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Waste and Potency: Making Men with Minerals in Guanajuato and Tucson

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 October 2011

Elizabeth Emma Ferry
Elizabeth Emma Ferry*
Affiliation:
Brandeis University
*
ferry@brandeis.edu
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Extract

In the mines of Guanajuato, Mexico, when miners drill and dynamite for metallic ore, they dislodge other substances. Among these are elements and compounds known as “minerals,” sold and collected in their own right as scientific specimens or aesthetic collectibles. These minerals often fetch thousands of dollars at mineral shows and collector showrooms in Tucson, Arizona and other mineral collecting hubs. In this process, minerals move from byproducts and even waste to highly valued commodities in their own right.

Type
Research Article
Information
Comparative Studies in Society and History , Volume 53 , Issue 4 , October 2011 , pp. 914 - 944
Copyright
Copyright © Society for the Comparative Study of Society and History 2011

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