Round 1 Match 16

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.

This matchup is separated by a much smaller unit than the giant spodumene crystal from the Etta Pegmatite in the Black mining Hills of South Dakota. Went here in field camp (about the time of the linked photo haha) so voting spod for sentimental reasons... USGS/Dakota Matrix Minerals photo ~1890

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— Joanna Scheffler (@joscheff.bsky.social) September 16, 2024 at 9:28 PM

ROTD #MinCup24 R1M16 #Topaz V #Spodumene 🧪⚒️ Topaz is a multicolored gemstone made of Aluminum and Flourine! It comes in a rainbow of colors. Spodumene is a commercially important source of lithium, and while not super pretty, it can form Hiddenite and kunzite. www.mineralcup.org/2024/vote/r1...

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— Ketamine and Old Lace (@corgiseveryhour.bsky.social) September 16, 2024 at 10:46 AM

As with most really big crystals with weird elements making up a significant part of them, spodumene is a component of some pegmatites--the last dregs crystalized out of a granitic melt when only the elements that really don't to end up in a major rock forming mineral are left.

— Brandon Bishop (@brandontbishop.bsky.social) September 16, 2024 at 12:19 AM

I can't choose, at least not yet. Have a video from Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, PA. It lets you see the #spodumene #pleochroism without a thin section and petrographic microscope. I'm still trying to choose between two mins I ❤️. #MinCup24

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— Susie Leopold (@blastylavagrrrl.bsky.social) September 16, 2024 at 4:49 AM

Y'all know that hydrothermal topaz can be found in some very large explosive volcanic deposits, right?

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— Dr. Erik Klemetti Gonzalez (@erikklemetti.bsky.social) September 16, 2024 at 9:15 AM

#Spodumene is a Li-bearing pyroxene mineral that can form crystals over 30 feet long. Imagine these logs crystallizing from a magma. Would they sink or float in a melt? Oooo, fluorescent. 🧪⚒️ #MinCup24 www.mineral-exploration.de/mepub/etta.htm

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— Dee Gardner (@glacierpique.bsky.social) September 16, 2024 at 6:22 AM

Everybody knows topaz, but check out spodumene! It’s a gem AND it’s a source of lithium, used for everything from medicine to batteries. It also has the qualities of tenebrescence and chatoyancy, which are excellent words that you might enjoy looking up as I just did. Vote spodumene!

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— The Autumn of the Theytriarch (@redsage.bsky.social) September 15, 2024 at 11:38 PM

Based on XPL the choice is pretty obvious, duh. ⚒️ #TeamSpodumene #MinCup24 XPL images by @alexstrekeisen !

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— Henning (@geohenning.bsky.social) September 16, 2024 at 12:21 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 2 Match 1
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Round 1 Match 15