An early December Show in Tucson

Once again, in early December the Tucson Gem and Mineral Society is having a small ‘club’ show, at their clubhouse in Tucson. Perfect for those in the area who need a ‘fix’ to get them through until the BIG show in February!

If you can’t make it to that, the “Flagg” show, put on by the folks from the Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum and the Flagg foundation will be up in Mesa, AZ the first week in January.

Will end this with a piece of eye candy we have up in our website, unusual bi-colored Adamite from Mina Ojuela.

Another upcoming show – Jan 7 – 9, in Mesa, AZ

Another show this weekend (Jan 7 -9), the ‘Flagg’ show, so called in honor of A.L Flagg, the first curator of the Arizona Mineral Museum and famed mineral collector, member of the Mineralogical Society of America, and “Mr. Rockhound.” He was well known for his ability to rapidly and correctly identify minerals by sight. The show will be located at Mesa Community College in the West parking lot which is on Dobson Road between Southern Avenue and the Superstition Freeway (Route 60).

We are excited about this show because this is the first time that we will be selling at a major show, our previous business being all internet sales. The weather is supposed to be about 65 degrees and sunny, if you’re in the Phoenix area this coming weekend, come see us!

Pre-Christmas show/sale in the Phoenix Area

For anyone who’ll be around the Valley of the Sun next weekend, there is a 4-dealer show/sale in Gilbert on Saturday. That should be a nice little show, as Evan Jones, De Natura, Dr. Marcus Origlieri (MineralZone), and IC Minerals are four reputable dealers with quality stock at reasonable prices. Well worth the drive to Phoenix.

An upcoming ‘club’ show in Tucson

Just a quick note to those in the Southern Arizona region; this upcoming Saturday there will be a small ‘club’ Gem and Mineral show/sale at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Society clubhouse, 3727 E. Blacklidge, Tucson AZ 85716 from 8 am to 4 pm.

Along with quite a few dealers specializing in mineral specimens, there are usually a few with lapidary-type items, wire-wrapped and other jewelry, and various other crafty items for sale. So, not only a good show to pick up a few beauties for your mineral collection, but also an opportunity to pick up some Christmas presents also…

and just as a piece of ‘eye candy’ for those who read this: A couple of pictures of a (somewhat unusual) purple Adamite crystal cluster from Mina Ojuela.

The Denver Show, half-way through

Won’t have any pictures of the show, sorry, I stupidly left my camera at home. That’s what happens when you leave for the airport before 6:00 AM.
There are more venues than ever, or at least some are getting bigger. The main venue for minerals specimens, the Holiday Inn (officially the Colorado Mineral & Fossil Show), is exactly what I expected, exactly what it’s been for years. 2+ floors plus the outside tents, packed solid with a great variety of minerals from every corner of the Earth. Truly a mineral collectors dream.

The newest show, the Denver Coliseum Show, which just started last year, was much larger than it’s first year. A good mix of mineral specimens, fossils, lapidary and jewelry/gem stones. Actually, the parking lot (the Miners Co-op) has as many dealers as the inside does.

Denver Expo 2010, the National Western Complex show across the Interstate from the coliseum, is primarily beads, lapidary and polished material, very few mineral specimens.

Across the road from the Holiday Inn on 48th is the “Great American Gem Show & Sale”. It is basically what it has been ever we started coming to Denver in Sept., an eclectic mix of mineral specimens, gems, jewelry, beads, lapidary, and metaphysical items. One thing that I noted today made me wonder about the hotel owners: 2 of the 3 elevators were out of order, and the stairways were filled with materials from the rooms – box springs and the like. One of the 3 stairwells was signed as “do not use”, another led to the back of the outside food stand, so that if you came out the stairs you had to walk around the food vendors, (right through where they were working). Is there no fire marshall in Denver?

There is also a bead show, which I can’t write about since I won’t be visiting it, and, of course, the “Main” show, the Denver Gem and Mineral Club Show at the Merchandise Mart. The main show starts on Friday, and so I’ll be commenting on it later.

There are, as always, a couple of local vendors who open their warehouses during the show.
Collectors Edge out in Golden was, as it always is, full of a variety of mineral specimens. Most of their stock was for sale by the flat, but as always, they have a nice variety of individual specimens for sale. These people really do it right; the specimens are excellently prepared, everything is prominently labelled and priced, the place is organized and clean, and the staff are knowledgable and friendly. Definitely worth the short drive (took us 20 minutes) from Denver out to Golden.

