Dan has been interested in minerals since a very early age. In particular he can remember being fascinated with galena cleavages that he was able to collect from old mine dumps while on a school field trip near Potosi, Missouri. His parents were always very supportive, stopping at rock shops or mines and quarries while on family vacations. He first displayed his minerals publicly at a large federation show in St. Louis in 1976. By the late 1970's he was working at various local shows for Bill and Julie Kepner (B&J Rock Shop). In 1985 Dan received a B.S. degree in Geology from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
In 1989 Weinirich Minerals, Inc. was created. Since that time, Dan has traveled the world searching for minerals, exhibiting at shows, etc. The business has grown to the point where we each month we are selling around 1600 specimens, shipping around 500 packages, to happy customers all over the world.