Photo courtesy of Bill Lechner
The mineral world accessible through a microscope is amazing. There are several reasons to collect micro minerals and perhaps even become a micromounter. One reason is that tiny crystals (sub millimeter to a few millimeters) tend to be better formed than crystals of thumbnail or hand specimen size. Another reason is that rare minerals generally occur only as micro crystals, so if one is a rare mineral collector, one must collect micro minerals. You might also consider micromounting because of all the micro mineral symposia that are held in various cities every year. There are always numerous freebies at the give-away tables at these conferences. Also, there are many micro mineral collectors all over the globe willing to trade micros. It is relatively inexpensive to ship a parcel of micros anywhere in the world. If you are interested in micros, you can contact me, Bill Lechner (president of the Canadian Micro Mineral Association) at bill.lechner@rogers.com. The micrograph is of Villiaumvite from the Aris Quarry in Namibia.
