FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[John Jaszczak]

Today's Daily Mining Gazette had an article about the museum and the discovery of the Mabbs mine shafts. You can read it and see a few more photos at:
https://www.mininggazette.com/page/content.detail/id/517699/Working-around-history.html?nav=5006
(link normalized by FMF)

Here is a lovely shigaite crystal (~4mm across) that happens to be associated with the cluster of seamanite crystals shown above. It is from the 118' sublevel above 6th level mine coord. 1200 S. 1700 E. in sussexite vein, Bengal (Cannon) mine, Stambaugh, Iron Co., MI.

[John Jaszczak]

This stunning copper specimen is 8.5 x 6.8 x 4.6 cm and has become an unofficial logo for the museum. It has appeared on several journal covers, as well as the revised Mineralogy of Michigan by G. W. Robinson. It is from the Central Mine, Keweenaw Co., MI., formerly in the Donald C. Gabriel collection. George. W. Robinson photograph.

[John Jaszczak]

This whopper copper specimen is composed of elongated and twinned complex crystals. It is affectionately known as the "grasshopper" and is considered one of the best copper specimens in the collection by many. It measures 38 x 18.5 x 7 cm, and is from near Rockland, Ontonagon Co. MI; formerly in the John T. Reeder collection. Photo by G. W. Robinson and J. A. Jaszczak.

[John Jaszczak]

After Jean Kemp's retirement in 1986, her assistant Stanley J. Dyl II became curator, and retired in February 2008. In October 2007 he received the Dr. Charles A. Salotti Earth Science Education Award.

During his 32-year career at Michigan Tech, Stan made many friends, and helped the museum's collection to grow in size and stature. He also was been continually involved with outreach and informal education of the general public through his work as former Curatorial Assistant, Curator, Director, and finally as Director of Advancement and Planning at the A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum. During his tenure he produced numerous educational exhibits shown both within and outside the museum that have inspired and taught thousands of visitors about minerals. He gave hundreds of museum tours to school groups, countless formal and popular talks on minerals and the mining history of the Keweenaw, and in 1992 coauthored with Marc Wilson “Michigan Copper Country,” a landmark special issue of the Mineralogical Record.

Stan was instrumental in the creation of the Keweenaw National Historic Park which preserves and interprets sites, structures, and stories related to copper mining on the Keweenaw Peninsula. He also initiated the project to move the A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum to adaptively restored mine buildings on Quincy Hill.

[John Jaszczak]

The old museum was pretty much packed up and no longer the museum as of today. The minerals are all removed, cases are all in storage, the staff computers were moved, and keys were turned in.

We'll get some images up of the packing process, but today we salute the museum staff in completing the first part of a huge task.

[John Jaszczak]

The north wall of the museum includes room for the staff door and windows. The west-ward end of the wall, yet to be constructed, will have the visitor's entrance.

It is 21 degrees F today and white hexagonal crystals continue to fall..

[John Jaszczak]

The Bristol mine (also known as the Claire mine) near Crystal Falls, Michigan, was closed in 1933 and allowed to flood. When it was reopened in 1948 miners found that gypsum crystals had precipitated and grown on not only the mine walls, but on the tools, timbers and ladders left in the mine. Many fine specimens were recovered by miner John Tuchowski.

[John Jaszczak]

This is one of my favorite copper specimens in the museum's collection that is not "crystallized". The copper filled in elongated gas amygdules in the basalt forming so-called "pipe" copper.

[John Jaszczak]

It took an amazing amount of planning and coordination to pack up the museum in preparation for moving; and for the university to be able to start renovating the vacated space over the winter. The east side of the museum, hosting the systematic collection gallery, the Beauty of Minerals exhibit, and several miscellaneous exhibits closed in August, soon after the Board of Control approved plans for the new building.

[John Jaszczak]

Dr. George W. Robinson, is the current and sixth curator of the A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum. He holds a joint appointment as professor in the department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences at Michigan Tech, and is also a research associate of the New York State Museum. He earned his B.A. in geology from S.U.N.Y Potsdam, NY and his Ph.D. in mineralogy from Queens University in 1979. In 1985 the George W. Robinson Laboratory of Mineralogy was dedicated in his honor at the State University of New York, Potsdam, and in 2001 he received the Charles A. Salotti Earth Science Education Award. He is author of over 50 publications in technical and popular journals, numerous scientific abstracts, and eight books or book chapters. His book Minerals, published in 1994, is unique among the countless books on popular mineralogy in that it combines the lovely photography of minerals by Jeff Scovil with a text that explains, in terms that appeal to both the layman and the expert, how minerals form in different geological environments. In 2004 he published a completely revised and expanded edition of E. W. Heinrich's Mineralogy of Michigan, including color illustrations.
Before coming to Michigan Tech in 1996 Dr. Robinson was curator at the Canadian Museum of Nature. Prior to that we was a private mineral dealer and a high school earth science teacher. Since coming to MTU he has taught numerous special intensive courses and workshops on mineralogy and its relevance to earth science teachers, students, and rock hounds. He has tirelessly worked to upgrade the Seaman Mineral Museum's collections and their interpretation to the public. Over the years he and the museum staff completely revised all of the exhibits in the museum, including upgrading the systematic gallery, creating a Beauty of Minerals gallery, new gemstone exhibits, a new exhibit of fluorescent minerals, and extensive new galleries of Michigan's minerals. He has big plans for galleries in the new museum!

[Jordi Fabre]

Lovely thread John!. Thanks so much for share it with us.

Jordi

[John Jaszczak]

Due to 15 inches of snow and the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, there is not much new to report on the new museum building.

Here is one of my favorite copper crystals in the museum's collection. It is composed almost solely of cube faces, but Stan Dyl pointed out to me several years ago that the corners are slightly modified. These may be the ONLY trisoctahedron faces I've ever seen on a copper crystal. It is from the Gribble Vein, 3rd level stope, Copper Falls mine, Keweenaw Co., Michigan.

[John Jaszczak]

It was a rather eerie experience to see the old museum completely emptied out.

[John Jaszczak]

One of the significant acquisitions made by the museum back in 2007 was Patrick Collins (deceased) collection of phosphate minerals from the far northern Yukon Territory, Canada. Collins was one of the few people to have collected there. According to curator George Robinson, "It is perhaps the most complete and well-documented collection of these minerals ever assembled." It includes wonderful examples of lazulite, wardite, whiteite, gormanite, etc.

[John S. White]

John, I was expecting to see some snow pictures at the building site. I understand you recently received a lot of snow.