News Nuggets

Newsletter of the Albuquerque Gem & Mineral Club

Volume 52 Number 7

The state fair is just around the bend, folks. Each year the club has a table in the Creative Arts building where the mineral displays are located. Volunteers give away small, bagged mineral specimens and provide information to the public about our organization.

There are two ways you, as club members, can help during the fair.

We need small specimens that can fit in a 2x3 or 3x4 inch Ziploc bag. If you provide the minerals in quantity (30-100+), I can get them bagged and tagged. If you want to bag and tag them yourself, please identify the specimen, indicate it is from the Albuquerque Gem & Mineral Club, and include our website agmc.info. The labels can be made in quantity on your computer in any word processing program (I use Word). Call me for more information at 345-0520. We need time to bag and tag so I need any mineral donations no later than August 15^th.

We need volunteers to staff our club table on weekends during the fair. I will have signup sheets at the July 25^th general meeting. There will be three shifts of three hours each during each weekend day of the fair. The times will be 9-12, 12-3, and 3-6 on the 10^th and 11^th, the 17^th and 18^th, and on the 24^th and 25th. Julie and I will be covering the 9-12 timeslot on the 10^th.

I will be mailing parking passes and entry tickets to volunteers approximately one week before your scheduled volunteer time at the club table. This is a great way to meet other club members and to introduce the public to our group. We will give away about 800-1,000 specimens to kids, all labeled and tagged with mineral ID and our website.

Call me at 345-0520 or e-mail me at jabog02@msn.com for more information.

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! If you are new to the Albuquerque Mineral Club, or haven't renewed your membership for the year, have we got a deal for you. Normally a family membership costs 20 dollars (and yes that does mean the entire family). However since we are already halfway through the year, you and your family can now join for 10 dollars! That's right ten dollars! But wait there's more! As a due paying member of the club your are entitled to participate in any or all of our field trips. Plus you will receive your own personal copy of the "News Nuggets" the club's monthly newsletter. And you get to choose between a printed or an e-mail edition of the newsletter!

Just a quick note on the subject of e-mail verses printed "News Nuggets". If you have access to a personal computer you can help the AGMC save some money. E-mail is much more cost and labor effective than printing copies of the newsletter and address labels. Then sticking the address labels and the stamps on them and did I mention someone has to staple them too? Then they all have to be taken to the post office...yes there's also the cost of gas. If it is possible for you to get the e-mail version – get it - and you will be helping your club save money each and every issue. Thanks!

Now then you can send your dues to the AGMC, P.O. Box 13718, Albuquerque, NM 87192 or simply pay your membership at the next meeting, just look for Kimberly Richie. And by the way, if you know anyone who is no longer getting their copy of the "News Nuggets," remind them that they probably forgot to renew their membership.

A big thank you to Orlando Garcia and Julie Bustamante for providing the refreshments and drinks for the June meeting. This month's snacks and beverages will be taken care of by Hank Miller and his wife, Rosemary. The rest of the year is taken care of with the exception on one month...I can't remember if it's September or October, but I'll find out by next meeting for sure. If you can provide refreshments to the as-of-yet available meeting, please see our Refreshment Coordinator Kathy Lawicki (who does such a fantastic job -- Thanks Kathy!). Don't forget the club will reimburse you for what you spend on refreshments so the money won't come out of your pocket.

Finally, I know we are half way through the year and elections seem like a long time away, but now might be the time to start thinking about serving on the Board of the AGMC. With that in mind, let me invite you to come and check out our Board Meetings the first Monday of each month at 7:30 PM at the NM Museum of Natural History and Science's Annex building (just across the street to the east of where we usually meet). Also you don't have to wait until January to serve on the Board. We still really need a Treasurer and a Volunteer to coordinate the Junior Club (see the June 2005 editions of the "News Nuggets" and the President's Message by myself and Junior Club Volunteer Speakers by Paul Napolitano).

Well I've said more than enough for one issue, so just let me end by saying, 'I hope to see you at our next meeting and ‘till then keep looking down! (Hey, is that a rock?!).

-Grant

Saturday & Sunday: 10AM - 5PM

Monday (Labor Day): 10AM - 4PM

Silver City Recreation Center 11^th and Gold Streets.

Free Admission

Special Exhibit by the New Mexico Bureau of Mines Display

Demonstrations, an educational display of local rocks and minerals and where to find them. Gems - Rocks - Minerals - Fossils - Jewelry - Equipment

11-14 - BUENA VISTA, COLORADO: See this month’s Field Trip article for an AGMC-sponsored event. 22nd annual show, "Contin-tail" Colorado Federation of Gem & Mineral Societies; Buena Vista Rodeo Grounds; outdoor show, 200,000 plus square feet of rocks, minerals, fossils, gems, beads, jewelry; contact Carolyn Tunnicliff, (303) 833-2939; e-mail: ctunnicliff@comcast.net; Web site: www.coloradorocks.org.

