Minerals.net

I went around the The NY/NJ Gem & Mineral Show last Sunday looking around for interesting booths and asking some of the dealers to show me new or interesting minerals for our reports. I took photos of some of the items, and posted them for everyone below:

Click on the images below for larger pictures. The pop-up pictures can also be downloaded in a higher resolution by right clicking them to save them locally.)

Huge White Opal gem from Ethiopia, 45 ct.
Ethiopian Opal, Amde Zewdalem

Incredible Colorless Opal with play of color. This piece is fist size!
Ethiopian Opal, Amde Zewdalem

Artfully Shaped Double Malachite Stalactites from the DR Congo
Land of Crystals, Shurland & Cherylanne

Peach Stilbite Apophyllite Maharashtra, India

Peach Colored Stilbite with Apophyllite from Maharashtra, India
Though these Indian Zeolites are Very Common, this one Stood Out Incredibley
Land of Crystals, Shurland & Cherylanne

New Find of Purple Fluorite from the old Silver Mines of Tombstone, Arizona
Cassidy's Crystals, Nick & Cassidy Flanagan

Another Example of the Purple Fluorite from the old Silver Mines of Tombstone, Arizona
Cassidy's Crystals, Nick & Cassidy Flanagan

Amethyst Ellis Mine, Due West, South Carolina

Amethyst on matrix mined this year by Bryan Major from the Ellis Mine, Due West, South Carolina
Ultra-Rocks, Bryan Major

http://www.ultrarocks.org

Another Amethyst on matrix pulled out this year by Bryan from the Ellis Mine
Ultra-Rocks, Bryan Major

http://www.ultrarocks.org

Excellent gem-quality Ruby,30x27x22 mm, from the Winza Mina in Tanzania
Quest Minerals, Don Thompson

Spessartine matrix, from Nani, Loliondo, Tanzania

Orange Spessartine in Mn-rich Muscovite matrix, from Nani, Loliondo, Tanzania
These Spessartines have Recenly Flooded the Matrix, but I have yet to see a Matrix piece prior to this
Quest Minerals, Don Thompson

Stacked Pyrite Crystals from Navajun, Spain
Piritas de Navajun, Daniel Ulibarri

Suite of Rare Uranium Minerals from an Old Collection Recently Acquired by Michael Shannon
Shannon & Sons Minerals, Michael Shannon
http://www.shannonsminerals.com

Kasolite Crystals from from Kasolo, Congo

Rare Kasolite Crystals from the Above Suite from Kasolo, Congo
Shannon & Sons Minerals, Michael Shannon
http://www.shannonsminerals.com

Autunite Crystals from the Augeres Mine, Ambazac, Haute-vienne, France
Shannon & Sons Minerals, Michael Shannon
http://www.shannonsminerals.com

Polished Laguna Agate Slice with Excellent Banding from Mexico
Collected Between 2005-2014 and Polished by Alberto Rey
Del Rey Agates, Alberto Ray

A Very Large Laguna Agate Polished Nodule with Intricate Banding from Mexico
Collected Between 2005-2014 and Polished by Alberto Rey
Del Rey Agates, Alberto Ray

"Purple Passion Agate"- Agate with Natural Purple Color, Mined by Alberto Ray from his Mexican Deposit
Collected Between 2005-2014 and Polished by Alberto Rey
Del Rey Agates, Alberto Ray

Fibrous Sugilite N'Chwaning II Mine Kalahari Mn Deposit S. Africa

New Find of Fibrous Sugilite from the N'Chwaning II Mine in the Kalahari Mn Deposit of S. Africa
Throwin' Stones, Rusty James
http://www.throwinstones.com

Focus on One of the new Fibrous Sugilites from the N'Chwaning II Mine.
Throwin' Stones, Rusty James
http://www.throwinstones.com

Amethyst Goboboseb Mts, Erongo Region, Namibia

Amethyst/Smoky Quartz Scepter Depicted with its Original Photo
Original Collection of Charles Cecil
Crystal Junction, Aaron Robin

An Excellent Amethyst on Matrix from the Goboboseb Mts, Erongo Region, Namibia
Original Collection of Charles Cecil
Crystal Junction, Aaron Robin

Large Skelelal Amethyst from the Goboboseb Mts, Erongo Region, Namibia
Original Collection of Charles Cecil
Crystal Junction, Aaron Robin

The NY/NJ 2015 Gem & Mineral Show took place this past weekend, from April 10-12. We had a booth at the show promoting the Minerals.net website, and we were also selling some local mineral finds of New Jersey minerals. Special thanks to Juan Gonzalez for manning the booth this year!

This year's show featured an outstanding lecture series organized by Justin Zzyxx, with a nice turnout to all the lectures. Lecturers invited included well-known names such as Jolyon Ralph (Mindat), Evan Jones, John Cornish, David Eicher, Peter Lyckberg, and Justin Zzyxx. Although the fine minerals gallery with the larger dealers was absent this year, there were still good minerals booths and interesting things to see at the show, despite the large amount of bead and jewelry dealers.

The Franklin and Sterling Hill Museums together with some other collectors once again hosted a fabulous fluorescent display in a large room full of glowing rocks under ultraviolet light. Though there weren't many public exhibit showcases this year, I put together some interesting Prehnites from my collection, and Stan Parker had a dazzling display of brightly colored minerals from the New Jersey traprock occurrences.

Several collectors did show Hershel Friedman some new finds; these have been photographed and will be shown in a follow-up post. There seemed to be an abundance of Opal and Opal dealers at the show this year, though some of their items were spectacular, especially the Ethiopian material. For dinosaur enthusiasts, this show is a dream come true. There was a large section in the middle of the show full of large dinosaur replicas and full-size fossils, including a menacing-looking T-Rex. The previous years of this show also had great dinosaur exhibits, but this year was by far the most impressive yet.

Below are pictures of some of the show scenes. Stay tuned for additional posts that we'll be posting this week on this show!

Click on the images below for larger pictures. The pop-up pictures can also be downloaded in a higher resolution by right clicking them to save them locally.)

Juan Gonzalez (L) with Jolyon Ralph (R) of Mindat in the Minerals.net booth.
Jolyon purchased that excellent Sicilian Sulfur he is holding from Juan.
The Sulfur was originally from the collection of Jack Troy.

Bryan Major of Ultra-Rocks came into our booth to show me his Minerals.net cap.
The worn out one on the right is the one he wears all the time while digging.
I gave him the new one on the left to wear when he's at shows or just not digging.