, Sodalite ...

Rough gemstones collected in South Africa

Hardness and specific gravity are two of the major characteristics of gemstones. Hardness of a gemstone is its resistance to scratching and may be described relative to a standard scale of 10 minerals known as the Mohs scale...

Mineral Gemstones

No one knows exactly when, where and who made the first attempt to cut diamonds. It is assumed that the first diamond cutting styles originated from India...

History of Diamond Cutting

Setting briolettes has been a confusing issue. Unavailability of drilling services, poor fitting caps, improper surface preparation, and incorrect adhesives have all been obstacles in the past, leading to a reluctance amongst jewelers to use briolettes.

Briolette Setting Techniques

Using Emission Spectroscopy to examine chemical element spectra generated in an electric arc one can identify (or rule out) key elements in minerals. Actual examples have been to distinguish with certainty between Australian Wulfenite and Stolzite

Analytical services available through The Arkenstone

Displaying minerals can be a tough job, and most cabinets available are not designed for minerals. Most of us make do with miscellaneous displays, but if you\'re handy with tools, it\'s fairly easy to make nice looking and practical cabinets.

Building Display Cabinets

Cleaning crystal is a three step process. First the clay must be washed off the crystal. Second, the iron oxide film coating is removed in an oxalic acid bath. And last, the oxalic acid is washed off the crystal with fresh water.

Cleaning Quartz Crystal

Quartz and agate pyramids, pendulums, rose quartz crystal ball and heart. Chakra crystal pouch with seven crystals of the Chakras.

Crystals and healing

Abstract beauty is an important character of modern arts. Abstract stone may become the development trend of the stone for appreciation in the world.

Abstract Beauty of Rain Flower Pebbles

Micro-diamonds can also be found in carbon- containing meteorites, and experts have stated that these clumps are not ordinary meteorites, since they consist of nearly pure carbon. These micro-diamonds are not made deep in the earth, 100-200 kilometres, but they come from space.

Micro-diamonds from space

A new acquaintance, Alex Acevedo, brought to my attention a new discovery in Australia of an exceptionally large garnet crystal. He reports an unconfirmed find of a single crystal found that measured 60 meters wide by 40 meters high! Apparently the Australian government has stopped all work at the site until they can determine what to do with this extraordinary discovery.

Largest Mineral Crystals on Record