The Club Newsletter, News Nuggets exists to assist the membership in communications and to provide information on club activities. Contributions from all members are welcome on any information that will promote club activities or that would be of interest to club members. News Nuggets is scheduled to be mailed approximately one week prior to the monthly meeting.

The Albuquerque Gem & Mineral Club was organized on January 22, 1944. The club is a non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement and enjoyment of the Earth Sciences and associated subjects. Its primary purpose is the exchange of information and the furtherance of knowledge of Mineralogy, Fossils, Geology, Rock Cutting and Gem Faceting and to stimulate interest in the development of these studies. All Meetings are held at the NM Museum of Natural History, Albuquerque, NM.  The general meeting is held on the 4th Monday of the month (unless otherwise announced) at 7:30 p.m. The Junior Club meets at 6:30 p.m. prior to the general meeting. Board of Directors meetings are held at 7:30 pm on the first Monday of each month. (Call for location). The public is welcome to both meetings.  Being a member of the Albuquerque Gem and Mineral Club does not make you an official of the AGMC. This makes it inappropriate for any member to take on any responsibility or authority for any club activity without explicit instruction from the AGMC Board of Directors.  All memberships are family memberships and include all members of the household. Dues are $20. Send checks to the AGMC, P.O. Box 13718, Albuquerque, NM 87192 or pay the Membership Chair at the monthlymeeting.

There will be volunteer sign-up  sheets at the February 27th meeting for various duties at our March show. This year’s show dates are March 17-19, at the school arts and flower building on the New Mexico State Fairgrounds. If you cannot attend the general meeting but want to volunteer, you can call me at 345-0520 and I will direct you to the show person to call.

24-26 - MESA, ARIZONA: 56th annual  show, "Art on the Rocks" Maricopa Lapidary Society; Mesa Centennial Center, Centennial Hall, 201 N. Center St.; Fri. 10-5, Sat. 10-5, Sun. 10- 4; Laurette Kennedy, (602) 738-2552; e-mail: Lkennedy11@aol.com.

25-26 -- PASADENA, TEXAS: Show; Clear Lake Gem & Mineral Society; Pasadena Convention Center, 7902 Fairmont Pkwy.; Sat. 10-6, Sun. 10-5; adults $5, ages 12-18 $1; minerals, fossils, gems and jewelry, about 30 dealers, children's activities, Scout badges; contact Al Pennington, (281) 481-1591; e - m a i l : gpenning@ghg.net; Web site: www.ghg.net/gpenning/annual.htm

3-5 -- HACHITA, NEW MEXICO: 2nd show; Hachita Community Center;  Hachita Community Center, Hwy. 9; Fri. 8-5, Sat. 8-5, Sun. 8-5; free admission; dealers, inside and outside booths, free field trips; contact D.J. Nelson, P.O. Box 151,Hachita, NM 88040, (505) 436-2751; e-mail: hachita@vtc.net.

9-12 -- DEMING, NEW MEXICO: 41st annual show, "Rockhound Roundup"; Deming Gem & Mineral Society; Southwestern New Mexico Fairgrounds; Thu. 9-5, Fri. 9-5, Sat. 9-5, Sun. 9-5; free admission; displays, demonstrations, jewelry, rocks, raffle, field trips, silent auction, live auction; contact Judy Nelson, P.O. Box 1459,Deming, NM 88031, (505) 544-8231.

17-19 -- SPANISH FORK UTAH: 47th show, "Spring Parade of Gems"; Timpanogas Gem & Mineral; Indoor Tennis Court, Spanish Fork Fairgrounds, 475 S. Main; displays jewelry and equipment dealers, rock sales, demonstrations, touch table, wheel of fortune, novelty sales, geology and lapidary classes, merit badge help, gold panning, grab bags; contact Frank Weight, P.O. Box 65, Provo, UT 84601, (801) 489- 4040.

24-26 -- FORT COLLINS, COLORADO:  45th annual show; Fort Collins Rockhounds; Lincoln Center, 419 W. Magnolia St.; Fri. 4-8, Sat. 9-6, Sun. 10- 5; adults $3 (three-day pass $5), ages 13-18 $1, children under 12 free with adult; featuring fluorite and jasper; contact Fort Collins Rockhounds, P.O. Box 482, Fort Collins, CO 80522, (970) 493-0381; e - m a i l :fcrockhounds@yahoo.com.

