Well over a dozen club members were able to get up to Colorado and avail themselves of the opportunity to collect something different. Beautiful well terminated amazonite and larger than your average smokey quartz xtals. We joined two other clubs from two other states at the claims owned by Jeff Self and Donna Ware who generously opened to us for the weekend. Our host and hostess were helpful, enthusiastic and fun, and all who went learned, found some keepers and made new friends. That’s what it’s all about.

I was pleased to see that many members responded to the request for email addresses for delivery of the monthly News Nuggets, that coupled with some new strategies for streamlining the cost and delivery of printing and posting will considerably abate our expenses and free up money for programming, etc. Organizing the data that made this seem simple was the work of Past President, Orlando Garcia, Memberships chair, Kimberly Richie, our Treasurer, Amy Penn, and Editor, Patricia Amshoff. Thanks for some solid work you all.

Well, no sooner having writ that than what should pass my desk than the news that we will be having to say farewell to our Editor Patricia Amshoff. She and Marcus are moving to Tucson to help with his parent’s life transitions. We are blessed to have had her able ministrations over our newsletter and know she will carry on so with family. We will miss you both and thank you for your contributions. Arizona isn’t too awful far away so hopefully you can join us now and again.

Don’t know about you but I’m looking forward to the chance to look for staurolite in Hondo canyon, it’s something I’ve never found before. And the field trip guys are planning a great July Picnic for all. Read on and stay tuned. Whether you can join us or not and wherever you go…Tail winds and happy landings.

___________________________

MEET YOUR NEW EDITOR

Jay Penn who has given countless hours to our club with a world of knowledge of gems will take over this office. I look forward to reading the future issues by Jay starting in July. We are very fortunate to have his expertise and wonderful personality guiding our treasured newsletter. Many thanks to all of you for your contributions to my few months of being your editor. Marcus and I will miss you all. Patricia

We will be working on the mineral identification kit so bring your kit box and journal to the meeting with you.

Did you identify the mystery mineral for last month? If you said it was GYSPUM give yourself a pat on the back. All three Juniors at the May meeting identified the new mineral as Iron Pyrite by the end of the meeting. I guess we need some more difficult to identify minerals. HMMM.

See you at the meeting.

Suzi Weaver-Haskell and Jim Hill

This month’s field trip will be on Saturday, June 30^th under the guidance of our webmaster, collector and dealer, John Scully who has prepared the following article.

The field trip on June 30th will be to Hondo Canyon just south of Taos. We will be collecting staurolites, also known as fairy crosses, or to the inhabitants of the region, Lagrimas de Cristo (Tears of Christ).

On April 17 we visited the location and found the road into the collecting area passable and the Forest Service gate at the halfway point open. We could not resist doing a bit of collecting and found many small and a few large specimens about an inch in width. Most were of the 120/60 degree version, but 4 or 5 were the 90/90 degree crosses.

The road into the location is rugged and only a high clearance 4WD can make it. Because of this we will need to meet at the Rio Grand Visitor Center in Pilar five miles south of the canyon entrance and consolidate into 4WD vehicles. We will also need to cram into as few of these as possible since the road is narrow (causing difficulties if a vehicle is coming the other way) and there is limited parking at the end of the road.

The collecting area is in extremely rugged terrain, and it is very easy to get lost in the dense underbrush. I am very concerned about people getting lost in the wilderness. I have been myself twice. In exploring the area, I thought I would try to find my way back to the truck without the aid of my GPS. I failed totally and was reduced to turning on the GPS to find my way back. One time, I was two miles off the mark. I also know that, once on location, people will want to wander to find ever better outcrops of the staurolite-bearing schist which are all over the area. So, I urge those of you who have a GPS to bring it and lead small groups that stick together during the day. We will discuss this at a brief organizing session at the visitor center.

What to bring: GPS!!! This is high country so be prepared for the usual changeability of NM weather. Bring plenty of water and lunch and some warm removable clothing. Light collecting tools – a trowel is a must, a geology hammer, a sturdy screwdriver, plastic sandwich bags for your new treasures. For the sturdier of you, a chisel might be handy to chip out a matrix specimen. And, of course, a backpack to haul it all in and out.

Directions: Go to Espanola about 90 miles from Albuquerque. The road splits just as you get into town with 84/285 going off to the left toward Chama and 68 going straight on up towards Taos. Take 68. Go to Pilar, and just after mile maker #28 turn right into the Rio Grande Gorge visitor center parking lot. 10:00AM seems like a good hour to meet. We will drive about two miles up the 4WD road in Hondo Canyon to the point beyond which vehicular traffic is not possible and proceed on foot about ½ mile to the beginning of the collecting area. If you get to the visitor center early, you can get a latte across the road.

