Older Updates

Happy Holidays! Enjoy a selection of 60 various minerals, all priced 40 to 60 percent off!

Thumbnails! 15 examples of native gold and silver, all from the western US with the exception of one prized silver from Chile.

A group of 15 new specimens.

15 new specimens ranging from brand new material to old classics.

Vesper Peak is a 1896 meter high mountain located in the North Cascades range of Washington state. The mountain is mainly composed of quartz diorite, however near the summit are various roof pendants of skarn zones. These skarns host a variety of calc-silicate minerals, the best of which are these lustrous red/orange hessonite variety of grossular garnets. In 2021, a fundraising auction was held to benefit Oregon's Rice Museum. One of the items was an invitation to come collect at Vesper Peak, and in late summer of 2021 Scott Werschky, Scott Ankenbrand and John Gordon spent several nights on the mountain collecting. Here are a few examples of what they found!

Another batch of the brand new primary acanthites from the historic Las Chispas Mine. This week's batch consists of 15 thumbnail sized specimens.

This week's update features a group of specimens from China's Jinlong Hill, a relatively small deposit that hosts iron-rich quartz veins. The quartz crystals are colored by hematite, giving a pleasing red/orange/pink color. Intergrown with the quartz are lustrous black rosettes of specular hematite. Material from this locality is nothing new to the mineral market, however the quality shown here is quite a bit above average.

15 worldwide specimens.

Presenting a new find of acanthite from the famous mexican silver locality, Las Chispas! Historic mining ended here in the early 1900's, and no new material has been produced until early this year when a new mine was opened in the district. This material has been analyzed having monoclinic structure, suggesting these specimens are primary acanthite, instead of the much more common paramorphs of acanthite after argentite. The crystals are mainly elongated and skeletal, however some display platy crystals and hoppered growth with associations of quartz and calcite.

15 new specimens for your viewing pleasure.

New videos have been added to all these specimens, so if you can't get a good idea of the quality of the piece from the photos alone, please be sure to follow the links to watch the videos.

Another 15!

15 new specimens

A suite of 15 gold specimens with a variety of crystalline specimens, nuggets, ore samples and slabs. Most hail from the gold producing regions of western America, but a few oddballs are sprinkled in!

A new batch of specimens.

15 new specimens.

15 assorted specimens from around the globe.

15 new specimens from localities worldwide.

Another batch of gold specimens from the new find in Morocco.

15 new specimens, most of which hail from the collection of quartz collector extraordinaire, Mr. Neil Prenn

We are proud to offer a batch of the brand new golds hailing from Morocco's Sahara Desert. These golds feature sharp spinel law twins with great crystallization.

15 new specimens from various localities.

Another batch of minerals from the collection of Don Zowader, priced to sell!

15 new specimens from around the globe.

15 new specimens!

Another batch of minerals from Don Zowader's collection with reduced prices!

Rocks priced to sell! Profits from this sale will benefit the estate of John Veevaert.

A group of 15 specimens from localties worldwide, featuring some classics in addition to new material.

A group of golds from various localities: a number of slabs, some historic pieces, and some unusual localities!

Several examples of material produced from the Skorpion Mine in Rosh Pinah, Namibia

A diverse group of 15 specimens featuring a mix of rarities, classics, and association pieces.

A group of 10 Round Mountain thumbnails. Enjoy!

A group of 15 golds from various localities including Nevada, California, Australia and Papua New Guinea.

A group of 15 varying specimens, heavy on silver!

A batch of small golds with different associations.

A small group of aquamarine and fluorite from various localities.

The last full batch of minerals from the Zowader Collection.

The 5th batch of Zowader's Collection.

A selection of previously posted minerals, all 25% off!

A suite of 25 gold specimens from locations around the globe.

The 4th batch of Don Zowader's collection. Same deal as the last three!

The third batch of minerals from Don Zowader's collection. As with the last two, proceeds from this sale will benefit the widow of the late John Veevaert.

The second batch of minerals from the Don Zowader Collection. Profits from this sale will go to John Veevaert's family.

The first batch of minerals from Don Zowader's collection. The profits raised from this collection are going to the family of the late, great, John Veevaert. Happy hunting!

A suite of gold all hailing from the western hemisphere.

In honor of our Nation's 243 birthday, we are having a mineral sale! All the minerals in this update will be discounted 30% off. We will be out of town for a long weekend, so orders will be processed early next week in the order they were recieved. Happy 4th of July!

Update #10 brings you a break from the golds with 23 new mineral specimens to browse.

A group of golds and other minerals that won't break the bank.

Golds from this locality first hit the market at the Tucson show in 2016. The discovery occurred mid year in 2015, when several thousand garimpeiros flocked to the area and began hand digging. The gold occurred in stockwork veins which have been subjected to saprolitic weathering. The weathering is so intense that the rock is essentially altered to clay. The miners are therefore able to dig the golds with hand tools.

Gold in this region has been dated between 800-900 Ma. The area has been a very stable craton to have preserved these fine crystals for such a length of time. The saprolitic weathering has made cleaning of these specimens quite simple using just a water gun. Crystal morphology shows fantastic hoppered growth, combined with cubic and octahedral crystals along with spinel twinning.

A diverse group of minerals from locations around the globe.

Update #6 brings you a suite of exceptional gold specimens hailing primarily from Nevada's famous Round Mountain Mine, along with a small group of other metallic specimens from assorted localities.

GOLD in QUARTZ

The 4th update has arrived! Due to the Tucson Gem and Mineral show, any orders placed during this time will be shipped out as soon as we are back from Arizona. Thank you for your patience.

Our 3rd update brings you 30 new specimens of varying prices and localities to browse through. Happy hunting!

This weeks update features an assortment of 30 different specimens from all around the world. Enjoy!

We open the new Miner's Lunchbox website with a mix of over 200 specimens from worldwide localities. Browse here, or use the Search tool on the Home page to focus on your favorite species, localities, size, or price ranges.