Dr. Stuart Mills

Chief Operating Officer

With more than 15 years of experience as a mineral museum curator, Dr. Stuart Mills is uniquely placed to help protect and safeguard mineral collections. Stuart completed his PhD at the University of Melbourne in 2007 and spent almost two decades working across the university and museum sectors, most recently as Senior Curator of Geosciences at Museums Victoria, where he was responsible for collection development, research, exhibitions, and policy.

Stuart has long been active in the International Mineralogical Association, serving as Vice President of the IMA, Vice President of the Commission on Museums, and Secretary of the Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification (CNMNC). His work has been recognized internationally through the Max Hey Medal from the Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and by the naming of the new mineral millsite (Cu²⁺(Te⁴⁺O₃)·2H₂O) in his honor.

Dr. Robert Lavinsky

President

With more than thirty years of experience working with fine minerals and crystals, Dr. Robert Lavinsky brings unparalleled expertise in the sale, presentation, and curation of natural art. Through his companies The Arkenstone and MineralAuctions.com, Rob has built the world’s largest online mineral auction platform and one of the most comprehensive archives of mineral sales data anywhere on the internet.

He has worked closely with museums and governments around the world to champion the idea of minerals as art. His collaborations include major exhibitions such as Rare Earth: Crystalline Treasures at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, and large-scale donations to institutions including the Smithsonian Institution, the Alfie Norville Museum in Tucson, and the Yale Peabody Museum.

The new mineral lavinskyite, K(LiCu)Cu₆(Si₄O₁₁)₂(OH)₄, discovered in the Wessels Mine in South Africa, was named in 2014 to honor his contributions to mineralogy and to digital resources such as MINDAT and the RRUFF Database at the University of Arizona.