FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[Matt_Zukowski]

This book sounds interesting. And Joaquim's photography is always very good.

Is the first gold picture of a tetrahexahedron? What locality is this from? How common is this habit in general and from this locality? Very cool!

[Joaquim Callen]

Hello
Thank you for your interest. Yes, this crystal is tetrahexahedron, is 4 mm in size, and is from Ikabarú, Santa Elena de Uairén, Venezuela. This habitus is not uncommon in gold crystals, but for me the most interesting is the crest in the edges between the faces.
Joaquim Callén

[robynahawk]

Joaquim - have you seen the story of the gold nugget that was found on a beach in Australia?

Here is the article:

"Metal detector aficionados, rejoice! Man finds 12-pound gold nugget

A metal-detector-wielding amateur gold prospector is the envy of professional gold-diggers after unearthing this gargantuan 12-pound nugget. The $315,000 specimen is said to be the largest lump of gold ever discovered in Ballarat, Australia. Before you rush out to grab a cheapo detector, it’s worth noting that, according to the YouTube description, the unnamed prospector has a super-nerdy model worth around $6,000, "a Minelab GPX 5000 … with an Advantage Plus 'Sadie' mono [elliptical] coil, and a Rooster Booster audio enhancer." All that technology paid off: The guy detected his find buried 2 feet under, with a buzzing in his ears that sounded "like the [hood] of a car through the head phones."

https://www.thecourier.com.au/story/1241013/gold-nugget-found-near-ballarat/?cs=62
(link normalized by FMF)

Robyn

[valere]

Hello Jordi!
Good idea to mix my topic "Tucson 2013: a survival kit for the beginner" in the global subject Tucson 2013 subject!
All the data will help for the planning I will fix next WE! And also browse through Gail's reports that are the best to recognise and meet as many "locals" as I can! Obviously, no malaria tablets needed!
Also to pack a few rocks, summer clothes and fill the suitcase holes with Belgian beers to share on evenings!
See you there!
I will post pics and give my impressions on the way back from the mineral jungle here, and in my collector's club!
Sure it will be like all big oversea trips: one or two days to adapt and mark the territory, and the remaining to feel like at home
Cheers
Val

[Jordi Fabre]

[crocoite]

[bob kerr]

[Rich Olsen]

Hi All,
I am assisting Jim Houran with the planning and installation of what promises to be a great thumbnail exhibit for this years TGMS main show. It is based on the "Elegant World of Thumbnail Minerals" article in last years March-April (Vol43-#2) issue of The Mineralogical Record. We have arranged to have over 60 of the specimens pictured in this great article on display in the case . Along with the individual specimens, is a real prize, Mitch Gunnel's boxed"master set" of single crystals illustrated in the article(courtesy of Wayne andDona Leicht).
Include here is a"teaser" in the form of a couple of my specimens that will be included.
Be sure to come by and take a look.

[Rocksaholics]

John, The Pueblo Gem & Mineral Show is held at the Riverpark Inn in Tucson.
The show is spread out in Building A, Building B and Building C, besides in various tents, ball room and show rooms etc.

Building C is a separate area with its own courtyard and it was previously used only for sleeping rooms. Since 2010, we at Rocksaholics decided to establish this building as a venue for only fine minerals and The Pueblo Gem & Mineral Show welcomed us.

The first two years there were very few dealers who joined us and in 2013 The Pueblo Gem & Mineral Show has a waiting list for dealers of fine minerals.

Our group of dealers did not like the generic building "C" name and voted to change it to The International Fine Mineral Building. The show management obliged and today this venue is one of the most convenient and buyer friendly venues in Tucson for fine minerals.

We are honored that several well know & respected dealers have joined us and in 2013, we welcome The Arkenstone, Rocky Mountain Minerals, American Fine Mineral Consortium, to name a few.

Jordi has honored us with his visit in 2012 and we look forward to welcoming you in 2013.

[Jordi Fabre]

Tucson 01/31/2013

When in Tucson, the first feeling during the initial days is the feeling that you are really tired and overwhelmed. Why? the Show is so huge, the number of venues is so large and the availability of the hard drive of your brain is so limited that your brain collapses soon and you wants to come back with your mom ;-)

After this non funny initial feeling, the number of the offers, the magnificence of some specimens and in general the beauty of the mineral world makes you, slowly, starts to enjoy the Show, but the first days.... ! ;-(

Speaking about novelties: some new Wulfenites on Descloizite (not Mottramite) and colorful Duftites from Ojuela mine, a great find of very fine Jacobsites from N'Chwaning Mine, very few nice blue Celestines from (maybe) El Ayachi, Morocco, a HUGE number of specimens from Huanggang Mine in all kind of qualities, and as usual, a lot of small new finds here and there.

VERY IMPORTANT! I believe is not so well announced, so please note that the Former Quality Inn in Benson is not more operating this year and that the dealers from there are now located in the second floor of the TCC-Inn Suites (that in fact concentrates the major part of dealers of minerals) and the Pueblo Gem Show - Riverpark Inn. Theoretically, several dealers should be also in the Executive Inn but, at least yesterday and today, I don't saw they.
BTW, for my astonishment the parking lot of the Executive Inn is totally occupied with tents selling mostly fossils, which is really funny because the people now has not room to park his car front the Hotel! ;-)

More to come...
2013 European correspondent of the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show™

[Matt_Zukowski]

I got in yesterday afternoon after taking the red eye from Anchorage. When i got to the Inn Suites, the hotel seemed only maybe 30% open. The atmosphere seemed relaxed, even if the dirt parking lot had a lot of cars. Many dealers were just moving in. Luis Burillo was doing a brisk business, and there I found nice clean Rio Marina pyrites; a number of Panasquiera apatities including a blue one I couldn't resist; lusterous bournonite from Viboras Mine, Machacamarca, Bolivia; and partially gemmy cassiterite from the Viloco mine in Bolivia. Stone Age Gifts and Green Mountain minerals (where I saw an amazingly gemmy Madagascar tourmaline) were also open, with stuff fun to look at. I saw Mario Pauwels all over the place and Marco Amabili at Luis Burillo's room. There were other rooms open, but I was in kind of a fog, so I can't recount them here.

