It did, and it's gone. I think. Too much something definitely!

Deleted by the admins

We have talked this through enough, what think all we put it to bed?

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Sometimes the bigotry on here does get a bit OTT.

It certainly does. Mercifully rare though.

Thanks for that, after all the negatives on this site that's cheered me up a bit.

"Go and get angry about something serious, like the bloody coalition, especially Wet Dave, who should be kicked to death and his remains chucked down a shaft."

What a thoroughly nasty thing to wish / say about anyone

can we also not bring your politics on to the site ,there are after all plenty of sites for that also

This site enjoys a high standard of intellectual discussion.
Do we all want it stay that way or not?

Yes I agree about keeping politics of the site, also man made climate change, and religion, but most of all, minerals.
When it comes down to bringing nastiness out, the last is top of the heap.
If someone, however nice a person, offers minerals for sale on here, others will surely follow. And then the ‘fun’ will start. Then the petrol cans come out.
Then everyone else walks away in disgust and the site dies.
I have spelled it out so that anyone can understand as it appears that many do not.

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Silly sods, the lot of you. Without minerals, and the mineralogy (by definition a specimen-based technology) that has developed the understanding of mineral deposits, there would be no sodding mines in the first place!

You lot wouldn't have anything to moan about in the first bloody place if there had been no mineralogists around, from the Bronze age (yep, they were mineralogists in their own and quite successful way) onwards. There would be no industrial archaeology: nada: zilch. Nothing to form Preservation Committees (subject to member approval) around. It really beggars belief! This is more about territory than anything else. It's about saying "Ni!" to one another: French taunts and other similar sketches come to mind.....

I very rarely go looking for mineral specimens these days, but would hate to discourage collecting - I've simply moved on to other things by and large.

Silly sods, the lot of you. Without minerals, and the mineralogy (by definition a specimen-based technology) that has developed the understanding of mineral deposits, there would be no sodding mines in the first place!

You lot wouldn't have anything to moan about in the first bloody place if there had been no mineralogists around, from the Bronze age (yep, they were mineralogists in their own and quite successful way) onwards. There would be no industrial archaeology: nada: zilch. Nothing to form Preservation Committees (subject to member approval) around. It really beggars belief! This is more about territory than anything else. It's about saying "Ni!" to one another: French taunts and other similar sketches come to mind.....

I very rarely go looking for mineral specimens these days, but would hate to discourage collecting - I've simply moved on to other things by and large.

John, Im surprised at you.
Collecting is not what its all about

EDIT
Possibly you missed something. Minerals were being offered for sale with a link. It was deleted by admins so you missed it.

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Fontayne, I supported Roy Fellows first comment and then remained silent. I just thought that I should say that I would hope that you will remain a member and contributor to the site. I've looked at your website and it looks fascinating.
The fact that the minerals came from your own mine makes it different in nature to what raises temperatures here but the issue is one of precedent. I hope this helps and I look forward to reading more about your mine in the future. 🙂

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Please, can you not tar us all with the same brush. I started my interest in mining working for Dowty Meco in the 1960s and got to visit lots of rmarkable mines such as Chambishi copper mine, where the road to the mine was hard cored with amethyst, thrown out as gangue from the mining operation.

That led to a long hobby collecting minerals, and getting a series getting published in Lapidary Journal, an American magazine. As I have got older, that interest has moved on to what can only be described as an obsession with old mining sites and what is left of our incredible industrial heritage.
Never have I removed any specimens from underground, my collection has come entirely from "fossicking" on old tips. I would not dream of desecrating what we have left. I leave that up to the authorities who have a fill it in and obliterate mentality.

We are not all vandals. Some of the Urbex crowd do not respect our underground remains, but we don't lump all underground explorers together, so please don't generalise collectors either.

However, I agree with the previous comments that this site is not the correct vehicle to advertise specimens for sale. Aditnow is a great site for those interested in serious research./ Let's keep it that way - please

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The fact that the minerals came from your own mine makes it different in nature to what raises temperatures here but the issue is one of precedent. I hope this helps and I look forward to reading more about your mine in the future. :)

Seconded. 🙂

Personally I do not see the issue with him selling HIS specimens from HIS mine on here.

That is what the for sale section is for.

And it can only be a good thing if it is going back into the restoration and re-opening of this particular mine. People dont have unlimited funds these days for projects such as this which can be VERY expensive as we all are well aware.

So if the mine can help to pay for its self and it means enthusiasts get another site to visit and appreciate I do not see how this can be a bad thing as on the flip side is nothing gets done with the mine and it is lost for ever.

I do believe the whole point of a mine was to extract minerals. So the fact that this is been used again for its original purpose to support and grow the mine is definitely a big plus point in my book as a whole explorer's will get the benefit of this and if that is what has to be done to get the mine restored fair play to the guy.

and providing it comes from sources such as this I dont see the problem with allowing him to sell the minerals for the benefit of the mine. If random collectors start coming on wanting to trade etc then that is a different issue, but with the funds going back into the mine and knowing they are coming from a legitimate source and for a legitimate reason I feel this can only be a good thing.

