The gypsum specimens that Ed is referring are mine ( https://www.mindat.org/photo-1221917.html and https://www.mindat.org/photo-1221918.html ). The reason why the MinID's are separate is because they each have their own catalog number (JKB3117 and JKB3118) . As far as I know I've created a unique ...

Perhaps my favorite "synthetic" rock, a broken Guerrero, Mexico amethyst artificially repaired by hydrothermal solution quartz. My original specimen came from Harris Precht. Before the specimen was altered the dimensions were approximately 5 x 5 x 3.7 cmAfter the specimen was altered the dimensions ...

Hydrothermally grown synthetic quartz after a first generation of "Pecos Diamond" by Vlad Klipov.  6.3 cm x 3.3 cm x 3.5 cm  

Some smaller microscopic chunks of synthetic rhodochrosite grown by Vlad. I'm not sure what the brown blobs are, but probably some iron impurity that snuck in the autoclave.

Here is a microscopic cluster of hydrothermally grown rhodochrosite crystals by Vlad Klipov

There is a website I commonly use called Historicaerials.com for researching old localities. The Bridgeport and King of Prussia area has had a very long history of stone quarrying so you might have some difficulty.   The "Limestone Quarry" link that Harold provided I believe was called the ...

Thanks for pointing that out and correcting it. Bob's label did have hydromagnesite and I even had put hydromagnesite on the catalog entry, but accidentally selected the wrong mineral and then uploaded it.

For localities that use web links, the web link should have the authors last name(s) and year to link with that specific reference. This dead link is referencing this specific 2009 paper as it has the year 2009 in the dead link as well as the volume and number:  Diemar, G.A.,  Filella ...

I’m confused about the actual locality of the new Nigerian fluorites which started coming out in 2022. These new Nigerian fluorites are typically an inky blue color, though I’ve seen blue-green crystals as well, though not as common. The majority I’ve seen are coated with stout quartz ...

It was nice seeing some "old friends" here. I visited the museum a few years ago and the exhibits were really well lit and well maintained. I agree with Jolyon that the labeling is extremely poor, which is one my biggest criticisms here. When I visited in 2018, I took hundreds of pictures of ...

The "Stargate" is from Jalgaon in Maharashtra State.

I've updated the description to include the tephroite.

It looks like baryte to me. I really wish that Bob Harman's "Midwest Sedimentary Geode" thread had been preserved, but apparently it has been deleted from a previous version of Mindat. It would have been an excellent resource for you as he has collected numerous times in that region of Indiana.

Both captions are now fixed.

Daniel Russell parodied Rob's descriptions of his minerals in this now 15 year old photograph that was featured as a POTD for April Fools. Dan had a great sense of humor and this photograph still gets a chuckle out of me. On a personal note, the Cook's were part of our mineral club here in ...

Prior to uploading my photograph, I noticed that Dominico had uploaded this photograph taken by Matteo Chinellato thirteen years ago. The mineral assemblage on this specimen and Bob's specimen are identical, but Dominico's specimen was attributed to Mount Somma, while the one that Bob had acquired ...

Rather than get shut out for a fourth year, the Micromineral Society of CMNHis holding an abbreviated symposium at a rather unique venue. We hope youwill be able to join us and perhaps raise a glass to memorable past symposia. Note: This year's symposium will only be two days rather than three ...

I wanted to respond to both Paul and Herwig’s comment on the photo in question:   First and foremost, I do appreciate the comments and criticisms.  In this situation I was at the mercy of Bob’s label and looking at the specimen both the questionable minerals it appeared to me that ...

I would be fairly confident that this was likely collected from the upper levels of the Pugh Quarry. It was open to collectors during the 1960s and 1970s and hundreds of thousands of specimen were collected in the open cave pockets which exposed these crystals. After 1980, collecting was restricted ...

These remind me of the azurite included gypsum crystals that were once found in the vicinity of the Ray Mine, Arizona some twenty years ago.  The Arizona specimens are alluvial in origin.I'm thinking that the blue needles in Jean's case might also be gypsum as well.

I remember back in 2016 when Alex was still in High School that he had requested some fossils for his science olympiad team. I had donated a whole bunch of specimens from my collection and was surprised that he even found some nice mimetite crystals in a Ojuela Mine specimen I sent  him. Here ...

Another possible locality for Tom’s specimen is Cottonwood Draw near Roswell, New Mexico. This locality I think is a more recent producing site. 

This label of a tanzanite specimen that Jolyon took for one his show reports is still pretty funny.

Bob Harman had a similar specimen, though he says its aragonite and not calcite. See this thread: https://www.mindat.org/mesg-545947.html

Bob Harman had a thread titled "Midwest USA Sedimentary Geodes", but it seems to have been deleted or was erased by a server crash(?), which would have been an excellent thread for Nathan to see similar geodes from Indiana. Bob did create a few threads on celestine, dolomite and baryte, etc. ...

Another classic Egremont, England "Heart" twin. This one is in the Carnegie Museum of Natural History

Drexel University has a copy of the Philadelphia Academy of Science's catalog likely in a repository somewhere ( https://archivalcollections.drexel.edu/repositories/3/archival_objects/17549 ) and probably is in a format like microfiche. 

Perhaps this isn't a "fail" per se, but I wanted to share a letter from the micromount collection of Clarence Domire (1942-2001), which I purchased several years ago. Clarence was a collector from Northern Virginia and was involved in several mineral clubs. Most of the micromount material that ...

I don't know if this has ever been asked (I couldn't find it in a Mindat search), but I'm confused as to why some mineral names have elemental suffixes with parentheses, e.g. monazite-(Ce) or joaquinite-(Ce), while some others do not, e.g. stilbite-Ca or labuntsovite-Mn. I was under the impression ...

Looks like a classic Quartz epimorph after fluorite specimen from Rampgill Mine, Alston Moor, England ( https://www.mindat.org/loc-29675.html ). Your piece is fantastic Kim!

"User only" follow up request:   I would like to make a recommendation for photos places in the "User Only", specifically those flagged for either "Locality Uncertain" or "Identity Uncertain". If a manager flags a photo as "locality Uncertain", I would like a follow up email giving at least a ...

There is are several housing developments in Fishers, Indiana that have entire housing blocks that are themed named (race horses, football teams, trees, etc.) This particular housing block has several roads named after minerals.

I've recently been photographing through some micromounts I've recently acquired, especially a wide variety of anatase specimens from Bob Rothenburg's micromount collection. Here is one from Lake Sandungen, Norway (Sure the photo's crummy but my setup is basically using an old Ipad to hover over ...

Another view of the dolomite. Again, not great crystals...

Looking at the specimen, I would completely with you Johan that the sulfide is pyrite (I've also fixed the description of another specimen from the same locality). The main carbonate is calcite, again pretty obvious when you look at it under the scope. You can see transparent rhombs and a few ...

I agree with Dana. Furthermore the specimen’s paragenesis, especially the presence of quartz and the time period in which it was collected likely narrow it down to the Davis-Deardorff Mine as its source. 

Robertson Pit Quarry, Washington State, Incorrect Species IdentificationJohn, not only have I added you as the collector, but also the story above. Do you know when it was collected? I can also add that to the photo as well. Also I'm surprised that the information is not on the specimen "widget" ...

I believe that this is a fine grained dolomite/galena specimen you would see from the Sweetwater Mine or another Viburnum Trend mine in Missouri, rather than from the Denton Mine. I highly doubt its from Southern Illinois. Good galena crystals were found at the Denton Mine.

I can see why Rob may have thought this was strontianite because if its acicular habit, but this specimen isn't strontianite, but actually celestine. Celestine was one of the more uncommon minerals in the district until its discovery at the Annabel Lee Mine in the late 1980s and these "fan-like" ...

Thanks Mark and Herwig. I guess the old addage "Hidden in plain site" worked here perfectly. I didn't realize both the Denison label and the non-Denison label were both the same collector.

The original label attributes this specimen to the "Barge Canal" in Rochester, New York. The Erie Canal system was called the "New York State Barge Canal" after an expansion and modernization program that started in 1905 and was finished in 1918. The modernization and the new route of the canal ...

Baryte, Annabel Lee Mine, Sub-Rosiclare Level, Harris Creek District, Hardin County, Illinois. This specimen was in the former collection of Tom Wiesner.True psuedomorphs from the Southern Illinois Fluorspar District are very rare. The majority of specimens are primary in origin and are effectively ...

After acquiring another Philadelphia Academy of Science specimen, I learned that the Academy knew about the labeling shenanigans in the Vaux collection. Drexel University ( https://archivalcollections.drexel.edu/repositories/3/archival_objects/17549 ) has the museum catalogs archived into boxes. ...

I'm being nitpicky here, but this seems to be a referendum more on incomplete, rather than inaccurate information.  I'm more lenient on my criticism when it comes to incomplete reference information as in Erin's example, rather than inaccurate information (such as Mindat continuing to use MRDS ...

I’m a little confused here… The Rogerley Mine (https://www.mindat.org/loc-4995.html) and the Diana Maria Mine (https://www.mindat.org/loc-187288.html) are a sub-localities of the Rogerley Quarry (https://www.mindat.org/loc-219630.html); and The Lady Annabella Mine is a sub-locality of the ...

Fixed, thanks Peter, Mark, Jeff and Uwe. I must have missed the original email (was one even sent?) that sent to me about the specimen, which is why it wasn't corrected. (Also easiest way to get a hold of me is by email or Private message. I usually just skim over the latest forum topics here, so I ...

There was an actual Cave-in-Rock Mine, though it wasn't a major producer. It was located southwest of the Crystal and Victory Mines. It was located in Cave-in-Rock Township (Township 12 S), Range 9 E, Section 4, NE 1/4 . The following is from Circular 604, (Denny et al., 2020).     ...

I acquired several years ago this gypsum from West Virginia. The crystallization is from post-mining coal mining operations. 

In the early versions on Fleischer's Glossary of Mineral Species, the books actually had checklists next to mineral names. Two former club members of ours, Bill and Anne Cook, use to go to the Tucson show with a trusty copy of Fleischer's and would buy rarities for their collection, comparing the ...

It's there, it just happens to be listed as "User Gallery Only", rather than public images, which is why it didn't show up.