19-21 - LAKE GEORGE, COLORADO: Show; Lake George Gem & Mineral Club; U.S. Hwy. 24; free admission; minerals, fossils, local specimens, jewelry, lapidary, field trips; contact Richard Parsons, (303) 838-8859; e-mail: tazaminerals@att.net.

3-4 — VIRGIN VALLEY, NEVADA: 1^st annual show. thegemdealer.com; Opal Negra Mine millsite, Sagebrush Rd. (map on Web site); Sat. 10-5, Sun. 10-5; dealers, tailgaters, fee digging for precious opal; contact Scott Ryals, (800) 803-7601; e-mail: gemshow@thegemdealer.com;

15-18 — DENVER, COLORADO: The Bead Renaissance Shows; Holiday Inn, Northglen, I-25 and 120th Ave (exit 223); Thu. 10-6, Fri. 10-6, Sat. 10-6, Sun. 10-5; free admission; retail and wholesale, ancient, vintage, contemporary, and designer beads, buttons, jewelry, tools, books; contact J&J Promotions LLC, P.O. Box 420, Williamsburg, NM 87942, (505) 894-1293, e-mail: info@beadshow.com Website: www.beadshow.com.

President - Grant Kuck; Home phone: 323-1520; E-mail: gkuck@flc.org

VP-Membership & VP-Programs - Kimberly Richie; Home phone: 296-8847; E-mail: cattrax55@wmconnect.com

VP-Field Trips - Ron Boyd; Home phone: 262-0053; Email: RGB417@aol.com

Secretary - Suzanne Seymour; Home phone: 877-3621; Email: suzannerox5@aol.com

Treasurer – OPEN; Howard (Jake) Jacobs; Home phone: 869-1565; E-mail: goldpanjake@msn.com

Historian - Dave Moats; Home phone: 892-8163; E-mail: beepbeep59@hotmail.com

VP – Programs - Mike Sanders; Home phone: 256-1797; E-mail: mrsande@sandia.gov

Special Events - Orlando Garcia; Home phone: 345-0520; E-mail: jabog02@msn.com

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 4^th Monday of the month (unless otherwise announced) at 7:30 p.m. The Junior Club meets at 6:45 p.m. prior to the general meeting. Board of Directors meetings is 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.

At an AGMC board meeting earlier this year, it was brought to my attention that some people have trouble with many terms I use in my Mystery Mineral column. This means to me that it is time for me to redefine these terms because a lot of folks in the club weren’t in AGMC the last time I did so. In order to alleviate this problem I wrote a column about the terms ending in -hedron or -hedral for the February News Nuggets and I tackled crystallographic morphs in the April issue. I WAS going to continue on the pseudomorphs but was asked by Ron Boyd to do PEGMATITE in May because we went to the Harding (Pegmatite) mine on May 21. OK, pseudomorphs will have to wait a bit longer. I used the term hydrothermal this month so I guess I’d better explain that.

The word means exactly what is says. Hydro means water and thermal means heat, ergo hydrothermal is hot water. We almost always use this term in relation to vein deposits. The temperature of formation of veins may vary widely. In fact, we recognize low-temperature (epithermal), medium-temperature (mesothermal), and high-temperature (hypothermal) as major divisions of the thermal regimes possible. The temperature ranges are about 50°C to 150°C for low-, 150°C to 300°C for medium-, and 300°C to 500°C for high-temperature. But, of course, there is a continuum of temperatures possible. Indeed, in any one vein, the various minerals may have been deposited in the same place, at different temperatures over time.

The water can come from a number of sources. The easy explanation is that the water was expelled from a crystallizing magma. The juxtaposition of many hydrothermal vein deposits to plutonic and volcanic rock bodies helps to nurture this idea. But many geologists have suggested that the majority of the water may have come from the water trapped in saturated rocks intruded by the magmas. Some have also suggested that the system is open enough for rainwater to be incorporated.

The reason we are so interested in hydrothermal veins is that many ore deposits occur as hydrothermal veins. They might be mined for gold, silver, copper, zinc, lead, tin, cobalt, nickel, manganese, et hoc genus omne. Some of the metals may come from the magma bodies. In some cases we are sure that the metals are leached from the intruded sedimentary rocks via a conveyor belt of water fueled by the heat of the intrusions. The reason why mineral collectors are interested in hydrothermal veins is that they are the source of many beautiful specimens. Because the minerals crystallize in open cavities they can develop the euhedral crystals we all crave.

