From mid-2021, newsletter articles are no longer posted separately here. Interested readers should scan through the newsletter headings under the ‘Newsletters’ tab.

FACETIPS – A GEM CUTTER’S NOTEBOOK

by
Duncan Miller


The faceting articles published over the past few years in the Mineral Chatter have been compiled into a single 128 page document, available for download for those interested in saving all the articles together. To download the pdf file click here.

A 29,18 ct cuprite from Onganja, Namibia, cut by Duncan Miller and now in a private collection in Germany.


Browsing Archive: July, 2021

PHOTOGRAPHING MINERALS IN STEREO

Posted by Site Moderator Webmaster on Sunday, July 25, 2021, In : Mineralogy 

by
Duncan Miller

Inspired by an article by Pavel Martynov on mindat.org I have been experimenting with taking stereoscopic pair photographs of an otherwise rather uninteresting mineral specimen, so that it can be viewed in 3D. It is really simple. All you need do is rotate the specimen through five degrees, without otherwise changing its relationship to the camera, and taking two photographs of it. Then you swap the righthand photo for the left one, and view the pair by squinting. You can p...


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JOURNEYS IN PEGMATITE PARADISE

Posted by Site Moderator Webmaster on Sunday, July 25, 2021, In : Mineralogy 

by Duncan Miller

South Africa is famous for its gems and minerals, and visitors sometimes imagine they can pick diamonds off the soles of their shoes. Gold nuggets roll down streams and platinum can be picked out of some of the oldest rocks on Earth. This is all fantasy of course. The platinum, gold and diamond mines are so regulated that throughout their lives most South Africans never see native gold, or platinum, or an uncut diamond; and possessing them without a permit is a criminal offe...


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