A Mineral to Call My Own

As I peer through my microscope at the otherwise unseen world of microminerals, I recall that most newly described minerals occur in this domain. The pages of mineral journals devoted to recent discoveries describe crystals that are measured in microns and named after localities or mineralogists. Occasionally I fantasize about discovering a new mineral species among the pegmatites of New England, but I’ll have to settle for the near misses I describe below, each of which momentarily took my breath away:

Hemmorhageite: bright red spots on shards of quartz and albite that turned out to be my own blood, shed from unnoticed cuts.

Algaeite: enticing green patches on weathered albite, also called pseudoberyl.

Krylonite: specks of orange spray paint used by quarry workers.

Fivegallonite: A curled white micromineral that turned out to be a shaving from the inside of the plastic bucket that I used to carry my specimens.

Windshieldite: I found my first "diamond" in the street when I was seven years old.

Dustite: brightly fluorescent specks on any specimen left out on the shelf for a while.

Marlborolite: colorful litter causes more than a few double takes.

Cheddarite: I found this one under the ‘scope after eating cheese doodles one night.

Critterite: minute bugs who seek vugs for their own dark purposes.

Sci-fite: Critterite that's moving!

Pollenite: a seasonal micromineral, nothing to sneeze at.

Fantasite: enormous gemmy pocket crystal that disappears when I wake up.

Lichenite: eye-catching bright yellow druses on weathered granite ledges.

Splatterite: purple reminder that birds visited the locality before you did.

Ifonlyite: perfect matrix imprint of desirable mineral, now long gone.

Heinekenite: not a shard of gemmy tourmaline.

While I stumble through these and others, Gilmoreite will have to wait.

Paul Gilmore

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