Mindat.org
LightNews LightNews
banner
mindat.bsky.social
Mindat.org
@mindat.bsky.social
950 followers 140 following 22 posts
The world's largest mineral information website. Online since October 2000. https://www.mindat.org
Posts Replies Media Videos
mindat.bsky.social
Apologies for the extended downtime of mindat.org - don't worry we are coming back, we just had a database clustering failure which requires a SLOW rebuild. We're just as annoyed as you are! And it doesn't give a progress meter so really can't say how long. Probably today though.
mindat.org
August 7, 2025 at 12:08 AM
Reposted by Mindat.org
jolyon.bsky.social
This image is a humorous and scientific reinterpretation of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, comparing human needs to the Igneous QAPF rock classification. The pyramid is divided into five layers, labeled from bottom to top: Physiological needs (red): Includes "food, water, warmth, rest," representing the fundamental human requirements. Safety needs (orange): Refers to "security, safety," emphasizing stability and protection. Belongingness & love needs (green): Highlights "intimate relationships, friends," which symbolize social connections. Granite (blue): Subdivided into "syeno- and monzo-granite, granodiorite, tonalite," humorously comparing human psychological needs to various granite compositions. Quartz-rich Granitoids (purple): Defined as "might not be igneous," reflecting the highest level of need in the context of "Quartz-rich needs."
January 8, 2025 at 5:09 PM
mindat.bsky.social
As you might have noticed mindat.org is in 'READ ONLY' mode right now as we move servers. It's going to take a few more days for the databases to import correctly in their new home (and we did as much as we could in advance) and then we'll be faster than ever before!
Mindat.org
Mindat.org is the world's leading website about minerals and where they come from.
mindat.org
January 3, 2025 at 11:24 AM
Reposted by Mindat.org
jolyon.bsky.social
So I was given this old trophy that had a rock on it, and turns out it's a piece of "platinum-rich"* ore from the Merensky Reef, South Africa. Some nice visible chromite and sulfides (pentlandite/pyrrhotite?) along with the usual silicate gunk.

* Everything is relative.
A piece of merensky reef rock on a trophy dated 1974, "The Johnson Matthey Award"
December 16, 2024 at 1:08 PM
Reposted by Mindat.org
jolyon.bsky.social
Yes, there's a page on mindat.org for flourite
December 11, 2024 at 10:55 PM
Reposted by Mindat.org
jolyon.bsky.social
Killer Micros! IYKYK
Minerals labelled as 'KILLER MICROS!' showing small specimens of cuprosklodowskite and kasolite from the Munsonoi mine, Congo.
December 2, 2024 at 11:47 PM
Reposted by Mindat.org
jolyon.bsky.social
LEGO minerals are on the way! Congratulations Dario.
November 18, 2024 at 3:42 PM
Reposted by Mindat.org
xkcd.com
Proterozoic Rocks xkcd.com/3008
November 7, 2024 at 5:41 AM
Reposted by Mindat.org
jolyon.bsky.social
Keichousaurus from China, showing a visible tectonic neck split with a calcite vein! Expertly prepared by Kim Yunghuyn.
The image shows Jolyon's hand holding a flat stone slab containing a fossil of a Keichousaurus, a prehistoric marine reptile. The fossil features an elongated skeleton with a distinct head, long neck, and visible spine and limb bones. Notably, the neck appears to have been sheared by tectonic action, with a misalignment visible where the neck bones meet the head, likely caused by geological forces over time. A label in Korean, English, and Chinese characters identifies the specimen as "Keichousaurus" and provides details about its origin and classification. The stone has a rough, textured surface with natural cracks running through it.
November 4, 2024 at 12:34 PM
Reposted by Mindat.org
jolyon.bsky.social
Woohoo!

Marshall Ma's paper on OpenMindat, which I am a co-author on, has just won the Geoscience Information Society Paper of the Year award.

It's all the more special getting awards in academia considering I don't even have a degree. rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
OpenMindat: Open and FAIR mineralogy data from the Mindat database Xiaogang Ma, Jolyon Ralph, Jiyin Zhang, Xiang Que, Anirudh Prabhu, Shaunna M. Morrison, Robert M. Hazen, Lesley Wyborn, Kerstin Lehnert First published: 29 May 2023 https://doi.org/10.1002/gdj3.204Citations: 4
October 23, 2024 at 10:56 AM
mindat.bsky.social
1950s illustration of the Pacific without the ocean. From Geological Society of America Memoir 64.
ARTIST’S CONCEPTION OF THE MID-PACIFIC MOUNTAINS If the Pacific Ocean were drained away, the mile-deep sunken islands would emerge as truncated volcanic cones. The original oil painting is by the distinguished scientific illustrator Chesley Bonestell and is based on part of the bathymetric chart of the Mid-Pacific range
October 22, 2024 at 5:17 PM
mindat.bsky.social
There are now 494,884 PDFs available for download in the Rock H. Currier Digital Library.

