Michigan Mineralogical Society
Michigan Mineralogical Society
Photo Contest
Currently Running club competitionS
We formally announce our next annual club photography contest. We are actively taking club member photography submissions for our 4th club-wide Millie Hurt Mineral Photography Contest. The prize for the best photo image will be awarded by the judges and announced in the club newsletter. You can click on the images to magnify them for better viewing. This will run from January 1st, 2024 to March 31st, 2024.
by FreePNG.com
The 4th Annual Millie Hurt Mineral
Photography Contest
The Rules
Club members in good standing can submit up to five photographs of minerals in their personal collection. The photos must be submitted in electronic format and emailed to either Brad Zylman (brad.zylman@mrm-mccann.com) or Dave Lurie (dlurie2001@comcast.net). Photos must be at least 1024 by 768 pixels in order to be posted for consideration. If you're looking for some quick tips on mineral photography, just click here.
The photos must be accompanied by a document (.doc) or text file (.txt) that lists what the specimen is, where it was found and whether it was purchased or self-collected. It can also contain any descriptive information that you wish others to know. This document must have the following wording in it: “I give my permission to post this photo and information on the MMS website, Instagram, and on Facebook in perpetuity.” In return, we will not use your name or publish personal information.
When: Starting January 1, 2024. Ending March 31, 2024.
Where: Material, if sent in a usable format, will be posted within a month on the MMS website (www.michmin.org), under the About Us tab. It will be public-facing with the intention to generate interest and highlight our club.
Why: To promote the interests of mineral collecting, geology and to create excitement for the Michigan Mineralogical Society. We have renamed the contest in honor of Millie Hurt's memory, and her passion to share mineral collecting with the world.
The Prize: The Best two photographs of the Year will receive the President’s Award, a substantial cash prize given to the winners.
We hope all MMS Members take out their Smartphones or Cameras and Submit your Photos Today!!
Previous Year's WInners
red River Gypsum
Sylvania Calcite
Chihuahua Mimetite
Moroccan Geode
Bi-Color Smithsonite
Moroccan natrolite
Click on any Image to magnify it.
2024 january entries
Mineral Variety: celestite & calcite phosphorescing
Locality: Sylvania Quarry, Ohio
Dimensions: 4.2 x 4.6 cm
Collection Method: Purchased in 2023 from a private collection.
DESCRIPTION: Photo taken with no light after exposure to 365nm UV with a smartphone camera. Phosphorescing in a beautiful green.
Mineral Variety: calcite
Locality: Rainbow Pocket, Fletcher Mine, West Fork, Reynolds County, Missouri, USA
Dimensions: 16 x 7.5 x 9.2 cm
Weight: 735 grams
Collection Method: Purchased in 2021 from the MMS show.
DESCRIPTION: Large cognac-colored, twinned, and doubly terminated Calcite crystal perched upon an off-white Calcite crystal with Chalcopyrite on its face.
Mineral Variety: fluorite
Locality: Fujian Province, China
Dimensions: 9 x 5.5 x 3.5 cm
Weight: 144 grams
Collection Method: Purchased in Tucson, AZ
DESCRIPTION: Well-formed, clear, light blue tubular Fluorite crystals grown intertwined on matrix.
Mineral Variety: Fluorite with Calcite
Locality: Huanggangliang mine, Keshiketeng Qi, Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia, China
Dimensions: 7.7 x 7 x 6 cm
Weight: 383 grams
Collection Method: Purchased online
DESCRIPTION: Aqua blue botryoidal Fluorite with inner purple hues on top of Quartz matrix and white Calcite ball-like crystals. A stunning specimen.
2024 February entries
Mineral Variety: Quartz & Sphalerite & Pyrite
Locality: Huaron Mining District, Pasco Province, Peru
Dimensions: 4 inches x 5 inches
Weight: 1 lb 11 oz.
Collection Method: Purchased in 2023 from MMS picnic.
DESCRIPTION: Quartz crystals with Sphalerite crystals, golden Pyrite and Tennantite crystals.
