FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[Jordi Fabre]

Barcelona 1/24/2008

Tucson Show is here! On Monday I will fly to Tucson and on Friday I will be available in room 164 of the InnSuites.

As far as I know, thiere isn't big news for the moment, maybe some good stuff from Ojuela, but I heard just rumors, so I can't be sure about it. Of course, I will inform you here if I obtain more details (or specimens).

Something new has come out from France: in Brézies, close the old lead mine of La Vidale, Asprières, Aveyron, people dug a number of fine Pyromorphites, pretty unusual, with a Campylite habit (although they are not Mimetite, we analyzed them). You can see their quality in the photos.

Tomorrow I will publish some photos of the place where the specimens were dug and the process of extraction.

More to come...

[Jordi Fabre]

Barcelona 01/25/2009

As promised, I publish some images of the area where the Pyromorphite from La Vidale were dug.

More to come...

[Jordi Fabre]

Tucson 01/27/2009

We already are in Tucson and although there is a little activity at the moment, the feeling is that with crisis or without, Tucson is always a crazy show. Today I had to go to a private home to see an extraordinary collection that will be offered for sale at the Main Show (all specimens large or very large) and, as shown in the picture, on top of these boxes, each one containing exceptional treasures with a very high value, sat a cat so content that he seems to say: I am here and I won't move...

This is Tucson: millions hidden in boxes, on top of which common cats relax, luxury and day to day life, all together and completely mixed.

There is some mineralogical news, as soon as I organize my things (probably in Friday) I'll comment on them.

More to come...

[Jordi Fabre]

Tucson 01/28/2009

The situation here in Tucson today, is: the atmosphere is similar, or equal to that of other years (crisis, what crisis?). There are people actively buying in the rooms already open, prices are similar to those of previous years, and for now no one makes great discounts, with the exception of the Chinese dealers, who for some reason seem to be more flexible in their prices than in previous years.

Few rooms are open at the InnSuites, many rooms are open at the Quality Inn-Benson Hwy, and some rooms are open at the Executive Inn. The other smaller shows are in full activity, with most of their rooms open.

I get few new finds, as soon as I can I will detail them.

More to come....

[Jordi Fabre]

Tucson 29/1/2009

Today I visited the InnSuites, and in the room of Collector's Edge I was impressed by few very fine new Topazes, with a color between caramel and smoke, which come from a new pegmatite in El Chaltén, Santa Cruz, Argentina. I had heard about this pegmatite but I didn't know that it could produce such high quality. Tomorrow I will try to photograph them, and publish the photo(s) here.

As I am referring to Argentina, I have some photos of the place where the famous Argentinian Martites (Hematite pseudo Magnetite) are mined in the Payún Matrú volcano.
I think that these will be the first pictures published about how and where these fascinating Martites appear.

More to come...

[Jordi Fabre]

Tucson, 30/1/2009

These are the Argentinian Topazes

More to come...

[Jordi Fabre]

Tucson 02/01/2009

Ok, having a little bit more time I will start to publish the novelties that I have seen in the Show.

First are a number of Calcites from El Hamman, Meknes, Morocco. The crystal form is different from previous ones, as you can see in the photo, and their quality is quite good.

More to come...

[Jordi Fabre]

Tucson 02/02/2009

Yesterday was a very busy day here but today is quiet, so I have some time to publish another of the novelties that I found. In some place in Yunnan province (I'm sorry I know that Yunnan is enormous, but is all that I can say) appear new Vesuvianites with some Calcite and another mineral, that in my opinion could be Diopside. The Vesuvianite crystals look very similar to the Wiluites from Russia but they form groups like the specimen shown below. Quite an interesting find, we will see what happens in the future if this locality will supply still more specimens, and also if they will disclose the precise location.

More to come...

[Jordi Fabre]

Tucson 02/03/2009

Tucson is a giant social club where people meet people, and where talks between friends are one of the main rewards to the people who assist in the show.
In front of my room every day I see many members of the "crème" of mineralogy, chatting or just saying hi!, and this is also a powerful reward for me.

More to come...

