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Mindat.org is the largest mineral database and mineralogy reference website on the internet. This site contains worldwide data on minerals, mineral collecting, mineral localities and other mineralogical information.

This site is growing every day, with new mineral information, localities and photographs added by members.

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Mindat News

• 9th February 2012 Tucson 2012 - First Report
• 20th December 2011 Defending the freedom to collect minerals.
• 19th November 2011 SMLS - Haywards Heath Mineral Show 2011
• 3rd November 2011 The Munich Mineral Show 2011
• 17th October 2011 The 48th annual Bancroft Rockhound Gemboree, 2011
• 17th October 2011 Minerals Newspaper - Issue 3
• 2nd October 2011 Denver Symposium and Field Trip
• 16th August 2011 Pocket Mindat Catalogue - Now Available
• 11th August 2011 New Book - Agates from Ploczki Gorne
• 25th July 2011 Mindat Conference 2011 - Conference and Workshops
• Older News ArticlesClick here to view all older mineral news articles

New Discussions

• Re: Cuasso al Monte, Ceresio Valley, Varese ...01:40 18th May 2012 - posted by Steve Stuart
• Re: Exact XRD peak-list01:31 18th May 2012 - posted by Henry Barwood
• Re: Glossary00:43 18th May 2012 - posted by Paul Brandes
• Re: Who's Going Rockhounding This Weekend ?00:29 18th May 2012 - posted by gary moldovany
• Can anyone identify these pieces.00:00 18th May 2012 - posted by Cheryl Hurst
• Re: Please help ID the Mineral Make up of this ...23:40 17th May 2012 - posted by Bernard Murphy
• Re: Who's Going Rockhounding This Weekend ?23:00 17th May 2012 - posted by Alex Homenuke
• Exact XRD peak-list22:58 17th May 2012 - posted by Emil Box
• Re: Rocks spontaneously combust in woman's pocket.22:34 17th May 2012 - posted by Paul Brandes
• Re: Please help ID the Mineral Make up of this ...22:29 17th May 2012 - posted by Paul Brandes
• Re: Glossary22:28 17th May 2012 - posted by Jolyon Ralph
• Re: Chrysoprase? and quartz piece ?21:22 17th May 2012 - posted by Heath Barnes
• Chrysoprase? and quartz piece ?21:19 17th May 2012 - posted by Heath Barnes
• Re: Glossary21:05 17th May 2012 - posted by Debbie Woolf
• Re: Rock and Mineral house for sale!20:52 17th May 2012 - posted by Jolyon Ralph
• Re: Who's Going Rockhounding This Weekend ?20:51 17th May 2012 - posted by Tom Bennett
• Re: Glossary20:49 17th May 2012 - posted by Harold Moritz (2)
• Re: Rock and Mineral house for sale!20:46 17th May 2012 - posted by Tom Bennett
• Re: Monazite or monazite-(ce) landsverk jokelid ...20:26 17th May 2012 - posted by Olav Revheim
• Re: Rock and Mineral house for sale!20:17 17th May 2012 - posted by Rob Woodside
• Re: Australian locality help - Narooma Mine NSW20:12 17th May 2012 - posted by Uwe Kolitsch
• Re: Monazite or monazite-(ce) landsverk jokelid ...20:08 17th May 2012 - posted by Pavel Kartashov
• Rock and Mineral house for sale!20:06 17th May 2012 - posted by Jolyon Ralph
• Re: Rocks spontaneously combust in woman's pocket.19:38 17th May 2012 - posted by Gord Howe
• Re: Monohydrocalcite19:03 17th May 2012 - posted by Michael Hatskel

Dealer News

• 17th May - e-RocksGargantuan Updates!
• 17th May - Dakota Matrix MineralsNew Specimens Posted TODAY!
• 17th May - Weinrich Minerals, Inc.High Quality Auction!
• 17th May - mineralman.comAmazing Auctions ENDING NOW!
• 16th May - M&W MineralsWeekly Update
• 15th May - e-RocksTuesday's Updates
• 15th May - Weinrich Minerals, Inc.Auction Closing
• 14th May - Gemlab Group - Books & InstrumentsRaman Mineral Identification
• 14th May - e-RocksMonday's Bulletin
• 14th May - Fabre MineralsExpress Specimens 2012 (3)
• 14th May - mineralman.comINCREDIBLE New Specimens!
• 13th May - MineralspauliKongsbergite.
• 13th May - e-RocksAnd Sunday's News
• 12th May - e-RocksSaturday Listings
• 11th May - e-Rocks3 Auctions Start 2 Ending!
• 11th May - Voelter Minerals*UPDATE* New Minerals Added
• 11th May - Christopher J Stefano Fine ...Nowakowski + Yukon Phosphates
• 10th May - Dakota Matrix MineralsNew Addition Update!
• 10th May - e-RocksAuctions & New from Spain!
• 10th May - Weinrich Minerals, Inc.New Update/New Auctions

