Sapphire, pyrrhotite, wulfenite, pyromorphite, aquamarine, zircon, calcite, morganite, polibasyte and proustite, tourmaline, fluorite, scheelite! simply awsome!

Topaz, Scheelite, Fluorite, Pyrrhotite, Copper, Silver, Millerite from Spain to Pakistan, Russia, Mexico and Michigan! to take your breath away!

From top to bottom:
Topaz in Calcite matrix - From Katlang, Mardan District, Northwest Frontier Province, Pakistan. Scheelite set with Quartz on matrix - From the Gharmung Area, Skardu District, Baltistan, Northern Areas of Pakistan.
Fluorite with blades of white Barite - From Berbes, Berbes Mining Area, Ribadesella, Asturias, Spain.
Acanthite and curling Native Silver wires - From the Reyes Mine in Guanajuato, Mexico.
Pyrrhotites on Quartz crystals - From the Nikolaevskiy Mine, Dal'negorsk, Primorskiy Kray, Russia.
Native Copper - From the Calumet & Hecla Mine, Calumet, Houghton County, Michigan.
Botryoidal Chalcedony and fine Millerite crystals - From Halls Gap, Lincoln County, Kentucky.
Red Beryl crystals in and atop Rhyolite matrix - From the Wah Wah Mountains near Delta, Utah.
Boleite with Calcite on hand matrix - From Boleo, Baja California, Mexico.

Bloody minerals shouldn't be a bad word in UK, some as this red!

Legrandite and Adamite from the famous Ojuela Mine in Mapimi, Durango Mexico, and of quartz... many more

Monoclinic prismatic Legrandite crystals with Limonite matrix From the Ojuela Mine in Mapimi, Durango, Mexico - Zn2(AsO4)(OH)•(H2O) - Named after the Belgian mining engineer, Legrande.





Trigonal hexagonal scalenohedral Rhodochrosite in cluster on Quartz crystals from the Hedgehog Pocket, Main Stope Drift, Sweet Home Mine, Alma, Colorado - MnCO3 - From the Greek rhodon -"rose" and chroma - "color."




Hexagonal dihexagonal dipyramidal Beryl var. Aquamarine crystal with tourmaline Schorl rom the Erongo Mine, Namibia, SW Africa - Be3Al2Si6O18 - From the ancient Greek, beryllos, signifying a "precious blue-green color of sea water" stone.




Orthorhombic dipyramidal Barite crystal on reddish Hematite & Dolomite covered matrix from Frizington, West Cumberland Iron Field, North and Western Region (Cumberland), Cumbria, England - BaSO4 - From the Greek, baryos, "heavy."




Trigonal ditrigonal pyramidal Pyrargyrite crystals on top of Calcite rhombs from the Samson Mine, St. Andreasberg, Harz, Germany - Ag3SbS3 - From the Samson Mine, St. Andreasberg, Harz, Germany. From the Greek, pyr and argyros, "fire-silver" in allusion to color and silver content.




Orthorhombic dipyramidal Forsterite var. Peridot on Magnetite from Sapat Gali, Naran-Kagan Valley, Kohistan District, North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan - Mg2(SiO4) -
Named for Johann Forster, German naturalist.





Orthorhombic dipyramidal Adamite clusters on Limonite from the Ojuela Mine, Mapimí, Durango, Mexico - Zn2(AsO4)(OH) - Named after the French mineralogist Gilbert Joseph Adam (1795-1881).

Rhodochrosite, Calcite, Scheelite, Spessartine, Pyrrhotite, Millerite, and more all together in one post!

In order of appearance from the top down:

Rhombs of Rhodochrosite atop Tetrahedrite and Quartz matrix! From the Sweet Home Mine, Alma, Park County, Colorado.
Measures 3.1 cm by 3 cm by 3.5 cm in total size.

Twinned Golden Calcite with Sphalerite on matrix! From the Denton Mine, Harris Creek District, Hardin County, Illinois.
Measures 7 cm by 7.2 cm by 5.2 cm in total size.

Scheelite crystal with glassy Adularia! From Mt Xuebaoding, Pingwu Co., Mianyang Prefecture, Sichuan Province of China. Measures 7.3 cm by 5.5 cm by 4.4 cm in total size.

Spessartine Garnet with dark botryoidal Goethite! From Tongbei, Yunxiao Co., Zhangzhou Prefecture, Fujian Province, China.
Measures 12.5 cm by 10.2 cm in size.

Large pyramidal Pyrrhotites on Quartz crystals! From the Nikolaevskiy Mine, Dal'negorsk, Primorskiy Kray, Russia.
Measures 7 cm by 12.6 cm by 10 cm in total size.

Cavern of botryoidal Chalcedony and fine Millerite crystals! From Halls Gap, Lincoln County, Kentucky.
Measures 7.2 cm by 11 cm by 6.8 cm in size.

Lustrous crystals of Pyrargyrite nestled between brown Calcite crystals and casts!From Level 630 of the San Guillermo Vein, San Luis Shaft, Fresnillo, Zacatecas, Mexico.
Measures 3 cm by 4.5 cm in size.

Combination of Barite and Gypsum crystals on Yellow Calcite! From the Elk Creek locality, Dalzell, Meade County, South Dakota.
Measures 7.5 cm by 15.3 cm by 12.5 cm in size.

Simply Amazing!

If you want to buy beautiful minerals, bring lots of money!

A good challenge: Walk the aisles of the Tucson Gem and Mineral show, and mentally buy the ones you like! I confess, I spent millions in less than 100 yards wow! Here, in order of appearance: rhodochrosite, emerald, again rhodochrosite, native silver, kunzite, fluorite/barite acanthite, native copper and ruby red beryl. Impressive specimens that adorn the museums and private collections, like that of Rep. Romero de Tehuacan Puebla, a beautiful museum with amazing specimens such as legrandita, adamite, pyrites from Naica, etc. I used to take my students to this museum on an unforgettable journey of two days, after visiting the museum, Dr. Romero used to take us to a tour around his state of the art chicken farm. I lost track of my students, and obviously of the Mineral Museum of Tehuacan, unique in Mexico at least in the 80's, of course, the Deputy Romero died a few years ago.

In a recent visit I did to a gem & mineral show in Houston, I saw specimens worth almost $100,000 USD, I could not believe it. That inspired my title of this post. May 2011