FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[Jordi Fabre]

Our last chronicle about Ste. Marie was in 2019 and after three years, a pandemic, and two lost editions here it is again this loved Show!

Official website of the Show: Mineral&Gem Sainte-Marie-Aux-Mines

[Hans Cremers]

I'll be there on Saturday and Sunday, looking forward to meeting a lot of acquaintances again.

The atmosphere at the Ste.-Marie-aux-Mines mineral fair is always amazing :-)

Best regards, Hans

[marticv]

Hi there! My name is Martí and I am working with Jordi Fabre, the author of the following photos and screenshots. Even though there are still 3 days before the official opening, we can say that Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines Show has started.

What does this mean? Well, like the rest of the great mineral fairs, it is starting further and further before the official time. Claude Abel, who has been the alma mater of the Show until the last edition was held, is no longer mayor and it seems that the new mayor of Sainte-Marie is very pro-Show, and that is always good news. The organization is very efficient, something that has always distinguished this Show, and that now it seems to be even better.

Nothing seems to have changed in Sainte-Marie after the pandemic, all the restaurants are still open and it even seems that some new ones have opened their doors. And of course the inhabitants and, consequently, the shopkeepers of Sainte-Marie await the Show like a breath of fresh air, and it is time to recover after a few complicated years for everyone.

There were Shows, there will be Shows... but now the most important thing is that there is a Show! Let no one miss it!!!

[marticv]

In Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines today the temperature has dropped 10ºC compared with yesterday, the sky is cloudy and there is intermittent rain. But this does not stop us from the desire to see the show

[marticv]

The show continues at full speed, and in this context, it is fair to highlight the role of the organization.

This year new and very dynamic people have joined the team, trying to help and going out of their way to make everything work as well as possible. There is a lot of empathy between the organizers and helpers who together form the red coats, the "gilets rouges", a swarm of carefully chosen local people, there so that everything works to the maximum perfection.

You have to think that the assembly of this type of infrastructure, in a small town in the Vosges mountains, is not an easy task. Sometimes you have to deal with complicated situations that these gilets rouges solve with a lot of "savoir faire", thumbs up for them.

[marticv]

From Carles Manresa post in the Spanish forum:

We are finally in Alsace!

This time it has not been an easy trip. Road accidents with their respective traffic jams, endless queues at the airport, misunderstandings at the car rental, with the hotel... but finally in the heart of Alsace...and with the best company!

Meanwhile... the preparation for the Show doesn't stop, oblivious to earthly problems.

[marticv]

Around here the Show is crowded, everyone says it's going to be a great Fair...

[marticv]

Today is the first official day of the Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines Show. First hour in the morning, movement began to be seen, but shortly before the Show opened its doors, the crowd was already impatient to get in!

[Jordi Fabre]

First official day at the Show. Without a doubt, the volume of people has been greater than previous years and for the weekend the organization believes that it will also be very high...

[Jordi Fabre]

Fridays are usually not a busy day at the Show because it is located between the arrival of the professionals on Wednesday-Thursday and that of the visitors on Saturday, and yet yesterday there were some overbooking problems at different times of the day.

Everything indicates that this is going to be a great edition...

[Jordi Fabre]

An exceptional edition, with more than 30,000 visitors. Congratulations Ste.Marie!

Soon a small report with the new discoveries seen this year.

[Jordi Fabre]

Due my eternal lack of time I'm using the report about the new discoveries in Ste. Marie 2022 that we prepared Carles Manresa and me at the Spanish side and adding a few improvements. In two weeks I will add a few more new discoveries that are still pending of analysis results or confirmation of precise localities.
Here you have the first batch:

For the moment we are going to consider 4 countries, where new discoveries have appeared or which have been seen for the first time or so at the Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines 2022 Show.

France: One of the most important new discoveries has been a new bonanza of Quartz crystals from La Gardette ('À Giraud Mine' specifically), already extraordinary and considered among the best in the world, but this time accompanied by Chalcopyrite crystals, most of them with an oxidation patina, creating a very beautiful color contrast with the perfect Quartz crystals, most of them with the classic Dauphiné twin so characteristic for this locality.

Morocco: Morocco has always been the "Star" country at this Show. And this year could not be less, perhaps not with much quantity but with enough quality. As a first new discoveries we should highlight a find of Epidote on Quartz crystals in the form of 'crests' or fans that, due to their crystallization, could remind Prehnite. These specimens come from Imilchil, an area that never ceases to give surprises year after year.
Not being a novelty stricto sensu, but finally a great presence of Aragonite specimens has exploded, with pseudohexagonal habit, cyclic twin - their form reminiscent of the aragonites from Spain - elongated, whitish, and many of them in matrix of a curious volcanic rock, the ignimbrite, and some even at giant size. The locality for these aragonites is Mamsa, Sidi Ayed, Midelt. As noted at the beginning of this paragraph, these pieces were seen for the first time in 2016, although it was not until six years later that they emerged on the international market.
As for the unusual vanadinites (and not 'pyromorphites') with acicular crystals that were discussed here we already know the locality: a small village, Tissaf, close Missour at the Province of Boulemane.
Finally, Beni Bouzra seems to have been without quality pieces for a while. We will see what happens with this deposit to certify if the tourmalines were a one off find or if the potential of the deposit is yet to "explode".

Niger: 2 important new discoveries for this African country, both very pleasant. Small but beautiful crystals of Beryl (emerald variety) with a slightly greenish color but transparent and perfectly crystallized. The denomination of emeralds has been confirmed (see: emeralds of Niger) by geochemical studies that mainly indicate the presence of chromium and in some samples of some vanadium, although the geochemistry of these minerals that are found in a granite massif from Niger. The locality for these samples is Taraouadji Mountains, Aïr Massif, Agadez Region and they were found in September 2021. The other novelty from this country is Quartz (amethyst variety) of a very deep color, with well-defined crystalline forms and most of them in a matrix of enclosing rock. The locality for that amethyst is Berjé, Aïr Massif, Agadez Region, not far from the previous emerald deposit.

Malawi: not really new, but very nice and very useful to finally determine the real nature of this kind of colorful Zircon from Mount Malosa (see images below) because after analysis it was confirmed that they are not Xenotime, as some people suggested in the past.
They appear in pieces that combine the well-known Orthoclases with Aegirine and the Zircons are very colorful with an intense orange colour and they have pyramidal, very sharp and elongated crystals providing an aesthetic color contrast to the pieces.

More to come...

[Jordi Fabre]