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Each year, our school puts on a rock and mineral auction. Folks from around the state, and sometimes from bordering states too, travel to this even to sell and buy rocks. It's entirely student-run by a geological organization that I'm a part of. Always the biggest thing we put on throughout the year, and all of us geologists look forward to the awesome specimens that get brought in. This year was no exception. 
I make sure I take lots of pictures at the auction. Here are the best ones that I selected to share.
Blue, Purple, Orange, and Gold Chalcopyrite
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Blue Chalcopyrite
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Gypsum
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Fluorite "Zoning"
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Fluorite View 1
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Fluorite View 2
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"Oklahoma" Fluorite 
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Lots of Quartz
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Amethyst
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"Dragon Stone"
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Selenite
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Purple and Yellow Fluorite (bought this one!! :-D)
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Fish Fossils
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Quartz (clear) and Chalcopyrite (gold)
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Halite
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Pyrite
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Native Copper
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Galena
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Wavellite
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Question of the Blog: What's your favorite rock or mineral, and why? I realize not everyone has one, lol, or maybe even knows the name to the rock or mineral that they like. In that case, post a pic so we can identify it. 
I'm an absolute sucker for fluorite and stibnite myself.
 
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Jasper.
Because my name is Jasper IRL.
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On December 02 2012 13:47 Praetorial wrote:
Jasper.
Because my name is Jasper IRL.
Oh, really?
Lord. I Google'd "jasper" and I get only 2 geology results and, like, 30 for Twilight, lol. X-D
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oo pretty!
Are they all natural rocks?
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These look amazing.
I don't have a favourite.
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On December 02 2012 14:08 Chairman Ray wrote:
oo pretty!
Are they all natural rocks?
Yes, they are. The "Dragon Stone" was obviously polished to create that smooth plane, but it's still naturally formed otherwise.
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United States24756 Posts
I'm more of a pure metal guy myself, but I can still appreciate the diversity (color, shape, texture, etc) of rocks and minerals. Creating an art book of pictures like the ones in the OP, taken with a professional grade camera and a good macro lens seems like a fun project (albeit not a first).
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I have to say, the dragon stone is beautiful and so is the wavelight.
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Oh, that reminds me: before anyone asks, I use a dinky little Kodak EasyShare C195. The nicest thing about it is it takes 14 megapixel photos, lol. I've found that the skill I've gained through photography thus far, with this camera, satisfies me. I'm not going to invest into a better camera or equipment 'cause I like what I've got now. Any tips for taking close-up pics with high detail and low blur would be helpful, however.
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Dragon stone is kinda awesome, wonder how big are the bids for that... is it even on sale ?
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United States24756 Posts
On December 02 2012 14:50 cLAN.Anax wrote:
Oh, that reminds me: before anyone asks, I use a dinky little Kodak EasyShare C195. The nicest thing about it is it takes 14 megapixel photos, lol. I've found that the skill I've gained through photography thus far, with this camera, satisfies me. I'm not going to invest into a better camera or equipment 'cause I like what I've got now. Any tips for taking close-up pics with high detail and low blur would be helpful, however.
Just because it takes 14 megapixel photos doesn't mean it takes high quality photos... I don't know anything about that particular camera but cranking up the max megapixels on a model doesn't increase photo quality beyond a certain point (which is probably way below 14 megapixels for a point and click with very little glass to the lens). The photography experts on TL could probably give you must better advice.
Taking a good close up will require better equipment (aside from a few easy tips I'll mention in a moment). Saying "I'm not going to invest into a better camera or equipment" doesn't change the fact that you are going to be limited by your equipment :p On the other hand, if you aren't going to be serious with photography or can't spend money on it, you'll be forced to make do which is understandable. The best thing you can do in the meantime is try to have the best lighting you can, set the camera to the close-up mode if it has one, and hold it as steady as possible (resting it on something if available). The color of the thing you are photographing will affect how well the camera adjusts for the lighting... zooming in on a large dark object freaks the camera out into cranking up the lighting artificially even though it's not necessary; zooming inn on a large bright object does the opposite. Only the best point and click cameras give you the options to compensate for that before post-processing.
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I used to collect rocks & minerals when I was a kid, I still have the collection somewhere! My favourite is Amethyst, by far. I have a large single crystal cluster of amethyst somewhere that is my lucky stone- kinda like this:
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I wouldn't mind getting some amethyst set into a small necklace/pendant or a simple gold band for myself.
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On December 02 2012 14:51 Aterons_toss wrote:
Dragon stone is kinda awesome, wonder how big are the bids for that... is it even on sale ?
It was. Dunno what it sold for. Definitely catches my eye too.
