I’ve added beautiful new specimens from the Pete Richards collection.  These are great tourmaline crystals from localities around the world, including Brazil, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Namibia and Myanmar.

I’ve posted a number of beautiful elbaite crystals from Afghanistan and Pakistan in this Tourmaline Update. Several of the tourmalines from Stak Nala were very recently collected – I acquired them from a family that is mining the specimens.

I’ve added some great new spodumene crystals in this Afghanistan Spodumene Update. These spodumene crystals are from a 2017 pocket that produced colour-zoned (lilac/pink – pale green – colourless) crystals, along with some specimens that were purely lilac/pink and some that had no such hues at all.

In the heart of France’s Vosges Mountains, each June, Mineral World assembles at Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines, for what is always a great mineral show. This post gives a glimpse of some of this year’s finds, including gorgeous red zircon crystals, bi-coloured spodumene, clinochlore crystals and some classic French hematites from just outside of Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines.