Richard from Mineral of the Month Club here with information on our November 2011 featured mineral, Atacamite from Mt. Gunson in southern Australia. I've really enjoyed the opportunity of checking out these wonderful Atacamites! Each specimen is a unique work of natural art! I could easily spend hours examining each one, writing a page or two about its unique properties. (We should have a web page on our site devoted to each mineral where Club members could write a report on what they enjoyed when examining their specimen--an idea we may try to implement in the future.) This month's mineral is named for the Atacama desert of Chile, where it was first discovered in the 1790's.  Our specimens are from Australia's oldest copper mine, at Mt. Gunson in the Stuart Shelf area of the Andamooka Ranges-Lake Torrens region of South Australia. The write-up also contains a special section on Australia's rich mineral heritage. If you decide to order an Atacamite from this Email, we will send you the write-up on Atacamite to go along with it. We also have an Offer sheet this month, with a nice selection of previously-featured minerals and new finds we picked up in Denver in September. Click here to access the Offer Sheet: November 2011 Offer Sheet  You'll find some beautiful and fascinating pieces there! We might wish that every mineral came in large and translucent crystals as did last month's Barite; but of course minerals come in almost every shape, color, and form, and many are found only in small crystals, as is the case this month. Our Platinum-level Atacamite specimens consist of a layer of small Atacamite crystals on matrix. The Atacamite crystals range in color from bright-green to dark-emerald-green to blackish green, as you can see from the photos below. Under magnification, you can appreciate the tabular nature of their crystal form. Be sure to examine all sides of your specimen at there is much to see! We have grouped them according the size of the matrix. As with most minerals, the larger matrix pieces with excellent crystal coverage are the most striking and valuable. As always, the Gold-level Atacamite specimen is available for $26.50. They consist of a layer of small but intensely green Atacamite crystals on a matrix that is about 2.5" by 1.5" to 3" by 2". Group 1 Atacamite specimens are on matrix about 3" by 2" to 4" by 3" with slightly larger crystals than Gold-level pieces, as you can see in the photo below. They are priced according to the intensity of the crystal color and the overall aesthetics of the specimen, and are available for $40, $50, $60, and $70.  We have about 55 of these. Group 2 Atacamite specimens are the larger, showier matrix pieces, about 5.5" to 6"  across and 3" to 4.5" high. They are available for $90, $110, and $130. We have about 20 of these. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to order an Atacamite and/or some minerals for the Offer Sheet. Thanks very much! Richard Mineral of the Month Club 1770 Orville Ave Cambria, CA 93428 805-927-2223 Richard@mineralofthemonthclub.org www.mineralofthemonthclub.org