Round 1 Match 13

Written By Mika McKinnon

Voting for each match starts at 06:00 GMT and runs for 24 hours. Any votes received after that time will disappear into the void, having no impact on the results chart. Please vote only once per match. Your honesty is appreciated (as is your patience). While we could enact anti-cheating measures, we’d rather make the game as accessible as possible and trust our players to not ruin their own fun.

Fan Campaign Highlights

We see you campaigning for your favourite minerals! Here’s some highlights we caught across the social media platforms we’re monitoring. Please tag us or send a note if you think we missed an educational, hilarious, or catchy campaign moment.

#Titanite is cool, but it's the deep red crystals of #Proustite for me! Plus, the silver-arsenic-sulfur chemistry is fascinating to me, though it probably wouldn't make for a good ingredient for your madeleines (yes, I know it's a different Proust). #MinCup24

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— Dr. Gabe Eggers (@gabeeggers.bsky.social) September 13, 2024 at 7:11 AM

Proustite is a gorgeous red mineral & source of silver called “blood of the bull” prized by collectors but sensitive to light & heat with a tendency to darken. Titanite (sometimes “sphene”) is likewise prized by collectors for its beauty, comes in different colours & is a source of Titanium. 🤔

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— Ele Willoughby (@minouette.bsky.social) September 13, 2024 at 6:42 AM

While both are gorgeous I think I will give titanite the physics vote for trichroism - transparent specimens can show three colours depending on viewing angle. Also, since titanite is a source of titanium dioxide used as a white pigment in paint since ~1910, I have to give it the art vote #MinCup24

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— Ele Willoughby (@minouette.bsky.social) September 13, 2024 at 6:55 AM

ROTD #MinCup24 R1M13 #Proustite V #Titanite 🧪⚒️ Prousite is a sulfosalt mineral, silver arsenic sulfide that is an important source of silver. #teampoison take note! Titanite is a calcium titanium nesosilicate that can be mildly radioactive! (Rare earth metal incl) www.mineralcup.org/2024/vote/r1...

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— Ketamine and Old Lace (@corgiseveryhour.bsky.social) September 13, 2024 at 3:47 AM

Proustite, it turns out, is not named after Marcel Proust. Also, it’s silver arsenic sulfide?? Ag₃AsS₃! What an odd combination of elements. It’s a really pretty vermillion/scarlet colour too. Plus, there’s another form of the same mineral called xanthoconite.

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— Judith Butlerian Jihad (@xanindigo.bsky.social) September 13, 2024 at 10:22 AM

I’ve got nothing here and not enough time to research. So it’s #Titanite just for the name, because I’m looking forward to seismology on Titan next decade with Dragonfly and I’m never going to get around to reading Proust.

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— Mark Panning (@markpanning.bsky.social) September 13, 2024 at 10:03 AM

Now it’s time to recruit more players! Chat in the comments or on the social media platform of your choice (tag us and use #MinCup24 when you can). Everyone deserves to learn more about minerals, choose favourites, and enjoy.

Mika McKinnon
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Round 1 Match 14
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Round 1 Match 12