Just after mile marker #17 (heading north) is a wonderful restaurant called Embudo Station with outdoor seating right on the Rio Grande River. Might be a nice place for dinner on the way home. It also has cabins for rent should you want to be closer to the meeting area. 505-852-4707.

John Scully

The AGMC picnic this year is tentatively planned for the Section 21 Mine area in the Zuni Mountains near Grants. It will be held on Saturday, July 21^st, at 9:30 a.m. The size of our group dictates that we obtain permission for our outing from the Cibola National Forest Supervisor. We are currently awaiting his response and expect to have a reply before the next club meeting. If permission is denied, our alternative site will be in Cerrillos at the Cerrillos Hills Historical Park. We will report on the status of the picnic at our next club meeting with more information to follow in July’s News Nuggets. Because of the uncertain status of the picnic site, please contact Rex Nelson or Grant Kuck before making the trip. Both of their phone numbers are in the News Nuggets. For more information, please read the other articles in this month’s News Nuggets.

The July field trip and picnic is in a forest area near the Section 21 Mine and El Calderon area. To reach his location, take I-40 West to Exit 81. Immediately after exiting, cross over the bridge on NM 53 and continue southwest to mile marker 65. Shortly after the marker is a gate on the right where we will assemble for a short briefing. The picnic site is in this immediate area.

Besides our picnic, activities will include mineral collecting at the recently reclaimed Section 21 Mine and a forest road trip to the Bonita Mine. Both mines have produced some very nice fluorite specimens. Regular street vehicles may not be suitable for travel to these locations, so car pooling will be necessary.

Opportunities for visiting some very unique places in this area include Bandera Volcano and Ice Caves, El Morro National Monument, and El

Calderon area. Trips to these locations are at the discretion of individuals.

See you there.

Rex & Grant

July Potluck Picnic

By Amy Penn

For this year’s picnic, there are no limits on how many can attend. All are invited. Children, too, of any age. YEAH!! We'll get directions to the site, so you can show up and leave whenever you get the urge. Last year we enjoyed some Tailgating Sales. Bring your items to sell, swap and/or money to buy. We'll break for lunch around 1:00. The club supplies soda, tea, juice, ice and cups.

The Section 21 restroom in the visitor center is an easy hike from the collecting site, but it is about a 1/2 mile away and across the highway from the picnic area. You may want to consider driving, especially children.

You'll need to bring: Your potluck goody, plates, silver, napkins, condiments, chair, sunscreen, digging tools, wrapping material, bucket, back pack, pick, hammer, chisel, gloves, safety glasses, hat, water, etc. If you have a table, please throw it in. We'll need about 3 tables to put the potluck dishes on.

Show me a piano falling down a mine shaft and I’ll show you A-flat miner.

If you find yourself cleaning out your rock pile, I mean "mineral collection", please remember the junior table at the AGMC TOTE Show. And on field trips, don't hesitate to pickup some specimens that aren't good enough for your collection but would be great for a young person's collection. We are gathering donations throughout the year. You can bring donations to the general meetings or call Jay Penn at 883-4195 to arrange pickup.

The juniors thank you.

Thank you very much for your Albuquerque Gem & Mineral Club award at this year’s NWNM Regional Science & Engineering Fair. I loved coming to your meeting in April. I feel much honored to be recognized by an organization such as yours. I really liked the Fluorite & barite crystals you gave me at your raffle! The baseball cap has also been really useful. I used it last week while I was riding my horse. I am very excited this year, because I was chosen to present my project at Internationals in Albuquerque.

A few folks emailed me that they read the Mystery Mineral and try to decipher the mineral names. Email me at hpf5@qwest.net and let me know your guesses by copying the Questions below and answering them. This includes AGMC members and everyone else who reads "News Nuggets". I have been gratified by folks responding that they WORK at these minerals. Good, that IS the idea. This way you learn about them.

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

published in the News Nuggets. Good luck and have fun.

Last year I discussed minerals that are named for geographic localities. This year I thought I’d concentrate on minerals named for some physical property that they possess.

