FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[bob kerr]

As I have posted for many years, the opening of the Tucson Shows for me starts when Adam Wright of the Adelaide Crocoite Mine arrives and opens his most recent shipment. Some photos of the event are attached.

The special pieces this year are from what Adam calls the Surprise Pocket which surpised him when his digging bar surprised the pocket. This pocket produced lustrous, gemmy and cleanly terminated crystals - some of the best ever to come from the Adelaide. Regrettably the pocket was quite tight which made the specimen recover effort very difficult and as a result some inevitable damage is present. However, numerous beautiful single crystals - gemmy, lustrous and cleanly terminated - were recovered many thumbnails and many too large to be considered thumbnails but wonderful specimens regardless.

More show reporting to follow. I have a feeling there's lots of pent-up demand for specimens and it will not surprise me at all if we hear about very good sales from dealers.

bob

[Bob Harman]

I went back to the "Tucson 2020" thread and reviewed the postings, including mine, as I attended that show.
Bob K's postings of that show were great so I am sure his postings of the upcoming 2022 show will be as many and as great as before. I will not be attending this year's show.

The 2022 show will be smaller with both less dealers and less customers, but I also predict good sales. The show goers there will be the true collectors, but less international customers. There probably will be many less casual show goers with relatively few families and children. Those there will mainly be local and regional residents.

Let's hope that the current Covid virus surge in numbers shows the start of a rapid decline (as many health care professionals, including me, expect) within the next few weeks.

Bob

[alfredo]

I'm in Tucson now and have already seen early birds arriving from England, Canada, Japan, Morocco... I agree with Bob that visitors will be fewer than in non-pandemic years, but that sales will nevertheless be good. That's exactly what happened ten weeks ago at the Munich show, where several dealers told me they had record good sales despite the lack of crowds.

From a business perspective thick crowds are really only beneficial for the show organizer and for those dealers selling polished bric-a-brac to the general public. Dealers catering to "serious" collectors (Can I call us that?) actually do better when the venues are uncrowded.

[Tobi]

May all of you who are in Tucson this year have a great show - no matter if you are dealer, collector or just an FMF spy tracking the newest finds (@Bob K ;-))

Thanks for the first impressions (Adam's crocoites are always so amazing!) - I guess I'm not the only one who is excited about more reports from the show ... :-)

Best regards, have fun & stay healthy!
Tobi

[bob kerr]

Visited the Top Gem / Mineral City area yesterday - very few dealers in yet - but the indomitable South African Clive Quiet was already open in his Top Gem Annex room.

Clive had many fresh specimens of older discoveries - especially quartzes from Zimbabwe, Goboboseb and the Congo - lots to pick from. Also, Erongo Fluorites were common in many sizes, colors and prices. I worked out a great deal for one Malawi quartz plate (Riebeckite inclusions and siderite - 12.5cm wide and 10cm high) shown below.

I also found what are now my favorite Erongo Fluorite and Zomba Aegirine - shown below. The Erongo fluorites kind of lack external luster - but I guess you can't have everything.

more to follow,
bob

[bob kerr]

There are still not many dealers open, but activity level is rising dramatically. Wendy's Minerals - an expert in Chinese minerals - was open and had some new and interesting items. The Huanggang Mines still produce surprises. Wendy had about 5-6 large matrix pieces of translucent colorful fluorite in association with white quartz. Best to see the photos - all are back lit, and all are dramatic.

There was also a cabinet full of thick colorful barites and and some other unique fluorite/quartz specimens - see photos.

more to follow next week when many dealers start to open.

bob

[Tobi]

[bob kerr]

The group of Chinese Fluorite and Quartz are indeed from Huanggang.

The group of Chinese barites are from Xiefang, Jiangxi.

bob

[bob kerr]

New to this year's show is the Mexican dealership of Wulfenita Minerals run by Jerry Gerardo. Many excellent Mexican pieces can be found here at very reasonable prices - specialty is the "Calcite Trees" from Santa Eulalia. The double keystone pieces were as nice as the keystone pieces, and I couldn't resist getting one for $62 - see photo.

Still not a lot of dealers open - but activity continues to ramp up.

more to follow,
bob

[bob kerr]

Many more rooms are open today. I stopped by Tomasz Praszkier's Spirifer room to see what he has to offer - every year he brings remarkable material to the market.

Lots of excellent Congo minerals of all sizes and price ranges - new smithsonites and new chalcocites and the dioptases are really nice. See photos.

and

Fluorites from Ireland - where?

Soon to be unveiled will be Moroccan Tourmalines. Tomek gave me a preview and WOW!! - these will be a hot item. I'll post more when they are out.

bob

[bob kerr]

For years the first dealership to greet you when you walked into the Inn Suites/HTCC was the bright and colorful room of Crystal Springs Mining and Jewelry Co. They are now settled into their new digs at the Min City and the room is still wonderful but harder to find.

Min City is the future but there are those of us who still miss the HTCC. (But I also miss the Desert Inn so take it for what it's worth.)

They had tables full of Bolivian amethyst - although this find has been around for some time, this year's haul is about as good as it's ever been. See photos.

Also new were Bolivian Vivianites - large, lustrous and some show the classic curvature.

bob

[bob kerr]

A new dealership from North Carolina also has a room at Min City. Jim and Coleen Hall who call their dealership The Reel Mine are not only dealers but the mine owners and operators. Jim's hands testify to his work.

Very few mines are operating in the US, so it was refreshing to see the cabinets full of great US amethyst. There are also great specimens of their handiwork in the Smithsonian and the new U of A museum in Tucson.

bob

[bob kerr]

Dalnegorsk!! Let's hope it goes on and on. I stopped by Vaclev Budina's KARP room today and there's more excellent and unique Dalnegorsk specimens.

Known for ultra-clear cubic fluorites, new are quite nice clear octahedral specimens. Also there are a number of attractive "pseudomorph of Calcite and Pyrite after Fluorite". See photos.

And - KARP also had some outrageously bright, colorful Goboboseb scepter quartzes. These were nicely back lit and immediately drew one's eye to the display case.

Gotta love the KARP room.

bob

[bob kerr]

Continuing with the KARP photos.

[bob kerr]

Every now and then I walk into a room and one specimen simply jumps out. This happened today for me in the Well-Arranged Molecules room. See photo. This is a totally unique arrangement of Columbian yellow tipped quartz that stands up on other quartz points. Incredible.

By the way, the yellow inclusions have finally been identified as halloysite - an organic mineral.

bob

[minsur]

Unfortunately, the color of these quartzes is of anthropogenic origin. The surface of the tips is somehow porous with micro clay inclusions. Acid cleaning leads to alteration of the clay, turning it yellowish-orange. Some specimens lose their color completely after a (too) excessive acid bath, so a bit of experience in this kind of "cotor treatment".is needed.

By the way an extremely nice reference sample of the saying "a rock is worth what somebody is willing to pay for it". I think two figures instead of five would be far more appropriate;-)

[John S. White]

I would just like to thank Bob Kerr for his excellent coverage of a lot of what is new in Tucson this year. Unfortunately, I will miss the show out of concerns over Omicron, so Bob's postings help.

[Joseph DOliveira]

I would also like to thank Bob for his show posts. Like John, I will also be missing the show this year and will attend vicariously through Bob's posts.

[bob kerr]

[bob kerr]

I ALWAYS love to stop by the room of Robert and Stephanie Snyder's Stonetrust dealership. They may not always have lots of new items, but they seem to come up with some truly unique and one-of-a-kind pieces.

I'll let the attached photos speak for themselves.

bob