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Description
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Title: Quartz with Pyrite
Medium: Digital Photography
Photographer: Aaron J. Greenblatt
Camera Type: Panasonic DMC-LZ7 Lumix 7.2 MP
Editing: Edited in PhotoShop 7.0 for color accuracy, size, and to apply copyright and border.

Location: Photograph taken at the 2008 Southeastern Michigan Gem and Mineral Show at the Southgate Civic Center in Southgate, Michigan. Show hosted by the Midwest Mineralogical & Lapidary Society .

Description: This beautiful 12-inch-long specimen of quartz with pyrite was sitting in a display case at the show. It was found in the Oppu Mine in Aomori Province, Honshu Island, Japan. Many Japanese specimens are given their own custom-made stands (usually made out of wood) which have been carved to match the bottom contours of each individual mineral specimen.

Japan has very limited mineral and ore resources. Trade helps it earn the foreign exchange needed to purchase raw materials for its economy. Deposits of gold, magnesium, and silver meet current industrial demands, but Japan is dependent on foreign sources for many of the minerals essential to modern industry. Iron ore, coke, copper, and bauxite must be imported, as must many forest products. Even so, there are still fine mineral specimens which can be found there.

About the Oppu Mine: It was first worked in the late 17th century for silver ore, then during the 18th century for copper. In the 19th century it produced lead, zinc and cadmium, until it was closed in 1979. It was again worked, on a small scale, in the 1980s and produced banded rhodochrosite which was used for lapidary material. The Oppu Mine is most famous for its beautifully banded mammillary rhodochrosite specimens.

Information Sources:
[link] (mindat - Oppu Mine)
[link] (state.gov - Japan)

Legal: Copyright © Aaron J. Greenblatt. All rights reserved. Commercial use prohibited. This image and commentary may not be used for any reason without expressed written consent.

Please click here to view my photography work located in my Gallery.

Please click here for images of my glass work located in my other Gallery.

Please click here for images of my glass studio located in my other Scraps.

Description
(please click image for full view and scroll right)

Title: Quartz with Pyrite
Medium: Digital Photography
Photographer: Aaron J. Greenblatt
Camera Type: Panasonic DMC-LZ7 Lumix 7.2 MP
Editing: Edited in PhotoShop 7.0 for color accuracy, size, and to apply copyright and border.

Location: Photograph taken at the 2008 Southeastern Michigan Gem and Mineral Show at the Southgate Civic Center in Southgate, Michigan. Show hosted by the Midwest Mineralogical & Lapidary Society .

Description: This beautiful 12-inch-long specimen of quartz with pyrite was sitting in a display case at the show. It was found in the Oppu Mine in Aomori Province, Honshu Island, Japan. Many Japanese specimens are given their own custom-made stands (usually made out of wood) which have been carved to match the bottom contours of each individual mineral specimen.

Japan has very limited mineral and ore resources. Trade helps it earn the foreign exchange needed to purchase raw materials for its economy. Deposits of gold, magnesium, and silver meet current industrial demands, but Japan is dependent on foreign sources for many of the minerals essential to modern industry. Iron ore, coke, copper, and bauxite must be imported, as must many forest products. Even so, there are still fine mineral specimens which can be found there.

About the Oppu Mine: It was first worked in the late 17th century for silver ore, then during the 18th century for copper. In the 19th century it produced lead, zinc and cadmium, until it was closed in 1979. It was again worked, on a small scale, in the 1980s and produced banded rhodochrosite which was used for lapidary material. The Oppu Mine is most famous for its beautifully banded mammillary rhodochrosite specimens.

Information Sources:
[link] (mindat - Oppu Mine)
[link] (state.gov - Japan)

Legal: Copyright © Aaron J. Greenblatt. All rights reserved. Commercial use prohibited. This image and commentary may not be used for any reason without expressed written consent.

Please click here to view my photography work located in my Gallery.

Please click here for images of my glass work located in my other Gallery.

Please click here for images of my glass studio located in my other Scraps.