50 minerals to see before you die

I’m not sure I’m really wise in jumping on this meme (started by Chuck and taken up by Hypocentre, Silver Fox and Callan), because I have a feeling I’m going to end up feeling a little inadequate; my heavy does of physics as an undergraduate means my mineral identification skills are a little underdeveloped.
50 minerals everyone should see (bold=seen in the wild, italic=seen in captivity, be it lab, museum or some other non-field location):
Andalusite
Apatite
Barite
Beryl
Biotite
Chromite
Chrysotile
Cordierite
Corundum
Diamond*
Dolomite
Florencite
Galena
Garnet
Graphite
Gypsum
Halite
Haematite
Hornblende
Illite
Illmenite
Kaolinite
Kyanite
Lepidolite
Limonite
Magnetite
Molybdenite
Monazite
Nepheline
Olivine
Omphacite
Opal
Perovskite
Plagioclase
Pyrite
Quartz
Rutile
Sanidine
Sillimanite
Silver (native)
Sphalerite
Staurolite
Sulphur (native)
Talc
Tourmaline
Tremolite
Turquoise
Vermiculite
Willemite
Zeolite
Zircon
*I have visited diamond-bearing alluvial gravels in western South Africa, but we weren’t allowed to touch anything.
I’ve stuck with Chuck’s original list, although I note that, in true geologist style, most peoples’ responses have more than a hint of ‘you didn’t mean that 50, you meant this 50!’. Perhaps I should have added in more magnetic minerals – and I am disappointed by the lack of epidote, which is the same colour as pistachio nuts and therefore has pleasurable associations for me.
Of course, for some of these, a field identification would be quite an achievement; I’ve doubtless visited outcrops containing thousands upon thousands of zircons, since they are pretty much indestructible and are therefore found in many igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks, but spotting one is a little challenging…

Categories: geology, rocks & minerals

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