|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Go To New Mineral Listings Added May 14New Minerals are Added Every Tuesday at noon. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Minerals For Sale |
Mineral Books & Magazines
| Mineral Museum |
Educational Articles |
Field Trips |
Mineral Photographs |
Your First Visit |
Follow
on Facebook
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Featured Galleries
|
Mineral of the Week
News and CommentsLast weekend I attended the New England Mineral Conference in Maine where there were about 18 miners/dealers selling minerals, mostly from Maine to Massachusetts. I was struck by two observations: 1.) The miners operating mines for specimens save EVERYTHING. Nothing goes to the mine dump like the old days when the miners were operated for feldspar. 2.) Because the miners try to sell EVERYTHING they collect, they have lost perspective of value (prices) for the material that should have been thrown on the dumps. As a result, there was a large percentage of mineral specimens that will never sell - at any price. The miners/dealers have lost sight of what collectors actually want. Mining is expensive. Fuel, dynamite, blasting caps are expensive. Maintaining excavation equipment is expensive to maintain and repair. It is understandable the instinct to squeeze every last dollar out of a mining operation. But by offering low-quality, mediocre minerals, the miners tarnish the value of the good minerals they collect. Some miners dislike amateur collectors so much, that they bury the dump material in the woods to prevent collectors from finding anything worthwhile on the dumps. (Why do they dislike collectors?) Unfortunately this policy denies young collectors from finding anything on the dumps. And the young collectors are the future of the hobby of mineral collecting. These miners are being shortsighted. Someday in the future these miners will keep more and more ordinary, poor-qualty minerals, but there will be no collectors to buy them - at any price. John Betts, 5/14/2019 Click here to read past news and commentaries...
Customer Comments:"Just a note to thank you for the turquoise which arrived yesterday. Less than a week from placing the order, to receiving this specimen here in England - that's quick service! It's an attractive stone; accurately described and superbly photographed on your website. The old labels and historic mine info are an added bonus, so I'm very pleased with my purchase. By all means quote me if you wish, as a satisfied customer who will probably be back with more orders in the future." Alan P. "Last year we asked if you could obtain a specimen of Papagoite, an extremely difficult mineral to get, and you suggested Tucson would be the best bet. You came up with a magnificent specimen as we knew you would and added to it a specimen of the almost as rare Stringhamite. I don't know how you do it, but we can't thank you enough for these Specimens.) " "I am really pleased with the gifts my family members are getting for me from your site. I tell them what I want and in a few days they are mine and also thank you for the beautiful cards you send with the personal message on them. I love it. " T. Valenti Click here to see other comments about this site by customers. Also add your feedback...
Pledge to My Customers:Customer satisfaction is my primary goal. I pledge:
John H. Betts, owner
|
Visit all of our mineral galleries: My Best Minerals Featured Galleries Locality Galleries Mineral Categories Molybdates,_Arsenates,_Vanadates Natrolite_Mesolite_Scolecite_etc. Uncut Diamond Crystals Sorted Lists of all Minerals |
||||||||||||||||||||||
