Search Results

Gems Back GIA GIA Gem Kids Gem-A Gemstones.com Gemstones.com YouTube Jewelry Making Other Gemology links Gem & Jewelry News Gemology School Reviews

Friends Of Mineralogy Pennsylvania Chapter Symposium To Site Back 2020 Session 1 - Jeri Jones Session 2 - Joe Marchesani Session 3 - Dr. Peter Heaney Session 4 - BIll Stephens

Atomic # 2 He Species = 0 Helium I think it is important to notice the number here (2) is the atomic number. It is the first member of the column labeled VIII; this group is known as the noble gases. Reading the periodic table from left to right, the numbers go in order across the rows and return, one row later, on the left to continue. Helium, on the extreme top right, is indeed element #2. It is also a gas and in terms of the universe accounts for 23% of the mass. This seems to leave us at a standstill, what with hydrogen being 76% and helium at 23% we have only 1% left. The earth, of course, does not reflect the composition of the universe. The presence on earth of the Big Eight is clearly in sharp contrast. The earth has about 5 parts per billion of helium in the atmosphere. We find helium is the 71st most abundant of the 92 elements according to Emsley; in other words rather rare. HCP data, above suggests it is 74th but at that level, we have next to nothing either way. Bear in mind that it is the second most common noble gas. What can be said about minerals? Essentially there is not much to tell but there are reports of beryl with helium present in the interstitial areas. Sinkankas, 1981, notes helium in beryl; one studied piece was collected at Acworth, New Hampshire prior to 1908. Lord Rayleigh, 1933, found helium in beryl at Balingup in Western Australia. Helium and argon have been reported in uraninite as in Gaines et al, 1997. Dietrich, 1985, reported helium traces in schorl. DHZ, 1998, indicates helium is present in a monazite from Norway. Emsley, 2001, said “helium is present in some minerals”. Additional sources indicate helium has been found in cordierite, diamond, halite, hematite, kaersutite, thorianite and tourmaline. So, this is nothing new certainly but it may be a real surprise to some mineral collectors. The prospect of having a mineral to represent helium still seems like it might be a real problem. A sample can be displayed but you might be challenged to prove it has helium despite the alpha particles due to decay noted for Th and U rich minerals. The first period, with only two elements, could not have a pair of members that are more different. In mineral terms, we go from 3,018 species for hydrogen to none for helium!

Back The Spice must Flow...... Collecting inevitably involves the transfer of mineral-related goods and services. During the initial Covid era, this market grew exponentially into online spaces with lots of content in many different places. Traditional Search engines are not capturing those options for the buyer. This also limits product exposure for dealers. Subsequently, a better search mechanism for online mineral sales is still somewhat elusive. We are trying to do better... The future content of this page will discuss the current physical and virtual options for acquiring minerals. It will also serve as a pointer to get you to those options without having to search more than necessary while still enjoying "The Chase". Many dealers have expressed dissatisfaction with current web advertising opportunities (most notably overpopulated web pages or cost vs. return ratios). Some have very successful sites built on years of name recognition - others struggle to get started. Problems can be related to poor market exposure, technical abilities, time commitments, and a shift to physical shipping and various non-cash transactions. We recognize these frustrations and are actively collaborating with our dealer population to create better exposure to all levels of dealers and create new pathways to feed the collector pool. This will involve some simpler short-term solutions as well as more unique concepts. This will not be a quick fix and no one embraces a long list of random dealers that all proclaim to be your one-stop place for fine minerals. We all deserve a better platform. More to come, Back

Coming Soon..... fine (ˈfīn): adj. 1. superior in kind, quality, or appearance Fine Minerals Back

Mineral Museums Back Search Museum Listings Under Construction Museum Spotlight FAQs to support museums (Under Construction) Value of Museums Loaning to Museums Donations to Museums Starting a Museum For Museum Professionals Society of Mineral Museum Professionals Find The SMMP Globe

Other Kid Resources Back Fossil Lesson Meteor Lesson Volcano Lesson Minecraft Minerals Coming soon... Our Fossil Site Our Meteorite Site Our Gem Site Now LIVE

Contact us Help build the Mineral Nation... Please send us your favorite links, content requests, suggestions and advertising queries. Send Email Now mineralnation@gmail.com

