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Carles Millan
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Joined: 05 May 2007
Posts: 1471
Location: Catalonia
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Posted: Dec 08, 2014 09:34 Post subject: Re: Collection of Tobi |
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Tobi wrote: | ...it really depends on each specimen whether you get a good photo or not ...Tobi |
Right!
There are photogenic and not photogenic specimens. Some pieces, no matter how long you spend trying to get a decent photo, are definitely not photogenic, and the task can often end with a nightmare. However, others can be successfully shot even by a 6-year old. The reason, I think, is that what your eyes see is quite different from what your camera sees.
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Tobi
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Joined: 07 Apr 2009
Posts: 4108
Location: Germany
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Posted: Dec 14, 2014 05:36 Post subject: Re: Collection of Tobi |
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Here's another new addition to my collection ... and sadly it is exactly one of those "problem childs" where you can try each and every light source and camera mode - and none of the photos looks good :-( However, I want to show that cute little garnet from Pakistan which looks actually better in person ...
Mineral: | Spessartine |
Locality: | Shigar Valley, Shigar District, Gilgit-Baltistan (Northern Areas), Pakistan | |
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Dimensions: | Specimen size 2 cm, garnet crystal 1,5 cm |
Description: |
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30597 Time(s) |
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Carles Millan
Site Admin
Joined: 05 May 2007
Posts: 1471
Location: Catalonia
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Posted: Dec 14, 2014 11:21 Post subject: Re: Collection of Tobi |
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Tobi wrote: | Here's another new addition to my collection ... and sadly it is exactly one of those "problem childs" where you can try each and every light source and camera mode - and none of the photos looks good :-( However, I want to show that cute little garnet from Pakistan which looks actually better in person ... |
Actually the photo is not bad. Very well defined edges, and the faces hue is clearly distinctive. The near white matrix against a white background might be the only defect but after all the most interesting area is the garnet crystal, so the matrix doesn't matter at all.
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Vitaliy
Joined: 30 Nov 2014
Posts: 52
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Posted: Dec 14, 2014 17:56 Post subject: Re: Collection of Tobi |
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Carles Millan wrote: | Tobi wrote: | Here's another new addition to my collection ... and sadly it is exactly one of those "problem childs" where you can try each and every light source and camera mode - and none of the photos looks good :-( However, I want to show that cute little garnet from Pakistan which looks actually better in person ... |
Actually the photo is not bad. Very well defined edges, and the faces hue is clearly distinctive. The near white matrix against a white background might be the only defect but after all the most interesting area is the garnet crystal, so the matrix doesn't matter at all. |
There are parts that either appear to be soft or out of focus and you can see the presence of noise/film-grain on the actual Spessartine. Could also be due to the white on white conflict.
The Garnet has an interesting appearance but I personally prefer those from Fujian Province and their associated minerals. It's still a nice example with good form and condition.
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Tobi
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Joined: 07 Apr 2009
Posts: 4108
Location: Germany
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Posted: Dec 15, 2014 12:40 Post subject: Re: Collection of Tobi |
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Vitaliy M. wrote: | The Garnet has an interesting appearance but I personally prefer those from Fujian Province and their associated minerals. It's still a nice example with good form and condition. | I also love those from Fujian: https://www.mindat.org/user-5297.html#2_0_0_0_0_0_wushan
:-)
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Tobi
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Joined: 07 Apr 2009
Posts: 4108
Location: Germany
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Posted: Dec 22, 2014 09:31 Post subject: Re: Collection of Tobi |
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I'm currently improving my personal Mindat.org gallery by replacing images with better ones, adding some information and deleting the worst specimens and photos. Here are some of the photos of specimens that were only shown in very poor picture quality before. These photos do justice to the specimens:
Mineral: | Quartz (var. smoky quartz) |
Locality: | Erongorus 166 farm / Bergsig 167 farm, Karibib District, Erongo Region, Namibia | |
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Dimensions: | Specimen size 11 cm, largest crystal 3,5 cm |
Description: |
Grey "Gitterquarz" crystals on brown orthoclase |
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30271 Time(s) |
