Client Services

FREE Mineral Identification

Have a Mystery Rock or Mineral? Found a sample you are curious about? Not sure about a rock in your grandfather’s collection? Is my stone a valuable commodity? Need verification of a mineral you aquired? Is my sample a meteorite?

Free Mineral Identification Service

Let our students help you identify it — for free! Each Fall semester, as part of our Mineralogy & Optical Mineralogy course, we offer complimentary mineral identification services to the public. This hands-on program is part of our geoscience training initiative and community outreach — combining education with discovery.

What We Offer

• Professional-level specimen analysis — at no cost! • Detailed and comprehensive analytical report by the end of the semester • This service is part of our Fall semester training program in Mineralogy & Optical Mineralogy, giving students hands-on lab experience under the supervision of a faculty expert.

Sample Requirements

• Download and complete the Sample Submittal Form for EACH submitted sample. There is NO limit on samples within reason. • Include any details or questions about your sample • Sample fragments preferred, minimum size about fingernai, but larger is betterl. Sample will be destroyed during analysis and will NOT be returned. (We can trim off small samples from larger specimens if the rock is brought to our laboratory and retrieved in person after the cut) • Mail the sample to our Mineral Laboratories as indicated on the Submittal Form. • NOTE: FREE services are offered during Fall semester ONLY!

LEGAL DISCLAIMER

1. All submitted samples become property of the MSU Denver Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Mineral Lab and will be destroyed, discarded and/or used for educational / research purposes. Any exception must be made in writing and agreed upon by both parties with authorizing dates and signatures. 2. Neither Metropolitan State University of Denver, the Department of Earth & Atmospheric Science nor its affiliates, professors and students shall be liable for any loss or damage to submitted mineral samples nor for any damages, including but not limited to injuries, loss of property or profits, or incidental, consequential, exemplary, special or other damages written or implied, including any damages resulting from use of reported analytical results.

Student Project

Professional Mineral ID

Project

The GEL3050 course project will involve a REAL client report comprised of hands-on mineral ID labs and write-ups.

Mineralogy Project Group Assignment

This course offers free non-destructive & certain destructive mineral identification services to outside clients, community and industry. You and your partner(s) will be assigned a client sample to provide analytical services on the submitted mineral. In the end you will be required to present the client(s) with a full analytical report. Your work must meet a minimum standard of quality and professionalism. You will submit your work through the CANVAS course page. Your work will be forwarded to the client after grading. It MUST therefore meet a minimum standard of professionalism.

Associated Mineral ID Labs

The assigned labs for this course are part of the course project. This client project consists of a these assigned labs that are then compiled into final report. Go to the Labs tab for detailed information.

Project Instructions & Things to

Consider

• PROJECT PACKET DOWNLOAD - The detailed assignment instruction and description with Example & Grading Rubric. To help you with your report compilation, ready made tamplates have been created to help facilitate your work and make it easier. Note that unless you have a PDF editor, the DOC template will be easier to manipulate in MS Word. o Project Template PDF download o Project Template DOC download • HOW TO WITE A CLIENT REPORT - This short primer explains the differences between a client report and academic research paper. It gives pointers on how to write a client report. • SAMPLE GEOLOGIC CLIENT REPORT - Here is an example of a “real” client report asking for a rock sample identification.