Friends of Mineralogy Virginia Chapter Speaker Se ries Back Dr. Peter Megaw March 2023 Mexican Silica Tama Higuchi November 2022 Mineral Paintings and Portraits Dr. Jared Freiburg August 2022 Illinois Fluorite The Illinois-Kentucky Fluorspar District Thomas Hale July 2022 Trap Rock quarries of Northern Virginia Dr. Thomas Campbell May 2022 Pegmatite Pocket Formation and Survival Brian Kosnar March 2022 The San Juan Triangle of Colorado Thomas Hale February 2022 The Mineral Security Nexus Shaunna Morrison January 2022 Driving Curiosity: Exploring Martian Geology and habitability through mineralogy Beth Heesacker December 2021 Los Choyas Geodes Rick Kennedy October 2021 Jackson Crossroads Amethyst Mine Dr. Alex Schauss September 2021 The World of Thumbnail Gabriela Farfan September 2021 Mineralogy and Mining of Oregon Sunstones Mark Jacobson August 2021 Pegmatites of Western Australia David Joyce June 2021 Collecting Minerals in Morocco Thomas Hale June 23, 2021 Virginia Mineral Project 2021-2022 update Peter Megaw May 2021 Mineralogy of Mexican Carbonate Replacement Deposits Brian Kosnar May 2021 Historic Colorado Gold Localities Evan Jones March 2021 Wulfenite The Official State Mineral Of Arizona Eric De Carlo March 2021 Hawaii Mineral Collecting Dr. Allie Gale January 2021 Mid-ocean ridge basalts Insights on mantle temperature and composition Erin Delventhal November 2020 The Blanchard Mine New Mexico, USA Leah Luten September 2020 Fine Mineral Art Brian Kosnar August 2020 Colorado Gems & Minerals

Sulfide Nation is a space for sulfide enthusiasts to escape the shadows of mineral collecting and elevate sulfide knowledge within the Mineral Nation. To be inclusive - sulfosalts, arsenides & tellurides will also find an open door here. Plans ongoing for a future Sulfide Symposium and organizational structure for a sulfide collector group.

Atomic # 3 Li Species = 115 Lithium In general terms, we might think of lithium as a thearapeutic. As an element, we finally get to the first solid, at least during ambient conditions on earth. Located in the second row at the extreme left side of the periodic table, we find lithium beneath hydrogen. Sorry, but if you like Star Trek, I still can’t find dilithium. Back to our element: lithium is rare in the universe but on earth is the 27th most common element. You might compare that to the first two elements – this group of three make up the sum total products of the Big Bang. Minerals containing lithium are common and collectible. Believe it or not, they are coveted by some collectors. Most of the minerals are likely to be found in lithium-rich pegmatites. Spodumene, which includes the varieties kunzite, triphane and hiddenite, is another silicate mineral with a formula of LiAlSi2O6. It is a silicate; further we find that it is a representative for the subclass of inosilicates. The rarity of lithium is an issue when you compare it to the rest of the main components in spodumene. They are all part of the Big Eight. About 8% by weight of a typical spodumene is composed of lithium oxide. Collectors have a special interest in the pink to purple color we find in crystals that are sold as kunzite. You will find out that it is a common practice among vendors to use varietal names with or without the proper species names. Rickwood, 1981, describes a giant spodumene where the length is 12.80 m and the weight is 379,480 kg; it is from South Dakota. Petalite, a lot less common than spodumene, is far less sought after by collectors. It can be on the pricey side and lacks much color in many examples. The formula is similar to spodumene – LiAlSi4O10. It is also a silicate. We note crystals are not easily found – another negative factor for many mineral collectors. After all, we really want crystals! Montebrasite and a relatively similar species, amblygonite, are a pair of phosphates that contain lithium. So, here we have the elements phosphorus and lithium, both lying outside the Big Eight. The difference between the two species is based on whether your sample contains OH (montebrasite) or F, which will be amblygonite. This is not easily determined. Both species are mainly composed of the same elements: lithium, aluminum and the phosphate radical. Crystals are available, medium-priced and of some interest to collectors. Finally, lepidolite, a lithium mica, is probably thought to be more common than it really is based on recent study. Further, a review of the name shows us that it is not a currently valid species. In spite of all these conditions, it is often found in collections and vendors may offer the samples labeled lepidolite. Crystals are easily acquired and generally inexpensive. Colors can vary but pink and purple samples seem to be the most desirable to collectors. Back, 2018 indicates two species that are probably the correct names for most of the specimens we used to call lepidolite. Those two species are trilithionite and polylithionite. For lithium production, all of these minerals contain a few per cent of lithium, average values are around 10% lithium oxide. We also note some production occurs from brines. The lithium composes about 45% of the oxide so we would need a lot of raw material to get much lithium. Massive quantities do occur occasionally so the supply is not a critical problem. Other species you may see used for a source and even collected by scientists include cryolithionite, eucryptite, cookeite, zinnwaldite, manandoite, triphylite, lithiophilite, fremontite, and sicklerite. Some of these are not currently classified as valid species according to Back, 2018. An example analysis of lepidolite is representative for the element lithium. K2O 10.02 FeO 0.04 Li2O 3.70 MnO 0.92 See Handbook for ideal and empirical Al2O3 28.83 CaO trace formulas. SiO2 48.58 Na2O 0.87 F 4.93 Rb2O 0.91 H2O+ 2.56 Cs2O 0.16 H2O- 0.54 -O= F2 2.08 Total = 100.08 This sample was from the Stewart mine, Pala, California. [Via Handbook] Perhaps you already noticed the rather low percentage of lithium oxide in the sample above. Yet, because lithium is in the ideal formula, I consider it to be a good representative of this element in a mineral.

*** Under Construction *** ("mining" content) ​ Please send links and suggestions to: mineralnation@gmail.com About Us Email Now