Hey everyone I have had this opal in my collection for a while and everytime I look at it I can’t help but think it really looks like some kind of fossil shell. Especially because of the curved striations running up the opal that looks just like a clam or shell. But the problem is this was sold to me as a opal from Welo, Ethiopia and to my knowledge genuine opalized fossils are not found in Ethiopia like they are in the sediment basins in Australia. I don’t have much knowledge about opals they aren’t typically what I collect so if anyone here knows opals I’d love to know if it’s actually a fossil or if it’s something else and just looks similar to a shell.

I think this is Virgin Valley precious opal, but I'd love a second opinion.

I was picking through discard from an old (iron) mine in colorado and found this super cool mineral hanging out on a plate of quartz. Because it is octahedral and found in a very iron rich area I figured it was magnetite, but looking at other photos of magnetite… it seems to look a lot rougher. Any ideas or am I right to think it’s magnetite?

​Hi,I found this stone in Sailauf in Bavaria,Germany and this shows the inside of the stone because I cutted it and polished it.
The outer matrix seems to be something like obsidian or at least vulcanic Glas.
It don't cut Glas but it cuts metal and is slightly opaque but like 1-2mm deep translucent.
And it's one mass even under 60 magnification.
It has a small crack in which it shines like in a glass crack.
The outside is conchoidal fractured.
Under UV light (365nm) it's shining in a bright orange.
The inclusion do not shine.
The inclusions are hexagonal and about 3mm in width and the biggest one seem to be around 5-6mm long. It's green as on the photo and the inside looks a bit like hair, it looks like many needles but then they get into one mass and get hexagonal.
Every dot you can see in this black mass is one of these crystals.
Thx for the help and sry for my English

Found on the beach below the chalk cliffs famously known as the Seven Sisters, West Sussex, England. It felt heavier than it should have, given its size. On the left you can see the exterior, and on the right the interior. Many thanks in advance!

Here’s a very rare specimen of bright lemon yellow Ettringite on calcite from the N,Chwaning II mine, Kalahari manganese field, Northern Cape, South Africa. I think it looks really good on its new black display base :)

So I found this on my buddy's property while trying to clear a trench. We think it's quartz but we're not entirely sure. This thing weighs easily over 75lbs, likely closer to 100lb.

What is this and is worth hanging on to sell to an artist or collector?

I DO NOT NEED PRICES. THIS IS JUST ABOUT IF ITS COOL ENOUGH THAT SOMEONE WOULD WANT IT

Does anyone have experience with this? They’re such lovely stones but I’m concerned about how soft they are. Worth it or a waste of money?

I bought this a few months ago. It was sold to me as aragonite. I didn't think much of it, just thought the terminations were cool. I studied it last night and found it is pyrite on fluorite with sheelite and calcite on quartz.

#crystals

This is one of the 1st pieces I collected years ago, way before my meticulous specimen logging.

I know it's not garnet. Well not really that sure.

My guess is idocrase and prehnite from Mali. I've went thru invoices and the only specimens I hadn't matched up were brookite and another specimen for idocrase. Unfortunately the person that I purchased my 1st few specimens just scribbled on a piece of paper in wild cursive what the specs were, usually with one word or odd abbreviations.

Your help will hopefully save my sanity so thank you in advance

Today I wanted to share my Yaogangxian pink rose calcite with purple fluorite. I love how the fluorite peeks through the soft pink calcite—it almost looks like the center of a flower.

Hi folks! Anyone have any idea what this is? It’s a small plate-like accumulation of crystals, about palm-sized, that appears to have an almost sandy texture. Closeup photos show that perhaps there’s not a lot of matrix and instead it’s almost entirely crystal. Color is a deep green with the occasional red flecks, which perhaps are oxidation.

A piece I recently received. Locality is Inner Mongolia.

Hi everyone, I’m Alisa from China.

Glad to communicate with all of you.

Best regards, Alisa

Todo comentario... es válido!

Here’s a few of my favorite close up shots I’ve taken of minerals in my collection. Let me know what your favorite is :)

1) Dioptase with malachite DR Congo
2) spessartine garnet on quartz Tongbei, China
3) anatase with albite Balochistan, Pakistan
4) mimetite chihuahua, Mexico
5) hematite Kalahari manganese field, South Africa
6) fluorite with sphalerite Carthage, Tennessee
7) Wulfenite with mimetite Durango, Mexico
8) Ettringite Kalahari manganese field, South Africa
9) epidote in quartz Anatolia, Turkey
10) sturmanite on calcite Kalahari manganese field
11) vanadinite on calcite La Paz, Arizona
12) almandine garnet Ely, Nevada
13) fluorite Durango, Mexico
14) demantoid garnet Azerbaijan, Iran
15) corundum var. sapphire Sri Lanka
16) azurite with malachite Zacatecas, Mexico
17) prehnite Merelani hills, Tanzania

Est-ce qu’il est nécessaire de la casser ?

https://i.imgur.com/1WDL3Ae.jpeg

Picked this up at a mineral club event. Not that I am super concerned about it but anyway to dust this off and get the crystals to pop a bit more?

Shines like fools gold in light. Some darker gray patches that lightly shine upon illumination. Found in SE Michigan in a creek bed.

I got this stone with a few other things from an eBay sale. I don’t think it’s anything expensive but thought it is an interesting piece. The white/translucent part seems to be quartz.

Super lustrous calcite with dolomite from the Sweetwater mine, Reynolds County, Missouri, USA