FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[alfredo]

Yes, Jordi, that's probably right. There are dozens of volcanic vents in the Payun area, and I don't think anyone knows exactly which one the specimens come from, except the finder, but that's the right district.

[Jim]

Excellent quartz, John! I love the species, although finding truly unusual and aesthetic examples seems more difficult than many people may believe.

Cheers,

[Darren]

Well, I'm fainlly getting a chance to photograph more stuff! So this is the first one for today - there will be more to follow. This is a Fluorite ps. Calcite from the Elena Mine, West Camp, Santa Eulalia, Chihuahua, Mexico. I bought it about 2 months ago locally for about 8 dollars. Longest dimension is about 14 cm.

[Ed Huskinson]

Nice Iron Hill hematite Darren! Man, it looks like one of the British hematites. I collected at Iron Hill myself while attending school at UTEP.

The title for this string (less costly pieces) caused me to go to my fluorite suite and unearth this specimen. It has an interesting story, which I wrote (in February of 1984) on the back of the Collector's Stope label that came with the piece. I'm hoping Marty remembers it, inasmuch as he is the first guy I can remember who had the idea of putting together an exhibit of inexpensive pieces way back in 1983.

Dana Dixon, local Denverite collector and geologist, told me that someone up there (MAD? I'm not sure who) had put in a case of inexpensive minerals that he said is pretty impressive. Sorry I was not able to see it, and I'm hoping that Gail posts a photo in her Denver Report.

So here are some pictures of a Monarch Mine fluorite, octahedral, displaying a stoss side to the crystals. Figure this'll be a blast from the past for Jim McGlasson and Marty Zinn as well.

[Darren]

Thanks Ed, that's really cool! I am finding that I am starting to become more interested in the history behind minerals and their collection, probably has to do with my job, but it has made me realize I have been missing a LOT of really interesting history.

This Los Lamentos wulfenite was a pleasant surprise I picked up at Pebble Pups here in Las Cruces about ten years ago. Don Moore, who owned the shop, let me look through some stuff he still had packed away - stuff he picked up in Tucson 20 years before. I found this piece for $10 and was happy to get it. I traded it a few years ago ... and just got it back. It's about 4 cm across.

[Ed Huskinson]

Wow Darren, nice wulfenite!! You're lucky to have reacquired it. So 30 years ago, that'd be about 1979, same vintage more or less as the one pictured here (1971, as can be seen from the label on the undercarriage of the piece). I bought it in Juarez back in the days when it was safe to cross over the bridge, carouse all night, and stagger home under the influence of Tequila. What do they say? "A hangover is the wrath of grapes." ? I cannot remember exactly how much I paid for the specimen, but given the fact that I rarely had more than two or three dollars in my pocket at any one time back then, it couldn't have been much, and I'm certain it was less than $25.00, maybe even less than $20.00.

The point here is that both specimens look to have originated in the same area of the mine, and they could even be from the same pocket. Do you remember the year of the newspapers in which the specimens were wrapped there at Pebble Pups?

If you come to Tucson in 2010, bring the piece. I'll bring this one, and we can compare them side by side, maybe even factor Bennie Fenn into the mix.

Your specimens are great, muy interesting. Keep 'em coming.

Thanks,

Ed

[azsavit]

Wow, it looks like all the old-timers definitely have the upper hand on this topic. The fact that people are posting stuff they bought when I was still in diapers makes me feel a bit better about posting stuff that I bought fairly close to the source. Granted, these are a couple of the nicer pieces from a larger lot I bought, but still, the per-piece cost was fairly low so think these qualify...
One of the bonuses of wandering into every shop with minerals in the window, no matter where I happen to be in the world... in the US I just go in, drool for a while, and walk out empty handed, but in a source country with no domestic demand, it is another game entirely. Both of these pieces are from Ica, Peru.

[Jordi Fabre]

[Ed Huskinson]

Yes, endlichite is found there Jordi. We'll look at the specimen together in Tucson in 2010.

Thanks,

Ed

[Darren]

Here are a few coppers from the Chino Pit, Grant County, New Mexico, that I got for about 25 cents each.

[Darren]

There once was a little old lady (seriously!) who used to sell minerals at our downtown farmers market. I used to put stuff out to sell with her every now and then - locally collected Baryte, micros, fluorite and Mexican minerals I would buy at the Deming show to resale. One day, this popped up in one of the boxes she bought from "some guy" in Arizona. When asked what she wanted for it, she said 3 dollars. It's another one that was traded away a few years ago and just came back to me.

[Jordi Fabre]

3 US$?
My goodness! ;-)

[Darren]

Yep, $3! I was surprised as well? I assume it's worth a bit more than that.

[Tobi]

This 5,5 cm vanadinite from Taouz (Morocco) costed 3 euros (4 or 5 dollars)

[Tobi]

This 6,5 cm specimen of fluorite from the Erongo mountains (Namibia) had the same price of 3 euros.