One sunny, Saturday morning in May (May 26^th to be precise) eleven people from the AGMC gathered just off I-25 by exit 88. Shortly after 9:30 everyone climbed into their vehicles for the 26 mile trip to the Cuchillo Mountains and the Dictator Mine. You will not find this mine in the "New Mexico Rockhounding, "The Rockhound’s Guide to New Mexico," or even "Gem Trails of New Mexico." However this mine is known to the AGMC as the Southwest equivalent of the Franklin Mine in New Jersey and, yes, we are talking fluorescence.

The entrance to the Dictator Mine is shaped like a funnel you enter through the small end. You wiggle through a rabbit hole, and then crawl on your hands and knees for a very short distance before you can stand erect once again. The main tunnel leading to the mine is straight and easy walking. In one of the two side tunnels (that both dead end), some club members discovered a Ring-tailed Cat! Robert Lobato got the closest to it and even managed to get a shot with his camera.

In the mine itself, we discovered a variety of fluorescent minerals such as calcite, willemite, and hydrozincite. In fact, there were some walls that were covered with Mother Nature’s graffiti in colors of red, green, white, and blue. Of course you needed an ultra violet, short wave light to really appreciate the minerals of the Dictator. Not only could you hunt for minerals in the mine, but after dark you could also roam the dumps which under a black light looked like growing embers.

Four people elected to camp out overnight and collected more on Sunday.

They were joined by club President, Suzanne Seymour who came up late Saturday afternoon. The next day, Rex Nelson entered the Dictator to find galena, brown Smithsonite, cerrusite, and anglesite. The day before, David Wyatt walked the dumps above the mine and found azurite and malachite. Thanks to David passing the news around and other members managed to get some as well.

The prize for the biggest piece on this trip goes to Michael and Janey Johnson. Michael spent time on Saturday and Sunday chipping out a large plane of calcite crystals from a pocket in the Dictator. On Sunday, club members roamed the hills looking for a combination of fluorite and calcite and Janey came across a large, jasper-like rock covered by drusy calcite or quartz or both. Janey’s specimen was bigger than Michael’s, but we’ll let them figure out whose is the prettiest.

Rex Nelson, Suzanne Seymour, and Grant Kuck managed to find some boulders where the calcite had covered the fluorite or where there were some small crystals of fluorite in with the calcite. Fortunately with a little persuasion from a rock hammer a number of specimens decided to accompany us home. Rex has spent some time cleaning them up and they are beautiful. The Dictator Mine, dumps, and surrounding hills are well worth investigating. And the collecting is fun. What more could you want in a Rockhounding trip? (There now, you can’t say you weren’t invited!) Check out June’s Field Trip in this edition of the News Nuggets.

Rex and Grant

Thanks to Kimberly Richie, the AGMC had an opportunity for collecting in Colorado the 2^nd and 3^rd of June. Kimberly reported that Jeff Self and his wife, Donna Ware were willing to let our club collect on their claim called the Double Eagle in the Crystal Peak area of Colorado. The claim is about 20 to 25 miles north of Divide, Colorado. (To get to Divide just take 24 out of Colorado Springs and head west).

On Saturday morning 16 members of the AGMC gathered at the Venture Market in Divide where we met Jeff and Donna for the first time. There were also a couple of members from a Wyoming Rock Club, one of whom gave away surplus specimens of calcite and other minerals from Wyoming to our club members. James Hill who works with the Junior Club picked up a number of nice specimens for them. Also everyone who showed up was given a wooden amazonite that had been cut from a hexagonal piece of wood and painted blue-green.

Shortly after 9:30 we began the trip to the Double Eagle Claim. Once we arrived on the site we got a quick lecture by Jeff on where we could and could not collect. Jeff even showed us one of his pockets he was currently working on. Following the talk, people wandered off in every direction, many just surface collecting, which was quite good for amazonite as the bluish green color really stands out. However you had to dig for the best specimens though and break some big rocks.

At the end of the day some club members went back to motels in Colorado Springs while other members elected to camp out at the claim. Jeff

and another claim owner named Eric brought out a nice piece of fluorite, which was found in the area and proceeded to place it in the fire. After heating it for a while they pulled it out and the fluorite glowed blue! Jeff says that if you let the specimen out in the sun for a day you can repeat the experiment again the next night.

Leaving the warmth of the campfire we all climbed into bed just before God decided to give us a firework show. There was lightning and thunder everywhere. It almost sounded like someone was discharging a firearm above my tent. And the rain just came down in buckets. Actually I thought it was rain till I got up to check my cooler and discovered some melting snow on the fly. Whether it snowed or hailed I can’t be sure but the storm wasn’t too long, my tent was waterproof and I slept warm and dry.

