Minerals Make Life

Snappy little video, light on details but, again, snappy. They mention kyanite. I am investigating why they relate it to skyscrapers.

They also point out  beryllium, which the Los Alamos Nation Lab says, “Is applied as a structural material for high-speed aircraft, missiles, spacecraft, and communication satellites.” It is widely considered as a strategic or critical mineral. A hundred years ago, it would have been called a war material.

Berylliym  interests me because I visited the Harding Mine, now known as the Harding Pegmatite Mine in Taos County, New Mexico last year. At one point in the 1950s the Harding Mine was the leading American source of beryllium. Photos and information on how to visit that mine will appear in my book.

The beryl family, by the way, includes gem material  such as aquamarine and emerald. But I am starting to ramble.