-Paul Hlava 050710

Because I arrived late and a bit beleaguered, I’m relying on the report from an embedded reporter to confirm that the June club meeting was called to order by President Grant Kuck who extended the usual cordial club welcome to visitors and guests.

All the goodies generously donated to the AGMC and the Junior Club of our organization by Jennifer Muryama and Tom Schmierer were set up in a classroom upstairs at the New Mexico Natural History Museum where we usually meet without getting a ride in the elevator. I think the new view added to the fun. The provenance of this interesting collection made for unusual offerings and glimpses into the uniqueness of all our personal collections. Ray DeMark, Dave Moats and crew expended a lot of effort to get the Silent Auction together. Spirited bidding was off and running before the speeches were over. As is the rule, nobody overspent and everyone got what they wanted. Well, mostly anyway. The club was the big winner here, y’all having ponied up a whopping $850.00! It’s widely agreed this was a fun meeting and we should do it again. All we need in the next year are some quality donations. Think about it.

Since I’m speaking of donations, I need to mention the need for giveaways during the State Fair. Our club judges category submissions and staffs an information table. The popularity and longevity value of our presence hinges in part on the quality and sufficient quantity of our "freebies". These are 2x3 inch Ziplock bagged samples that are labeled. Orlando will be handling the labeling but we need to provision this project.

Also up and running from the outset of the meeting was the refreshment table amply supplied by Julie and Orlando, whose offerings sustained the bidders as they made the rounds checking on the status of their bids. Thanks for fueling the fun you two!

The auction closed around nine o’clock and successful bidders paid up and had gone their happy ways by 9:30. Congratulations to all for your participation in this very popular event.

-Suzanne Seymour

A couple months ago, I found some examples of chert. One had an obvious crinoid impression in one of the circular holes and the other has been identified as either a bryazoan or fusilinoid impression. Regardless of the latter definition differences, this chert is found just off the road to the landfill in the extreme southwest portion of Albuquerque. On rare occasions, actual remains of crinoids, portions of brachiopods, and the other items listed above can be found.

There are differences of opinion as to how chert is formed. The University of Aberdeen includes the following:

"The organisms have been preserved relatively early, very often at or soon after death of by their inundation by hot spring fluids supersaturated with respect to dissolved silica. The silica coming rapidly out of solution as a result of the gradual temperature drop and evaporation of the flowing water, encrusted and permineralised the organic matter at a cellular level, and continuing silica precipitation both at surface and during early burial ensured the inclusion of the invertebra fossils."

The Los Lunas location has not been very productive of fossils in Chert.

-Tom Schmierer

Contin-Tail Show/Calumet Mine

August 11-14

Buena Vista, CO

The field trip this month is going to be a little different. We're headed to the Contin-Tail Gem and Mineral show in Buena Vista Colorado. This is a "tail gate" show. It offers a great opportunity to visit with fellow mineral collectors and purchase their finds. We're also planning a field trip to the Calumet mine, approximately 30 miles south of the show, near Salida, Colorado.

The Contin-Tail show starts on the 11^th of August and runs through the 14^th. To get to Buena Vista, take US 285 from Santa Fe and stay on it all the way to the intersection of US 285/US 24 at Johnson Village, Colorado. At that point, continue on US 24 and head towards Buena Vista. The show is located at the Buena Vista Rodeo Grounds, which is just south and west of the town. There is a small sign announcing the show and you will want to turn left (head west) towards the Collegiate mountains, then drive a mile or so to the grounds.

If anyone desires, you can stay over night at the Rodeo Grounds. There are a number of hotels in the area, including some in Salida, or camping at one of the many National Forest campgrounds in the region, as I plan on doing.

Saturday we are planning on going to the Calumet mine. This is a contact metamorphic deposit. The minerals that we can find there are epidote crystals, magnetite, actinolite and other minerals found in this type of environment. This is a well-known locality and the epidotes are very nice. If we feel like it, there are a couple other mines in the area that we might want to have a look at. One thing that I want to stress is that there is a very steep climb to the mine site!

Let's meet at the parking lot of the Contin-Tail show at 9:00 AM Saturday, the 13^th, then we can drive to the mine as a group. Carpool anyone?

Hope to see you up there in the nice, cool mountains of Colorado!

-Ron Boyd

From the devious mind of Paul Hlava

The Game Plan – I will describe a mineral and you have to guess/decipher/research the name of the mineral and the answers to the other questions asked about uses, history, notable facts, etc. I expect the Top Guns in the club to be able to guess the name off the top of their heads. The learners will need a reference book or two. You will benefit most if you do not ask others for the answers but work it out for yourself. When you have decided on the name you can compare notes with others or wait for the answers to be announced at the meetings or published in the News Nuggets. Good luck and have fun.

