11:09 a.m., Feb. 2, 2010----The University of Delaware Mineralogical Museum in Penny Hall currently has several new pieces on view, including a spectacular specimen of rhodochrosite from the Sweet Home Mine in Colorado.

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The silver mine, located near Alma, Colo., was closed in the 1960s and later reopened to search for rhodochrosite. This uncommonly large piece was found in 1992 and is nicknamed "Alma Jack."

On loan at the Mineralogical Museums, it is the third-largest piece discovered in Colorado, after the "Alma King" and "Alma Queen."

Also currently on view at the Mineralogical Museum is a new arrival of a variety of fluorite and the David and Joanne Byers collection, which is on loan.

"It's good for kids to see that people actually collect these minerals," says Sharon Fitzgerald, curator.

The UD Mineralogical Museum began as a gift from Irenee du Pont, Sr., in 1964 with a large portion of the collection procured in 1919 from the Tiffany & Co. showroom in New York City.

Originally housed in the University Library, it was relocated in the 1970s to its current home in Penny Hall. In 2008, the museum was closed to undergo a major renovation, including new display cases equipped with fiber optic lighting to accurately color the specimens, until its reopening last May.

The collection is divided into different displays to showcase various concepts or themes. The Irenée du Pont exhibit showcases the minerals directly from Tiffany & Co. This collection contains minerals from extinct places, such as mined out deposits.

There are four boxes of minerals from across the globe, including the Himalaya mine, which opened in 1898 and was the the world's largest producer of tourmalines. There are also specimens of lead and bismuth, considered extremely rare since they are in their native states.

The Michigan Copper Exhibit hails from the Keweenaw Peninsula in Michigan, the largest known deposit of native copper on Earth, and was mined in the mid 1800s. One of the specimens was originally owned by Baroness Burdett-Coutts of England, ended up in the hands of Alvin B. Stiles years later, and was donated to the University in the 1980s.

Pseudomorphs and other Grown Phenomena comprise another exhibit at the museum. Pseudomorphs, or "false forms," are minerals adopting the shape of another mineral. There are also crystals that have deviated from their typical shapes for a variety of reasons.

The Crystal System Exhibit, United States-Canada Exhibit, and Mineral from Caves Exhibit are also all part of the mineralogical exhibits.

Article by Jamie Hannigan
Photos by Kathy F. Atkinson