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Mineral: | Fluorite |
Locality: | Xianghuapu Mine, Xianghualing Sn-polymetallic ore field, Linwu, Chenzhou Prefecture, Hunan Province, China | |
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Dimensions: | Specimen size 11,5 cm, largest crystal 4 cm |
Description: |
Cluster of intergrown pale green fluorite cubes |
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30252 Time(s) |
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Mineral: | Fluorapatite |
Locality: | Yates Mine, Otter Lake, Pontiac RCM, Outaouais, Québec, Canada | |
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Dimensions: | Specimen size 7 cm, largest crystal 3,3 cm |
Description: |
Double-terminated fluorapatite crystal in calcite matrix |
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30241 Time(s) |
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Mineral: | Fluorite |
Locality: | Blanchard Mine (Portales-Blanchard Mine), Bingham, Hansonburg District, Socorro County, New Mexico, USA | |
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Dimensions: | Specimen size 9 cm, largest crystal 1 cm |
Description: |
Blue fluorite cubes on matrix |
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30266 Time(s) |
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Mineral: | Galena |
Locality: | Stahlberg Mine, Müsen, Siegerland, North Rhine-Westphalia/Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany | |
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Dimensions: | Specimen size 6 cm, largest crystal 1 cm |
Description: |
Isolated galena crystals on matrix from an old Siegerland locality |
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30247 Time(s) |
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Tobi
Site Admin
Joined: 07 Apr 2009
Posts: 4108
Location: Germany
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Posted: Dec 29, 2014 15:25 Post subject: Re: Collection of Tobi |
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Old specimen, but not shown before:
Mineral: | Calcite |
Locality: | Iraí, Alto Uruguai region, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil | |
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Dimensions: | Specimen size 10 cm, largest calcites 5,5 cm |
Description: |
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30132 Time(s) |
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Tobi
Site Admin
Joined: 07 Apr 2009
Posts: 4108
Location: Germany
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Posted: Dec 30, 2014 09:21 Post subject: Re: Collection of Tobi |
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More improved material:
I really wasn't satisfied with the poor photo of my new spessartine from Pakistan (see top of this page), so I tried hard and finally got another picture that is ok for me. I also made a better one from the other recently acquired garnet, the Loliondo spessartine from the previous page. The third photo is an old specimen, a fluorite from Wölsendorf/Bavaria, not yet shown in good photo quality.
Mineral: | Spessartine |
Locality: | Shigar Valley, Shigar District, Gilgit-Baltistan (Northern Areas), Pakistan | |
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Dimensions: | Specimen size 2,3 cm, garnet crystal 1,5 cm |
Description: |
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30083 Time(s) |
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Mineral: | Spessartine |
Locality: | Sangulungulu Hill (Nani Hill), Naan village, Loliondo, Ngorongoro District, Arusha Region, Tanzania | |
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Dimensions: | Specimen size 5 cm, garnet crystal 1 cm |
Description: |
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30138 Time(s) |
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Mineral: | Fluorite |
Locality: | Marienschacht Mine, Wölsendorf, Schwarzach bei Nabburg, Wölsendorf West District, Upper Palatinate/Oberpfalz, Bavaria/Bayern, Germany | |
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Dimensions: | Specimen size 7 cm, garnet crystal 1 cm |
Description: |
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30092 Time(s) |
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Vitaliy
Joined: 30 Nov 2014
Posts: 52
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Posted: Dec 30, 2014 12:19 Post subject: Re: Collection of Tobi |
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Interesting coloured fluorite. It reminds me of the Clay Center, Ohio fluorite in a lighter tone.
The quality on the Pakistan Spessartine is much better now but the matrix is largely soft with the details very blurred. The edges on the Spessartine are still soft (lack of diffusion?)
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Tobi
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Joined: 07 Apr 2009
Posts: 4108
Location: Germany
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Posted: Dec 30, 2014 12:40 Post subject: Re: Collection of Tobi |
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Vitaliy wrote: | Interesting coloured Fluorite. Reminds me of the Clay Center, Ohio Fluorite in a lighter tone. | Not only lighter, it is rather a different kind of colour: These "Honigspat" (= honey spar) fluorites from the famous Wölsendorf district in Bavaria really have a dark yellow colour like honey. And the ones from Clay Center, I never held one in my hands, but they are rather brown, right?
