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Techniques for CollectorsHow did you get started to micromounting

2nd Sep 2014 02:39 UTCturtledove thrushe

I thought I would start this topic and see how other fellow collectors got started with collecting micromount specimens.I would like to introduce and tell how I began. Earlier this year with looking at acquiring rare silver minerals such as Proustite from classic or closed localities (ie Germany). I realized that such a similar specimen in thumbnail size would be simply too expensive and also extremely rare to find (making it even more expensive). I did manage to acquire some Micromount specimens and I can say that they are a welcome addition to my collection. In my opinion I find that once you look at them through a loupe the crystal quality is unmatched and similarily quality examples would probably cost hundreds if not thousands more. The best part about micromounts is that they take up very little space compared to cabinet/miniature specimens and usually cost very little to acquire even for the rare micromounts.

I appreciate the comments and inputs on this topic. Happy Micromounting.

2nd Sep 2014 06:50 UTCJean Marie Laurent

Hi !
I realized that such a similar specimen in thumbnail size would be simply too expensive and also extremely rare to find (making it even more expensive). I did manage to acquire some Micromount specimens and I can say that they are a welcome addition to my collection. In my opinion I find that once you look at them through a loupe the crystal quality is unmatched and similarily quality examples would probably cost hundreds if not thousands more. The best part about micromounts is that they take up very little space compared to cabinet/miniature specimens and usually cost very little to acquire even for the rare micromounts.

Same conclusions as you !

I started micromounts collecting 26 years ago. Now, I'm looking micromounts in old mine works, mainly in south of France.

Regards

2nd Sep 2014 12:16 UTCGary Moldovany

Now you have to get a microscope, Vitya!

2nd Sep 2014 12:53 UTCDan Fountain

I tend to collect thumbnails and micros because I seldom find aesthetic specimens any larger!

2nd Sep 2014 15:31 UTCHenry Barwood

I became interested in micromounts in 1967 when a dealer set up a scope at the "Wind Creek Swap" in central Alabama. He had some hematite from Michigan that had nice crystals for sale and was using the scope so people could see the crystals. I was fascinated, and a few months later paid a fellow from Birmingham for the direction to the old Indian Mountain phosphate locality. Within the year I acquired an inexpensive microscope and began to study micro phosphates. In the 1980's I became interested in the Arkansas syenites and have maintained a parallel study of phosphates and syenites since.

I think you sort of have to have a fascination with the small and unseen to really be captured by micro minerals.

2nd Sep 2014 16:30 UTCDonald B Peck Expert

In 1962, I was in the "lumps and pieces" phase of collecting. Then one night I attended a local club meeting where Neil Yedlin showed slides of his micros. MY reaction: "That's for me!". And I have been collecting micros ever since. I would add that Neil very generously shared extra material and was a major factor in getting another club member and me established.

2nd Sep 2014 18:58 UTCDoug Daniels

In college, in 1974 in New Mexico, when I got to visit some "real" collecting locations (I won't mention which). It was much easier to find small pieces, with m/m potential, than to find the "big money-makers". After college, I joined the Houston Gem & Mineral Society, and was further introduced to micros thru the late Art Smith. Then had to get a scope, my first being a cheap one from (the late) David Shannon Minerals; cheap, but it worked well at 10X. As others have said, it's easier to get good micros, either when collecting or through purchase, than to get a good TN or larger. And the space savings, each specimen is protected in a solid box,......

2nd Sep 2014 19:29 UTCEugene & Sharon Cisneros Expert

Over the years, I have examined thousands of specimens through the microscope in the course our business and I have eventually realized that no better morphology or beauty could be found in larger specimens. That coupled with my interest in mineral photography set the stage for my final collecting adventure. This also has the advantage of not having to leave a very valuable collection for my children to dispose of, not to mention the storage space advantage. Unfortunately, while the collection is very manageable in size and weight, the desk full of photographic apparatus is now an issue, at around 200lbs. :-D

Gene

2nd Sep 2014 20:00 UTCJohannes Swarts

As others have mentioned:

storage space - several thousand in the volume of a small refrigerator

easy to acquire/collect/trade

even "barren" rocks/outcrops can produce specimens

quality and perfection of crystals

unusual crystal habits & species associations

much broader range of species available, even rare ones

Charlie Weber talked me into trying micromounting at one of the first Springfield Gem & Minerals show.

I've gotten rid of most of my cabinet pieces, and have never looked back...

2nd Sep 2014 20:44 UTCPascal Chollet Expert

I sarted collecting micromounts quite at the same time I started collecting minerals. I was living in south of France and as a teenager one of the very firts locality I visited was (my now beloved...) Cap-Garonne mine, in the mid eighties. So a micromount collection early became an evidence for me.

