FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[GneissWare]

I'm an obsessive-compulsive collector with many focuses. At first, It really depends on what happens to be available and interesting. Then I just start focusing in on a suite. I also like assembling suites from localities my friends have collected.

For example, when my good friends Casey and Jane Jones (Geoprime Minerals) got the collecting concession at the Flambeau Mine (Wisconsin) I picked up the obligatory chalcocite. Then this snowballed into each habit of chalcocite found at the mine, and then a complete suite of all the minerals found at the mine. I was even able to get one of two calcites found at the mine (after John Barlow passed).

Geoprime also got the contracts at several mines in the Carlin Trend in Nevada (Miekle, Murray, Rosebud, Dee, etc) and I bought an example of every mineral and habit they found.

One of my other good friends, Graham Sutton, who now works for Bryan at Collector's Edge, has been collecting all over the world for many years. I bought one of his first rocks (a linarite from Grand Reef), and have tried to get something from each of his projects. For example, one of his early projects was the quartz and hematite from the Veta Grande at Quartzsite, Arizona. I purchased much of his finds, many of which I resold, but still kept 3 or 4 flats of hematites and weird quartz. Of course this led to a quartz collection (lots of oddities) and a hematite collection, which snowballed into a collection of Swiss minerals, then european alpine minerals, then...... You get the idea.

I'm sure there are medications to treat this...at least I suspect my wife wishes there were such medications. Anyhow, I'm attaching some photos of rocks my friends have personally collected.

[Tracy]

From one collector-explorer to another, I salute you Bob! (hmmm, I supose I could be obsessive-compulsive too... but why should people have to live with such labels :-) )

Give a holler if you're ever looking to part with something you lost interest in. The pics are beautiful and thanks for sharing!

- Tracy

[chris]

Hi Bob,

Nice pictures. Having a few Sweet Home specimens in my own collection, I can tell you I really appreciate yours. Very good choice.

Christophe

[GneissWare]

Here are a few quartz specimens.

[GneissWare]

Here's a couple more specimens I picked up over the last year or so. They are both red Beryls from the Wah Wah Mts, Beaver County, Utah, USA. The photos are not as good as the specimens.

[Tobi]

Hello, i agree with Christophe: Your Sweet Home Mine specimens are absolutely great! I'm still searching for such a specimen (quite rare on the German market), the Rhodos from this mine belong to the most impressive minerals at all.

[Peter]

Lovely specimens!
Serious mineral interest can indeed boarder slight madness!
and you are for sure not alone!

[GneissWare]

Ed,
Here's another Chinese Baryte / Stibnite combo, albeit from a different locality.
Bob

[Jordi Fabre]

I believe that both comes form the same locality: Xikuangshan Mine, Lengshuijiang, Hunan, China.

Also, I'm afraid that in fact them aren't Stibiconites, but Stibnite covered by Sulfur. You can find more info here: https://www.fabreminerals.com/specimens/RSCN-china-notable-specimens.php#EX6F4

Jordi

[GneissWare]

Jordi,
Thanks for the info and link. I'll inspect the specimen tonight.
Bob

[GneissWare]

Since I'm evidently in the mood to post, here are a few more from my collection. These are from the Southern California pegmatites.

[GneissWare]

A few other random pieces.

[GneissWare]

Just a few more.

[Jordi Fabre]

Marvelous Bob! Some extremely unusual localities too...

[Carles Millan]

Great specimens!

I like especially the beryl, apatite, spessartine from Shigar (GW001054.JPG), the fluorite from Orange River (GW001056.JPG), and the fluorite, galena, sphalerite, Baryte from Elmwood (GW000947.JPG).