Vitaliy wrote: | The quality on the Pakistan Spessartine is much better now but the matrix is largely soft with the details very blurred. The edges on the Spessartine are still soft (lack of diffusion?) | I'm sorry but that's the best photo that my standard Canon DigiCam is able to make of this specimen. The contrast of a sharp-edged, nearly black crystal and the amorphous white matrix make it one of the most unphotogenic specimens in my collection. I'm sure that a perfect photo on a Jeff Scovil level is possible ... but that would require a professional top notch equipment instead of a 150 € DigiCam ;-)
Tobi
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Vitaliy
Joined: 30 Nov 2014
Posts: 52
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Posted: Dec 30, 2014 14:07 Post subject: Re: Collection of Tobi |
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Tobi wrote: | Vitaliy wrote: | Interesting coloured Fluorite. Reminds me of the Clay Center, Ohio Fluorite in a lighter tone. | Not only lighter, it is rather a different kind of colour: These "Honigspat" (= honey spar) fluorites from the famous Wölsendorf district in Bavaria really have a dark yellow colour like honey. And the ones from Clay Center, I never held one in my hands, but they are rather brown, right?
Vitaliy wrote: | The quality on the Pakistan Spessartine is much better now but the matrix is largely soft with the details very blurred. The edges on the Spessartine are still soft (lack of diffusion?) | I'm sorry but that's the best photo that my standard Canon DigiCam is able to make of this specimen. The contrast of a sharp-edged, nearly black crystal and the amorphous white matrix make it one of the most unphotogenic specimens in my collection. I'm sure that a perfect photo on a Jeff Scovil level is possible ... but that would require a professional top notch equipment instead of a 150 € DigiCam ;-)
Tobi |
Tobi the reason it reminded me of Clay Center or Ohio Fluorite is really because of their shape and rarity. From what I heard there was a limited pocket found for the Fluorite and I don't normally see German fluorite either. The market is usually saturated with Fluorite from other localities such as China or England or American localities.
If you don't mind me asking what kind of Canon digital camera are you using. I am looking to buy a Canon as well soon hopefully and would like to see what kind you are using.
As always thanks for sharing.
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Martin Rich
Joined: 15 Aug 2013
Posts: 127
Location: Lower Austria
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Posted: Dec 30, 2014 14:47 Post subject: Re: Collection of Tobi |
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Hello Tobi!
The spessartine is very beautiful. Maybe a darker background (gray) would fit better with the matrix. Anyway, your photos are very well.
Martin
_________________ We are living on the matrix. |
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Vitaliy
Joined: 30 Nov 2014
Posts: 52
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Posted: Dec 30, 2014 14:51 Post subject: Re: Collection of Tobi |
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Martin Rich wrote: | Hello Tobi!
The spessartine is very beautiful. Maybe a darker background (gray) would fit better with the matrix. Anyway, your photos are very well.
Martin |
That's a good suggestion actually. If it doesn't work well with a certain background due to conflicting lighter tones perhaps the background can be darkened.
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Tobi
Site Admin
Joined: 07 Apr 2009
Posts: 4108
Location: Germany
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Posted: Dec 31, 2014 05:45 Post subject: Re: Collection of Tobi |
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Vitaliy wrote: | Tobi the reason it reminded me of Clay Center or Ohio Fluorite is really because of their shape and rarity. From what I heard there was a limited pocket found for the Fluorite and I don't normally see German fluorite either. The market is usually saturated with Fluorite from other localities such as China or England or American localities. If you don't mind me asking what kind of Canon digital camera are you using. I am looking to buy a Canon as well soon hopefully and would like to see what kind you are using. |
It's a Canon Ixus 115 HS. Concerning the fluorites: There was a time when German fluorites came in masses, and the Wölsendorf district was one of the most important and largest fluorite mining areas in the world for some parts of the 20th century. But of course only a very small part of the endless masses of fluorspar was collectible stuff with honey-colour. This here is only a small and minor specimen from the main honigspat mine Marienschacht. Really large specimens (there were crystal edges up to 7 cm) are extremely expensive these days, even on the German market ...
