|
|
News Nuggets Newsletter of the Albuquerque Gem & Mineral Club Volume 53 Number 01 2005 Scholarship Winners The 2005 AGMC scholarship winners were Jana Stankova from New Mexico Tech and Kimberly E. Samuels from UNM. Jana Stankova was born in the Czech Republic in 1977 and lived there until she graduated from high school in 1996. After several years in southern Germany, Jana moved to Michigan in the summer of 1999. In Michigan, Jana attended community college and completed an Associate Degree in Science. Thereafter, she came to New Mexico Tech for undergraduate studies in geophysics. Jana has been at Tech for more than two years, where she has maintained an excellent GPA in a very rigorous major. As an undergraduate, Jana has become deeply involved in research, carrying out studies of earthquakes in New Mexico and the ongoing evolution of the Socorro magma body. She has also already taken 13 credits of graduate level courses. Jana is scheduled to graduate in May of 2006 and plans to continue next fall with graduate studies in geophysics at New Mexico Tech.I am delighted to inform you that the E&PS faculty at UNM unanimously voted to nominate Ms. Kimberly Samuels to receive this year's Albuquerque Gem & Mineral Society award. Kym is a senior in our department who is planning to attend graduate school next fall. She has been deeply involved in original research on mantle xenoliths from western New Mexico. She has made more use of our analytical facilities than any undergrad I can remember, and is currently also involved in analytical work at Los Alamos. She also has a stellar academic record in our department. She is definitely deserving of this award. -Jane Silverstone, Professor of Earth & Planetary Sciences.
President's Message Is this year going to be deja vu all over again? Hardly!! There have been many changes in our club since Julie and I joined in 1999. We all got the newsletter by snail mail back then and the club didn't have a website. Today over 60% of club members receive the News Nuggets by e-mail. This alone saves the club over $1,000.00 per year in copying and postage. Last year's Board of Directors authorized (finally) the purchase of a decent sound system and a projector for PowerPoint presentations at the monthly general meetings. That projector can also be connected to a DVD player or a VCR. We can now show hobby-related documentaries on the big screen. Mike Sanders has a DVD about the Sweet Home mine in Alma, Colorado which we will see this year. Cool, huh? It was your hard work at our March show that made the purchase of this vital equipment possible. There aren't many clubs in the entire country that are as large or active as the AGMC. Last year we had over 190 household memberships with over 350 individuals. The November Blanchard field trip had almost 100 members attending. Some field trips may have to be limited in the future. We'll see what transpires. Our annual picnic at the San Pedro mine has drawn almost 100 members in past years. The board is already working on obtaining permission to have our picnic there once again. I am looking forward to working with all of you to keep our club a success. If you have ideas, problems or concerns regarding the club, you know how to find me: 345-0520 or jabog02@msn.com. - Orlando Membership Renewal This means you!!! (probably) Please renew your AGMC membership as early as possible. It takes Kimberly and I time to double-check information for each renewal. Renewals dated after February 28th may not get the March newsletter. - Orlando
Officers 2005 President Ð Orlando Garcia Home phone: 345-0520 E-mail: jabog02@msn.com VP-Membership & VP-Programs - Kimberly Richie Home phone: 296-8847 E-mail: cattrax55@wmconnect.com Co-VP-Field Trips Ð Ron Boyd Home phone: 262-0053 Email: rgb417@earthlink.net Co-VP-Field Trips Ð Jeff Nekola Home phone: 265-0497 Email: jnekola@unm.edu Secretary & Junior Club Ð Suzanne Seymour Home phone: 877-3621 Email: suzannerox5@aol.com Treasurer Ð Amy Penn Home phone: 883-4195 Email: el.chivo.viejo@earthlink.com Historian - Dave Moats Home phone: 892-8163 E-mail: beepbeep59@hotmail.com Editor & Junior Club - Paul Napolitano Home phone: 856-2157 E-mail: tcot@spinn.net Show Chair - Paul Hlava Home phone: 255-5478 E-mail: hpf1@qwest.net VP Ð Programs Ð Mike Sanders Home phone: 256-1797 E-mail: mrsande@sandia.gov Special Events: Orlando Garcia Home phone: 345-0520 E-mail: jabog02@msn.com Ad-hoc Ð Grant Kuck Home phone: 323-1520 E-mail: gkuck@flc.org Please call the appropriate Board member for information regarding club functions. Call Kimberly Richie or Orlando Garcia for missing News Nuggets or change of address. 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. Mail news, articles or comments to: Paul Napolitano, Editor, 7304 Yorktown, NE, Albuquerque, NM 87109, or email to tcot@spinn.net.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 monthly meeting. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Information about the club can be accessed at www.agmc.info
