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[Joan R.]

As Jordi says ( https://www.mineral-forum.com/message-board/viewtopic.php?p=2327#2327 ), this last weekend we were enjoying the visit of Marie Huizing, accompanied by her husband Terry Huizing. It was a short visit but intense.

On Friday we were able to enjoy, thanks to the efforts made by Jordi, a visit to the Folch collection. Being the first time in Barcelona they both showed a great interest to see this private collection. They were pleasantly surprised on the beauty of the displayed mineral specimens, calling their attention in the minerals from USA. As you previously could see in the forum ( https://www.mineral-forum.com/message-board/viewtopic.php?t=244 ) about the Folch collection they highlighted the excellent Copper and Silver specimens from Michigan. Terry, who is a good Calcite collector, saw some specimens that aroused his interest, as a nice Calcite crystal with Copper inclusions from the Copper Cliff Mine, also from Michigan. But they also enjoyed Spanish minerals, highlighting the asturian Fluorites and huge specimens of Galena from Bellmunt del Priorat (Tarragona, Catalunya). They also enjoyed the Tsumeb old specimens. We were able to take some photographs that soon will be in the magazine Rocks & Minerals. As always, visitors must sign the visitors book (sic), and they made some interesting comments about some “historic” visitors, remembering wistfully, when the same Sr. Folch attended the Tucson Show and bought some of these displayed magnificent specimens.

Obviously Marie and Terry could not leave our country without trying the "tapas" so we enjoyed various dishes from our land. Not in touristic bars, an authentic tapas-bar that I know of "quite well” in El Prat de Llobregat. And enjoyed his own despite the "jet-lag."

The next day we went to Olesa de Montserrat (40 Km from Barcelona) to visit the collection of Mr. Jordi Povill. Mr. Povill has built up an extensive collection of over several decades. Marie and Terry were very pleased with the well represented minerals from Spain, with the comments of Mr. Povill, that made the delights of our visitors. The Povill collection has an excellent collection of sulphides and sulfosalts. Marie stressed the visible structure of the collection and some notable specimens, like a nice Azurite from Tsumeb. Thank to Terry we could clarify some localities, especially the U.S. Galena specimens, which due to lack of a correct description by the seller, were labeled incorrectly. Terry told us that some of these specimens were certainly acquired many years ago, when the was not possible to know the precise mine name. It must be said in favour of dealers that the States of Missouri, Tennessee and Kentucky are converging on a fairly extensive mineralized zone where there are hundreds of mine shafts, so it is sometimes difficult to tell from what State belong. To our surprise, Terry explained how they found specimens of Millerite in Calcite and Chalcedony vugs in Halls Gap, Lincoln Co., Kentucky, an area well known for its fossils but not for its minerals, and as the wind was taking out the first delicate Millerite needles.

It has been a very interesting couple of days, both for our visitors and for us. See you soon Marie and Terry.