FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[Matt_Zukowski]

I came across an article in the Guardian which touches on some controversies discussed elsewhere on this site:
* Fair trade in minerals.
* The high price of minerals.
* New age mysticism and minerals.

But one quote stood out as interesting to me:
"Daniel Trinchillo, owner of Fine Minerals International, a high-end crystal dealership, told me that his business makes between $30m and $40m in sales each year. Trinchillo caters to a growing cohort of celebrities, collectors and investment buyers who want rare and valuable crystals. The most expensive single piece he has sold went for $6m, but he knows of some that have sold for $10m. Trinchillo estimates that high-end dealers now account for about $500m in annual sales. Include the lower end, he said, and you are talking about a highly profitable, multi-billion dollar industry."

The article is at:
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/sep/17/healing-crystals-wellness-mining-madagascar

I found this because of an article i was reading in the excellent Science-Based Medicine:
https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/crystal-healing/

I hope you find some of this interesting.

[Bob Harman]

I read the Guardian article twice. The article basically is about the public's perception that crystals have various healing powers. The word "crystals" was used over and over, but the term "mineral specimen" was never used even once.

The paragraph with reference to Daniel Trinchillo was ambiguous about whether his sales are primarily for hi end mineral collector's collections or for mystical healing powers or both.

In any case, while Tucson was mentioned a number of times, it was never mentioned that most mineral collectors are non believers in mystical crystal healing powers and simple mineral collections was never mentioned while crystal healing powers was repeatedly mentioned.

Interesting for this forum in that it gives the public the incorrect perception that we buy mineral specimens primarily for their healing powers.

The parts of the article dealing with the dangerous mining conditions in Madagascar were interesting, but need to be put into context that mining, whether it be for coal in West Virginia, mining operations in China, or "crystals" in Madagascar has always been a very dangerous industry.

The recent thread about Rock Currier's mineral auction from Jordi and Gail S. is, to me, more relevant to us true mineral collectors and should have more discussions. Bob