There really is no event in the Mineral World year exactly like the Rochester Mineralogical Symposium. It may sound scientific and formal, but Rochester is perhaps the most welcoming and inclusive mineral gathering I know. The 2016 RMS featured great talks and photos from excellent speakers on a range of subjects.

I’ve posted a new Brazil Update with superb, diverse specimens, including a spectacular morganite, remarkable new synchysites, blue montebrasite, pleochroic uvite, elbaite, brazilianite, hydroxylherderite and more.

I’ve added beautiful elbaite tourmaline specimens in this Stak Nala Tourmaline Update – I’ve also included a great lepidolite. The elbaites are highly aesthetic, in combination with albite, and there is some good colour zoning among these pieces. I was fortunate to acquire these from a member of the family that mines them.

The annual mineral show at Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines is so different from all others. Sure, we all love the large exciting mineral-filled halls and general mineral mayhem of the large shows, and the hotel shows in Tucson and Denver. But Ste Marie’s character and charm, from the theatre and the tent-lined streets within the show, to the town and the countryside beyond, make this an experience not to be missed.

This Pakistan-Afghanistan Update features a small number of excellent specimens, from tourmalines and a gorgeous cabinet specimen of spessartine garnet, to some much more unusual specimens, including scapolite and pseudomorphs from Sar-e-Sang.

This Brazil Update features a few selected excellent pieces from Brazil, from the unusual to the amazing. The update includes two remarkable brazilianite specimens from the closed Telirio Mine, a classic Medina aquamarine, a fantastic rutilated quartz from Novo Horizonte, tourmalines, Sapo fluorapatites, a super Brumado dolomite, blue quartz, and a Novo Horizonte hematite that is a black mirror.

This Pakistan-Afghanistan Update features selected fine specimens from Pakistan and Afghanistan, including excellent red zircons, a specimen of ilmenite rosettes, a transparent epidote, a beautiful large cluster of aquamarine crystals, a super diopside miniature, elbaite and more.

This Brazil update contains some brilliant specimens. Two matrix fluorapatites, in purple and blue, are really special! Two exquisite hematite iron roses – one is a great old-timer. The elbaite tourmalines and other fine minerals are excellent with lots of character, so I hope you’ll enjoy looking through them.