FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[SpinelTwin]

Where censorhip strikes I feel not at home, so do not worry about further comments (although some info in Ganga´s so-called offending??? posting was obviously not that bad not to be used immediately, eh....)
As this one will certainly be deleted as well, let´s not lose too many words and, just for fun, 2 comments of this topic:

https://www.fabreminerals.com/forum/Message-Board/viewtopic.php?t=205

The "Selenite" with Mimetite (very nice specimen!) is most probably Calcite. Have personally never seen one with Selenite, but a few ones with similar-looking Calcite. Anyway, Mimetite in combination with another mineral from there is rare stuff! Congreso León is spelled just with one "s" by the way.
The Chinese green Fluorite on Fluorite was etched out of Quartz, using extremely dangerous acid (HF), and this under working conditions, we folks in the Western Hemisphere better do not want to know too much about. But this is more kind of a moral than a mineralogical issue.
Of importance to the collector may be the fact, that this stuff is usually heavily oiled to improve its appearance, i.e. to camouflage the "collateral damage" of the etching. May be of interest, or not ...

[SpinelTwin]

Forgot one, now you will have to delete two postings, sorry...
The "matrix" of the Japan Antimonite (a very fine specimen by its own) looks somewhat suspicious, just too nice to be true... what may be the mathematical probability for a cristal to raise in a perfect 90 degree angle out of a tiny little bit of matrix??...
In the early 20 century (and later on!), a mix of gypsum and appropiate mineral powder/dust was frequently used to create some kind of "natural" looking base instead of a supporting ugly piece of wood or glass (acrylic bases did not exist ad that time yet....). Usually made by museum curators and experienced collectors, such a "matrix" is not really easy to detect at the first glance.

[Tracy]

Dear SpinelTwin -

If your postings are going to be deleted than so will mine, but here are my 2 comments about yours.

First, your specific responses to Gail's specimens might be better received if you were to begin your discussions with something like "I believe you might be mistaken..." or "Is it possible that..." or "You may not be aware that..." - perhaps there are cultural differences here? The participants in this forum treat each other with mutual respect, and express themselves in a manner that is as free of negativity as possible . So, while your thoughts might be informative and worthy of discussion, they ought to have been presented in a more polite manner. And if your intention is simply to criticize, that is not what open discussions are all about (and, I imagine, why some forums are forced to use censorship).

Second, given that I am an occupational toxicologist I would be happy to talk with you in more detail about the horrible working environments in China, and in addition about appropriate protective measures to be taken when handling acids or other chemical hazards. However, as I am also a collector of minerals, in this forum I merely wish to read about and discuss topics related to minerals. If your point is that we should not buy Chinese minerals because of the way they treat their workers, perhaps you might consider starting your own topic on this subject, because this is Gail's topic showing her favorite specimens and nothing more. However, I would caution you that this is a political issue, and possibly outside the scope of our forum.

Respectfully yours,
Tracy

[Jordi Fabre]

Spineltwin,

As Tracy so well explained on her excellent comment, the trouble is not what the people say but the way which some critical comments are said. Is my oppinion that we can discuss about everything, if we do it with a polite style.

Said this, I moved your text to a new forum that I prepared today: "Incorrect classification and fakes". Gail's topic is consistent and I think that is more coherent move the comments not so related with the idea of the Gail's topic to a new topic.

BTW, some of your comments are very interesting and I would like to discuss about they as soon as I have time to do it.

Jordi

[Gail]

I travel to my Mother-in-laws 80th birthday party in Colorado and come home to find this thread last night, I was so tired I didn't even want to bother to respond.

I take into account what Spineltwin has said, but something just doesn't "feel" right about Spineltwin's joining up only yesterday and having their 1st and 2nd posting go on to critique someone's personal favourites. If Spineltwin is talking about deleting as was done with Ganga, then they have been lurking on this site for some time, specifically my section as no other postings were made anywhere else on the forum.
We women don't like lurkers and question motives of those that do.

Can you tell us a little more about yourself Spineltwin? Surely you aren't afraid to say who you are and what your expertise is? I mean, just to put me at ease as to your motives?

[Jordi Fabre]

Going to the scientific part of Spineltwin text I have this comments to do:

I agree with him about the matrix of the Mimetite, I think too that probably it should be Calcite and not Selenite. I also agree that the right locality name is Congreso, Gail already corrected it. If you wish to be really exact, the right, right name it should be: Congreso-León Mine not Congreso León Mine.

About the fact that "... that this stuff is usually heavily oiled to improve its appearance.." this is something already denounced on many different places: show reports, web pages, magazine articles, so considering the information's quality standards of Gail I don't think that you discover anything new to her. Anyway, if you are concerned by this fact, you can open a new topic here where to discuss it.

About the matrix of the Japan Stibnite (not Antimonite), honestly I can't decide about it just with the photo. If Gail can show it to me (or some other expert) on the future, then I could say something more, but for now for me is a right one, as I have no proves of the opposite.

Spineltwin, as you can see your posts are not deleted, and we thank you for your contribution. Please read carefully Tracy's suggestions, I'm sure that all scientific, polite and realistic comments that you publish here will be appreciate for everybody.
Also, as Gail say, it is much more topics here than Gail's collection, so you have plenty of opportunities outside Gail to offer to us your thoughts.

Respectfully,

Jordi

[Gail]

Jordi, I am uncomfortable with the title Incorrect Classification and fakes when referring to this thread, as my minerals are the ones that the nefarious Spineltwin has deemed to choose to target.
And since Spineltwin has not graced us with an answer to my question, or yours apparently, why don't we let this thread dissolve so we can get back to the fun of sharing our favourites and not addressing hearsay jabs from someone who only joined to post a critique without having the courtesy of telling us who they are?
This site is far too classy for that.

[Jordi Fabre]

Done Gail, I moved this thread to: "Questions about mineral specimens" forum and I changed its name to "Some details".
In fact, before I re-named this thread as: "Incorrect Classification?" (with "?"), but it seems that for some mystery of informatics, some "?" vanished.

BTW, instead this thread I placed on "Incorrect Classification and fakes" forum the Paraíba Tourmaline's thread.

Best,

Jordi

[alfredo]

I support Gail's opinion here. Critical comments from anonymous persons (and praise too, for that matter) are of far less value than they would be if coming from an identified person. It's hard to debate with a ghost, and it degrades the quality of the dialogue.

There are many many internet sites and chatrooms where almost all the posts use pseudonyms; I choose not to participate in them. I feel more comfortable when I know who I'm corresponding with. I enjoy Jordi Fabre's site and Mindat because there is more familiarity and less anonymity than on other sites. We correspond with old friends and meet new ones.