Very interesting! Thanks for posting.
Steve
Thanks very much for your comment, stetam! KT finds all minerals interesting, but especially those that are fluorescent!
Very interesting! Thanks for posting.
Steve
Wow, just caught up on viewing the specimens I hadn't seen since my previous visit, you are indeed growing an amazing collection KT !!!!
.....thanks for continuing to add your new specimens to this thread, it is appreciated !!!!
You could eventually get enough specimens to open up your own local fluorescent mineral museum !!!!!
We can see it now ..... KT's Royal Fluorescent Mineral Museum !
(admission: one silver coin )
Admission: 1 silver half…64 or earlier!
for 2 fluorescent mineral specimens from Afghanistan to arrive from Pakistan dealers.
Should be here around end of January to mid-February due to travel distance!
Maybe it's coming across the ocean by sailboat ?
Very likely, and when buying from that region, it always seems to be transported by donkey until it gets to the coast, then onto the sailboat!
....and maybe to get to the donkey they use local snail-mail where they actually put it on the back of a large trained snail
One specimen I ordered from in the USA arrived today. A sample from Sterling Mine, Sussex Co., NJ.
The first picture is it in natural light.
Second photograph shows its response to LWUV 365 nm. The fluorescent orangish vein mineral is sphalerite and not easily recognized in the first picture.
The third photograph shows the specimens response to SWUV 254 nm. The sphalerite still presents an orangish response tho not as strong, but the matrix gives a speckled green response, showing the fair amount of willemite in the host rock. Both willemite and sphalerite are ores of Zinc, but have different chemical compositions. SWUV really reveals the texture of this specimen!
Sorry that the fluorescent pics are slightly out of focus, but after a lot of picture taking the Royal Photographer gave up !!
Wow, this is a really interesting thread. I have an interest in minerals also. It will take awhile to really get caught up with the posts. I do have a couple of questions for you all.
1) King - you mentioned a light:
"The US made lamp has a deep purple filter, 3 Cree bulbs, uses 2 or 3 18650 Li ion batteries and is about, with 3 batteries, 10 inches long. Batteries must be removed to install in a wall mount battery charger. Cost ~ $80 including batteries and charger unit."
I am avoiding purchases from China. Do you have a name or model for this light or other non-Chinese lights?
2)GKL - You seem to do some field collecting. Do you use your light in the field or just for collected samples at home. I might be afraid of falling in a hole searching at night.
Thanks again for the great thread!!!
Wow, this is a really interesting thread. I have an interest in minerals also. It will take awhile to really get caught up with the posts. I do have a couple of questions for you all.
1) King - you mentioned a light:
"The US made lamp has a deep purple filter, 3 Cree bulbs, uses 2 or 3 18650 Li ion batteries and is about, with 3 batteries, 10 inches long. Batteries must be removed to install in a wall mount battery charger. Cost ~ $80 including batteries and charger unit."
I am avoiding purchases from China. Do you have a name or model for this light or other non-Chinese lights?
2)GKL - You seem to do some field collecting. Do you use your light in the field or just for collected samples at home. I might be afraid of falling in a hole searching at night.
Thanks again for the great thread!!!
Thanks, glad you are enjoying this thread !
Any more questions just ask and KT and/or me can answer, though with KT being a retired geologist you will definitely get a more educated response from him whereas my responses, while still helpful, might tend to be somewhat more amateurish though I am still glad to help with what I do know
A lot of this info is available on the internet and practical experience is just as valuable as an education! Many people have been educated as geologists, but few have much practical experience with UV lamps........
Okay, how about inventing a multi-phase UV flashlight that oscillates between various UV wavelengths ?
.....maybe something like this ?
(just joking KT, saw that animated mineral and got that idea for an edit )