Pascal

2nd Sep 2014 23:43 UTCNorbert Fuchs

Hallo,

es war ein Kurs an einer Fachschule für Steinbearbeitung an der ich zum erstenmal

durch ein Mikroskop kristallisierte Mineralien betrachten konnte.

Das hat mich so begeistert,dass ich seit dem Micros sammle.

3rd Sep 2014 01:11 UTCToby Billing

I've really only collected Micros in the past few years, I'm not sizest though and have specimens from the size of a grain of sand to as big as I can carry :-D . Part of the reason I'm now adding more and more micros is that I'm now collecting species in general and tiny ones are, as mentioned above, far more affordable and often far better specimens than their larger brethren.

I partly blame Steve Sorrell and Mindat in general for the vast amount of little plastic boxes that now infest my office!

I feel that I have a much deeper appreciation of minerals in general than I did 10 years ago simply though the amazing quality of many micro specimens that simply do not occur in larger specimens or are unobtainable as such.

3rd Sep 2014 06:00 UTCDouglas Merson 🌟 Expert

In June of 1975 the US Navy saw fit to assign me to a ship homeported in Hawaii. We found a very active club in Honolulu and started collecting. Most of the material was micro and I did not have a scope. My wife found a used scope for sale and it ended up under the Christmas tree in 1975. I have been hooked ever since. We moved from Hawaii to Washington state in 1978 and the best collecting was for micros. Along the way I got addicted to Mont Saint-Hilaire and have a fair selection of material from there even though I was never fortunate to collect there.

3rd Sep 2014 21:35 UTCRock Currier Expert

I was never much interested in micros till Neal Yedlan started to show me micros in his basement in New Haven, Connecticut. So then I had to buy a 10x loupe so I could look at specimens more closely. Especially things from Franklin. Soon after returning to California I went out and bought an American Optical zoom binocular scope that I started to use and still do to this day augmented with one of the fine Wild M5 scopes.

I once started to take a course in optical mineralogy at Cal State LA, or rather got permission to audit the course. I had never had a single course in geology or any of the related fields except chemistry and I had to undergo an interview by the department head so that he could determine if I had enough general knowledge of mineralogy and optics to be able to handle the course material. I apparently passed inspection and I was given a seat in the back of the class and my own petrographic scope (student model) and started in. I even got to work on making my own thin section. I didn't finish the class because I had to run my fledgling mineral business and had to take a trip to India or some other place. However it did give me an insight on the power and usefulness of good microscopes. You know how the instructor/professor always has his special super duper scope that he uses that the students are never allowed to touch? Well I recently got a couple of those, but wonder if I will ever find the time to learn how to use them properly.

Ultimately I encounter the opportunity to buy the micro collection of Bob Massey of Tucson, Arizona. That combined with the offer of Dick Thompssen to actually make the micros up for me if I would provide the micro material, corks and boxes pushed me over the edge. So that when ever my company Jewel Tunnel bought a collection or got in a batch of minerals from somewhere I would "demicro" the whole pile and send the stuff over to Dick to make into micros. I always try and send him a bunch of the same thing, if I have access to it. This way he can get micros for himself and swap around for other micros or give it away at MM conferences if he wishes. I did take it upon myself the task of labeling the micros he provides me, and to do this I developed a computer program to catalog specimens and print up labels from the info in the database. The big problem with the program is that it is rather complex, though perhaps not quite as complex as Word, and the label making part of it operates like a CAD program and that is more than most people want to deal with. But it works well enough form me. It sort of all has boiled down that I send him stuff on an irregular basis, and once a year at Tucson, Dick shows up with a couple of flats full of micro boxes for me. I feel really guilty because sitting about a yard to my left are the two flats of stuff he gave me at Tucson this year that I have yet to put labels on. But, Ill get to them sometime after the Denver show. And that reminds me I need to gather up all the micro stuff that has been accumulating and send it over to him in Tucson. Once in my youth, Dick hired me to assist him in sampling the Golden Queen mine near Mojave for the Mudd family mining interests and it was a fascinating insight to see how a well trained and knowledgeable geologist went about this task. It also gave me an appreciation for his fine mind and considerable knowledge and we have been friend ever since.

I would encourage micro mounters out there to form similar relationships with other mineral dealers. For instance, why don't one of you approach Mike New or Stan Esbenshade, or Mark Kielbaso of Tucson and propose a similar partnership. It would be a great way for you to get a lot of good micros that you would otherwise not get and at the same time, save a lot of good micros from being thrown out with the specimen trimmings.

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