Treasures of The Earth 2006 Howdy Folks. Before Halloween I sent out the first round of contracts to all of the dealers from last year who said they wanted to be back, and some former dealers to fill in a couple of known holes. I have gotten responses back from almost all of them. The response deadline for the first round of offers was December 10th. Since then, I've been contacting dealers on my back-up list and it has been first come, first served. There are a bunch of outfits on that list and I still get calls from more about once a week or so. At this time (Jan. 8) I have one big booth and two 6-foot tables not spoken for Ð and I think someone is thinking about the big booth and another is vying for one of the single tables. One of the touchstones of a good show is how well our dealers did last year. And as I mentioned before, ours did from FANTASTIC! to dismal. Most did well or better. I guess the word is getting around that the Treasures of the Earth show is a good one, because I've had new dealers asking for space from coast to coast. To prove that point, this year we will have new dealers from Virginia, Texas, Nevada, and California. That is in addition to our returning dealers from ABQ and the rest of the state plus AZ, CO, and AR (Everyone who helped at the show this year should now pat themselves on the back for putting on such a fine show.) Publicity for the show is underway. Doug St. Pierre has contacted a list of mineral and gem magazines that have show calendars so you should see these notices soon. Of course, we have thousands of GARISH (on purpose) yellow flyers for everyone to hand out. Postcard designing will start soon and be available after the holidays. Radio, TV, and newspaper ads will be done right before the show. Once again I will plead for more people to get involved with the show committee. Apropos of that, I plan to have sign up sheets at the January meeting for a number of jobs to be handled. These include set-up, teardown, and overnight security - Paul Hlava 060108 Chairman of the Treasures of the Earth Ð 2006 Show
Christmas Party Review Thank you, thank you, thank you! What a nice time we all had. Special thanks to each of you who helped with the set-up, clean up and all the details of a successful evening. We missed those of you who weren't there. We planned for 80 people and had 90. How fun to add an extra table! Thanks to each and everyone for all the great food additions. We have so much to be thankful for and friendships are way up on the list. Hugs, - Gwen Poe January Junior Club Meeting For the January meeting of the Junior Club, we will be preparing for the March ToTE show. As we mentioned last year, there will be a display competition with prizes. Ray Demark will teach us how to make award-winning mineral displays. Ray will talk about case interiors, liners, elevation, specimen arrangement, mounts, balance, labeling, neatness and other such things. Please bring some paper and a pencil/pen for taking notes. - Paul Napolitano
ToTE 2006 Volunteer Sign-ups There will be volunteer sign-up sheets at the January 23rd meeting for various duties at our March show. This yearÕs 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. - Orlando
Upcoming Rock Shows January 20-22 - SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH: Bead show; Gem Faire Inc.; Utah State Fair Park, 155 N. 1000 W.; Fri. 12-7, Sat. 10-6, Sun. 10-5; weekend pass $5; contact Yooy Nelson, (503) 252-8300; e-mail: info@gemfaire.com; Web site: www.gemfaire.com. 25-29 - QUARTZSITE, ARIZONA: 40th annual show, QIA Pow Wow Quartzsite Improvement Association; 235 E. Ironwood Dr.; Wed. 9-5, Thu. 9-5, Fri. 9-5, Sat. 9-5, Sun. 9-5; free admission; more than 400 vendors, rocks, gems, minerals, fossils, beads, wire wrap supplies, jewelry, lapidary, daily field trips, lapidary and gold panning demonstrations, exhibits, displays; contact Diane Abbott, P.O. Box 881, Quartzsite, AZ 85346, (928) 927-6325; e-mail: qia@redrivernet.com; Web site: www.quartzsiteimprovementassoc.com. January 27th Ð February 12th Tucson Show! www.tucsonshowguide.com/tsg February 19 Ñ GOLDFIELD, ARIZONA: 17th annual F&E Schrader Memorial Hunt; Superstition Mountain Treasure Hunters; call or e-mail for application; contact Superstition Mountain Treasure Hunters, (480) 983-3484; e-mail: smth03@hotmail.com. 24-26 Ñ 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.
