Great new specimens from the United States feature in this US Update. Wulfenites from the Red Cloud Mine, a Kelly Mine smithsonite, a Colorado amazonite, excellent ramsdellite specimens, a beautiful specimen hosting covellite crystals, and more.

I’ve added some super specimens from Mount Malosa in this new Malawi Update. These include excellent crystals of aegirine, arfvedsonite, smoky quartz with epididymite inclusions, microcline and zircon. Under shortwave ultraviolet light, the microcline is a striking deep pink-red colour, and the zircons exhibit various hues of yellow.

Excellent new specimens from Mont Saint-Hilaire. The specimens in this update are from finds 1988-2007. This selection of specimens represents several different unique finds, including beautiful serandites, terminated elpidite crystals, twinned rhodochrosite, sodalite var. hackmanite, narsarsukite, leucophanite, analcime and more.

I’ve added a new USA Update, with excellent specimens of microcline var. amazonite and a rhodochrosite from Colorado, purple fluorapatites from South Dakota, a Missouri millerite, Arizona chrysocolla and more.

There is a great new book out, Crystal Mountains – Minerals of the Cairngorms, by Roy Starkey. This post offers a glimpse (including photos by the author) and a few thoughts about this fine work.

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.