On December 02 2012 14:55 micronesia wrote:Show nested quote +On December 02 2012 14:50 cLAN.Anax wrote:
Oh, that reminds me: before anyone asks, I use a dinky little Kodak EasyShare C195. The nicest thing about it is it takes 14 megapixel photos, lol. I've found that the skill I've gained through photography thus far, with this camera, satisfies me. I'm not going to invest into a better camera or equipment 'cause I like what I've got now. Any tips for taking close-up pics with high detail and low blur would be helpful, however. Just because it takes 14 megapixel photos doesn't mean it takes high quality photos... I don't know anything about that particular camera but cranking up the max megapixels on a model doesn't increase photo quality beyond a certain point (which is probably way below 14 megapixels for a point and click with very little glass to the lens). The photography experts on TL could probably give you must better advice. Taking a good close up will require better equipment (aside from a few easy tips I'll mention in a moment). Saying "I'm not going to invest into a better camera or equipment" doesn't change the fact that you are going to be limited by your equipment :p On the other hand, if you aren't going to be serious with photography or can't spend money on it, you'll be forced to make do which is understandable. The best thing you can do in the meantime is try to have the best lighting you can, set the camera to the close-up mode if it has one, and hold it as steady as possible (resting it on something if available). The color of the thing you are photographing will affect how well the camera adjusts for the lighting... zooming in on a large dark object freaks the camera out into cranking up the lighting artificially even though it's not necessary; zooming inn on a large bright object does the opposite. Only the best point and click cameras give you the options to compensate for that before post-processing.
I said only its resolution was the nicest thing. I'm fully aware everything else about the poor thing is sub-par, lol.
Right, I'm just wanting to make the most of what I've got. I can hold it pretty steady when I'm shooting. However, when I'm getting the camera to focus, if I get too close (when I want as much miniscule detail, it blurs and I have to pull back a bit in order for it to focus completely. I'll try focusing more on lighting and positioning in the future, though it feels more like a distance problem to me. Anyway, thanks for the advice.
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FuDDx
United States5014 Posts
I feel rather lucky living in Tucson Arizona. We have a huge gem and mineral show every year!!!
So much fun.... So many people from every where.
http://www.tgms.org/
O and you and I share a favorite Fluorite is amazing.
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I LOVE SHIT LIKE THIS
I used to beg my parents to buy me small mineral samples every time we visited a museum gift shop that had them (iirc had a few small fish fossils, plenty of amethyst samples, malachite, pyrite, few others whose names I can't recall...). My college structure of materials course actually included a tour of our local natural history museum's mineral/gem section... so good.
My favorite is probably blue beryl... love the aquamarine color.
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Could it be? A fellow mineral/gem collector? Awesome!
My favorite minerals are okenite,hydrozincite, and hemimorphite
The camera on my phone is really shitty but here are some of the specimens from my collection:
Stibnite
Smokey Quartz w/ water inclusion
Quartz
Idk, something polished? I got this as a gift a very long time ago as a kid. It holds my books together
I wish I could have gone to that rock and mineral auction, I would have bought some nice chalcopyrite.
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Back home there was this big green stone shaped like a stool just behind the house, it looks unmistakably like green apatite.
We had red/green Corundum pieces too. Also Amethyst as my parents home is close by the only active Amethyst mine in Europe.
There's probably a lot cooler rocks too, my father used to collect them for a few years.
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On December 02 2012 15:37 FuDDx wrote:I feel rather lucky living in Tucson Arizona. We have a huge gem and mineral show every year!!! So much fun.... So many people from every where. http://www.tgms.org/O and you and I share a favorite Fluorite is amazing.
Oh goodness. That poster. I can't stop staring.... O.O
On December 02 2012 18:11 Kororo wrote:Could it be? A fellow mineral/gem collector? Awesome! My favorite minerals are okenite, hydrozincite, and hemimorphiteThe camera on my phone is really shitty but here are some of the specimens from my collection: StibniteSmokey Quartz w/ water inclusionQuartzIdk, something polished? I got this as a gift a very long time ago as a kid. It holds my books together I wish I could have gone to that rock and mineral auction, I would have bought some nice chalcopyrite.
The only name of those three that jumped out at me was hemimorphite, haha. Though I believe I've seen specimens (or stuff VERY similar) to that okenite and hydrozincite. And that's a flippin' huge pair of quartz bookends, lol. What books do you hold with those, encyclopedias? X-D
On December 02 2012 19:47 HwangjaeTerran wrote:
Back home there was this big green stone shaped like a stool just behind the house, it looks unmistakably like green apatite.
We had red/green Corundum pieces too. Also Amethyst as my parents home is close by the only active Amethyst mine in Europe.
There's probably a lot cooler rocks too, my father used to collect them for a few years.
Corundum is a very nice mineral. I've got a red, hexagonal piece in a thumbnail somewhere.
