So this is my Mindat page, probably worth having since everyone who knows me is aware of how into mineralogy and geology I am. I suppose that's mostly the fault of Stafford McKnight, lecturer at the University of Ballarat where I obtained my degree. His love for minerals is infectious. Most of the specimens that I upload are going to be from either Victoria, Mount Isa or Broken Hill. I have a special interest in radioactive minerals, but there is a relative paucity of them around Victoria, unless you love ironstone. The Lake Boga locality is just up the road from me however, handy to have the best radioactive location close to you if you are interested I guess. I tend to find more fluorapatite and torbernite by cracking open granite blocks used around the district in irrigation channels than actually visiting the quarry!

Many of the photos I upload aren't necessarily the showiest samples, but I feel that the more ordinary appearances of minerals should be represented to aid students and non-experts to identify them, where showcase specimens may leave out information such as the appearance of the minerals cleavage, or what it may look like after spending 120 years on a mine dump.


Current Project
I am currently completing my Honours in geology, my thesis being (something) on the tin pegmatites of the Glen Wills area in the Australian Alps. So far it has proven interesting, having found a previously undocumented zoned pegmatite which contains rare phosphates, tin and tantalum.