New Minerals

• IMA 2009-055 a synonym of Chovanite
• IMA2011-038 a synonym of Kottenheimite
• Kottenheimite an IMA-approved mineral species
• IMA2011-031 a synonym of Rhabdophane-(Y)
• Rhabdophane-(Y) an IMA-approved mineral species
• Lithia Quartz
• Molybdophyllite-18 Å a synonym of Britvinite
• Аширит a synonym of Dioptase
• Ashirite a synonym of Dioptase
• Bastnäsite Group
• IMA2011-024 a synonym of Alcaparrosaite
• Alcaparrosaite an IMA-approved mineral species
• Clinochlore-Chamosite series
• Zaccagnaite-2H
• Zaccagnaite-3R
• Menzerit-(Y) a synonym of Menzerite-(Y)
• Menzerite-(Y) an IMA-approved mineral species
• Tritochorite a synonym of Descloizite
• Kabrerit a synonym of Magnesian Annabergite
• Unnamed (Mg-analogue of Schüllerite)

New Localities

• Couto Mineiro do Lena, Leiria District, Portugal
• Narooma Mine, Bodalla, Dampier Co., New South Wales, Australia
• Dampier Co., New South Wales, Australia
• Story, Montgomery Co., Arkansas, USA
• Cupsuptic River, Oxford Co., Maine, USA
• Piedras Blancas deposit, Cerro Quico, Graneros Department, Tucumán, Argentina
• Cerro Quico, Graneros Department, Tucumán, Argentina
• Graneros Department, Tucumán, Argentina
• Currawong deposit, Benambra sulphide deposits (Benambra copper mines), Benambra, Victoria, Australia
• Wilga deposit, Benambra sulphide deposits (Benambra copper mines), Benambra, Victoria, Australia
• Mount S'Abbagana, Monti, Olbia-Tempio Pausania Province, Sardinia, Italy
• Gradoli Quarry, Làtera volcano, Viterbo Province, Latium, Italy
• Làtera volcano, Viterbo Province, Latium, Italy
• Ottiliae shaft, Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Harz, Lower Saxony, Germany
• Hinodematsu, Genkai-cho, Saga Prefecture, Kyushu Region, Japan
• Genkai-cho, Saga Prefecture, Kyushu Region, Japan
• Marx-Semmler adit (Markus-Semmler adit; Markx-Semmler adit; Marcus-Semmler adit), Niederschlema, Schlema, Schlema-Hartenstein District, Erzgebirge, Saxony, Germany
• Midões Mine (Gens; Midões and Covelo), Covelo, Gondomar, Porto District, Portugal
• Covelo, Gondomar, Porto District, Portugal
• Rio de Frades mines, Rio de Frades, Cabreiros, Arouca, Aveiro District, Portugal