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and hold it as steady as possible (resting it on something if available)
I would say you're closest on this point, Micronesia. The best advice for a new photographer is to invest in a tripod and user the timer function. Then there is no chance at all of blur due to you pressing the button or holding the camera. With a good camera in a very bright area, the shutter speed is so fast it hardly matters, but if you are trying to get the most out of substandard equipment, then this is probably the most solid advice. Most cameras these days (even the OPs) probably have a number of settings that you just need to play around with. You can get a lot out of a point and shoot, and it's ok to not want to invest in a DSLR. Just make sure you are using the functions of the point and shoot, like how long the shutter is open, macro photography, brightness adjuster... etc etc. Any premium point and shoot will have all that stuff. The worst thing about a point and shoot is that you only have your one lens, so all your picture taking is general picture taking, and that taking pictures in low light is hard because they usually don't let you set shutterspeed for long enough.
Higher detail is ofc going to mean using the macro setting on the point and shoot, or using a lens that is good at close up on any DSLR. Low blur is just don't be a dumb amateur that never uses a tripod or timer.
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That first image of chalcopiryte is really incredible, i wish i could get my hands in something like that -.-, but well, my favorite mineral is the vanadinite, i really love these things ♥
btw That last pic of the stibnite is trully amazing! im really dumb founded of that piece of "rock"
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On December 03 2012 01:47 Chef wrote:I would say you're closest on this point, Micronesia. The best advice for a new photographer is to invest in a tripod and user the timer function. Then there is no chance at all of blur due to you pressing the button or holding the camera. With a good camera in a very bright area, the shutter speed is so fast it hardly matters, but if you are trying to get the most out of substandard equipment, then this is probably the most solid advice. Most cameras these days (even the OPs) probably have a number of settings that you just need to play around with. You can get a lot out of a point and shoot, and it's ok to not want to invest in a DSLR. Just make sure you are using the functions of the point and shoot, like how long the shutter is open, macro photography, brightness adjuster... etc etc. Any premium point and shoot will have all that stuff. The worst thing about a point and shoot is that you only have your one lens, so all your picture taking is general picture taking, and that taking pictures in low light is hard because they usually don't let you set shutterspeed for long enough. Higher detail is ofc going to mean using the macro setting on the point and shoot, or using a lens that is good at close up on any DSLR. Low blur is just don't be a dumb amateur that never uses a tripod or timer.
I guess I need to keep practicing, then.
On December 03 2012 02:51 Uvantak wrote:That first image of chalcopiryte is really incredible, i wish i could get my hands in something like that -.-, but well, my favorite mineral is the vanadinite, i really love these things ♥ btw That last pic of the stibnite is trully amazing! im really dumb founded of that piece of "rock"
Vanadinite is great stuff! That red-orange color is soooo beautiful. Always sells pretty decently at the auction. Classmate of mine got me some from his internship.
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I don't think I have a favorite rock, but that image of stibnite you showed in the OP is a hell of a contender. Sweet collection, thanks for sharing. I am not much of a mineral aficionado but I've always liked marble for its smoothy creamy texture and granite for its unique tone of red.
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Malachite, and bismuth (does that count?), and cuprite, watermelon tourmaline and topaz and garnets - especially uvarovite, the star sapphire (which comes from sapphire which comes from corrundum), tiger's eye, jadeite (jade), lapis (comes from lazurite), azurite, muscovite, zoisite, tanzanite...GOD DO I HAVE TO PICK JUST ONE? I am such a honking NERD!
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That Pyrite looks amazing.
Like the DragonStone too. Sounds like something out of Skyrim lol.
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On December 03 2012 06:12 tMomiji wrote:
Malachite, and bismuth (does that count?), and cuprite, watermelon tourmaline and topaz and garnets - especially uvarovite, the star sapphire (which comes from sapphire which comes from corrundum), tiger's eye, jadeite (jade), lapis (comes from lazurite), azurite, muscovite, zoisite, tanzanite...GOD DO I HAVE TO PICK JUST ONE? I am such a honking NERD!
Lol, you like ALL the rocks!! X-D
Bismuth counts in my book. Technically not a mineral since it's not naturally occurring, nor do I believe it's a rock, but it's definitely pretty to look at. Have some really good cuprite that I can upload someday.
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Whoa these are so cool. Never knew rocks/minerals could be so pretty.
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On December 03 2012 08:07 RiceAgainst wrote:
Whoa these are so cool. Never knew rocks/minerals could be so pretty.
Oh you've no idea. 
