Super new selenites – sharp, lustrous, transparent, textbook crystals, like crystal models. These crystals are fluorescent with vivid hourglass patterns, and they are also phosphorescent.

As you may have seen in my Tucson blog post, a recent find at Orange River, South Africa has produced some beautiful quartz crystals with exquisite sharp red phantoms. I’ve posted them in this Red Phantom Quartz Update.

I’ve posted some great new pieces in this Brazil Update. These include gorgeous stars of rutile on hematite from Novo Horizonte, older specimens of cyclically-twinned rutile from Diamantina, and beautiful muscovite crystals from Mantena, Minas Gerais.

I’ve posted the first of the new Tucson specimens in this Wodginite Update. These are sharp, lustrous wodginite crystals from a small recent find in the Linopolis district, near Divino das Larajeiras, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

The Tucson Gem and Mineral show was great this year! This report includes photos of mineral specimens from many new finds.

I’ve added some excellent specimens in this Russia Update. In particular, there are some super, transparent, colourless fluorites from Dal’negorsk, with crystals exhibiting up to five crystal forms. Among these area couple of great overgrowth and phantom pieces. This update also includes some great calcite specimens, with some fascinating crystal forms, and some fine datolite specimens with sharp crystals.

I’ve posted some beautiful new specimens in this Morocco Update, includingazurite from Kerrochen and Bou Beker, vanadinite from Taouz, pyrite-coated fluorite from El Hammam, purple fluorite from Tounfit, twinned cerussite from Mibladen and quartz on siderite from Gourrama.

I’ve posted a small number of beautiful atacamite specimens in this new Peru Atacamite Update. These are sharp, lustrous, terminated atacamite crystals in vugs, from the Lily Mine, near Pisco, Ica.

I’ve posted excellent new Kazakhstan dioptase specimens in the Dioptase Update – May 2016.. These beautiful specimens were mined in 2015, and acquired from the team currently conducting specimen mining at Altyn Tyube soon afterward.

I’ve added some excellent specimens of lazulite from the Rapid Creek occurrences in this Yukon Lazulite Update. These occurrences are very remote and the costs are high, so specimen collection efforts are few and far between, and it is hard to obtain fine specimens.

I’ve added some beautiful, gemmy, twinned calcite crystals in this Elmwood Calcite Update. Over the years, the miners referred to the large orange Elmwood calcite crystals as “footballs”, and they referred to the clear gemmy calcites in this update as “jewels”. These are from a pocket found in late 2014 – most specimens were damaged and these are exceptional.

I’ve added a few excellent new specimens in this Morocco Update. This update includes some particularly fine and unusual pieces – some are rather colourful!