This Month’s Mystery Mineral is a precious metal telluride mostly found in low temperature hydrothermal veins with quartz, opal, other tellurides, some sulfides, and some native metal. This monoclinic mineral has a very bright metallic luster and a yellow to yellowish white color. The striated crystals are elongated along the b-axis like epidote. Hardness – 2.5, Sp. Gr. – 9.04, Cleavage – none, Brittle, Streak – green.

What is the name of the mineral?

What was the mineral named for?

What is this mineral mined for?

How were lots of crystals of this mineral destroyed?

Localities – (Just list the famous/important ones)

--NM –

--USA –

--World –

What is the name of the mineral? Columbite.

What was the mineral named for? The good ol’ USA which is sometimes nicknamed Columbia (not to be confused with Colombia in South America).

What minerals are associated with this one? The usual pegmatite species: Quartz, feldspars, micas, etc.

What is this mineral mined/used for? It is an ore of niobium.

How did that metal get its old name? Niobium was originally called columbium AFTER THE NAME OF THE MINERAL!

-Paul Hlava 050710

Despite the heat, there were about 30 hardy members that made it up to the Small Fry mine in Rio Arriba County on July 2^nd. Jesse Kline met us there and shared his wealth of knowledge of the region and explained the geology and the mineral genesis of the area. A big thanks goes to him!

With a little work, all of us found some nice samples of fluorite, calcite and barite. One of the junior members struck it rich with some fine barite prisms! Jesse took a small group of us to a vein in which we could collect an unusual form of calcite and the zeolite, analcime. Hey, I think I might be able to facet some of it! By 1 PM, pretty much everyone had packed it in and headed back to cooler places. Four of us stopped on the way home at the Rio De Oso Zeolite locality and had a quick look at the spot, decided it had seen better days, and departed.

I didn't get a chance to see everything that was collected. What kind of treasures did you find? Let me know.

-Ron Boyd

The following is the tentative schedule for field trips this year. Changes may be made, so check the News Nuggets for actual dates and destinations.

August: Contin-Tail show and the Calumet mine. See details in this issue!

September: Royal Flush Mine, Bingham, NM.

October: A geologic trip along the Turquoise Trail.

November: Blanchard Claims. Fluorite etc.!

The state fair no longer publishes a premium book with rules for competitive displays. The rules are on the Expo New Mexico website (exponm.com) and will be published in the August News Nuggets.

-Orlando Garcia

A large measure of the enjoyment of our hobby consists of collecting in the field. For that reason, the members are proud to endorse the Code of Ethics below. It is suggested that field trip Chairs present a copy of this code to landowners when asking permission to enter private property.

I will respect both private and public property and will do no collecting on privately owned land without the owner's permission.

I will keep informed on all laws, regulations, or rules governing collecting on public lands and will observe them.

I will, to the best of my ability, ascertain the boundary lines of property on which I plan to collect.

I will use no firearms or blasting material in collecting areas.

I will cause no willful damage to property of any kind -- fences, signs, buildings, etc.

I will leave all gates as found.

I will build fires in designated or safe places only and will be certain they are completely extinguished before leaving the area.

I will discard no burning material -- matches, cigarettes, etc.

I will fill all excavation holes, which may be dangerous to livestock.

I will not contaminate wells, creeks, or other water supplies.

I will cause no willful damage to collecting material and will take home only what I can reasonably use.

I will support the rockhound project H.E.L.P. (Help Eliminate Litter Please) and will leave all collecting areas devoid of litter, regardless of how found.

I will practice conservation and undertake to utilize fully and well the materials I have collected and will recycle my surplus for the pleasure and benefit of others.

I will cooperate with field-trip leaders and those in designated authority in all collecting areas.

I will report to my club or federation officers, Bureau of Land Management or other authorities, any deposit of petrified wood or other materials on public lands which should be protected for the enjoyment of future generations for public educational and scientific purposes.

I will appreciate and protect our heritage of natural resources.

I will observe the "Golden Rule," will use "Good Outdoor Manners," and will at all times conduct myself in a manner which will add to the stature and public "image" of rockhounds everywhere.

Josh Smith

Preparation of A Dinosaur Fossil from Utah

Our speaker for the July 25 meeting will be Josh Smith. Josh is working on his Masters degree, and will tell us about preparing a large dinosaur fossil from Utah. Additional details about his talk were not available by the July News Nuggets publishing deadline, but it promises to be a very interesting presentation.