FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[Jordi Fabre]

Barcelona 06/07/2014

Ste. Marie 2014 is almost here!

For starters we have a lot of interesting information that the committee that organizes the fair gave us. For the moment the main part is in French language, so for now we will publish only these three banners, awaiting the translation of the press kit that the committee promised to send us soon.

More to come...

[Jordi Fabre]

[vic rzonca]

The last sentence on the last page, right before the list of organizations, reads " Please check the list below to see the organisms taking part in the event:".

I guess we can count Jordi among them. Be sure to wash your hands when you're done.
Thanks for the post Jordi.

[Jordi Fabre]

Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines 06/23/2014

As you can easily imagine, currently I have not too many time ;-) so please accept these photos as a kind of homage to all FMFers from a poor non-sleeping worker (me ;-)

At my return to Barcelona on Sunday I will add more comments, for now please use just these images...

Anyway, I can already supply two quick notes:

- Attention to the wonderful new Exhibit area inside the building of what it is the oldest Alsatian pool

- The main "rock" of this Show will be without doubt the Moroccan blue Baryte from Ouichane. A "new classic"...

More to come...

[Jordi Fabre]

Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines 06/24/2014

With my last rests of energy, here you have some more images ;-)

More to come...

[Jordi Fabre]

Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines 06/24/2014

A LOT of people today. Seems that Sainte Marie Show is in good health...

[Jordi Fabre]

Barcelona 06/29/2014

Already in Barcelona here you have my thoughts about this edition of Ste. Marie.

Let me write first about the Show itself: the success of the "new version" of the Ste. Marie Show is indubitable but at the same time some shadow of doubt is still in the horizon. The new areas created in the last years for the current management, like the Park Jules Simon already successful, or the new beautiful area in an unknown (until now) building pool that I'm sure will make the grade when it will be better known are great improvements, so, growing and growing and growing the Show the number of dealers is becoming bigger and bigger, and the Show becomes more attractive, and as it happens in Tucson, Ste. Marie starts earlier and earlier, increasing the incoming of the Ste. Marie City, but instead Tucson, Ste. Marie has not space to grow, so although I firmly believe that the new management is doing things quite well, I'm not sure if the balance dimension / space available can maintain indefinitely. They are also other questions related with the dealer's profit because as it happens in other main shows, some dealers complain about his business considering the high number of other dealers selling similar items. Anyway, please keep all this thoughts as very subjective because I quit the Show on Friday so I miss the real Show's dates: Friday, Saturday and Sunday and these days could change completely the whole vision of the Show…

Summarizing, my opinion is: a great Show, very busy, with a lot of US and worldwide dealers and customers, and growing up... In terms of the offer of this Show if you want to know what happen in Morocco you should attend Ste. Marie at least one time, because in one single spot you can meet almost every classic dealer from Morocco as well as the new dealers from there, so, almost more instructive than go to Morocco!!! ;-)

The most positive: the informal and friendly atmosphere, the extremely helpful organizers and helpers, the magnificent landscape and gastronomy, the weather, the displays (the "Copper" display this year was great), the high number of activities (see the program upper), the prices of the minerals (in general not so high as other main Shows like Munich and Tucson) and, of course, Alsace in the summer! ;-)
The most negative: the balance between the number of people attending the Show and the available space and related infrastructure of a very small city like Ste. Marie and the tendency to be a kind of "bazar" due the lack of stronger controls of some dealers and his merchandise / display.

So, the most positive of Ste. Marie, the informality, is at the same time his enemy due the risk to slip down versus a too informal Show ;-)

Now, goes to the minerals. As Ste. Marie is the most important Show for the Moroccan minerals, is normal that the most attractive finds comes from this country, and this time the star of the Show were, no doubts, the blue Barytes from Ouichane, Beni Bou Ifrour, Nador. The number and the quality of them exceed the earlier finds from this deposit and although I could be wrong, my feeling is that this year is the "climax time" of these Barytes because any deposit can supply indefinitely so good and so many specimens. Of course the 95 % of the Barytes displayed in the Show had serious damages, but the other 5 % of Barytes was so good… Add to my feeling the fact that what the Moroccan people says is that they found in Ouichane a zone too solid to work on it and according their descriptions the good times for the blue Barytes are ending. Please take these info as extremely dubious considering the common desire of dealers to sell ;-) but is a possibility that it could be true and it could have some plausibility.
What more from Morocco?, well, also other new Barytes, amber colored, extremely shiny, and with an unusual crystallography, recently found in the Bou Nahas Mine, Oumjrane, together with the regular production of this mine (sulfides and bluish Barytes)

Another major new find was a lead-zinc mine in Shijiangshan, Ulanhad League (Chifeng), Inner Mongolia A.R., China, mine that supply rare, fine, well crystallized Borates, like Pentahydroborite with maybe some other rare Borates & sulfides still not analyzed / found.

Together with these three novelties I saw several other interesting small finds, but I prefer to leave room for other people that probably will also publish their thoughts later due the fact that the Internet access in Ste. Marie is not easy at all and the people needs to come back to their homes to have the chance to publish the posts.

[ploum]

Pictures of the Cu exposition coming soon....

[ploum]

I begin ;)

[ploum]

and

[ploum]

and

[ploum]

and

[ploum]

see you soon

[Tobi]

That Bisbee cuprite cover piece would look good in my showcase ... ;-)

[ploum]

sure good specimen ;)

[ploum]

and

[Herman van Dennebroek]

Thank you Ploum, for the magnificent pictures and thank you Jordi for sharing your thoughts about St.M.a.M. and your pictures.

I wasn't able to visit St.Marie this year but your reports make the memory vivid.

Chears,
Herman

[ploum]

thanks herman

others photo ;)

[ploum]

and

[ploum]

and