[John S. White]

Tucson 02/04/2009

Last evening Jordi and I were invited to the home of Tucson collector Peter Megaw, who is familiar to Forum visitors for his insightful comments. He is also well-known for his fine work in managing the set-up of the special exhibits at the Tucson Show. Our visit, of course, was for the purpose of seeing his mineral collection, something that we have long wanted to do. We were not disappointed. Peter specializes in the minerals of Mexico and he may well have the best representation of the various species found there. The minerals are grouped in different cases by state and mining districts. Many show unusual associations, features such as bizarre replacements, and an amazing array of crystal habits.

A special bonus to those of us who are encouraged to see young people take up the hobby was the case of Peter´s daughter, Lauren (see photo). Lauren started collecting at the age of 7 and has won a first place in every competition she has entered every since, including Juniors, Junior Masters, Novice, Adults, Advance Adults and Masters Adults. What is left? Peter told us that she selected the specimens all by herself, very impressive!

[Jordi Fabre]

Tucson 02/05/2008

Another novelty I found at this 2009 Tucson is from a new find in Morocco. The exact locality is still a little unclear, but it is probably not far from Tafraout, Azilal, Beni Mellal.
As you can see in the picture this Azurite has an unusual crystallographic habit, bladed crystals, and its intense blue color is very saturated. These concentrations occur in Quartz (which is sometimes crystallized) with Malachite, and an unidentified brown mineral that often coats the crystals. I must wait until I return to Barcelona to have it identified. These were found recently in October 2008, and in my opinion are very interesting (and pretty). We'll see if they are lucky and continue to find more.

More to come...

[Jordi Fabre]

Tucson 02/06/2009

Today the Westward Look started although some dealers already opened earlier, in Thursday or before. It is a race and it seems never stop....

As Gail is there doing wonderful photos, so the best will be to follow what happens in the Westward Look visiting her thread: "Tucson Gail Spann Show report"

More to come...

[Jordi Fabre]

Tucson 07/02/2009

Here’s Tom Gressman, the new Associate Publisher of the Mineralogical Record , at the 2009 Tucson Show with a Power Point demonstration of what this publication offers to mineral collectors. This bimonthly magazine delivers authoritative articles on great mineral localities past and present, essays on the history of mineralogy and mineral collecting, thorough reports on “what’s new in minerals” at major worldwide shows, biographical articles, columns, book reviews, letters, etc.—all accompanied by very generous numbers of color photos of mineral specimens. If you visit his website: https://www.MineralogicalRecord.com you can subscribe directly online.
In this version on line I strongly recomend the articles of Tom Moore: "Whats new in the mineral world" ( https://www.mineralogicalrecord.com/whatsnew.asp ) as well as the "Biographies" ( https://www.mineralogicalrecord.com/labelarchive.asp ) a work of Wendell Wilson. Both are really useful.

The mineralogical magazines need all support that we can give to them, they are a very important part of the structure of the mineral world. We have discussed this in the past : https://www.mineral-forum.com/message-board/viewtopic.php?t=308

More to come...

[Jordi Fabre]

Tucson 02/08/2009

It is often forgotten that Tucson is located in a desert, the Sonora Desert, and thus sometimes unpleasant surprises happen. Until today we were here in a kind of climate paradise, but last night it rained. It created a sense of well being after so many dry days and this morning as the sun appeared, everything looked wonderful, but suddenly the temperature plummeted and it started to rain again. Now it is very cold, the nearby mountains are covered with snow, and maybe it will snow in the city. So in a few hours we went from a tropical climate to freezing. Quite hard.

Furthermore, and as could be expected, there are now coming a lot of visitors, so I think that the show finally will be more or less as past years, with the important difference that people decided (wisely) to come late and stay here only the last days of the show, and in just one week visit the Hotels and the Main Show, with a substantial savings of time and money.

More to come...

[Jordi Fabre]

Tucson 02/09/2009

Rocks & Minerals is the other major U.S. magazine for mineral collectors, and it is a very fine product indeed. It is rich with full color articles about minerals, collectors, localities and it also carries a lot of information about clubs, museums, personalities and shows. The editor, Marie Huizing, shown in the photo, is the force that makes this magazine so very special. She can always be found at the R&M table and she makes it a point to talk to as many subscribers as possible, more than ably assisted by her equally congenial husband Terry.

More to come...