Spectators and contestants alike chanted “Mineral Cup” as Bea Chadwick ’27 lifted the winner’s trophy and broke into a celebratory dance in the Olin Hall classroom.
Sixteen minerals entered the second annual NCAA-style, single-elimination tournament, and Chadwick carried molybdenite to Mineral Cup glory through four rounds of fun facts, slick slides, and a heaping helping of showmanship.
“Alloys, electronics, lubricants, aerospace, solar cells, and flatscreens, stainless steel … get on her level,” Chadwick told the audience, touting the uses of her mineral while wearing shades and flipping up her hood. “I would like to remind everyone that molybdenite bends. You can make little shapes with it. How great is that? It’s so cool.”
If the inaugural Mineral Cup — an educational and entertaining competition created by associate professor Erik Klemetti — set a high bar in December 2023, the sequel cleared it with a joyous swagger.
Each student in Klemetti’s Minerals, Rocks, and Soils class picked a mineral of choice and wrote a research paper on its values and many uses. However, Mineral Cup bragging rights were ultimately decided on the strength of presentations, with spectators and contestants using a QR code to vote for the winners of each round.
There was no shortage of creativity.
“Quartz teaches us that to be common means to be strong and resilient,” said Nate Hydukovich ’26, who closed his first-round presentation with a slide showing George Washington crossing the Delaware River. “Today, I implore you to be brave and to take this leap to vote for a commoner like you and I — the greatest mineral and the champion of this Cup.”
The second annual tournament featured a celebrity contestant, English professor Fred Porcheddu-Engel ’87, who spent six months of his undergraduate career as a geology major. Porcheddu-Engel dazzled the audience with his knowledge of celestite, reaching the final after showing off a chunk of the mineral, the size of a fist, that had been given to him by a former student.
A memorable night of mineral mania included the first-ever tie score, one resolved by a best-of-three “rock, paper, scissors” contest to determine a first-round winner.
After it was over and Chadwick had raised the trophy, Klemetti delivered the news craved by rock lovers campus-wide.
“I’m guessing there’s probably going to be a third annual Mineral Cup.”