We are going to meet at 10:30 AM on MARCH 4th, next to the graveyard in the roaring town of Puerto de Luna. The graveyard is located on the east side of state road 91 across the highway from the Catholic church and is easily seen. To reach Puerto de Luna, take I-40 east to Santa Rosa. Take SR 91 south (10 miles) to Puerto de Luna. The driving time to the destination is about 2 and half hours. Then we will head out en-masse to the locality. Bring the usual tools and material to preserve your finds! This being New Mexico, be prepared for some wind and dress warmly. From everything that I've read we will be in for a great trip and the junior members will also will have a great time! Hope to see you there - Ron Boyd

The January AGMC Club meeting  was brought to order by new President Orlando Garcia at 7:35PM. Orlando issued a warm welcome to all. Several guests and potential new members introduced themselves. Paul Hlava addressed the crowd about the preparations for our upcoming Treasures of the Earth Show. He further explained the duties and responsibilities of the various staffing positions and passed around the sign-up sheets. The show will again be held at the Flower Bldg. at EXPO NM (that’s the State Fair grounds these days). The hours Friday and Saturday are 10-6, and Sunday 10-5. General admission is $3.00 on Saturday and Sunday, $1.00 on Friday, and free admission all three days for under teenage visitors. A big stack of flyers was available for all to take and disseminate to favorable locations and the potentially interested. Paul also explained the other three parts of the ad campaign. There will be a posting in the Albuquerque Journal classifieds, contact with radio and TV for free spots and 4000 post cards to round out the advertising campaign. GwenPoe will again coordinate set-up for the potluck on Thursday night. Contact her if you can help. Gwen’s phone number is 247- 1533. Mike Sanders is in charge of the display cases this year. Seven are spoken for and some are reserved for the Junior competition, so if you’ve got a display call Mike and let him know you need a case. Mike’s phone number is 256-1797. When Orlando retook the floor he provided an update on the general club expenses and introduced our new club equipment. We purchased anew PA system for use at our  increasingly large meetings and for announcing of silent auction closings, raffle and door prize winners, and special events  during the TOTE show. In addition, we’ve purchased a PowerPoint compatible projection system for use by the speakers and program presenters who have their programs in this format. It’s expected that this new equipment will greatly facilitate the information sharing and education that is a part of our club’s mission. Jeff Nekola announced the next field trip will be to visit the mineral museum at NM Tech and to the US 60 mine just outside of Socorro. The claim holder of this mine wants $5.00 a head to collect and Jeff asked by a show of hands how many folks would beinterested in going and paying to collect. About 10 people raised their hands. The group will meet at the museum at 10:00 AM Saturday January 28th. Anyone desiring a silent auction table during the TOTE show is instructed to contact Paul Napolitano (856-2157 ortcot@spinn.net) to sign up. Mike Sanders introduced the evening’s speaker: Ray DeMark. Anyone who’s been to more than one AGMC meeting knows Ray,  though maybe not know how integral to our club’s success heis. Ray allowed his credentials as a BS in Geology sometime in the sixties and a career with the Navy and then jumped right in with hisreal passion - the rich mineral history and extensive diversity of the world class minerals of New Mexico (Ray is also a claim owner at the Blanchard group that generously allowed us, the largest club sponsored collecting trip ever last November, to plunder). The ancient history of mining in New Mexico had a heyday in the 1880’s. Following until 1910 or so numerous wonderful discoveries were made but sadly few are in this state. British and East coast collectors, notably A.E Foote and George English, procured here and sold worldwide. Locally the emphasis was on ore production and not specimens. Though NM Tech had assembled a teaching collection, it was destroyed by fire in 1928. UNM had no full time curatorial staff and a good bit oftheir early collection slowly disappeared over the years. Many of the early mines are extinct, thus leaving much of our mineral heritage out of state. New locations are occasionally found, but the classics of the 20th century are gone. Indeed, some of the material in the Tech display collection is on loan from the Smithsonian and Harvard. The Kelly Mine is credited with theearliest production of mineral  specimens. The sensational smithsonite found there and available from the Mineral Collector catalog of 1907 was sold worldwide. Listed also were aurichalcite, and azurite roses from the Graphic Mine also in theMagdelena mining district. In the late 1880’s, descloisite and endlichite (an arsenic rich variety of