January Field Trip New Mexico Tech Mineral Museum & The Route 60 Mine January 28th, 2006 The first field trip of 2006 will be January 28, where we will view the collections at the world renowned New Mexico Tech Mineral Museum. We will meet at 10 AM in the museum parking lot at the corner of Canyon Road and Olive Lane on the New Mexico Tech campus in Socorro. If the weather holds, we'll spend a few hours in the afternoon collecting, likely goethite and the Mn-oxides variously referred to as psilomelane at the Route 60 mine. There are many other options in the Socorro area, and if permissions for this site can't be arranged, we'll find somewhere else nearby. In any event, if you'd like to do some collecting, be sure to bring along tools and safety equipment. We'll stop at the Socorro Springs Brewing Company (1012 N. California Street) for food and drink before driving back to Albuquerque. - Jeff Nekola November Meeting Minutes Grant Kuck called the November club meeting to order at 7:37 PM with his usual warm welcome to members and guests. One of those who stood to introduce themselves is a returning member last active in the 70s. Following these introductions he reminded us that this was election night, and read aloud the slate of candidates who all stood to identify themselves. The one new face was that of Jeff Nekola who will co-VP the Field Trips position with the returning Ron Boyd. Thence followed the election with near unanimity for the candidates proposed by the Board of Directors. Congratulations to all the newly elected officers! Paul Hlava thanked Kathy Lawicki for her work managing the refreshments detail throughout the year, and reminded everyone that the club will reimburse the monthly providers up to $20 for the food and drinks. Don't be shy to sign up for next year! He further thanked Dave Moats for his great work as our Historian and as the guy who gets and gives away all the cool door prizes our club is justifiably proud of. Thanks Dave! Orlando gave a rundown of our club's sponsorship funding for the 2005 Symposium. Proceeds from the silent auction table netted $360, thanks in large part to donations from Gary Young. Charlotte Cooper announced the date, time, new location of, and special requests for the Holiday party. Special treats were the entertainment by Gustavo Pimentel, those white elephants crowding the silent auction tables, and the buffo door prize giveaways. Jeff Nekola gave a synopsis of the hugely, hugely popular recent field trip to the claims at the Blanchard courtesy of Mr. Generosity, Ray DeMark. Over 100 people came to collect and enjoy the inside tour. Some things got left also. A pair of gloves, a couple of jackets, and a Stanley screwdriver. Also, Mike Garcia said he left a 10x12 chunk of purple fluorite! Mike Sanders talked about the NM Mineral Symposium that he recently attended at NM Tech. He relayed that it was well supported by attendees and our own club presenters and ancillary club support staff volunteers. Out of state people, too. Everybody is all fired up about rocks and minerals and it's great to be around all that enthusiastic energy. He encouraged all to participate next year. Mike then went on to announce our speaker for the evening, Paul Hlava. Before he proceeded with his talk on Synthetic Gemstones he provided a little background. He's from Chicago, having come to UNM to achieve both a B.S and a Masters in Geology. As he was finishing up his Master's, Sandia Labs hired him in the microprobe lab. In furtherance of research, they analyze primarily alkali metal sulfides. One of Paul's hobbies is talking and the other is gemstones. And talking to the gemstones. A gemstone is defined as a naturally occurring material that is desirable and valuable for it's rarity, aesthetics, etc. Though Pliny lamented the trade in counterfeit gems, it seems that little would qualify at that time (he died during the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD) considering analytical chemistry was not sufficiently developed until the 1880's to identify