University Of Arizona Mineral Museum

In the basement of the Flandrau Science Center & Planetarium in Tuscon, Arizona is the University of Arizona Mineral Museum. While the footprint of the museum may be small, it contains a core collection of over 35,000 mineral specimens and a micromount collection with over 7,000 additional specimens of crystals too small to appreciate with the naked eye. The collection spans 1,561 different species and 2,000 types of minerals.

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Fool’s Gold

Happy April Fool’s Day! To celebrate, we thought we would discuss the most common trick that is visited on the unseasoned prospector: Fool’s Gold. Fool’s Gold is a sulfide mineral better known as pyrite or iron pyrite. While it is shiny and pale yellow and often found in veins of quartz, that is the extent…

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