Today, I didn't get to the Inn Suites until maybe 3pm. The place was busy! It seemed like the majority of dealers were open. The parking lot was full. They closed the egress and parking behind the hotel and so now, with all the dealers coming over from the Quality Inn, I expect traffic and parking at the Inn Suites is going to be even more CRAZY this year. We shall see. I bumped into a number of great people including Jordi, Jesse Fisher, and Trevor from Australia (whose last name escapes me; sorry Trevor). I saw Asia at the Spirifer room where she showed me some nice vanadinites with good color and transparency. Ross Lillie of North Star Minerals was open and i had a nice chat with him and was able to view a nice assortment of eastern European sulfides, as usual. I had a long chat with Jared Freiburg of Saga minerals who is always a fountain of information about midwest geology and minerals. He showed me some great Illinois fluorite and Linwood Barytes and calcites, among other things.

I hope people find this recount useful. Attached are some random pictures.

[Don Lum]

Thank you for your report and pictures.

[Jean Sendero]

Well, as you all know, it is this time of the year when you will be adding new mineral specimens to your collections. In a similar way than last year, I will only report on what matters in the world of minerals, Mexican Minerals. I know, there a lot of other countries that produce minerals but for me, it does not matter. Mexico is the gig to have.

I will only write about minerals leaving the social scene to report on to others that do it very well. So, since Thursday morning I have been walking around west of I-10 and at the Tucson City Hotel.

So what did I see that was new or relatively new or uncommon, as mentioned by Jordi previously, some deep yellow orange blocky wulfenite on descloizite and or mottramite from Mina Ojuela Mapimi. Maybe both minerals are forming the matrix, the jury is out on this at the moment. Peter Megaw did mention that these were coming. The specimens are actually from a mid November find at Mapimi. Small find with few undamaged specimens trickling out.

We saw some kibbles at Denver but in Tucson, real specimens of sulfosalts (pyrargyrite maybe stephanite) from Oaxaca, some canary yellow elongated rhombohedra of calcite from Sta Eulalia, some pale amethyst on calcite from Las Vigas an uncommon association, and amethyst from Durango.

At the TCH, I visited the dealers that were open on Thursday (maybe 30-40%) and today Friday (85%). As you walk in the lobby, at the booth of Arkenstone, you will fine the pale amethyst on calcite but as well plenty of cuproadamite from Mapimi, a few large mottramite and regular Las Vigas amethyst.

As you get the rooms, Xtal – Dennis Beals Minerals will greet you with a red room. No joke. Dennis has been mining the raspberry grossular from Sierra de Cruces in Coahuila. This you, the harvest is simply the best that I have seen in years. Esthetic specimens, great red color and more importantly, less broken crystals. After 3 years of cleaning these puppies, Dennis pinned down the technique to limit the damage to a minimum. They are good.

Don Olson of Olson Minerals has a beautiful specimen of paradamite with Legrandite. Many other Mexican minerals were represented originating from purchased collection. Tomasz Praszkier at Spirifer Minerals has ½ shelves full of San Francisco wulfenite with mimetite. Simply beautiful.

Outside, at the front at his usual spot, Jesus Valenzuela, has again this year a wide assortment of azurite but as well some killer brochantite and some interesting pieces with Baryte rosettes.

This seems to cover it for Mexico at the TCH. If there is more, let me know
Crossing the I-10, we will make our way to the Days Inn. At the Days Inn, surprise, surprises with Alfonso Arriaga of Crystals from Heaven. Alfonso has at least 4 flats of Oaxaca sulfosalts ranging from thumbnail with matrix to small cab on matrix. The better thumbnails to Toenails are loose crystals (to 1.5 cm) and group of crystals (to 4 cm) without matrix. Adding to this he has a few specimens of canary yellow canary yellow elongated rhombohedra of calcite from Mina El Potosi at Sta Eulalia. This is not all, he has a few Bishop hat calcite twins on matrix from Mina Hercules, Coahuila, and datolite groups with crystals to 3-4 cm exhibiting a great luster from Charcas. An abundance of bluish grey Smithsonite with goethite from Sta Eulalia can be bought. The Smithsonite has an incredible luster. Further, the room contained blue Hemimorphite rhodocrosite and more all from Sta Eulalia.

The next door gas station hosted a couple of Mexican dealers, of which Jose Angel, had some amethyst with good luster and crystals to 1 cm from Rancho Villa Real, Mina La Morada, Durango.

Further south, you get to the Motel 6, not an official venue but with some dealers. Jesus Salinas was there and had brought with him some of the wulfenite on mottramite/descloizite with him, some great vanadinite from the Cock’s Orebody, Mina San Antonio Sta Eulalia, much better than what was at the show last year, some super gemmy nifontovite from Charcas as thumbnails and toenails, and more.

This is about it, let’s look at photo’s from the TCH. Later from the west side of the I-10

[Jordi Fabre]

[Jean Sendero]

Jordi,

we maybe speaking of different "types" of specimens. One is dark and looks like descloizite and the other is light which may be mottramite. I will have my jury finish it's deliberations by the end of next week or earlier. Some pics below.