Of all people Roy I would have thought you would not have a problem with someone doing what they had to do to try and preserve some important mining heritage. You both are doing the same, albeit in different ways maybe some advice on ways you have raised money to help your efforts etc would have been a more constructive way of discouraging him from selling minerals on here? Not everyone has the knowledge or contacts the same as some people on here to make a successful charity etc out of their hobby, so he has to come up with alternatives to make things happen.

Stick to your guns, it is your mine do what ever you want to do with it, no one has to agree with it. I just hope the project continues and another mining site gets preserved.

Minerals being advertised by a link, what's the problem, I don't get it.
If it's a dealer then pull the post if need be, if it isn't then what's the problem, if I had a pile of ropes/lamps/kit etc for sale I would like to think that I could offer them first here on the forum, I fail to see any difference, it's all mining related.

Lozz

I am very heartened by the constructive comment now appearing.

In principle I agree that there SHOULD be nothing wrong with offering minerals for sale on here in the same way as other equipment etc.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t work out that way. In life many things are not as we would like them.

I have many friends who both collect and deal in minerals, some of which I have known for about 25 years.
Unfortunately, wherever minerals are concerned, rightly or wrongly, trouble follows like a faithful dog. And this is what I am keen to see kept off this website.

I tread a tightrope in reassessing places via my digging projects in that I dread finding something in there I don’t want to see and then the inevitable fallout with possible issues with the landowner etc.

I have a small collection myself of ‘pick ups’ and specimens that I have been given by collector/dealer friends. Unfortunately, it’s a subject of which I have very little understanding, and even less understanding of why there should be so much aggravation associated with it.

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Quick summary - the collection of minerals is not the problem, it's the selling of them on this site. Most websites have a policy of if you sell things commercially then you don't do so through the for sale section - you hand over some money to the site owner in return for a link (ad banner) to your site.

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John, Im surprised at you.
Collecting is not what its all about

EDIT
Possibly you missed something. Minerals were being offered for sale with a link. It was deleted by admins so you missed it.

I missed it, Roy, but I got the gist. However, the point about collecting remains. Mineralogy is by definition a specimen-based science, and the only way to obtain specimens is either to collect them or to buy them. This always applies, whether one is just building up a collection (and many important mineralogical discoveries have been made by members of the amateur sector), doing the sort of work I do (ore petrology etc) or taking a thousand-tonne bulk sample to see if the rest of a deposit can be extracted economically.

I have to admit that I went to bed last night feeling rather depressed with the way that things were going on this thread, when all along I only meant well and was scrupulously polite in my postings.
This morning reading the new posts I feel quite different in that something positive is being achieved in talking through in a sensible and polite manner a subject that tends to raise blood pressure within the mining community.
Apart from the rather nasty and irrelevant to thread comment re David Cameron I think all that Mr Fontayne has done wrong is the exhibit a degree of naivety. No disrespect intended.
I appreciate that it is all in a good cause and that he is the landowner but having seen what I have seen over the years I feel it extremely unwise to plaster his activities all over the Internet. Of course, this is off thread being simply comment in passing.
Anyway, just to lighten things up, here is a photo of Roy’s collection.

🔗Personal-Album-128-Image-92426[linkphoto]Personal-Album-128-Image-92426[/linkphoto][/link]

(Will any midnight visitors please leave their petrol cans where people wont fall over them)
:lol:

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The fact that the minerals came from your own mine makes it different in nature to what raises temperatures here but the issue is one of precedent. I hope this helps and I look forward to reading more about your mine in the future. :)

Seconded. :)

I totally agree with both these comments, I only wish I had said it myself.
Fontayne, you are more than welcome on this site and I do enjoy reading your updates on what you are doing at Herodsfoot, and I hope to visit in the near future.
Would it not be an idea just to say that artifacts from the mine can be purchased to aid with the restoration?
That covers a broad church and mentions nothing in particular.
Mr Fellows is right about the comment of "chucking people down shafts", that has no place here or anywhere else for that matter.
I too think it's time to put this to bed.

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No, it is not a shame! The ethos of this forum should be what we have in common, and not what divides us. Long may this site remain like it is. If you want to discuss divisive matters go and try UKCaving. :lol:

Drillbilly/Stuey/Etc.
People would probably less likely to consider that you're trolling were you registered under a single name.

Please can you confirm which of of the multiple user-names you've created that you actually want to use so we can lock the rest off.

Ta! :flowers:

As for this thread generally, its not going to get locked in the immediate future as there's nothing too inflammatory in it but the mineral thing has been done to death over the years & it hasn't changed a sausage...