Micromount
Micromount is term used by mineral collectors and amateur geologists to describe mineral specimens that are best appreciated using an optical aid, commonly a hand-lens or a binocular microscope. The magnification employed ranges from 10 to 40 times.
A micromount is permanently mounted in some kind of box and labelled with the name of the mineral and the location from which it came. Proper mounting both preserves delicate crystals, and facilitates their handling.
Micromount specimen collecting has a number of advantages over collecting larger specimens.
Micromounting is a craft, as much as it is a collecting activity. Two English language books on
micromounting have been published, by Milton Speckels
in 1965, and by Quintin Wight
in 1993.