www.mindat.org/reference.php
The image is a screenshot of a webpage titled "The Rock H. Currier Digital Library." It features a header menu with options such as "Library Home," "Bookshelves," "View by Type," "Using Search," "Administration," and "Add a new Reference." Below that, there is a search bar with dropdown options for selecting search types. A welcome message reads, "Welcome to the Rock H. Currier Digital Library," explaining that the library serves as a reference archive supporting the work in building mindat.org and offering links to original publishers where possible. Beneath the message, there is a "Latest Downloads" section with images of reference documents and their titles/authors listed below. Some examples include: A reference in Russian authored by several individuals in 2024 titled "Инженерная геология [Engineering geology]." A reference from Paul H. Reitan titled "The geology of the Komagfjord tectonic window of the Raipas site, Finnmark, Norway" published in 1963. Other geology-related reports from various authors, including geological surveys from Norway (NGU). The layout is organized with clickable items and icons that indicate whether a PDF is available for download.
October 20, 2024 at 8:26 PM
mindat.bsky.social
Did a thing. Want to be part of the thing? Let us know.

go.bsky.app/3Z5SFJr
October 17, 2024 at 6:11 PM
mindat.bsky.social
You may have heard of left and right-handed quartz, but did you know that hundreds of minerals are chiral, that is have left and right handed variants?

A new open-access paper by David Avnir explores this...

www.mdpi.com/2075-163X/14...
Chiral Minerals
Hundreds of minerals are chiral, that is, they appear in nature in two forms—left-handed and right-handed. Yet except for quartz, this key structural property has remained, by and large, in shadow in ...
www.mdpi.com
October 17, 2024 at 11:17 AM
mindat.bsky.social
Because of the continuing downward trajectory of 'the other place', we'll start posting here more!
October 17, 2024 at 9:28 AM
mindat.bsky.social
Ten years ago we went to visit the type locality of Dioptase in Kazakhstan - and an amazing adventure was had.

www.mindat.org/article.php/...

#MinCup23
Visit to Altyn Tyube, Kazakhstan
The Type Locality for Dioptase - Altyn Tyube Last week I was in Kazakhstan and met up with local mineral dealer Sergei Golomolzin for a pre-planned visit to a couple of mineral localities in the ...
www.mindat.org
September 5, 2023 at 8:08 AM
Reposted by Mindat.org
jolyon.bsky.social
Don't miss the Dallas Mineral Collecting Symposium, which you can watch live on ZOOM on Saturday August 19, 2023. Also see details of the online auction, where you can get a bargain and support mindat.org (and other worthy causes) at the same time!
https://www.irocks.com/dallas-mineral-collecting...
August 12, 2023 at 4:11 AM
mindat.bsky.social
Did you know the mindat Photo of the Day changes every day? Well, duh, of course you did. But do you look every day?

In 15 minutes this one will be gone, replaced with something else!

https://www.mindat.org/photo-918741.html
Just a moment...
www.mindat.org
August 2, 2023 at 10:45 PM
Reposted by Mindat.org
parodyite.bsky.social
Just had one if the biggest geology nerd-love experiences EVER. @mindat.bsky.social found and followed me first! Probably doesn't seem like a biggie, but y'all have to understand how much I LOVE & frequently used the site for my research & when teaching Intro/Sed/Mineralogy labs. 🥰
mindat.bsky.social Mindat.org @mindat.bsky.social · Jul 31
Did you know that mindat.org now has a massive reference library with details on over 16 million geoscience articles, books, etc - and with close to half a million downloadable PDFs. More being added daily! https://www.mindat.org/reference.php

🧪 Geosciences ⚒️
www.mindat.org
August 1, 2023 at 11:07 PM
Reposted by Mindat.org
jolyon.bsky.social
Are you a mineral freak who's having a baby? Here are some nice mineralogical names for your child:

Amethyst
Diamond
Topaz
Jade
Rutile
Kyanite
Andalusite
Dolomite
Uraninite
Massicot
Plumbogummite
Hexatestibiopanickelite
Calciumhilgardite-2M(Cc)
UM1990-38-S:CuFeIrNiPtRh
celestelabedz.bsky.social Celeste Labedz @celestelabedz.bsky.social · Aug 1
Are you a geoscientist who's having a baby? Here are some nice geological names for your child:

Ruby
Jasper
Amethyst
River
Feldspar
Cretaceous
Ooid
Asthenosphere
P-Wave
Strike & Dip (for twins)
Trilobite
Paleo-Tethys
MORB
August 1, 2023 at 5:17 PM
mindat.bsky.social
Did you know that mindat.org now has a massive reference library with details on over 16 million geoscience articles, books, etc - and with close to half a million downloadable PDFs. More being added daily! https://www.mindat.org/reference.php

🧪 Geosciences ⚒️
www.mindat.org
July 31, 2023 at 8:37 PM
mindat.bsky.social
So, who likes rocks?
July 30, 2023 at 11:18 PM