Mineral Variety: Celestite and Calcite
Locality: Thompson-McCully Quarry, Newport MI
Dimensions: 6.5cm x 2.6cm
Collection Method: Purchased from the 2022 MMS Show
DESCRIPTION: Celestite Crystal on a larger Calcite matrix. No alterations made on image.
2024 March entries
Mineral Variety: Lake Superior Agate
Locality: Five Mile Point, Eagle River, MI
Dimensions: 1.5 x 0.6 cm
Collection Method: Self Collected 2003
DESCRIPTION: Multi-eyed Lake Superior Agate. Image taken with a cell phone, no alterations.
Mineral Variety: copper replacement agate
Locality: Wolverine #2 Mine, Kearsarge, Houghton County, MI
Dimensions: 2.2 x 1.4 cm
Collection Method: Self Collected 2012
DESCRIPTION: Copper included replacement Agate. Image taken with a cell phone with no alterations.
Mineral Variety: Green Fluorite
Locality: -
Dimensions: -
Collection Method: Purchased
DESCRIPTION: Fluorite specimen was purchased at the MMS Greater Mineral, Gem, & Fossil Show 2021.
Mineral Variety: Corundum (var. ruby)
Locality: -
Dimensions: -
Collection Method: Purchased
DESCRIPTION: This ruby specimen from a Gemstone shop on Etsy in 2022.
Mineral Variety: Mexican Calcite
Locality: Mexico
Dimensions: -
Collection Method: Purchased
DESCRIPTION: Citrine Quartz specimen was purchased at the MMS Greater Mineral, Gem, & Fossil Show 2021.
Mineral Variety: Barite on Fluorite
Locality: Xiefang Mine, Ruijin Co., Ganzhou, Jiangxi, China
Dimensions: 12 x 9 x 4 cm
Weight: 726 grams
Collection Method: Purchased at 2023 MMS show.
DESCRIPTION: Golden barite crystals up to 1 cm x 0.75 cm; the blue and green Fluorite crystals are ~ 1.5 cm across.
Mineral Variety: Celestine with calcite
Locality: Sylvania Quarry, South Rockport, MI
Dimensions: 9 x 8 x 4 cm
Collection Method: Self-Collected
DESCRIPTION: Cream-colored Calcite crystals with sugury calcite and a pale blue Celestine Crystal.
Mineral Variety: Amethyst quartz
Locality: Unknown
Dimensions: -
Weight: -
Collection Method: Purchased
DESCRIPTION: Purchased this quartz specimen at the John Ball Zoo gift shop in Grand Rapids in August 2016.
Mineral Variety: rose quartz
Locality: -
Dimensions: -
Collection Method: Purchased
DESCRIPTION: Rose Quartz specimen was purchased at the MMS Greater Mineral, Gem, & Fossil Show 2021.
Mineral Variety: Epidote on Quartz
Locality: Beyyurdu, Hakkari, Anatolia, Turkey
Dimensions: 9 x 9 x 8 cm
Weight: 241 grams
Collection Method: Purchased at 2023 MMS show in October.
DESCRIPTION: No info on Mindat, but there are people selling this. It might be from Şemdinli in Hakkari since that area reports both epidote and quartz. "Hi, these are from the mountains near the town of Beyyurdu. There isn't a mine as these are basically surface-collected with hand tools. I think that's about as precise as it gets, according to my guy in Beyyurdu." from Robert at Perfect Point Crystal.
Mineral Variety: Fluorite
Locality: Okorusu Mine, Otjiwarongo, Otjozondjupa Region, Namibia
Dimensions: 11 x 10 x 5 cm
Weight: 612 grams
Collection Method: Purchased
DESCRIPTION: Cubic zoned fluorite with pink, brown, and greenish-gray zoning. The largest cube is 3.25 cm
Mineral Variety: Vanadinite
Locality: N. Geronimo Mine, Arizona
Dimensions: 14.5 x 8.3 x 3.8 cm
Collection Method: Purchased
DESCRIPTION: Many medium-sized deep orange-red shiny crystals on a dark matrix.
