[HN Gopher] Mindat.org, the largest open database of minerals, r...
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       Mindat.org, the largest open database of minerals, rocks, and
       meteorites
        
       Author : cdepman
       Score  : 180 points
       Date   : 2021-06-21 01:33 UTC (21 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.mindat.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.mindat.org)
        
       | wolverine876 wrote:
       | Also: https://www.gemdat.org/
        
       | peterhil wrote:
       | If you like information about minerals, you might find my
       | visualisation of world production of different minerals also
       | interesting:
       | 
       | https://ninhursag.herokuapp.com/
       | 
       | The green line shows world production form year 1900 to about
       | 2020, depending on data availability. Yellowish green line shows
       | available reserves - that is 'easily' available or economically
       | feasible resources.
       | 
       | Most of USGS data series 140 minerals are included, and you can
       | try to fit various Scipy distribution functions with the data to
       | see some estimates.
       | 
       | PS. It's on a free tier so it takes a few seconds to boot, if no
       | one have visited recently.
        
         | peterhil wrote:
         | I made a post about this on Mindat discussions:
         | https://www.mindat.org/message.php?m=562336
        
         | cdepman wrote:
         | Very cool, thanks! Just some quick feedback - I am colorblind
         | (protan) and cannot distinguish among many of the graph lines
         | or tell which part of the legend each corresponds with. This
         | excellent article has some palette suggestions:
         | https://davidmathlogic.com/colorblind/
        
       | mnw21cam wrote:
       | Wow, it's even more comprehensive than the Dwarf Fortress wiki.
       | https://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2014:Stone
        
       | nikisweeting wrote:
       | It's also awesome for finding abandoned mines, cool industrial
       | sites, and interesting rock features if you like urban/rural
       | exploration.
        
       | pndy wrote:
       | My friend who specializes in geochemistry and mineralogy does
       | contribute to this site frequently - he uploaded over 1,5k photos
       | of minerals samples
        
       | chmod775 wrote:
       | These collaborative databases curated by people working in the
       | field are usually gems.
        
         | pjc50 wrote:
         | This isn't technically a gem, it's a semi-precious website.
        
       | abraxaz wrote:
       | Can the database be exported somehow?
        
         | peterhil wrote:
         | There is a thread on discussions about Mindsat API:
         | https://www.mindat.org/mesg-450899.html#557085
         | 
         | They may have some funding on September to make a public API.
        
       | tardismechanic wrote:
       | Sorry couldn't resist:
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1yYJBzf1VQ
        
         | Propolice wrote:
         | No kidding, was just thinking: Nice, probably Hank's homepage.
        
         | numlock86 wrote:
         | I have not clicked the link, but I am 100% certain I know what
         | you've posted anyway. My thought exactly, too. Right after
         | reading the headline.
        
       | publicola1990 wrote:
       | Is there a browseable catalogue of it available or is it all
       | behind a search box. If the whole database was a physical book,
       | someone who does not know anything about minerals could get a
       | good overview of minerals, but if all this knowledge is gated
       | behind a search box, then that functionality is lost.
        
         | thatguy0900 wrote:
         | https://www.mindat.org/directory.php there's a directory, but
         | it's hidden behind the more option. Does seem like an important
         | thing to hide away.
         | 
         | Edit:on clicking the links it looks like all the entries are
         | just empty pages.
        
       | firstfewshells wrote:
       | I always wonder what kind of data modeling is used in such
       | websites.
        
         | abraxaz wrote:
         | OWL for data model and RDF for data would work well for it,
         | though I don't know if that is what they use.
         | 
         | Compare for example:
         | 
         | - Atelestite on mindat: https://www.mindat.org/min-407.html
         | 
         | - atelestite on WikiData (RDF based):
         | https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3627885
        
           | [deleted]
        
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       (page generated 2021-06-21 23:02 UTC)