the composition and structure of rubies, emeralds and diamonds to manufacture them reliably. Gaudin wrote a book on ruby synthesis in 1837 describing a process involving alum and some Cr salts torched in a crucible that created clean crystals, but given the extreme temperature and pressures involved in synthesis of diamonds, rubies, emeralds and the like, it wasn't until sometime between 1888-91 that Verneuil perfected a furnace and process that rubies were being produced in anything like commercial quantities. Among the first uses was as thread guides in the textile industry. Today corundum and spinels are pennies per carat. Another early process was the Czochralski Crystal Pulling method (still used today in the silicon wafer industry). In this process a stem or seed is rotated in a pool of liquid ruby. Emeralds were difficult to produce because the material recrystallized incongruently. Proper flux was the key. In 1848, J.J. Ebelman used boric acid as flux with powdered emerald and created tiny crystals on cooling. The best fluxes are Li2MoO7 with extra MoO3 or V2O8. That and a platinum crucible and a yearÕs worth of power for a small city and you too can grow your own emeralds. Or sapphires, or alexandrite. Using the autoclave technique, H. Davy synthesized quartz in 1822. The stuff had a lot of inclusions but by 1950, crystals were widely available in Britain and the USA for use as radio frequency tuners. Linde performed further work in 1965 and 1970 on hydrothermal solutions. The process involved aqueous sodium reactions at 300 ¡C and 1700 bars plus a 40 ¡C temperature gradient. Emeralds can also be grown using this process. When synthesizing diamonds however, the problem is containing the huge pressures involved. One must provide 60-70,000 atm, or about a million pounds per square inch and a solvent. Though there were efforts in the 1880Õs, it took many years to figure out a reasonable process. Bridgeman's high-pressure research led to a GE patented process in Sweden and the US in 1953. His system used tapered pistons and catlinite seals. Dupont uses a shock compaction technique using copper flux with carbon, which is pricy but self-sharpening. Truly clear diamonds are difficult to obtain due to nitrogen contamination, which imparts a yellowish cast to the gemstones. An outfit named Gemesis can produce diamonds in three days using a Russian designed process. A chemical vapor deposition on a diamond coated silicon wafer substrate works but not for real diamonds. Invented gemstones or CZ employ the Skull Melting process, which consists of a radio frequency coil, and some zirconium, calcium, or other materials. When it comes to synthetics, Moissanite is the new king. Although the process is proprietary, it probably diffuses silicon carbide through tubes of silicon carbide. Although synthetic gemstones aren't a particularly good investment, they are a particularly good value to industry and all of us every day. Thank you a bunch Paul! We love the sound of your voice too!!! Refreshments were provided by Dave and Karen Moats. I know there were early raids and I heard a bunch of lip smacking, so thanks for a successful spread. Dave, Dave, Dave and the door prize deal. What more can I say? Winners 834 and losers 0. Ð Suzanne Seymour
Mystery Mineral January, 2006 From the devious mind of Paul Hlava Last year I discussed minerals that are named for geographic localities. This year I thought IÕd concentrate on minerals named for their chemistry. This month's mineral is a hexagonal oxide of a transition metal. It is usually colored red, orange, or yellow because it is contaminated by manganese; otherwise it would be colorless. This mineral would be quite rare except that is occurs abundantly in a couple of famous deposits in NJ. Here the mineral occurs in a metamorphosed rock that formed from a deeply weathered ore deposit. Hardness Ð 4 to 5, density Ð 5.43 Ð 5.7 avg. 5.53. Cleavage Ð one, perfect. Fracture Ð subconchoidal. Diaphanity - translucent to subtranslucent. Luster Ð sub-metallic. Habits