An interesting development in the geoblogosphere today. Everyone's posting lists of their "fifty great minerals," where "great" is left in the eye of the beholder/blogger. So far the following geobloggers have offered their lists: Lab Lemming, Hypocentre, & Silver Fox. I'll jump on the meme wagon, too...

Minerals in bold are those I've seen in the field, while italics indicate sightings in the lab or museum. My fifty:

Augite
Azurite
Barite
Beryl
Biotite
Calcite
Chromite
Chrysotile
Clays
Corundum
Diamond
Dolomite
Epidote
Fluorite
Galena
Garnet
Gold (native)
Graphite
Gypsum
Halite
Hematite
Hornblende
Ice
Kaolinite
Kyanite
Lepidolite
Limonite
Magnetite
Malachite
Monazite
Muscovite
Olivine
Opal
Orthoclase ('potassium') feldspar
Perovskite
Plagioclase feldspars
Pyrite
Quartz
Rutile
Sillimanite
Sphalerite
Spinel
Staurolite
Sulfur (native)
Talc
Tourmaline
Tremolite
Vermiculite
Zeolites
Zircon

Labels: blogs, minerals