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Flavorflav wrote:In fact, Limonite is no longer an actual mineral but a term used for a group of minerals, of which Goethite is the most common.

true, true

darkdeserthighway wrote:

hexagonaria wrote:So have any of you ever actually seen something rare/expensive like diamond or silver or gold in a competition? What's the most unexpected specimen you've encountered?

I've seen gold in competitions before, although it was a very small sample.

I have seen a diamond, pretty small but still a diamond...

Is bringing your own magnifying glass helpful in the competitions?

Je suis K wrote:Does anyone have any advice on how to study for this event? Should I just try to memorize all that I can about the specimens? And for the three ring binder we are allowed to bring with, can we fill it with as many note pages that we need or is there a limit? And what is the average amount of time you have had at the stations? I did this event once last year and I think we had about 5 minutes at every station, is this a common amount of time?

I did this event last year and did very well. I am helping our middle schoolers this year and I have set up mock tests for them to take to study and it has prooved very helful. For the binder you may put anything in it you wish as long as it is secured and will not fall out. 5 min. at every station is common but they can do anything as long as they are equal intervals for each. If you are not at a regional, state, or national comp. they may not give you time limits.

hexagonaria wrote:So have any of you ever actually seen something rare/expensive like diamond or silver or gold in a competition? What's the most unexpected specimen you've encountered?

I saw diamond once in NY, scooper tiny and we needed magnifying glass to see it. Also have seen silver, but...

Rockhound33 wrote:Is bringing your own magnifying glass helpful in the competitions?

Very Helpful...

Am I missing something because I don't feel the need to bring a magnifying glass to most competitions? Generally I can tell grain-size without one, and if I'm depending so much on grain-size to help in identification and I still can't figure it out, I move on due to time constraints.

Allinea wrote:Am I missing something because I don't feel the need to bring a magnifying glass to most competitions? Generally I can tell grain-size without one, and if I'm depending so much on grain-size to help in identification and I still can't figure it out, I move on due to time constraints.

not really but it depends on your own preference.

What's the easiest way to start identifying a mineral? I've come to realize color is not as reliable as other qualities, but which quality is the MOST reliable? Thanks.

If given a picture, what are some ways to identify tremolite and talc?