Martin Rich wrote: | Hello Tobi! The spessartine is very beautiful. Maybe a darker background (gray) would fit better with the matrix. Anyway, your photos are very well. Martin |
Vitaliy wrote: |
That's a good suggestion actually. If it doesn't work well with a certain background due to conflicting lighter tones perhaps the background can be darkened. |
Well guys, I tried different darker backgrounds yesterday, but the effect was only the reversal of the effect above: The matrix was captured very good but the crystal was blurry, so I decided to rather use a photo where it's reverse ;-)
Tobi
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Pierre Joubert
Joined: 09 Mar 2012
Posts: 1605
Location: Western Cape
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Posted: Dec 31, 2014 06:28 Post subject: Re: Collection of Tobi |
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Hi Tobi. I suppose I should be the last one to comment on back ground colours, but I only now use white for single crystals with a rich colour, eg. amethyst. Your photos are good. Perhaps someone should start a thread on choosing back ground colours. Best regards.
(PS! I quite liked you Avatar photo of the Peruvian Rhodo)
_________________ Pierre Joubert
'The tree of silence bears the fruit of peace. ' |
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Tobi
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Joined: 07 Apr 2009
Posts: 4108
Location: Germany
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Posted: Dec 31, 2014 06:56 Post subject: Re: Collection of Tobi |
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Hi Pierre,
I also loved the rhodo avatar, but I couldn't resist this very small version of the spessartine because in a 100 pixel size you don't see that it is still a bit blurry ;-)
I tried dark backgrounds several times but there are actually only two photos that I'd consider acceptable:
Mineral: | Quartz |
Locality: | Jinkouhe District, Leshan Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China | |
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Dimensions: | Specimen height 9 cm |
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29852 Time(s) |
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Mineral: | Topaz |
Locality: | Thomas Range, Juab County, Utah, USA | |
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Dimensions: | Specimen size 8 cm |
Description: |
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29882 Time(s) |
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Tobi
Site Admin
Joined: 07 Apr 2009
Posts: 4108
Location: Germany
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Posted: Jan 11, 2015 08:06 Post subject: Re: Collection of Tobi (new photo) |
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Elbaite from Afghanistan:
Mineral: | Elbaite |
Locality: | Paprok, Kamdesh District, Nuristan Province, Afghanistan | |
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Dimensions: | Specimen height 3,3 cm |
Description: |
Typical bicoloured elbaite crystal from Paprok Mine in Afghanistan |
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29311 Time(s) |
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Tobi
Site Admin
Joined: 07 Apr 2009
Posts: 4108
Location: Germany
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Posted: Jan 31, 2015 10:01 Post subject: Re: Collection of Tobi |
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Purple fluorite cubes together with brownish siderite on gray quartz crystals. From Sauberg Mine near Ehrenfriedersdorf, Saxony. Specimen size 8,5 cm.
Mineral: | Fluorite, siderite, quartz |
Locality: | Sauberg Mine, Ehrenfriedersdorf, Erzgebirgskreis, Saxony/Sachsen, Germany | |
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Dimensions: | Specimen size 8,5 cm, largest fluorite 6 mm |
Description: |
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29152 Time(s) |
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Tobi
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Joined: 07 Apr 2009
Posts: 4108
Location: Germany
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Posted: Jan 31, 2015 10:13 Post subject: Re: Collection of Tobi |
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One of the most desired things among the variety of German minerals: Brown pyromorphite from Rosenberg Mine near Bad Ems, specimen size 6 cm.
Mineral: | Pyromorphite |
Locality: | Rosenberg Mine, Braubach, Bad Ems District, Lahn Valley, Rhineland-Palatinate/Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany | |
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Dimensions: | Specimen size 6 cm, largest pyromorphite 7 mm |
Description: |
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29143 Time(s) |
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Tobi
Site Admin
Joined: 07 Apr 2009
Posts: 4108
Location: Germany
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Posted: Jan 31, 2015 10:44 Post subject: Re: Collection of Tobi |
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Twinned fluorite on a matrix of smaller fluorite crystals. From Beihilfe Mine near Freiberg, Saxony. Specimen size 6 cm.
Mineral: | Fluorite |
Locality: | Beihilfe Mine, Halsbrücke, Freiberg District, Erzgebirgskreis, Saxony/Sachsen, Germany | |
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Dimensions: | Specimen size 6 cm, larger twin measures 3 cm |
Description: |
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29124 Time(s) |
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