Ð massive granular, fibrous, and disseminated grains. Questions What is the name of the mineral? What was the mineral named for? What is this mineral mined for? What is the metal used for? What are three minerals that associate with this mineral? What spectacular property do two of those minerals have? Localities Ð (Just list the famous/important ones) --NM Ð --USA Ð --World Ð - Paul Hlava 060108 Junior Club Update Hi All. I hope you had a relaxing holiday/school break. We are gearing up for another year of exciting and educational Junior Club meetings. As mentioned above, Ray Demark will teach us how to display our minerals properly in anticipation of the competition during the ToTE show in March. In the next few months, we're looking forward to a talk by the Agate Lady, Karen Brzys about agates, a talk about volcanoes, and learning how to pan for gold! As always, if you have suggestions of what you'd like to see as a topic, or would like to volunteer, please contact either Suzanne or I. - Paul Napolitano
Membership Renewals This means you!!! (probably) Please renew you AGMC membership as early as possible. It takes Kimberly and I time to double check information for each renewal. Renewals dated after February 28 may not get the March newsletter This is your club membership form for 2006. Please include all the names to be included in your Household membership. This information is required by the Rocky Mountain Federation of Mineralogical Societies R.M.F.M.S. for insurance and dues purposes. Annual Dues are $20.00 per household and $10.00 per household for memberships from July 1, 2006 - December 31, 2006.
Albuquerque Gem & Mineral Club Membership Form Last Name__________________________ Date_______ Renewal from 2005? Y N Senior Member Names: 1.___________________________ 2.___________________________ Junior Member Names: 1.___________________age______ 2.___________________age______ 3.___________________age______ If this is a renewal, is the News Nuggets going to the proper address? Y N Please complete the following information Mailing Address: ______________________Apt. # ________ City:____________________ State: _______ ZIP + 4: _______-_____ Phone: (_____) _____-______ Please include. This is only for club use and not for any other purpose. e-mail Address: _____________________________ You will receive your newsletter by e-mail unless otherwise requested. Annual Dues: Dues are $20.00 per household. Send this completed form and check to: AGMC PO Box 13718, Albuquerque, NM 87192 Payment type: □ Check Date Received_______□ Cash $__________________ □ Other_________________
January 23rd, 2005 General Meeting Featured Speaker Ray Demark A review of New Mexico's great mineral specimen locations that are now lost, closed, abandoned or otherwise extinct. This talk will center on many of New Mexico's most famous locations and some of the great specimens they produced in the 19th century. Historical photos and marvelous photographs of specimens by Jeff Scovil, Dan Behnke and others will be featured. This talk was first presented at the November, 2005 New Mexico Mineral Symposium. Ray has been a member of the Albuquerque Gem and Mineral Club since 1971 and a collector since 1947. His special interests are minerals of New Mexico (both macro and micro) and locating new mineral occurrences (this has been immeasurably aided by collaboration with Paul Hlava). Ray particularly enjoys field collecting and has been a claim holder of the Blanchard mine (along with Mike Sanders and Brian Huntsman) since 1987! NEXT MEETING: October 24, 2005. The Albuquerque Gem & Mineral Club meets on the 4th Monday of the month. All meetings are held at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History, 1801 Mountain Road NW in Old Town, Albuquerque, NM. The entrance is on 18th Street. The meeting begins at 7:30 PM. There is a short business meeting prior to the eveningÕs presentation, which begins at approximately 8 PM.
Albuquerque Gem & Mineral Club Paul Napolitano, Editor PO Box 13718 Albuquerque, NM 87192-3718
|