MINERAL SAGA

Gallery

A first look.

26 casual shots from the bench, phone in one hand and the lamp in the other. This is a small corner of the collection, not the catalogue: every piece is being photographed properly, on the same black ground under each light, and far more is coming in far better quality.

Pieces for sale are on eBay. New shots land first on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, all @mineralsaga.

Shortwave

254 nm. Franklin and Sterling Hill, New Jersey: calcite answers red, willemite green, hardystonite violet. In daylight, grey rock.

Under shortwave ultraviolet: willemite fluorescing bright green through dark ore, with an orange-red glowing piece behind and a white-blue labelShortwave: willemite green, calcite orangeUnder shortwave ultraviolet: a scatter of small ore fragments fluorescing green (willemite) and orange-red (calcite), Franklin-type materialShortwave: willemite and calcite, scatteredA single mass fluorescing deep pink-red under shortwave ultraviolet, likely calcite, with a faint cyan rimShortwave: calcite, likely, deep pinkUnder shortwave ultraviolet: a mixed pile fluorescing green, orange-red and yellow, Franklin-type oreShortwave: mixed willemite and calcite oreCalcite crystals fluorescing red under shortwave ultraviolet, beside a handwritten label reading hardystonite, clinohedrite, willemite, calcite, Franklin, New JerseyShortwave: calcite red, Franklin NJWillemite fluorescing bright green through dark franklinite ore under shortwave ultraviolet, Franklin and Sterling Hill material with labels, and a blue-white piece, likely scheeliteShortwave: willemite in frankliniteFranklin, New Jersey ore under shortwave ultraviolet: calcite glowing red with green willemite specks, a large slab at the front, more pieces behindShortwave: calcite red, willemite green, Franklin

Longwave

365 nm. Sodalite syenite, the Lake Superior Yooperlite, in egg-yolk yellow; fluorite violet-blue; manganoan calcite pink.

The bench under longwave ultraviolet: sodalite syenite glowing egg-yolk yellow, fluorite violet-blue, willemite green, calcite pink, and a blue-white piece, likely fluoriteLongwave: sodalite, fluorite, willemite, calciteUnder longwave ultraviolet: sodalite syenite, the Lake Superior Yooperlite, glowing yellow in dark rock; manganoan calcite hot pink; a willemite slab green at the edgeLongwave: Yooperlite, pink calcite, willemiteUnder longwave ultraviolet: a cluster of pink calcite rhombs at the centre, sodalite yellow behind it, willemite green at the left, a label reading Sodalite, orange LW, at the frontLongwave: calcite, sodalite, willemiteUnder longwave ultraviolet: sodalite fluorescing orange at the top, a violet fluorite, willemite green in two pieces, and numbered specimens glowing blue-whiteLongwave: sodalite, fluorite, willemite

Crystals

The well-formed pieces: quartz, fluorite, stilbite, agate, amethyst.

A radiating sheaf of orange-tan stilbite crystals over white quartz points, in daylightStilbite, sheaf habit, on quartzA pale cream sheaf of stilbite crystals, bowtie habit, against a white wallStilbite, sheaf habit, paleA cluster of pale green translucent cubic crystals, likely fluorite, on a quilted black matFluorite, likely, pale green cubesAssorted crystal specimens on the black bench in daylight: quartz clusters, calcite, druzy chalcedony and a blue-green piece, likely chrysocollaAssorted crystals: quartz, calcite, chalcedonyLabelled specimens in daylight: purple fluorite cubes on sphalerite, an amethyst cluster, a banded agate half, white botryoidal calcite, a pale green mass likely amazonite, and a gneiss labelled Ogdensburg, New JerseyFluorite on sphalerite, amethyst, agateA cut agate geode with grey-blue banding, a honey-coloured calcite, and black-and-white gneiss with mica, on the bench in daylightAgate geode, calcite, gneiss

Minerals

Matrix and hand samples: gneiss, granite, ore, the bench between sessions.

A pile of rough gneiss and schist hand samples, some with visible reddish garnet flecks, on a benchGneiss with garnet, likely, unsortedA pile of dark spotted gneiss specimens with round number tags (68, 72) beside a doorwaySpotted gneiss, numberedA single dark, coarsely spotted gneiss specimen with a round number tag (104)Spotted gneiss, No. 104A shelf crowded with labelled mineral specimens: white and tan matrix pieces, paper labels, a small teal-green piece at the frontAssorted labelled specimens, shelfA pile of labelled matrix specimens with yellow paper tags, on a tableAssorted labelled specimens, taggedA pile of labelled rock specimens beside a yellow highlighter used for scaleAssorted specimens, before sortingA long shot down the bench, forty-odd specimens in rows, mostly quartz and calcite, white wall behindThe whole benchGranite and gneiss hand samples with round number stickers, one deep rust red, likely jasperGranite and gneiss, numberedRough grey and brown specimens, a labelled dark piece in the middle, on the bench before sortingBefore sorting