Round 1 Match 14

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.

#Charoite is a chain silicate, resulting in its silky, burled appearance. It is associated with fenite deposits, carbonatite intrusions, and CO2 alteration. Mn gives #Charoite its purple color, but I’m voting for its K. 🧪⚒️ #MinCup24

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— Dee Gardner (@glacierpique.bsky.social) September 14, 2024 at 8:49 AM

Radial aggregates of yellow #Cacoxenite from Třenice, Czech Republic.

FOV 15 mm#MinCup #MinCup24 pic.twitter.com/gsgaSMQWcZ

— MineralExpert.org (@mexporg) September 14, 2024

Yellow #Cacoxenite and white #Variscite from Třenice, Czech Republic.

FOV 20 mm#MinCup #MinCup24 pic.twitter.com/kysE8hlUAX

— MineralExpert.org (@mexporg) September 14, 2024

So much great chaos and geochemistry with #Cacoxenite, but staring at gorgeous samples of mesmerizing #Charoite can (and does, and has already today) necessitate a large chunk of time. It is so purple its discoverers thought it was fake! No fooling here. I’m #TeamPurple in this round of #MinCup24.

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— Martin Hajovsky (@martinhajovsky.bsky.social) September 14, 2024 at 8:20 AM

We’re unable to embed the original post, but special mention to this video of bladesmith Kyle Royer using charoite as a handle.

Post by @GeologistsCat@mastodon.social

View on Mastodon

#MinCup24 pairs orangey "bad guest" #cacoxenite against purple #charoite. My vote today is all color. The purple comes from trace Mn content in the K spot. Oh, and it's formed by metasomatism, which is fun. https://t.co/WI6b9QelRR

— aletamosquito@mastodon.social (@aletamosquito) September 14, 2024

Here I was about to fall for the purple propaganda when I went and looked up cacoxenite and discovered HOW FLUFFY AND ADORABLE

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— Rebecca (@jeybecques.bsky.social) September 14, 2024 at 8:22 AM

#MinCup2024 ok, i have no idea what kind of beast Charoite is either www.mindat.org/show.php?id=...

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— Barry Goldman (@barrygoldman1.bsky.social) September 14, 2024 at 3:48 PM

Geeez hard choice tonight!!
I’m going for the #Mincup24 newbie #Charoite with us stunning purple crystalline structure and one of the longest chemical name!!!
Pics from @mindat https://t.co/bb0ddHFDSX pic.twitter.com/XngceyMSzM

— timmsy (@mareetimms) September 14, 2024

Tight call, but cacoxenite wins with the spikey balls. https://t.co/6zhWcAEyIE

— jonathan harvey (@WinterFell1701) September 14, 2024

Cacoxenite, the bad punk sunrise mineral, is clearly superior 👍🏼

— One foot in the Middle Pleistocene 🍉 (@HeyerdahlKing) September 14, 2024

From the Greek κακός for "bad" and ξένος for "guest" due to the fact that the phosphorous content of cacoxenite lessens the quality of iron smelted from ore containing it.
Vote Cacoxenite. No mineral deserves such a name. Poor cacoxenite, it's not your fault 😘#teamcacoxenite https://t.co/4GIhqpwtQU

— Rita Martins (@RitaElvasMartin) September 14, 2024

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.

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