Behind the Scenes

Adopt a Mineral and Support the Museum!

Support the Rice Museum through our Adopt-a-mineral Program now available on our website. Why Adopt-a-mineral? Do you have a favorite mineral at the museum? Would you like to support the museum in acquiring new minerals? By participating in our Adopt-a-Mineral program, you symbolically adopt your favorite mineral and become an important part of the museum! …

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Mineral photographer Jeff Scovil at the Rice Museum

Mineral Photographer Jeff Scovil Visits Museum for Mineral Glamor Shots

Famed mineral photographer Jeff Scovil dropped by the museum recently to shoot pictures of some of our top specimens, as well as “glamor shots” for regional collectors. The Rice Northwest Museum of Rocks and Minerals is sponsoring six-pages featuring the best of the museum’s collection in a supplement to the The Mineralogical Record, to be …

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Wulfenite Specimens Prepared for Spotlight at the Tucson Show

Rice NW Museum is getting prepped and ready to exhibit at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show in February. In keeping with the show’s theme this year, the Rice NW Museum will be displaying some of its finest wulfenite specimens. Curator Julian Gray began planning the case layout months ago, and he has been working with …

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What’s in the Box? Quicksilver

Halloween has passed, but the scares continue with this slippery substance: mercury! The faded label on this vial, acquired in a recent donation, says, “Mercury from thermometer.” Inside, a silver blob bounces back and forth when the vial is shaken. But what is this toxic liquid doing in a blog post from a mineral museum?

What’s in the Box? Opal

October’s birthstone can be a bit confusing: what is “precious” opal, anyway? Is it different from fire opal? And what kinds of opals are “common”? This post is a short primer for all your opal terminology needs.

Rice Northwest Museum of Rocks & Minerals
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