Welcome to the Minerals.net
September Newsletter

Welcome to the "Back to School" Edition of the Minerals.net Newsletter. Students and Teachers make up a large part of our visitors, and we are glad to have them back after the long summer break. While many mineral and gemstone experts use our site regularly and benefit from its extensive and detailed content, we place a special emphasis to provide information in an easy to understand and user-friendly format. This ensures that even those who are not professionals, such as students, can equally benefit and gain useful knowledge from our website.

Minerals.net Master Redesign

We are in the midst of launching a brand new website, with an entirely updated design interface and user experience. Our current site concept was developed in 2007 and launched in 2009. It is overdue for a facelift to bring the site to current technology standards. Phase 1 will include a new layout, dynamic navigation controls, and better ad placement. Phase 2 will bring a mobile version as well as app versions for Android and iOS. We expect phase 1 to be completed by the end of 2013, and Phase 2 by April 2014.

Sneak preview of the header in the new layout:

New Minerals Added

We added new pages on several amphibole minerals, with comprehensive details and many pictures. The new minerals added are:

We have revised all of our Tourmaline pages to
reflect the recent IMA changes in the naming and
prefixes of new Tourmaline forms, such as Fluor-
Uvite, Fluor-Liddicoatite, etc. We added several
new pictures to the Tourmaline pages to reflect
these as well.

We also added a new gemstone detail page for Coral,
with detailed information and pictures for this gemstone.
We are continously working on expanding the gemstone
pages to include all important gemstones.

Twitter

Back in 2011, we started a Twitter page with updates on our site. We were posting regularly for a short period of time, but then we lagged and out Twitter page got dusty. Last month we resolved to continue the Twitter new posts and provide frequent briefings on new content and updates.

Please make sure to check our Twiitter page at:
http://www.twitter.com/mineralsnet

Mineral Labels

Most mineral specimens come with labels identifying them and their locality. They often have the original dealer or collector’s name on them as well. It is very important to keep all labels that come with a mineral, as one day they will likely be a historical addendum to the mineral itself. Occasionally you may encounter a classic mineral with several labels, from different dealers and collectors that it had passed through. All of these labels add to the intrigue, authenticity, and value of the mineral. Even the price label on a mineral should be retained, so that the purchased value will have historical significance one day. It is always amusing seeing the low cost of an old mineral when it was originally for sale as compared to today.

If a mineral lacks locality information, this will have a very serious negative impact on its value. When purchasing mineral specimens that are not labeled, make sure to ask the dealer to write you a label with the mineral name, locality, and the dealer name on it. This should always be kept in proximity to the mineral as a necessary accessory. The more information you can place on a label, the better. For example, useful fields include year collected, date purchased, collected by, original collection of, and so on. Often this information is not available, but if it is, it should definitely be documented. It is also good practice to write your own labels in addition to any existing labels you may have, so that future collectors will historically attribute the mineral to you. Many classic mineral specimens retain a higher value price when accompanied by an old label, especially when they are from a well-known collection.

Give us Feedback!