I’ve added more great U.S. specimens in this new Pete Richards Collection Update. These include beautiful specimens from classic American localities from across the country.

I’ve added an update with great new specimens from the Steve Szilard Collection. These are beautiful specimens from Quebec and Eastern Canada. This is the first of many more Canadian minerals that will grace the website this year.

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.

I’ve added new specimens in this Mali Update (click here), including excellent prehnite, epidote, grossular and a particularly sharp vesuvianite.

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.

If you’ve ever wondered about mineral shows as they used to be, the smaller-town affairs meant for everyone, from serious collectors to beginners and families, the Bancroft Shows offer a glimpse. There is a lot to be said for this kinds of mineral show, in a beautiful setting among scenery and wildlife, with guided field trips, local collectors and dealers, and some great minerals.