The next day I was pleasantly surprised not to find a pool of water in the pit where a number of us had been digging for amazonite. James Hill had some nice pieces of amazonite from that pit the day before and later that morning Jay Penn also dug some good looking pieces from it. Although some of our members had left on Saturday we still had 11 members collecting on Sunday. They were joined by the Colorado Club so there was even more collecting going on the second day.

James Hill took some time on Sunday to wander the area and came back with a 5 to 6 inch smoky quartz crystal that is just beautiful. Other people also found nice specimens as "float." Both Jeff and Donna had a number of specimens from the Double Eagle and some of their other claims that they had collected and were willing to sell.

Area specimens included topaz, fluorite with quartz, smoky quartz, ‘gemmy’ green amazonite, and aquamarine from their Mount Antero claim among others.

Thanks again to Kimberly Richie for her connections and thanks to Jeff Self and Donna Ware for their generosity in sharing their claim to collectors like the AGMC. It was an outstanding field trip that will be remembered for a very long time to come. I’d love to tell you more but I have buckets of amazonites to clean! In the meantime keep looking down!

Grant

Did you know?

The largest gold nugget ever found weighed 172 lb., 13oz.

Submitted by Tim & Helen Faulkner

By Mary P. Allen

My experience with the subject to be discussed has been with the State of Colorado’s Bureau of Mines mineral collection. This collection contains over 11,000 specimens and is located on the second floor of the State Museum at Fourteenth and Sherman, across the street from the Capitol Building. It was necessary to go over the entire collection, one specimen at a time to make corrections on labels, rearrange, and clean each specimen. The long accumulation of heating soot and dust had to be removed from the specimens, and we found that 90% of the specimens could be cleaned in plain soap and water.

I would recommend to collectors the use of detergents, as these cleaners make many specimens brighter. In preparing the soap solution, the powder should first be put in a small amount of cold water (this separates each particle), and then run in hot water with a swirling motion to thoroughly dissolve the soap. This is important as the soap jelly formed by endeavoring to dissolve soap in hot water will stick to the specimen and be very difficult to remove from the rough surface.

Only one specimen should be washed at a time and immediately rinsed and dried thoroughly so that it is wet a minimum amount of time. It is important to use lukewarm water, just warm enough to dissolve the accumulation and soot to cause it to crack. This is especially true to large specimens where the heat does not have a chance to penetrate evenly through the entire specimen. I never had one crack, but have been told of instances of very nice large pyrite specimens cracking due to excessive heat being applied by plunging them suddenly into very hot water.

Many specimens should not be cleaned in water, but this is quite apparent from their appearance; for instance, very fine fibrous materials or hairy-like specimens. The water packs the fibers and even after drying they no longer have their furry appearance. These specimens often can be cleaned in alcohol, ether, or dry-cleaning compounds. Mesolite, chalcotrichite, jamesonite, millerite, and the velvet malachite are a few among many. An especially soiled velvet malachite we had in the collection could be cleaned by gently sudsing up and down and rinsing thoroughly. The small fibers in this particular specimen were short and very tightly packed and so could not mat down. So, before plunging your favorite specimen into a suds bath, try a small piece or just a corner of it and see what a reaction you will have.

Some specimens because of their chemical composition should not be washed, also those of the clays or crumbly type. These can be brushed with a soft or stiff brush, depending on the texture. Carnotite, some aluminum-bearing specimens, salts, and any that dissolve in water are among these.

The detergents are especially good to use on the silica specimens and any of the quartz family, clear calcite, topaz, selenite, and nearly all glassy specimens.

Do not allow your soap solution to become grimy, but change to a clean solution often and running water is the best rinse, as this carries off any scum which might stick to the specimen.

Gold, especially, responds to a good sudsing but often a film forms over a specimen from some other material in the matrix. This can usually be removed by the use of nitric acid. Care should be taken to remove all the nitric acid immediately, or, in a very short time you will have an even worse film forming. Gold nuggets can be brightened by nitric acid. Wire gold cleans best in a soap solution by sudsing up and down. Do not use a brush of any kind as the wires are easily disturbed and broken.

Article to be continued in future issues.

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. You are cordially invited to mail news, articles or comments to: Patricia Amshoff, Editor, 83 Placita de Oro, Studio 6, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501, or e-mail at naturalstonelights@yahoo.com.

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 6:30 p.m. prior to the general meeting. Board of Directors meetings are held at 7:30 p.m. on the first Monday of each month.

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