Quick answer: “Locality confirmed” means the place a specimen was found is documented by a reliable source: the collector who
Provenance and Paperwork: What “Locality Confirmed” Actually Means for a Specimen Read Post »
Quick answer: A cabochon is a gem cut with a smooth, domed top and usually a flat back, instead of
How a Cabochon Is Cut: The Shape Behind Every Polished Dome Read Post »
Quick answer: The Cave of Crystals (Cueva de los Cristales) in the Naica mine in Chihuahua, Mexico, holds the largest
The Cave of Crystals: The Largest Natural Crystals Ever Found Read Post »
Quick answer: Mica’s flat, flexible, heat-proof sheets made it a key electrical insulator long before it became a collector mineral.
Mica’s Industrial Life: Electrical Insulation Before It Was Ever Jewelry Read Post »
Quick answer: Quartz is the raw material for silicon chips. Purified quartz is smelted with carbon into metallurgical silicon, refined
Quartz Sand to Silicon Chips: The Industrial Life of the Most Common Mineral Read Post »
Quick answer: Lab-grown (synthetic) crystals are the same mineral as natural ones, with identical chemistry and structure, grown by methods
Synthetic vs. Natural: How Lab-Grown Crystals Are Made, and Why They’re Not Fakes Read Post »
Quick answer: “Rockhound” began in the early 1900s as slang for petroleum geologists in American oil fields. By the mid-twentieth
Quick answer: The Tucson Gem and Mineral Show began in 1955 as a small show hosted by the Tucson Gem
Tucson: How a Small Arizona City Became the Center of the Mineral World Read Post »
Quick answer: Some minerals are common and others are rare because of element abundance. Oxygen and silicon make up roughly
How the Periodic Table Explains Why Some Minerals Are Common and Others Are Rare Read Post »
Quick answer: New Jersey’s Watchung Mountains are three long ridges made from three separate basalt lava flows that erupted about