Dave Bunk, as he always does, had his warehouse open, with everything keystone priced. As per usual, there was a wide variety of specimens, also as usual, no discernable organization, so that if you were looking for something in particular, it was necessary to go through every single flat. Still, we found a few beauties, including one for my personal collection – A pic or two coming when I get home.

This is the time of year that I love having a mineral business; shopping and buying is the BEST! For an avid mineral enthusiast, the chance to see the best mineral specimens from everywhere in the world in all in one area is not to be missed. I’ve heard it said that the fall Denver show is now the 4th largest in the world, behind Tucson, Munich, and Sainte Marie in France. I believe it, every year we get here earlier, and still it’s started before we get here…..

This and that… (a new find, an upcoming show, etc.)

Although this blog is not designed to shamelessy plug our website and mineral business, just have to mention how much I’m anticipating next Saturday’s (Sept. 11) small show/sale in Tucson, which I talked about in earlier posts. It will be the first time that Lisa and I have ever set up at a show, up to now we’ve been strictly internet sales. Should be lots of fun, a great learning experience, and hopefully we’ll make a couple of bucks, too. If you’re around Tucson, come see us and say Hi.

Something else that I’m excited about is a new, very small find of gemmy Mimetite on unusual arsenate minerals (currently being investigated to determine exactly what they are) that I was lucky enough to get a few pieces of. Pics below… The good Dr. Origlieri is planning on showing this material to the MinRec people up in Denver, so there may be a story about this new discovery in a few weeks.

I’m going to end this post by saying “YAY” that the California legislature was wise enough to table SB 624, the bill to remove Serpentine as the state rock. So great to see that scientific fact won out over the fearmongers. Good job, Justin Zzyzx, and everyone else who fought and won against this travesty of a bill.

More info on a small Gem, Mineral, and Jewelry show in Tucson…

Last week, I talked about a couple of small shows upcoming in southern Arizona, pre-Denver. I now have a bit more info on the show in Tucson on Sept. 11. It will be from 9 AM to 4 PM at 439 N 6th Avenue (Southwest corner of 6th & 6th) in Tucson.

Vendor list:

Andy Anderson
B & L Minerals
Belkis Minerals
Catalina Minerals
David H. Garske
mineralspecies.com
Mineral Zone
Udachnaya

This should be a great little show with an excellent variety from some people who always have some interesting items. So, if you are in S. Arizona that weekend, stop by. Might be just the thing to stop those withdrawal pains for those of you who can’t make the trip to Denver for the big show up there the following week.

For those of you in the Phoenix area, 2 weeks before this show is the one put on by Evan Jones that I mentioned in last weeks blog, so there’s something nice for you Phoenicians, too.

I’ll end with some eye-candy for mineral enthusiasts, a large-cabinet Wulfenite specimen from China, newly listed on our website.

Serpentine, Science, and the politics of fear

Some of you may have been following the ongoing issue in California over SB 624, the bill to remove Serpentine as the state rock of California. For those of you who haven’t heard the story, State Sen. Gloria Romero (D, Los Angeles) introduced this legislation, presumably at the behest of the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO). They believe that since the rock serpentine sometimes contains the asbestiform mineral Chrysotile, that it is dangerous and that “California should not designate a rock known to be toxic to the health of its residents as the state’s official rock.”

Since this bill was introduced, MANY people have commented in the print and electronic media about it. The overwhelming sentiment from the scientific community is that the basic premises of the ADAO and Sen. Romero are just plain WRONG scientifically, and there is no reason to remove serpentine as California’s state rock.

Now, on other venues I have made my feelings known, suffice it to say that when non-scientists attempt to write legislation with scientific verbiage, what results is frequently what the Marines call a ‘clusterf***’ and this is exactly what happened in this case. The bill, and the ensuing defenses of it by Sen. Romero and the ADOA are so rife with inaccuracies as to be laughable. For more detail on this, I direct you to a few good sources:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=132118583490156&v=info

www.fakeminerals.com

http://geotripper.blogspot.com/2010/08/power-of-words-debate-over-serpentine.html

www.the-vug.com

So why am I blogging about this? Not because I want to champion the cause of serpentine, others (who actually live in California) are doing a fine job of that. I am following this saga because I am interested in the outcome. The bottom line is that Sen. Romero and the ADAO are quite simply fearmongers, and I’m interested in seeing if their tactics, playing on people’s emotions and fear, will triumph over overwhelming scientific facts in this case. What’s really interesting is that, despite many, many people contacting her, Sen. Romero quite simply refuses to even respond to the science and the scientific community. They just keep repeating the words asbestos and cancer, and are apparently hoping that by appealing to people’s basest fears, they will win the day.