Mineral Variety: Vanadinite
Locality: Morocco
Dimensions: 25 x 12 x 8 cm; 10 x 5 mm hexagonal crystals
Weight: 2815 grams
Collection Method: Purchased
DESCRIPTION: Beautiful undamaged large crystals all over. One side must have been cleaned and the other wasn't. Also, lots of small crystals everywhere. I don't know location, but it's color and crystal shape looks most like the vanadinite from Drâa-Tafilalet Region, Morocco shown in MinDat pix.
Mineral Variety: Rainbow Magnetite with Vesuvianite
Locality: Skardu, Pakistan
Dimensions: 33 x 23 x 12 mm
Collection Method: Purchased Online
DESCRIPTION: Magnetite was called Lodestone in ancient days. This image shows nice morphism on the crystals and rare rainbow iridescence. The Vesuvianite is a gemmy olivine green color in the background.
Mineral Variety: indicolite tourmaline & lepidolite
Locality: Unknown
Dimensions: 1 1/3 x 5/16 x 5/16 inches
Collection Method: Purchased from the 2023 MMS Auction
DESCRIPTION: Shows a nice tricolor watermelon (blue - green - pink) on the bottom of the crystal.
Mineral Variety: fluorite
Locality: Diana Maria Mine, Frosterley, Weardale County, Durham, England
Dimensions: 9.7 x 8.4 x 5 cm
Collection Method: Purchased
DESCRIPTION: Numerous intergrown dark green translucent cubular Fluorite crystals on matrix with small black Galena crystals.
Fossil Variety: Paraspirifer bownockeri brachiopod
Locality: Sylvania, Ohio
Dimensions: 5.0 cm
Collection Method: Self-Collected
DESCRIPTION: The calcite shell of this middle Devonian brachiopod from the silica shale is encrusted with a peacock-colored pyrite.
Mineral Variety: Fluorite and Barite on Galena
Locality: Cave in Rock, Illinois
Dimensions: 5.5 x 6.2 cm
Collection Method: Purchased
DESCRIPTION: Photo taken with cell phone an no alterations. Purple Fluorite with Barite on Galena.
Mineral Variety: Fossiliferous Limestone
Locality: Lake Michigan, Northport, MI
Dimensions: 10.5 x 10.2 x 3.4 cm
Collection Method: Self-Collected
DESCRIPTION: Horn and branch coral cloaked in drusy calcite. Self-collected on the shores of Lake Michigan in Northport, MI.
Mineral Variety: Calcite
Locality: Sylvania Quarry, South Rockport, MI
Dimensions: 6.4 cm x 5.4 cm x 6.4 cm
Collection Method: Meticulously self-collected with a sledge hammer.
DESCRIPTION: Stunning honey calcite double-cone formed around a transparent tabular calcite crystal. Collected on a MMS field trip to the Sylvania Quarry in South Rockport, MI
Mineral Variety: BRAZILIANITE, MUSCOVITE
Locality: Minas Gerais, Brazil
Dimensions: 3 x 2 x 1 cm
Weight: ~15 grams
Collection Method: Purchased
DESCRIPTION: Yellow brazilianite triad with tan muscovite.
Mineral Variety: rose Quartz
Locality: Canadian Beryllium Mine, West Quarry, Quadeville, Ontario
Dimensions: 22 x 13.5 x 6 cm
Weight: 1947 grams
Collection Method: Self-Collected
DESCRIPTION: Anhedral rose quartz crystal, collected ~1965. Color from interstitial dumortierite.
Mineral Variety: sulfur & Calcite
Locality: Catalina, Italy
Dimensions: 11 x 11 x 4.5 cm
Weight: 639 grams
Collection Method: Purchased
DESCRIPTION: Large yellow sulfur crystals with scalenohedral calcite crystals (calcite fluoresces peach colored under L.W.).