vanadinite) discovered in Lake Valley stunned and delighted the orld. Material collected by Clarence Bemit and eventually donated to the AmericanMuseum of Natural History collection dates from this time Bemit also collected world-class cerussite crystals and fabulous wulfenite crystals so abundant  that they were shipped as ore from the Stevenson-Bennett mine. Reticulated cerussite and an unusual cerussite V twin came from here. Washington Roebling, better known for his work on theBrooklyn Bridge, was also an avid mineral collector and between them and the disposition of their various and sundry trusts and estates, much of this material wound up at the Smithsonian. The Abandoned Mines Act closed the Stevenson-Bennett off completely and the dumps were hauled off in the 70’s. The Rose Mine west of Chino has been reclaimed and the shaft closed. In its heyday, it contributed copper pseudomorphs after azurite, including large azurite crystals replaced by copper. Also from Sierra county came the cerargyrite so massive at Lake Valley, it was sawed from the stope, excellent rhombohedral calcite crystals, and endlichite form the Macey Mine (akaPercha Mine). These were  among those featured at the Sierra county exhibit included inthe Columbian Exhibition of 1893 held in St. Louis. Although the Georgetown mining district was being worked for silver, the descloisite and vanadinite discovered there in the 1890’s caused a sensation because of its excellent color. Falling silverprices and a flu epidemic in 1911  combined to shut down most of the mines but the Commercial Mine operated until a few years ago when the decline was bulldozed. Fabulous wulfenite from the Denver shaft was documented with the last occurrence in the 1970’s. The current owner, ASARCO, has dismantled the headframe and closed the location so it’s all history now. Also in the 70’s the Alhambra Mine was investigated with an eye to reopening it for silver as acanthite and rare nickel-skutterudite that had been found there, but uranite found there appears to have formed due to the radon buildup underground and the idea was abandoned. The infamous Groundhog Mine west of Chino featured chalcopyrite with quartz, sphalerite, and wulfenite mined from the oxidation zone but none of it was preserved and a single specimen is known. In the 1980’s Brian Huntsman found azurite in a fault gouge at the Hanover #2, but the site is now closed. From further north came the exceptional smoky quartz crystals of Sierra Blanca. Sadly, the Feds ran some operation and rounded up specimens and club members. To date the club members have been released, but the disposition of the specimens remains unclear. Scheelite from the Cunningham Mine in the Ortiz Mountains came from a zone now flooded and themine is being reclaimed. Closed also are the mines in the Grants uranium district that yielded uranophane, tyuyamunite, and other uranium minerals. A small quantity of unusual purple octahedral fluorite, some suitable for faceting, is coming from theJudith Lynn claim. Other classic contemporary collecting sites areunder claim and NOT open without PRIOR permission from the claim holders include the Blanchard claims notable for world class fluorite, rare linarite, cyanotrichite of such quality thatthe Smithsonian acquired specimen, and numerous other associated minerals, and the San Pedro known for gold, and recently for the unusually large chalcopyrite crystals Jerry Simmons is finding there. At this point in time many many well used and abandoned mines are no longer accessible as a result of the Abandoned Mine Program administered by the state. When asked why they were closed Ray explained the liability issues that ensue from unstable, flooded, poisonous, or otherwise hazardous conditions.

Thanks for sharing your wealth of knowledge and experience on the vast array of New Mexico minerals, Ray, and especially taking time from being with your bride.

Refreshments were courtesy of Jim VanLowen. Thank you Jim.

February, 2006. From the devious mind of Paul Hlava

Please renew your AGMC membership as early as possible. It takes Kimberly and Orlando time to double check informationfor each renewal. Renewals dated after February 28th may not. get the March newsletter.

The featured speaker at our February 27th meeting will be Joe Dan Lowry, curator of the Turquoise Museum. Joe Dan has always supported our club with raffle items through the years and was a speaker for our club several years ago. We have invited him back to speak to our group about what is new in turquoise. He will have hands on samples of turquoise from around the Southwest United States as well as samples from around the world. He always brings hands-on participation projects such as identifying the natural turquoise stones from the imitations and identifying which mine some turquoise samples came from. Joe Dan will also share his knowledge with individuals who bring their own treasures and want to know more about them and their current market value. It will be a fun night, so find your turquoise and bring it along!