Hi, and thanks for taking a moment to visit my home page. I've been collecting minerals for over 25 years and before that, as a geology student, I was collecting rocks and fossils and just about anything that came out of the ground. I'm originally from England, but in 1983 my wife Angela and I emigrated to South Africa, where I worked as a mineralogist in the mining industry for seven years. During that time I was fortunate to work as a consultant for the Tsumeb Corporation Ltd and - surprise, surprise(!)- that got me started on minerals!

Shortly after our eldest son was born, we moved back to the UK in 1990, and lived there for the next thirteen years, adding a lot of British minerals to the collection. In 2003 we relocated to Australia, which we already regard as our permanent home. My collection, however, is still very much focused on southern African and English minerals. Somehow I haven't yet added more than a handful of Australia specimens to the collection, though I suspect the floodgates may open at some time in the not too distant future.

So what do I collect? Well, I guess the geologist in me has kept the collection very much based around specific localities, and I tend to pursue suites of minerals from each locality that interests me. I won't be alone in putting Tsumeb top of my list of favourites, but I also have specimen suites from many Namibian and South African localities - Berg Aukas, Erongo, Onganja, Phalaborwa are great favourites. As far as England is concerned, Cornwall's combination of history, geology, mineralogy, and sheer natural beauty is irresistable, and I have particular soft spots for Gorland arsenates, Herodsfoot sulphides, and cassiterites from just about any mine south of the Tamar. Most of my specimens are in the thumbnail to small cabinet size-range, but I also have a lot of micromounts. Size really doesn't matter!

When it comes to photography I'm a complete beginner, but I'd like to post a few pictures to Mindat as my results improve, just to share some of my favourites and ideas.

I'd be delighted to hear from anyone with similar interests - particularly regarding the southern African localities. Please feel free to get in touch, and happy collecting!