This is a friendly group of 15-20 members with a shared interest in all things related to earth sciences. Our experience ranges from those with a formal geological education and, in some cases, careers, to those with a more amateur background. Regardless of the level of individual knowledge or experience we collectively entertain and inform each other and every member of the group participates in this endeavour.

2024/25 was another very successful season with each meeting more or less following the same format. Our own roving reporter trawls through the latest geological topics published in various media sources and updates the group with a monthly 'Geology in the News' feature, including links to the original source for members to pursue particular topics in greater depth. We also introduced a 'Mineral of the Month' feature - a short talk about a particular mineral followed by some hands-on time with a few samples. Images of some of the mineralogical specimens from this session are shown below. Typically, the main event of each meeting - a talk on a topic chosen by individual members - follows, and this item can over anything related to geology. We've enjoyed a tour of some familiar local and regional geology as viewed from the comfort of your car driving down the M90 between Perth and Kinross, a discussion on the garnet group of minerals (with lots of examples to see 'in the flesh'), and a richly-illustrated talk on volcanic activity in Iceland. Following the tradition of previous years we have also had a meeting devoted to a series of 10-minute talks by members, and a further 'show and tell' event where members bring along an item of geological interest to share with the group.

The final event of the year - a field trip - took an unusual turn when the excursion became a walking tour of the buildings of Perth but viewed from a geological rather than an architectural standpoint.

Programme for 2025-26 (watch this space for further developments). [updated 27 April 2026]

18 September 2025 - Critical minerals - what are they and why do they matter? A canter through the geopolitical minefield of minerals that really matter. Mineral of the month was the very rare Matlockite from the type locality in Derbyshire.

16 October 2025 - planned talk postponed. This month's mystery mineral was the common and economically important Hematite. Two specimens showed lovely black crystals and the 'kidney ore' form; both specimens were from Cumbria.

13 November 2025 - Copper production in Cyprus - ancient and modern. The history of copper production from ancient times to the present day was the focus of this month's talk. The magical mineral this month was tiny crystals of Kulanite from the type locality in Canada. Kulanite is a rare mineral that was only discovered in 1974 and has not been reported from anywhere in the UK.

11 December 2025 - Tungsten - geology of a Nevada deposit. Tungsten - its properties and uses set the scene for a fascinating talk about the development of the Pilot Mountain project in western Nevada. Chrysotile was this month's mineralogical beauty, collected by a group member from New Zealand. The common form of naturally occurring asbestos was something of an eye-opener for the group given the well known health risks associated with asbestos in its many forms.

29 January 2026 - Karst topography (postponed from October). A fascinating underground view from the perspective of an experienced caver. No mystery mineral this month as the presenter was absent.

26 February 2026 - 10-minute talks. A varied selection of topics by group members again was the core of this enjoyable annual event: a fascinating account of a national geology teaching project carried out before the internet and social media changed our access to education resources, an outline of slickenside features, a geological map tour of Ardnamurchan, a visual tour of the famed 'Blue John' fluorite locality in Derbyshire, and a stroll along a section of the Fife Coastal Path. The Winter Olympics formed an illuminating backdrop to our monthly Geology in the News, and the monthly mineral item returned with a lovely specimen of Vanadinite from the classic locality in Morocco.

26 March 2026 - Show and Tell (postponed from December). A cornucopia of geological splendours for our last indoor meeting of this session, with members offering all manner of items to delight and baffle us all. An enormous piece of Lewisian gneiss and a curious ironstone-like nodule (Bennybeg) shared joint honours for the biggest items. The most colourful were undoubtedly some sharp ruby crystals in matrix (Pakistan), opal from Coober Pedy (Australia), metallic iridescent bismuth, and some curious metallic furnace products. There were oddities aplenty - rod and mullion lineation structures, evidence of piddocks in limestone from Fife's south coast, and a nicely banded agate surrounding a geode from the improbable location of a member's garden in Inchture. Mysterious specimens included a sinter-like material from Vesuvius, and a weathered and iron-oxide rich rock with (probably) marine creature fragments. Much less puzzling specimens offered included a garnet-rich item from the Shap blue quarry, flow-banded rhyolite (Glen Coe), beach pebbles of conglomerate and breccia (Brora), sandstone (Glen Tilt), and some more gneiss (Assynt). Cyanotrichite from Arizona was the main magical mystery mineral this month, but, as a special treat, two specimens of Wulfenite (both from Arizona) were included.

23 April 2026 - Field Trip. The Comrie area was the the focus for this long-awaited field trip with 3 very different but geographically close sites visited. The first site was the Earthquake House where the custodian, on behalf of the British Geological Survey, showed the group seismic traces recording a variety of global events. The current 9-day recording sequence featured the newsworthy significant events in Japan and the more mundane rumblings occasioned by flood defence construction work in Comrie. The second site was a traverse of the Highland Boundary Fault near Cultybraggan Camp. The actual boundary can only be inferred from the change in visible surface rock types from the Dalradian metamorphics to the north and Devonian sediments and volcanics to the south - a time span of about 125 million years. The third site was a traverse across a spectacular contact metamorphic zone, beginning at the outer edge of the aureole and progressing through a steady increase in metamorphism towards the centre of the intrusion.

Each meeting also includes a brief item on Geology News and Mineral of the Month (with hands-on experience).

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Possible other topics for inclusion in the programme:

• Native elements
• Zeolites
• Gemstones
• Lime kilns visit