I’ve added Part 2, a new Nova Scotia Update, with minerals from the Bay of Fundy. The specimens from this update are from different localities from last week – Two Islands, Five Islands and Cape Split. This group of specimens includes superb gmelinite crystals, sharp analcime crystals and sparkling natrolites.

Nova Scotia’s Bay of Fundy has been famous among mineral collectors for a long time – the area includes some of Canada’s oldest classic localities. Today, fine mineral specimens are still periodically recovered along the Bay of Fundy, making this area one of the most productive contemporary regions for Canadian fine mineral specimens. This article includes many photographs to give a better sense of the localities and adventures behind the beautiful specimens from here.

I’ve added a new Nova Scotia Update, with minerals from the Bay of Fundy. This update accompanies the new post about Mineral Collecting in Nova Scotia’s Bay of Fundy, with specimens from the classic Bay of Fundy localities highlighted in that article: Wasson’s Bluff, Amethyst Cove and Cape D’Or.

Many Bancroft Area minerals are classics. Although fine specimens from the Bancroft Area are uncommon on the international market, they can still be field collected. Bancroft mineral collecting continues each year and it is beautiful in the fall. I thought you might like some glimpses of our fall, scenes, wildlife and recent mineral collecting in the Bancroft Area.

After a long, harsh northern winter, most people in this part of the world look to the arrival of the red-winged blackbirds and robins, buds and flowers to mark the arrival of spring. But let’s be honest, spring only truly arrives with “Rochester” (the annual Rochester Mineralogical Symposium). Rochester is for people who love minerals and mineral collecting – if you’d like to see more about this year’s symposium (including photographs from the presenters), I hope you’ll enjoy this post.

If you could choose anything in the world, imagine for a moment what would you want out of your ideal hobby, pursuit or passion – what would it give you? What if mineral collecting could give you all of these things? If you’ve never thought much about mineral collecting before you may be thinking I’m crazy… but read more and see if you still think so…

Building a great collection of fine minerals involves a few generally recognized fundamentals, and yet every perspective on this is a little different, with emphasis and focus varying from one to the next. So this is my perspective and I also include a list of great articles at the end of this post…

Ok, like anything new, mineral collecting can seem daunting, but there are thousands and thousands of collectors out here and we all started somewhere. So if you are interested, don’t be shy about it! If you find that you have a love for minerals, you will absolutely not be a beginner for long. There are seven easy steps you can take to start on your way…

The single most fundamental skill you require, if you want to challenge yourself to become a mineral collector, is the skill to identify minerals. The basics are easy, and once you learn them you never lose them. This is the key to knowing when a mineral specimen is worthy of your collection…

Once you’re ready to move on from the Beginners page, here’s where to go next!