Oh wow, wish this had been posted sooner! This Saturday 4/18 is the last day to see this exhibit if you're in/near LA.
God sleeps in the minerals
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Re: God sleeps in the minerals
#72For us nerds in the Portland/PNW area, the Rice Museum out in Hillsboro—despite a name suggesting it has an exhaustive display of rice varieties—has a terrific collection of large and unique mineral specimens. https://www.ricenorthwestmuseum.org
I am sure there is a great list somewhere of places to see stuff like this (or I can ask an LLM), but I can vouch for
Mines Museum of Earth Science (Golden CO) and The Harvard Museum of Natural History (Mineralogy room, Cambridge MA)
Re: God sleeps in the minerals
#73absolutely stunning
Re: God sleeps in the minerals
#74These types of huge perfect specimens always take my breath away when I am able to see them in person. To think that this kind of stuff just kinda exists buried in the earth... I am a part of a local mineral club which hosts several "field trips" a year to various mineralogically interesting locations (most of which aren't accessible as an individual, like private land and special digs at active mining/quarrying site…
That’s what really sucks about rockhounding as a hobby. In the US we have a blessing of public BLM lands where we can collect, especially in the West, but most of the interesting specimens in museums and fancy collections come from mines or some unique geological occurrence on private land. Getting them requires dropping lots of money or getting into commercial mining. The best most of us can really hope for is some…
I live in the northeast USA, there are very few public collecting spots around me. It makes me really sad listening to people who have been in the hobby for a long time talk about all the amazing collecting sites they used to frequent before they were paved over with parking lots or condominiums and whatnot. There isn't a whole lot of "wild open space" left around here to poke about in. Another big factor for keeping the public out of collecting sites that do still exist is that some people can't be bothered to be respectful in their collecting.
The Loudville lead mine in Easthampton MA, which used to be open for public collecting, recently closed due to irresponsible collecting and severe erosion. They closed off the entire recreational trail system, which has far reaching affects far beyond the rockhounding community.
I'd collected once at Loudville shortly before it closed and found a couple scraps of Pyromorphite, some tiny Wulfenite you need a microscope to see, and some Malachite. I am sad that I can't go back, now.
You can read more about it here: https://newenglandforestry.org/newsroom/recreation-on-the-ro...
I don't expect, or really even want to find museum-quality specimens, I just want the ability to explore the minerology of my home region on a physical and personal level.
Re: God sleeps in the minerals
#75Check out the yt talk on "king of kashmir" .. the world's largest aquamarine discovered in Karakoram mountains (pakistan) .. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujGJwq3PaU0
Thank you for this. I didn't have any interest at all i. the topic, but video got me excited and interested!
Re: God sleeps in the minerals
#76For a while I thought what could there be to see in the petrified national forest. It's mineralized trees (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrified_wood), and there were enough different minerals in the area to make different colors. Definitely worth a visit.
Re: God sleeps in the minerals
#77I've been to a few mineral museums like this and one of the interesting ones you can come across is Asbestos. Just hanging out there on display right next to some other mineral. It forms beautiful formations just like the rest, but I've heard so many mesothelioma lawyer commercials that it's easy to forget it's a completely natural material. Also one you can pick apart like cotton and weave into a fabric - it's a fle…
Central California has several abandoned asbestos mines which continue to release asbestos into the nearby air and water. I remember considering some hiking around the area once and then came across the warnings regarding exposure. CA also has a lot of naturally occuring mercury as well. I seem to remember that some lakes in CA are so high in natural(i.e. not from gold mining) mercury that you shouldn't eat the fish.
The Monte Cristo basin in Washington is high enough in Arsenic that you shouldn't drink water there. There are warning signs at trailheads EG the trailhead leading into Gothic Basin and Gothic Peak.
Re: God sleeps in the minerals
#78For us nerds in the Portland/PNW area, the Rice Museum out in Hillsboro—despite a name suggesting it has an exhaustive display of rice varieties—has a terrific collection of large and unique mineral specimens. https://www.ricenorthwestmuseum.org
If you happen to be in Hilo, HI, the Lyman Museum is pretty cool too.
Re: God sleeps in the minerals
#79For us nerds in the Portland/PNW area, the Rice Museum out in Hillsboro—despite a name suggesting it has an exhaustive display of rice varieties—has a terrific collection of large and unique mineral specimens. https://www.ricenorthwestmuseum.org
Second the Rice Museum recommendation! If I ever make it big I'm going to legally change my last name to 'Mineral' and create the Mineral Museum of Rice on the other side of the freeway showcasing everything from basmati to risotto.
Re: God sleeps in the minerals
#80For us nerds in the Portland/PNW area, the Rice Museum out in Hillsboro—despite a name suggesting it has an exhaustive display of rice varieties—has a terrific collection of large and unique mineral specimens. https://www.ricenorthwestmuseum.org
Second the Rice Museum recommendation! If I ever make it big I'm going to legally change my last name to 'Mineral' and create the Mineral Museum of Rice on the other side of the freeway showcasing everything from basmati to risotto.
This makes me want to find an actual rice museum that isn't the IRRI.