Any Mineral Collectors here?

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My biggest passion is geology,and in particular, mineralogy. I have a collection of several stones that I have been collecting since I was ten years old. i love geology because it teaches me more about the Earth and its natural processes.

Let me share some highlights of my collection if I may. Keep in mind that I did not collect a lot of these out in the field, but rather I purchased most of them online.

Natural blue topaz. 5,220 carats (2.3 lbs/1,044 grams). Canta Galo Mine in Nova Era, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

i collect minerals! i have a pretty good sized collection considering the fact that i can't buy minerals bc i'm broke, but sadly, almost none are catalogued

i started it when i was younger and didn't know how to catalog them and then some others were given to me that weren't catalogued either.

i'm hoping that i can go to graves mountain in october with the gms so i can collect more! hopefully, i'll have money and rockhounding supplies by then (rn i do everything without tools....)

Uggh! The photos aren't showing! Does anyone here know how to post photos onto forums, and get to show up? I'm new here...

you have to create an imgur or photobucket account bc there has to be a direct link. once you upload an image to either of those sites, it will provide you with an image address. then, you have to click on the icon with the sun/mountains and paste it. some code with the image data should be inserted.

if that doesn't work, idk what will. it's frustrating.

Natural blue topaz. 5,220 carats (2.3 lbs/1,044 grams). Canta Galo Mine in Nova Era, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

oh wow! what lovely specimens!

this is my collection as of a few weeks ago:

Welcome to WP to both of you!

I every aspect of Geology

I hope this thread can be a home to those on WP who like to get their rocks off.

Those are some good specimens that you own. My main specialties are topaz and pegmatite gem minerals among other things. I got into collecting at 10 years old when my mom showed me her jewelry box. I was reading a junior World Atlas one day, and I stumbled upon the world "Amethyst" in one of the book's indexes. I didn't know what it was at the time, and my mom showed me an amethyst ring. Sadly, the box of jewelry and all of its contents were stolen in a burglary.

I own about 18,710 carats (3.71 kg or 8.24 lbs) worth of topazes in my collection from Brazil, Pakistan, Ukraine, and the United States. I'd to get some more topaz crystals and specimens from Namibia, Russia, China, Nigeria, Vietnam, Mogok (in Myanmar), Australia, Germany, Mexico, some other US localitiles so I can have a complete "library" of topaz with all colors, crystal shapes and sizes. I don't why I am a topaz fanatic, I just am. My favorite color of topaz is blue topaz since it's one of my birthstones (my birthday is 4 days before Christmas).

Anyone else think of breaking bad, or just me?

The iridium ingot is lovely!
I love geology too.

Iridium is my favorite metal since it describes me. It's density represents knowledge, the wide array of colors that iridium metal salts can produce represents my diversity of interests, and it's utmost corrosion resistance represents being able to get through the rough parts of life being autistic.

This ingot is 5 grams, and iridium has a density of 22.56 grams per cubic centimeter (g/cm^3). It is a platinum group transition metal, element 77 with an atomic mass of 192.7. Iridium is rare on Earth but common in meteorites. In fact, there is iridium found in the clay of the K-T boundary (around 65 million years ago, in rock layers around the world), supporting the theory of an asteroid striking Earth at that time, leading to the demise of the dinosaurs. My iridium was refined for platinum ores in South Africa as a powder or "sponge," and then the powder was melted at 2,443 degrees Celsius or 4436 degrees Fahrenheit (iridium's melting point) to produce a solid metal. The ingot is 99.9% pure.

I used to collect them as a kid but not anymore.
Maybe I should start again, using the leftovers of my old collection?


Too bad I don't remember the names anymore and I lost my book. All I can recognize now are pyrite, goldstone, black goldstone, amber and silver.

And I lost my fossils collection. Mom took it to garden to decorate our waterhole and I never seen it again. The best of it were two big fossil mussels. One of them was common, snail like (example) but the other one was an actual shell(like this one: example but my was less cracked). They are rare.

Very interesting collections, and Breaking Bad meme. I've been collecting for over 11 years, and I would assume my whole mineral collection alone is worth over $5,000 USD. My newest specimens (once they come in) are a rare, cranberry-red tourmaline cluster from Russia and a purple spinel from Mozambique. I recently acquired a natural blue zircon from Cambodia, and a rhodizite crystal from Russia.

I'll have to update my collection video on YouTube once my two new specimens get delivered.