Mineral Variety: Calcite
Locality: Stoneco Lime City Quarry, Lime City, Ohio
Dimensions: 9 x 6.5 x 5.5 cm
Weight: 9.9 oz.
Collection Method: Purchased
DESCRIPTION: A honey Calcite, with a very unusual crystal morphology, from Stoneco Lime City Quarry,
in Lime City Ohio, purchased from the Jim Rives collection.
Mineral Variety: tanzanite, calcite & graphite
Locality: Merelani Hills, Tanzania
Dimensions: 1 x 1/2 x 1/2 inches
Collection Method: Purchased at the 2023 MMS show
DESCRIPTION: Unheated Tanzanite shows nice pleochroism with blueish-purple and brown.
Mineral Variety: blue anatase
Locality: Baluchistan, Pakistan
Dimensions: 1 x 1/2 x 2/3 inches
Collection Method: Purchased from the 2023 MMS Show
DESCRIPTION: Nice blue crystal of anatase.
Fossil Variety: brachiopod
Locality: Ausable River, Ontario, Canada
Dimensions: -
Collection Method: Self-Collected
DESCRIPTION: This is an exceptionally preserved brachiopod from the middle Devonian period of Arkona, Ontario, Canada. Self-collected in the late 70s in the soft muddy bank of the AuSable River in shat was then known as the Arkona Shale Formation. Note the tiny branching coral that attached itself to the outside of the shell.
Mineral Variety: Red agate
Locality: Dulcote Quarry, England
Dimensions: 12 X 9.4 cm
Collection Method: Purchased
DESCRIPTION: Dulcote Quarry Red Agate.
Mineral Variety: Calcite
Locality: Berry Quarry, Vernon, Indiana
Dimensions: 2.6 x 3.1 cm
Collection Method: Purchased
DESCRIPTION: Photo taken with cell phone an no alterations. "Mercedes" yellow calcite crystal.
Mineral Variety: Fluorescent Favosite Fossil
Locality: Lake Michigan, Glen Arbor, MI
Dimensions: 3.5 x 3.3 x 1.6 cm
Collection Method: Self-Collected
DESCRIPTION: Vibrant orange, blue, lime-green, and yellow fluorescence when exposed to 365 nm UV light, enveloped in a layer of translucent chalcedony. Found on the shore of Lake Michigan in Glen Arbor, MI.
Mineral Variety: Twinned Radial Celestite
Locality: Sylvania Quarry, South Rockport, MI
Dimensions: 5.4 x 1.9 x 1.3 cm
Collection Method: Self-Collected
DESCRIPTION: Twinned pale blue radial celestite, self collected at a MMS field trip to the Sylvania Quarry in South Rockport, MI.
Mineral Variety: Ammonite Fossil
Locality: Blue Ridge Esker, Jackson, MI
Dimensions: 5.5 x 3 x 1.3 cm
Collection Method: Self-Collected
DESCRIPTION: Two ammonite fossils with cephalopod and mollusk trace fossils. Self-collected on a Paleo Joe field trip found through MMS membership.
Mineral Variety: Stilbite
Locality: Limbe-Jalgoan, Manarashtra, India
Dimensions: 10 x 10 x 5 cm
Weight: 271 grams
Collection Purchased
DESCRIPTION: Salmon-colored stilbite (wheat-sheaf configuration) on white stilbite.
Mineral Variety: TSAVORITE, DIOPSIDE
Locality: Merelani Hills, Lelatima Mts., Manyara region, Tanzania
Dimensions: 1.5 x 1.0 x 1.0 cm
Collection Method: Purchased
DESCRIPTION: Green Tsavorite with brown diopside.
Mineral Variety: UV image of Fluorite
Locality: China
Dimensions: 11.2 x 6.6 x 5.8 cm
Weight: 12.4 oz.
Collection Method: Purchased
DESCRIPTION: A Black Rose Fluorite from China, taken under UV lighting conditions showing a rarer magenta and purple fluorescence.