By repeatedly mouthing inaccuracies and flat-out lies, and steadfastly refusing to even listen to anyone opposing her position, Sen. Romero has joined my long list of politicians who make me shake my head and say “Who VOTED for that idiot?”

I’ll close with an interesting side-note; those (few) who have followed my previous posts (“Origins”) may remember a picture of a piece of Jade (Nephrite) which I collected in my younger days at Jade Cove, in the Los Padres National Forest near Big Sur. Much of this area has serpentine for its bedrock, and the Jade itself forms in veins in serpentine, and breaks off and washes up on the beach. I suppose that, according to the ‘reasoning’ of Sen. Romero and the ADAO, I should be worried about contracting Mesothelioma due to the time I spent there collecting, not to mention having this “toxic” mineral in my house…..

A couple of small shows coming up, keep me from withdrawals before Denver

I was excited to hear of a couple of small shows in late August and early September here in southern Arizona, will keep me from having withdrawals before the Denver Show in September.

Evan Jones and 3 other dealers are having a show in Gilbert, AZ at the Gilbert Historical Museum on August 28. That should be a nice little show, as Evan, De Natura, the Slaughters, and IC Minerals are four reputable dealers with quality stock at reasonable prices. Well worth the drive to Phoenix.

Then, on Sept 11, Marcus Origlieri (Mineral Zone) and a few other dealers (don’t have any other names yet) are having a small show/sale pre-Denver in Tucson, and Marcus always has a really nice variety. Don’t have the info yet on exactly where that will be for any of you in S. Arizona, but you could always contact Marcus through mineralzone.com and ask if you want more info, and I’ll also post it here later.

More later, meanwhile, here’s a pretty for you to look at:

Rare Plumbogummite on Pyromorphite from China, just listed on our website today.
Find it HERE

A tragic loss for Arizona

I have always intended to keep this blog light and entertaining, and avoid rants. But, I read something in Rock and Gem Magazine today which upset me greatly. Our esteemed unelected Governor, she who is famed for her championing of the Arizona Immigration bill SB 1070, is closing the Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum to make room for a “Centennial Museum”, celebrating the upcoming Arizona centennial and the “5Cs”, cattle, cactus, climate, copper, and cotton. This is the most shortsighted and stupid move yet for her, which, if you live in Arizona, know is saying a lot!

The Mining and Mineral Museum is recognized by those in the field as top rated and is internationally recognized. As has been noted by others, the Museum is on at least 10 different lists of the top 10 museums in Phoenix and Arizona, but the (dis)honorable Ms. Brewer has cut the ADMMR budget, so that they could not pay the rent and must move out next month. (The Arizona Department of Mines and Mineral Resources (ADMMR) previously paid the $589,000 rent on the building for use as office space and for the mineral museum.) It should be noted that other than the rent, utilities, and a small portion of the curators salary, there were essentially NO other costs in keeping this world-class facility open. If you take into account the earnings from the minimal admission and sales from the gift shop, it is estimated that this wonderful facility, which has over 50,000 visitors annually, (including about 25,000 students) was largely self-supporting.

Polly Rosenbaum, a state legislator for more than 45 years, revered as the “First Lady of the state legislature” in 2003 said “The (mineral) museum is about more than minerals; it’s the identity of Arizona. The prospector and burro came hunting for gold and silver, but copper revolutionized the electrical industry and created the modern world. Many people have no idea how dependent we are on minerals, until they come to the museum.”

Another blogger’s (http://www.minmumad.blogspot.com) words express my sadness, if not my anger, at this travesty. “How unfortunate that the current administration plans to celebrate Arizona’s centennial by replacing the “identify of Arizona” with a 5C Centennial Museum. How ironic that the Arizona Historical Society (responsible for the 5C museum) is a participant in erasing the historic “identity of Arizona”.”