The Fascinating World of Minerals

Snapshot of a Mineral Collector

By

Sarah Watkins

I started collecting minerals when I was 8 years old. Whenever my parents and I would go into one of those nifty science or education stores, I would see the nice polished colored stones and I just wanted to own one of each. I started collecting them and learning about them. I’ve always liked color so when I discovered that the same mineral can appear in many totally different forms and colors, I wanted to know why. That spurred a lifelong curiosity about – and love of – minerals, my completion of a Bachelor’s Degree in Geology and my pursuit of a Master’s Degree in Volcanology.

I now have over 70 different minerals in my collection, and well over a hundred samples. I’m still fascinated by the minerals that can take many different forms (like Tiger’s Eye, Amethyst, Agate and Chalcedony all being varieties of Quartz), especially the ones that come in many colors. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to collect enough Fluorite – I never get tired of the colors it comes in. In fact, I have two favorite samples out of all the minerals I’ve purchased (and more out of the minerals I’ve collected) and one of them is a fluorite plate. The fluorite plate is rectangular and 10 cm by 15 cm and about 1.5 cm thick. In that sample is every color I have ever seen fluorite come in: it’s striped green and blue and purple and gray and clear and yellow. And it’s all the same mineral! My other favorite out of my purchased minerals is a septarian nodule. It’s an egg shaped slab 25 cm across and 2.5 cm thick. The middle of the egg is missing, like a broken window, but the remaining edges are encrusted with small amber-yellow-golden brown crystals. I bought the sample at my first Geological Society of American conference, and when I got home and was unloading my car, my arms were too full and I dropped it. It broke into about 8 big pieces and a dozen smaller ones. I’d wanted a sample like that for years, so I was just devastated/furious when I dropped it. Once I had calmed down, I glued it back together and, from the polished side of the sample, you can’t tell it was ever broken.

My favorite samples that I actually collected are from New Mexico and Nevada. The sample from New Mexico is out of a volcanic ash deposit from Mt. Taylor. I was taking a course on field volcanology and out of our stops was a good exposure of Mt. Taylor ash beds. There are garnet, topaz and quartz crystals mixed in with the layers of ash. To think that something like ash from an exploding volcano can have garnet and topaz crystals is just the coolest thing ever. I spent time looking for the best sample I could find, despite waist high prickly weeds, the threat of snakes, and the blazing hot sun overhead.

I have two favorites from Nevada: one from the Rainbow Hills (just east of Reno) and one from near a mine in central Nevada. The sample from the Rainbow Hills is actually sand that I collected on a mapping trip for my igneous petrology field methods course. But rather than your typical beach sand, this is sand from a (very different) volcanic ash deposit. The sand is just chock full of bi-pyramidal quartz and sanidine. Sanidine (a kind of feldspar) has a unique property where it distorts light as it passes through the crystal so you see a flash of blue inside of a clear crystal. So I’m out walking along this saddle between two ridges, trying to draw the rock layers accurately on my aerial photos and topographic maps, and the sand is sparkling blue at me! I had to take some home with me, even though the crystals are small (2-3 mm).

The sample from near the mine in central Nevada is a mineral called Dumortierite. It’s the most amazing shade of purple-pink ever. I met the two gentleman who own the land (and mineral rights) there and they’re planning to mine the Dumortierite bearing rock for countertops and decorative stone. Can you imagine? Purple-pink countertops!

Many would consider me not to be a true collector, since most of my samples are purchased, instead of collected by me. At this point, I have a lot of minerals and it’s not exactly feasible to go all over the world to find the rare and unique minerals that are mostly the ones missing from my collection. Besides, I learn about each of my samples and know where they came from and how they formed. I could tell you something cool or interesting about every mineral in my collection and that’s the important thing. I’m always learning more about minerals always teaching other people the interesting things I learn.