The rocks and crystals seemingly came alive at the Colorado School
of Mines and Geology in Golden, CO. Since rock hounding is nearly impossible
this time of year I decided to check out the Colorado School of Mines. This is
a real Colorado jewel for anyone interested in geology and it’s free! We were
fortunate to go on a day when no school children were visiting so it was quiet
and we got to speak with the curator, Dr. Geller. He was very cordial and
invited me back another time for a guided tour. The museum hosts mineral
displays, fossils, gemstones, meteorites and mining artifacts including a
simulated mining cave. The 2nd floor is the main floor with 75% of
the displays. The 1st floor is reached from the 2nd floor
and houses fossils as well as some minerals. There is also a gift shop on the 1st
floor with donated specimens selling from $1 to $1000. The main floor host a
mix of minerals and crystals about 50% from Colorado and the rest from around
the world. Since my interest is primarily in Rock hounding the Rockies I spent
nearly an hour examining the Colorado section of minerals and crystals. There
are also outdoor displays of fossils and various geological points of interest,
but that was covered in snow this day. The museum is about 1.5 hours from
Colorado Springs and well worth a visit.
So here are some pictures of Colorado crystals that one doesn’t
often get to see. Of course I am partial to Pikes Peak Batholith crystals like
smokys, fluorite and amazonite.
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Everyone wants one of these elusive combos |
The last group of pictures show the varied colors of amazonite found in the Lake George Intrusive of Park and Teller counties, Colorado. Of course this is only a sample of what's at the Museum. There is topaz, fluorite and many other worldwide minerals including gold.
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Pea green example of microcline |
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Very pale large amazonite crystal |
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Blue-green amazonite plate with smokies and manebach twin perched on top |
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White-capped amazonite with smoky quartz crystals |
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Light blue amazonite plate with smokys and cleavelandite
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