Actually, this page should be titled “About Me”! Back in the early 1950s when I was nine or ten years old I saw a display of rocks that glowed beautifully when I pushed a switch. They were in a short darkened passageway at the old Technological Museum in Harris St Ultimo in Sydney. Ever since then I’ve been fascinated by things that glow, especially rocks. Not until after I retired a few years ago was I able to pursue that fascination. [ Sadly, the Tech Museum’s illustrious successor, the Powerhouse Museum, doesn’t have a fluorescence display. I’ll be working on that! ]
Wirrealpa Mine – long since abandoned
In 2008 I set up the Toyota Troopy for an extended trip, got hold of good quality UV lamps (Short, Mid and Long wave) and headed for the Flinders Ranges, 2000 km away. After numerous small “finds”, I stumbled across a couple of exploration geologists at this abandoned mine way away from anywhere. They were interested in what I was doing and invited me back to their base to look around the mine there. That’s how I found the Puttapa rocks, as good as any fluorescent minerals anywhere in the world.
Collecting at Puttapa
Since then I’ve done at least one major collecting trip each year. The photo is a selfie taken in 2011 at the Puttapa zinc deposit in outback South Australia. Australian rocks I’ve found have caused a lot of interest among collectors in USA, the country where interest in fluorescent minerals is greatest. That’s probably because their geologically young country has an enormous number of collecting sites. Now there are brilliant Australian fluorescent rocks in many US collections including Fluorescence Museums.
My Collection
Fluoromins Australia is my hobby. I live in the beautiful Bellinger Valley on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia’s most populous State. Our home is surrounded by sub-tropical rainforest (which my wife planted and nurtures). Rather different to the hot, dry, arid Outback where most of my rocks were collected, 2000 kilometres away!
I welcome contact with any fluorescophiles, glow-hounds, collectors, and especially with anyone who would like to start a collection. Click here for how you can start a collection, or here to send me an email.