Halloween Minerals

A fun photo collection

Concept design by Stephanie Martin

Photos by Andre Mongeon

Other photos used with permission

Pumpkins!Mimetite var Campylite (unusual habit)

Dry Gill Mine, Caldbeck Falls,England UK

BariteRock Candy Mine, Grand Forks

BC Canada

“Witch’s Broom”Black KyaniteFrom Brazil

“ Witches’ Fingers ”

Knobby quartz prismsfrom Zambia.These odd, gnarly looking clusters with many inclusions are aptly named.

BloodstoneIndia

Former birthstone for March

Spiderweb TurquoiseIran

Birthstone for December

Eye AgateIndia

Do you get the feeling thatyou are being watched?

Epidote

From the classic location ofGreen Monster Mountain

Alaska, USA

“Devil’s Toenail”Fossil Exogyra

Cretaceous(~100 mya)

Bokchita FormationBryan, Oklahoma

USA

BOO!

Kaspar, the friendly ghost Flint nodule, hails from Poland.

Phantom Quartz, of course!from Brazil

and

HematiteBlack Widow Mine

Arizona, USA(sinister looking, bubbling, botryoidal habit!)

Bat mask or bat wing caves?You decide.

Ocos GeodeBrazil

Cat’s Eye TourmalineBrazil

Frankenstein is the name ofa monster, but it is also the nameof a place. This dendritic opal and Chrysoprase comes from an areain East Europe formerly known asFrankenstein. This was an important deposit thathas been mined since the middle agesbut is now mostly mined out.It is now part of Poland near Sklary.

Mint green Chrysoprase

Dendritic Opal

Beautiful mineralsFrom a historically scary place.

From the Northern reaches of Transylvania,these specimens are from Baia Sprie, Romania.

Stibnite

Quartz coated with sparkly dolomite, nesting on a mixed matrix with tetrahedrite.

Pink blades of Heulandite on white Mordenite

From the Rats Nest Claim,Custer Co, Idaho USA

From Rats to Bats…Taranakite is a secondary phosphate mineral formed from bat or bird guano deposits.This sample above comes from a real bat cave, Sassyk-Unkur Cave, Aravan,Kyrgyzstan …yummy

Rare Treats!Yes there can be real treasures in caves.These are cave pearls. Speleothems are nowprotected and can no longer be collected.Inherited from an old collection, locationonly noted as Swiss Alps, Germany.

Graveyard Point Plume Agatefrom Oregon, USA

Dramatic back-lit effect Front face natural light

Pictures used by permission from http://www.dragonsayeauctions.com Thanks to Donna Madej

Halloween would not be complete without a glow-in-the-dark mineral!

Here we have fluorescentScapolite Var Wenerite, with DiopsideFrom Grenville, Quebec

Hope you enjoyed the show!

Fin