FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[Jordi Fabre]

Barcelona 02/16/2009

This is my last batch of photos from the Main Show. The next post will have the main novelties including the new exciting Russian Cuprites.

More to come...

[Jordi Fabre]

Barcelona 02/18/2009

Time for the Tucson 2009 main novelty that in my opinion are the new Cuprite specimens associated to Copper with Silver (halfbreed, like Michigan) and some other mineral species, like Cerussite.
In the last issue of the nice Russian magazine Mineral Observer, they already commented this novelty but as the magazine appeared just before the show, the minerals arrived to us before the news about its existence.
What can I say?. The Cuprite crystals are large (4-5 cm. the bigger ones) and although not gemmy, them have an excellent luster, and also them appear occasionally in a very interesting matrix of a kind of Copper-Silver halfbreed with other minerals related, like Cerussite!. Them are not better than the best ones of the old times from Congo, but them are really interesting.

As we did two fast photos and we have not too much time to do more or better photos I added also the scanner of the article of the Mineral Observer where some great specimens was photographed.

The Cuprites appeared between July and August of 2008, 100 meters deep, in the new (in fact old, it was a working mine in the past) mine of Rubtsovskoye, located close the Rubtsovsk village, in Altai Kraj, Siberia, Russia. Some other excellent Copper (with and without Silver) appeared there too, and all the stuff came out during 2008. The future is uncertain due the actual low prices of the ore.

The rest of new finds that I saw in Tucson 2009 are:

- New Mica (what member of the Mica family I don't know until we analyze it) with large, black, sharp, complete and fully terminated crystals in an attractive pink Calcite matrix from some place near Rössing Mine, Arandis, Swakopmund, Erongo Region, Namibia.

- Intensely colored and quite gemmy and large Beryl Aquamarine from Kanchanjung, in the Himalayas (East), Nepal, mined during 2008.

- New Olmiite (or Poldervaartite we need to analyze them) from N'Chwaning II, this time different of the previous ones, by their color and shape as well as to be associated to very gemmy crystals of Calcite. Nice combination.

Many other minor things like the Ramsdellites from Arizona or the Braunites from N'Chwaning II.
The Artigas quarries (Uruguay), the volcano Payún Matru (Argentina) area, and the Riemvasmaak area (octahedral green Fluorites) are still prolific producing superb specimens, although Payún Matru seems started a slow decline, hopefully temporarily.

Well, that's all about novelties, these ones together with the others that we already published on this thread, made Tucson 2009 as one of the best in terms of novelties that I remember from long, long, time and it breaks the common feeling of "not novelties" frequent in the past main international shows.

Next and last post will be my final review of Tucson 2009.

More to come...

[Jordi Fabre]

Barcelona 02/22/2009

Tucson 2009 is history, and in some ways it will be historical too, due to the fact that in my opinion and in the opinion of many other people, the age of the easy sales is ended (I mean the times when a cube of Pyrite worth $200 (US) can be sold in a high fashion auction for $20000 (US) . It seems that reality has finally arrived to the mineral market and just as is happening in the worldwide economy, probably nothing will be the same.

Having said that, the situation of the mineral market is not that bad. Many dealers did well in Tucson, businesses are still running and the vast majority of people collecting minerals attended the show and many of them, if not all, spent money buying rocks. So, maybe nothing really upsetting will happen, but a kind of "natural selection" will occur where some people selling minerals will fail and others will stay or even do better.

I disagree with some other opinions that deals were good only for wholesale or world class specimens, with no sales in the middle. From my own experience, there are a lot of collectors still buying specimens with prices between $500-1000 (US). Probably it is not that collectors for pieces in this price range don't exist, but that most collectors consider this amount a serious investment, so they don't want to waste their money buying mediocre specimens and they are becoming much more selective.

Another phenomena that caught my eye in this edition of the Tucson Show was the enthusiasm of a new generation of collectors very well represented by two powerful associations, MAD from Dallas and HAMS from Houston. These two groups can represent a model for other associations, such as a new one recently created in Washington. The Spann's, just to name two members of the MAD group, are fresh blood and with their enthusiasm and energy they are supplying a new vision to the hobby, and the good news is that they not are alone, other new collectors like them are being attracted to the hobby, and if they stay the future looks promising.

Last thing. For a serious mineral collector, the Tucson Show is actually divided into three shows: Marty Zinn and other motels, Westward Look and the Main (Club) Show. To do all of them people need at least two weeks, and this is not affordable for the majority. So, people tend to concentrate their efforts on the last days. If they miss the Westward Look or some Hotel/Motel dealers that is okay with them, they will still see enough minerals and their stay will have a reasonable duration, instead of two to three crazy weeks.
I also consider the show too long, so I have decided to shorten my show, and next year I will open my room in the InnSuites four days late, beginning Tuesday February 2. Everybody says that the Tucson Show is too long, I agree, and so I will cut the length of my participation. I have wanted to do this for two years, but the arrival of Joan Rosell changed everything. Now with Joan out, I will do what I wanted to do.

Jordi

[Jordi Fabre]

Barcelona 03/11/2009

A final and short note just to announce that the analysis we made, proved that the new Mica from Namibia is Phlogopite and that the mineral associated to the Chinese Vesuvianite is Diopside.
Also, the material related to the new Moroccan Azurites is a mix of clay, limestone powder and submicrocrystalline copper phosphates, so nothing crystallized nor a mineral species.