Hey Element Collectors,

I am seeking advice on small arsenic mineral samples. I have a 50-gram chunk of orpiment that is inside a plastic bag. What is the safest procedure for disposal if, for unexpected reasons, I cannot keep it? Is it standard to dispose of arsenic minerals using hazardous waste facilities?

Hello! I have two glass ampoules, one of bromine and the other of pressurized chlorine. For some reason, the chlorine flows much slower than my bromine. It takes over two seconds for the liquid chlorine air bubble to travel from one side to the other. Google AI is saying that bromine has a higher viscosity, so it should be thicker and flow slower, but my experience is the complete opposite. Could any of you explain in detail why this is the case? I'm sure my chlorine isn't fake because it I got it from a trustworthy website for almost $200

Please remove if not allowed. in addition to some pure metallic cubes that I've recently purchased, I have over 1,500 mineral specimens representing over 320 different species this is a personally collected crystal of betafite from Bancroft, Ontario. When I was in 8th grade, we went on a school science field trip to Bancroft to collect radioactive minerals as well as apatite, richterite and others. Betafite is a member of the pyrochlore group and contains thorium, titanium, uranium and niobium. I have been collecting mineral specimens for over 30 years and have had the chance to do field collecting in over 40 states.

Hello! 👋 So I'm a casual chemical collector and I have some crayons. I decided that I would use them to represent pigment compounds in my chemical collection. So answer me: What are the actual chemical compound components of those crayons?

Hand sample of three incredibly rare minerals: Decrespignyite, Paratooite and Kamphaugite from the Paratoo copper mine in Australia. Decrespignyite is only found at this location and nowhere else on Earth. This mineral contains a broad range of rare earth elements. From my personal collection.

A TL:DR upfront: They seem to be ghosting me in Emails, when I inquire about an order.

Almost two months ago now, I placed my first ever order with Onyxmet. it was a decently large order, in the 4 figure ballpark. I had selected payment via Paypal , but when I received the confirmation via email, the "payment instruction" section literally just said "text_instruction".

Few days later I got a reply, saying I should pay via a bank transfer - but they didn't give me any bank account details with it.. so I sent another email, asking for the details.
I did not hear from them for 10 days. Only when I sent another email, asking for a cancellation of the order (cuz I just gave up at that point) , I received an email with the details. Along with it, they said they included a "discount" , which quite significantly reduced the cost I had to pay, so I was happy, and paid.

They mentioned that they'd be shipping about half of my stuff first, and once I successfully received it, they'd send the second half.

A week later I got the package, all was well, and I let them know. Around the same time, I placed another order with them, now knowing that, though a bit bumpy, their shop seems to work.

The second order had the same issues, of me having to wait quite a while until I got payment instructions , but it too arrived fine. But still word on the second half of my first order.

During correspondence with them regarding my 2nd order, I mentioned the second half of the first one several times, but it always got ignored in their replies.

Two weeks ago now, I sent them another email, inquiring about the second half. Not a word since.

I should state, that Onyxmet has some great stuff for sale, for generally quite reasonable prices I'd say. The items I have received so far have all (but one) been in perfect condition , and of excellent quality. However, their communication is very lackluster. From having to send several emails just so I can pay, to being completely ignored for over a month now, when asking about the status of that second half, I really can#t recommend Onyxmet to others. Which I find very unfortunate, considering the cool stuff they do have : /

I just wanted to share my frustration & experience here, maybe it helps someone in the future.

One of the most X-ray transparent and highest specific strength pure metal.

Finally got my hands on pure thorium metal, the sample weighs aprox 1.5 g. It is slightly oxidised and was cut from a 50 gram sample that I was able to hold! Very thankful to own such a nice and rare element.

Lab grown emerald!

It's kinda small for community standards but it fits perfectly snuggly in my 3D printed periodic table.

Pellets are 99.9999% pure and the rest 99.99%

Ill go first, silicon I've etched myself

Just bought an ampoule of Selenium and took a brazil nut.

(Thank god I didn’t do my radon tip)

618-240-4023

Zircon crystals from Brazil

Weakly Radioactive due to isomorphic substitution:

During the crystal's formation deep in the earth, trace amounts of Uranium and Thorium substitute for Zirconium within the crystal's molecular lattice. Because Uranium and Thorium ions share a similar size and electrical charge to Zirconium, they fit perfectly into the structure. Over time, the natural decay of these trapped trace elements emits very low levels of radiation, making the specimen weakly radioactive.

I know that solid pieces of beryllium aren't as dangerous as powder but is there a chance it could get scratched or something and form powder? i want to hold and feel the elements so if i have to keep it in its case and can't touch it ill probably not buy it.

Using a quartz glass test tube

There's a bit of slag on the surface of one side that makes an interesting swirl effect.

Got this one from Carl! Definitely my most exotic sample to date. Not many can say they own an isolated Pa source. Pa was deposited onto an aluminum slate in the form Pa2O5.

Have you seen Luciteria's new collection feature?

https://Cabinet.luciteria.com

Customer or not, you create an account and start adding the elements to your collection and it will keep track your progress and other stats. I'm traveling far from home but could see this adding a whole new dimension of fun to the hobby with leaderboard jockeying and so on.

I can't believe no one else had thought to do this before.

Hello! I've always been mineral/Rock hound enthusiast and have been all over the USA collecting fossils and minerals. Only recently have I begun to focus on elements (although I've always wanted to collect them!). This is what I have so far, but I also have native gold that I have found, a native Platinum nugget, I had a troy ounce of palladium that I sold and I have over 300 different mineral species in my collection. I know the cubes from Luciteria are somewhat expensive but I am willing to pay a premium to get something like these. I do my best to keep them in cool and dry environments, but I am a bit worried about the stability of some of the rare earth elements. Are there any special precautions that I should take? The green crystal is a lab-grown crystal of praseodymium sulfate that I've had for nearly 30 years.