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Awesome pictures, as a geologist myself, have a few questions:
1) What is the impurity (I am assuming it would be an impurity) that causes the blue in the chalcopyrite? Have never seen any samples that color. Mine are more golden/coppery color
2) Similar question, what is the cause of the zonation in the fluorite? Is there calcium replacement? Thats the only thing I can think of off the the top of my head
3) What age are the fish fossils? Excellent preservation there. (Random guess would be Devonian)
To answer the question of the blog: My favorite mineral was always kyanite. Easy to spot and always looked badass.
However, since I am a sedimentary geologist, my favorite rock would be sandstone (preferably one filled with hydrocarbons so I remain employed).
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Apologies in advance, I don't know off the top of my head. I'm emphasizing in geophysics, and my last (and only) mineralogy course was two years ago. So I'm having to look in my old mineralogy book and... well, Google.
1. I mistook these chalcopyrite specimens for bornite originally; only when I took a closer look at the habit did I understand where my first assumption was wrong. Chalcopyrite's formula is CuFeS2, whereas bornite's is Cu5FeS4, so with chemical formulas that similar, I'd guess it's possible that there is some bornite on the surface of the chalcopyrite. I rule out covellite because even though the color looks similar to what's in the picture, its formula doesn't seem to add up as well as bornite's (CuS), and personal experience looking at copper-bearing minerals in a mine for three months tells me "bornite" if I had to choose a second mineral besides chalcopyrite.
2. It might be calcium. I wish I could tell you what element it is, but I don't know. My guess as to what's causing the zoning is similar to how you, a sedimentologist, would describe the deposition of sediments. As the crystals are forming, certain periods of time hold greater amounts of impurity than others, causing some "layers" so to speak to be of a stronger color than others.
3. I'm not a fossil guy. I only took the picture because I knew someone would like it anyway.
You like sandstones.... Sandstones =  X-D I kid, lol. I'm biased; I find igneous petrology much more exciting.
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Does Lapis Lazuli count? The color is enchanting and mystifying, as if it were the Earth itself.
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Absolutely! Lazurite definitely counts. I'm not too familiar with lapis, but I believe there are some mines in Afghanistan and other countries in the Middle East. Very pretty mineral.
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I was wondering if you can help me identify some sliced specimens that I have? Like I mentioned before, some minerals that I received were gifts, so I never bothered to identify them myself. I apologize for the quality of my phone again D:
1. I thought this was Rhodochrosite for a while haha. It's pink agate
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2. I'm actually still not sure if this is agate, it's quite large though. I had trouble holding it in one hand haha
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3. Blue Agate
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4. Agate
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5. Agate again haha
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EDIT: I found out these were different agate actually, except for #2, nonetheless if you want to look at them I kept the links
Also, how would I go about cleaning these minerals?
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I've never really had any interest in geology or minerals, but my favorite is probably vanadinite. The color is spectacular, and all crystal forms are obviously sweet.
I read up a bit on minerals a while back and got pretty interested... then I realized getting good at identifying minerals, which seems cool, is actually close to impossible, unless you have a microscope nearby.
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On December 12 2012 22:27 Archaeo wrote:I was wondering if you can help me identify some sliced specimens that I have? Like I mentioned before, some minerals that I received were gifts, so I never bothered to identify them myself. I apologize for the quality of my phone again D:1. I thought this was Rhodochrosite for a while haha. It's pink agate + Show Spoiler +2. I'm actually still not sure if this is agate, it's quite large though. I had trouble holding it in one hand haha + Show Spoiler +3. Blue Agate + Show Spoiler +4. Agate + Show Spoiler +5. Agate again haha + Show Spoiler +EDIT: I found out these were different agate actually, except for #2, nonetheless if you want to look at them I kept the links Also, how would I go about cleaning these minerals?
Yep. Looks like a bunch of agate to me. (that rhodochrosite pink agate would have confused me if someone suggested it was rhodochrosite first, lol)
Cleaning minerals? I've never done that before, lol. If you have a really soft cloth handy, I would suggest wiping it with that, very lightly damp if you can manage it. Something fibrous or fragile like really good cuprite won't let you do that unfortunately. For those agates, a gentle wipe-down should suffice.
On December 12 2012 23:19 Tobberoth wrote:
I've never really had any interest in geology or minerals, but my favorite is probably vanadinite. The color is spectacular, and all crystal forms are obviously sweet.
I read up a bit on minerals a while back and got pretty interested... then I realized getting good at identifying minerals, which seems cool, is actually close to impossible, unless you have a microscope nearby.
It depends on which minerals you're trying to identify. But you're absolutely right that some minerals are practically impossible to differentiate without a microscope. Heck, that's all we did for Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology. 3 hour class, but spent 10 hours in the lab every week, drawing pictures of what we saw under the microscope.... -.-'
In the field, a hand lens usually suffices. You just have to identify a couple of key characteristics about the rock/mineral to rule out the other possibilities.
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