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http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/20130909/drones-help-yukon-prospectors-find-gold-deposits Neal

Minerals are identified by a number of characteristics. Hardness, crystal shape, clevage, color, etc. Unfortunately, color is the least reliable as many minerals have colors similar or the same as others. Clevage and crystal shape can be seen in hand specimens in person, but can sometimes be hard to see in photos. If you have any minerals you were wondering about, I'd be happy to take a crack at identifying them. I'll give it my best shot, but sometimes however its just not possible from a photo. So if you want to post a mineral, give me the best picture or pictures that you can, close but not blurry (cell phones are notorious for producing blurry close ups). Here is one I think you all can identify:

I agree Geowizard. This forum has the potential to become the most generally useful of all the mining forums in existance today. Besides the backing of the best small miners publication there are some very knowledgable miners contributing from day one. It's a combination that has been missing from the internet. I look forward to a long and successful run for this forum but, as with all forums, posters will need to stick to reasonable discourse if it is to reach it's full potential. Although we will invariably disagree or have different points of view on any given subject those disagreements can lead to a learning process or a flame war. It is up to each poster individually to make the choice as to whether to respond in a civil manner or to devolve into bickering and Ad hominem attacks.