“Why are those Wulfenites so extraordinary expensive?“ This thought accompanied me for several years whenever I tried to get a good specimen from Stefanie Mine at Bleiberg. I just could not understand that for the price of one Wulfenite you would be able to buy probably 10 good specimens from any other place. After 5 years of living at Bleiberg there was not even one Wulfenite crystal in my collection. At this time I got to know Herbert Stichau..

The same methods described below can also be used to clean other hard durable minerals like beryl, spinel, chrysoberyl etc.Probably the most commonly requested information about cleaning mineral specimens is for information about how to clean quartz crystals. Quartz crystals are pretty tough customers and you can clean them pretty aggressively, both by mechanical and chemical means. By that I mean you can go after most of them with a stiff brush ..

The human presence has left traces in Lisbon since the prehistoric times. Traces of civilization were found in the Alcantara Valley, Monsanto, Campolide, among others, indicating the colonization of the region. Several people passed through the territory that is now Lisbon leaving some of their brand. Such is the case of the Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians and Romans Muslims. Recent archaeological excavations have recorded traces of occupation..

The following advice is aimed at beginning mineral collectors. This is the advice that I wish somebody had told me when I was starting out. Sadly, these lessons were discovered through experience. Every experienced collector will tell you the same advice, though perhaps in a different way.Keep those labels.Labels are important to your collection. They are the only evidence to distinguish an ordinary green tourmaline from Brazil from that rare tou..

Originally Published in Four Installments by the New York Mineralogical ClubAs promised this article is first in a series on how to clean mineral specimens. Many specimens collected in the field do not look like the ones that dealers are selling. Most collectors become discouraged or frustrated. These articles will give a few simple techniques clean the pieces you collect.Oxalic AcidAnything that has the word “acid“ sounds ominous. But oxalic a..