Legrandite

Legrandite is one of my favorite minerals, first of all, is a rare specimen with a single worldwide location, and that is the "Ojuela Mine" in Mapimi, state of Durango in Mexico, a mine I had the chance to visit several times during 1985, and from where I collected other related minerals, such as Adamite, cobaltoadamite, goethite, malachite, hemimorphite, wulfenite, etc.

The name "legrandite: is in honor of the Ojuela's first mine superintendent in the late 1800's, Monsieur Legrande, a mining engineer from Belgium.

The most beautiful legrandite specimen I've ever seen, was in what is now the Museum of Mineralogy in Tehuacan, Puebla, founded by a passed friend of mine Mr. Miguel Romero (Mexican Congressman in the late 80's). The years I taught Mineralogy (1987-1989), I used to take my Mineralogy students to see Mr. Romeros' mineral museum, and they loved the beauty, variety and quality of this collection. Those trips were very educative field trips that I of course enjoyed as well.

This is the URL to the museum in case you'd like to visit: http://puebla-tehuacan.wexico.com/Tehuacan/Museo/index.html, I plan to do that as soon as feasible.

Chemical Formula:
Zn2(AsO4)(OH)·(H2O) - Hydrated Zinc Arsenate Hydroxide

Environment: Secondary mineral in zinc ore bodies.
Locality: Ojuela mine near Mapimi, Durango.

More data: http://webmineral.com/data/Legrandite.shtml
I own some of these specimens, one I consider of superb high quality, will publish the picture one fine day.
In the meantime, have a good day, and I see you on my next post.

XXI century's gold rush

This is my new blog, I hope you enjoy the topics. I will discuss minerals, localities, names, origins, and links to sites, so that you can discover the beautiful world of Mineralogy, and its intrinsec relation with the global economy.

I hold a BS in Geological Engineering from the Faculty of Engineering of UNAM (http://www.ingenieria.unam.mx/menu_principal.php) in Mexico City, wherein, I taught the subject of Mineralogy back in the late 80's. I served as Vicepresident of the Mexican Mineralogical Society, and moved to the USA in 1989 to work for Cooper Industries as Sales Manager for Latin America. I completed an MBA from Devry University in Houston, Texas in June 2007.

Allright, enough with the presentations, let's move foreward, and start the blog. I'll start discussing one of the most precious metals on earth: Gold.

Gold / Oro (Spanish for gold)
Name Origin: Anglo Saxon, of uncertain origin.
Chemical Formula: Au
Composition: Gold 100.00 % Au
Molecular Weight = 196.97 gm
Environment:
Quartz veins and alluvial deposits.
Locality: Sierra Nevada Mountains, Nome, Alaska and many other places in the world. Link to MinDat.org for more location Data.
Picture: http://www.webmineral.com/specimens/picshow.php?id=461

XXI Gold rush

Is the gold rush here to stay, or will our money invested in such precious metal remain flat for years to come, just the way it happened during the 80's and 90's? Is it true that gold is a great investment when there is an ongoing war? One thing is for sure: gold is going up in price, beating new records, but even so, my recommendation after careful review, for those that have some surplus money: diversify! invest just a portion of your money in gold; don't put all the eggs in one basket.

This is a good website to check the price of gold: http://goldprice.org/ and if you like the song "Gold" check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSq8ZBdSxNU this was a song performed by the Spandau Ballet in the 80's.

Happy 2008.

Any comments?