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nadwgab.bsky.social
334 of #365Minerals 🧪⚒️

Spinel:
- An oxide mineral
- Forms via metamorphism
- Can be various colours due to impurities
- Its name comes from the Latin word "spinella" (little thorn) because of its pointy octahedral shape #minerals
An opaque, black modified octahedron of spinel on a matrix containing calcite and idocrase. From Greenwood, New York, USA. Specimen on display in the Natural History Museum, London. Dark blue spinel octahedra in a matrix containing muscovite and calcite. From Lake Baikal, Siberia. Specimen on display in the Natural History Museum, London. An octagonal mixed-cut translucent pink spinel gemstone. From Sri Lanka. This information is repeated on its display label. BM.89175. Specimen on display in the Natural History Museum, London.
November 30, 2025 at 12:48 PM
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nadwgab.bsky.social
209 of #365Minerals 🧪⚒️

Azurite:

- A copper carbonate mineral
- Forms in the oxidised zones of copper ore deposits
- Will turn into malachite when weathered
- Its name comes from the #Persian word "lazhward" (blue) #minerals #MineralMonday
Mass of blue, needle like linarite crystals on a grey groundmass. Specimen is about 20cm wide. Label text: Blue acicular radiating with caledonite, Cerro Gordo, California. Specimen on display in the Natural History Museum, London. Dark metallic blue azurite resting on fibrous and botryoidal green malachite. From Bisbee, Cochise County, Arizona, USA. Specimen on display in the Natural History Museum, London. A view under the microscope of the micromount specimen. The needle like and radiating crystals are clearly visible in an orange-brown matrix. Specimen from the Natural History Museum, London's collections.
July 28, 2025 at 9:19 AM
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nadwgab.bsky.social
246 of #365Minerals 🧪⚒️

Lazurite:
- A silicate mineral
- Its blue colour is caused by S3- anions
- Forms via contact metamorphism
- Lazurite makes up the blue part of lapis lazuli
- Its name comes from the Persian word "lazhward" (blue) #minerals
A large rock with a white calcite matrix and peppered with deep blue lazurite crystals. Label text: Blue crystals in calcite. Sar-e-Sang Mine, Badkshan, Afghanistan. Specimen on display in the Natural History Museum, London. Four small carvings arranged on a perspex glove. They are a dog's head (possibly a German shepherd) with its tongue hanging out, a squirrel eating a nut, a frog and a turtle. The frog and the turtle have a hole through their centre so they can be attached to a string. Specimen on display in the Natural History Museum, London.
September 3, 2025 at 8:33 AM
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nadwgab.bsky.social
248 of #365Minerals 🧪⚒️

Fluorite:
- A halide mineral
- Comes in a wide variety of colours which are caused by impurities and/or radiation
- Forms in hydrothermal veins
- Its name comes from the Latin word "fluere" (to flow)
- The words fluorescence and fluorine are derived from fluorite #minerals
A triangular shaped specimen which resembles a pizza slice. There's a bed of fine, minute white to off-yellow quartz crystals (like cheese on a pizza). This quartz is partially covering blue fluorite octahedra, which have triangular faces all pointing upwards in the same direction. Embedded in the specimen are some purple fluorite crystals and golden coloured chalcopyrite. From Caradon Mine, Cornwall, England, UK. Specimen on display in the Natural History Museum, London. An almost circular piece of Blue John fluorite. It's mostly white and has thin concentric purple bands, it resembles and eye. From Derbyshire, England, UK. Specimen on display in the Natural History Museum, London. A cluster of intergrown translucent orange fluorite crystals which have blue edges. There are some white calcite crystals growing on it. From Cave-in-Rock, Hardin County, Illinois, USA. Specimen on display in the Natural History Museum, London.
September 5, 2025 at 9:19 AM
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nadwgab.bsky.social
263 of #365Minerals 🧪⚒️

Zircon:
- A silicate mineral
- Used in geochronology (dating rocks)
- The oldest zircon (Jack Hills, Australia) is ~4.4 billion years old
- The element zirconium (Zr) is named after the mineral
- Its name is thought to come from the Persian word "zargun" (gold-hued) #minerals
Waterworn zircon crystals with an orangey-gold colour. Two are somewhat spherical and the other is elongate. From Harts Range, Northern Australia. Specimen on display in the Natural History Museum, London. A brown prismatic crystal of orthoclase embedded in a beige granular orthoclase rock. The zircon has lots of white criss-crossing lines on its surface, making it look scratched. From Brudenell, Ontario, Canada. Specimen on display in the Natural History Museum, London.
September 20, 2025 at 10:59 AM