New/Updated Glossary Entries

• fumarole - i. A hole or a vent from which fumes or vapors issue; a spring or a ...
• frue vanner - An ore-beneficiation apparatus consisting essentially of a rubber ...
• fourling - A crystal twin consisting of four individuals; characteristic ...
• froth flotation - i. A flotation process in which the minerals floated gather in and on ...
• fibrous texture - In mineral deposits, a pattern of finely acicular, rodlike crystals, ...
• facet - i. One of the polished plane surfaces of a gemstone, cut so as to ...
• dowsing - The practice of attempting to locate ground water, mineral deposits, ...
• divining rod - Traditionally, a forked wooden stick, cut from a willow or other ...
• wiry - Occurring as thin wires, often twisted like the strands of a rope; ...
• capillary - i. The action by which the surface of a liquid is elevated at the ...
• carbocycle - A hydrocarbon in which carbon atoms are linked into rings.
• carbide - i. A commercial term for calcium carbide formerly used in miner's ...
• cyclic twin - Repeated twinning of three or more individual crystals according to ...
• manganese nodules - The concretions, primarily of manganese salts, covering extensive ...
• myrmekite perthite - Myrmekitelike intergrowth of microcline and vermicular ...
• albite law twin - A type of lamellar twin on the {010} plane typical of albite and ...
• blocky - A habit in which a crystal is roughly block-shaped and nearly ...
• bladed - A habit of a crystal that is flat and long; like a knife blade. Also ...
• baveno law twin - A type of simple contact twin on the {021} plane exhibited by ...
• brazil law twin - A type of twin found in quartz in which the two crystalline ...
• hexagonal - i. A geometrical form of six sides; e.g., hexagonal prism, hexagonal ...
• butterfly twin - A simple contact twin consisting of two wedge-shaped individual ...
• brittle - Breaks or powders easily. A type of tenacity.
• brazil twin - See: brazil law twin
• boro - The 'boro' prefix is given for a chemical compound containing boron ...
• borate - A compound containing the borate group (BO3-3) or linked borate ...
• birefringent - Said of a crystalline substance that displays birefringence, such ...
• beryllo - Beryllo is a prefeix for compounds containing beryllium usually in ...
• carlsbad twin - A twinned crystal in which the twinning axis is the c axis, the ...
• twin - See: twin crystals
• ivory turquoise - Odontolite; fossil tooth or bone, originally believed to have been ...
• kidney iron ore - A name for a reniform habit of the iron oxide mineral hematite with ...
• karst - A type of topography that is formed on limestone, gypsum, and other ...
• itabirite - A laminated, metamorphosed oxide-facies iron formation in which (1) ...
• iridescence - The exhibition of interference colors from the surface or interior of ...
• imperial jade - A high-quality, semitransparent variety of jadeite. Ref: Hess
• ilesmannite - ilesmannite - An amorphous mineral, Mo3 O8 .nH2 O(?) .
• ijolite - A series of plutonic rocks containing nepheline and 30% to 60% mafic ...
• ignimbrite - The rock formed by the widespread deposition and consolidation of ash ...
• igneous breccia - i. A breccia that is composed of fragments of igneous ...
• idiochromatic mineral - Mineral in which the color is due to some essential constitutent of ...
• idioblast - A mineral constituent of a metamorphic rock formed by ...
• trapezohedron - i. An isometric crystal form of 24 faces, each face of which is ...
• skeletal crystal - Crystals that develop under conditions of rapid growth and high ...
• yogo sapphire - Dark-blue corundum from Yogo Gulch, MT. Ref: Schaller
• hydrothermal alteration - Alteration of rocks or minerals by the reaction of hydrothermal water ...
• hourglass structure - A type of zoning, esp. common in clinopyroxenes and chloritoids, in ...
• bench - i. A terrace on the side of a river or lake having at one time formed ...
• diamond ballas - An important industrial variety of diamond. The stones are spherical ...
• dodecahedron - i. An isometric form composed of 12 equal rhombic faces, each ...

New Articles

• Peter Cristofono - 16th May 2012The Lenox Lead Mine: A Lost “Dana Locality”
• Joe Mulvey - 16th May 20122012 MICROMOUNTERS OF NEW ENGLAND ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM
• Torben Kjeldgård - 6th May 2012Day trip to the moler museum Mors
• Rudolf Hasler - 14th May 2012Collecting Minerals at Bad Bleiberg
• Rui P Nunes - 9th May 2012Searching the lost Lisbon quarries
• Douglas Watts - 28th Apr 2012The Litchfield, Maine Nepheline Syenite Pluton
• Peter Cristofono - 2nd May 2012Devil’s Den and Basin, Newbury, Massachusetts
• Mario Pauwels - 19th Apr 2012Criteria voor het verzamelen van esthetische mineralen.
• Ida Chau - 10th Apr 20126th Hong Kong Mineral Fair  第六屆香港礦物展
• Rock Currier - 4th Apr 2012A story about color rock
• Rick Dalrymple - 1st Apr 2012The Bullion Plaza Museum in Miami, AZ
• Chad Cramer - 29th Mar 2012Maine, New Show, New Venue
• Jolyon Ralph - 26th Mar 2012A Geological Timescale for Creationists
• Alfredo Petrov - 21st Mar 2012Mining Tourmaline in North Korea (and similar acts of mineralogical desperation)
• Olav Revheim - 21st Mar 2012Amphibole group minerals and their relationship
• Rock Currier - 19th Mar 2012Experts List: A detailed description of the work involved.
• Jessica and Robert Simonoff - 18th Mar 2012Gaithersburg, Maryland Club Show
• Arnaldo Brunetti - 12th Mar 2012 Jean-Pierre Beckerich.
• Rowan Lytle - 10th Mar 2012Notable Pockets In the Nathan Hall Quarry
• Etienne Medard - 9th Mar 2012Mineral identification