...through walls of red dreams

November 10, 2007 5:58 AM

Mineral of the Day photos.
posted by Wolfdog (16 comments total)

Wow that's some serious supermacro stuff going on there; some of those the whole picture is 1mm across!

Neat stuff, thanks!
posted by aubilenon at 6:25 AM on November 10, 2007

Oooh, shiny! Excellent find and gorgeous pix.

I've been a casual rock geek ever since I was a wee kid and my Grandpa played a horribly clever joke on me with a impressive lump of pyrite. Learned not to let myself get greedy after that.

Grumble grumble wise old elders grumble grumble.

Only one complaint - more citrine!
(the writer's crystal)
posted by dakotadusk at 7:11 AM on November 10, 2007

Phwoor! Look at the facets on that!
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 7:11 AM on November 10, 2007

I also had a big chunk of pyrite when I was a kid. I knew full well it was "fool's gold", but like you said: "Oooh, shiny!" It was still treasure as far as I was concerned.
posted by Wolfdog at 7:21 AM on November 10, 2007

My mineral of the day is microcline. Seriously, I'm swimming in the stuff right now and I can only make so many mugs and toy axes.
posted by boo_radley at 8:24 AM on November 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

wow, cool, what a nifty halloween photo!
posted by lonefrontranger at 8:31 AM on November 10, 2007

With the nearby Rocky Mountains providing some of the most diverse geology on the planet, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science has an excellent gems and minerals exhibit.

Two of its best displays are Tom's Baby, an 8 lb. gold nugget found in Breckenridge in 1887, and a wall of red rhodochrosite crystals from the Sweet Home Mine in Alma, CO.

</shamelesshomestateplug>
posted by cenoxo at 8:45 AM on November 10, 2007

Micro mount minerals
posted by hortense at 9:32 AM on November 10, 2007

You know, crystal worshippers really are onto something (not to mention the whole single crystal laser and microchip of the early days business).

I have always loved the colors of some peridots.
posted by jamjam at 10:10 AM on November 10, 2007

No schist?!
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 11:17 AM on November 10, 2007

Bookmarked. Thanks, Wolfdog.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 11:18 AM on November 10, 2007

thanks for the links, cenoxo, I have been meaning to do a bigger museums run in Denver, and I'll definitely have to check that out!

do you still live in the area? If so, you should try to come to the Denver Meetup!
posted by lonefrontranger at 1:16 PM on November 10, 2007

Cool find.
posted by Big_B at 1:29 PM on November 10, 2007

Oh man, I totally want some jewelry out of this stuff!
posted by DenOfSizer at 5:01 PM on November 10, 2007

Very cool site. I feel like I should know the answer to this, but where would anyone find these kinds of crystals? Do they simply grow on random rocks outside in the open air? Are they found inside geodes? IF so, how can you tell a geode from a normal rock withotu cutting it open? I have seen many rocks, and I'd hate to think I'd overlooked marvelous things like these because I assumed all rocks are, well, rocks.
posted by Pastabagel at 5:22 PM on November 10, 2007

They are found in veins of granite in pegmatites and contact zones of various rock
posted by hortense at 9:38 PM on November 10, 2007