Vote color. Vote #quartz!
#MinCup26

Two of my absolute favourites! Do I vote in this #MinCup26 semi for ubiquitous #quartz or slippery, shiny #graphite - so lovely for drawing pencils! And, with enough P and T, it is diamond!

Quartz needs you to SAND BY YOUR MAN

Or woman. Or mineral. Whatever, QUARTZ!

#MinCup26 ⚒️

Final choices, and you know what’s right. Only quartz can bring so much joy to so many people in the world of mineralogy.

My best quartz specimens from these next two days, starting with a smoky quartz veined with tourmaline.

#QuartzDeservesToWin

www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re...

#MinCup26

This made me laugh. Mineral Cup fraternization! #MinCup26

Lets go #quartz! #MinCup26

#MinCup26 Semifinal 2: Had to go with quartz, because graphite. Both have lots going for them but qtz is part of my life the way graphite isn't.🧪🪟

I have kept pretty quiet this year throughout #MinCup26 but I think now it's time to speak up. Don't get me wrong, I am not going to bad-mouth graphite, I am fond of graphite. My house is full of serious pencils from 8B to 2H. And I respect that graphite has been around for a long time, it is not

I won’t be able to finalize the audit for #MinCup26 SF1 until late-late. The numbers will shift, but I do not expect a flip.

I’m team #Quartz all the way in #MinCup26! Under pressure, its SiO₂ framework does not simply shrink: Si–O–Si bridges flex and SiO₄ tetrahedra distort. d’Amour, Denner and Schulz reveal this structural resilience in their 1979 @actacrystb.iucr.org classic: journals.iucr.org/paper?a17323=

This is the year for #Quartz to win #MinCup26!

#MinCup26 Semifinal 2
It’s a match sure to break hearts between industrial powerhouses piezoelectric #quartz and lubricating #graphite!

(With the correct links this time!)

VOTE: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re...
RESULTS: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re...

Toughest choice so far! I went with #quartz #MinCup26

So it will be cubic v hexagonal for the #MinCup26 final, but what hexagonal mineral will it be? Is #graphite too flaky to stay the course? Is #quartz going to nick it in time? (see what I did there?) Tough call, but I think #Graphite gets my vote today (as I'm off out sketching!)