News Nuggets

Newsletter of the Albuquerque Gem & Mineral Club

It looks like the numbers are in so we can be more explicit when we say the show was a success. For your information, the show generated an income of just over $18,000 and had expenses of just over $13,000 so we netted just about $5,000. Whooowee! Most of the income was from dealer’s fees (~$12,000), admissions ($3,142 – thanks, Kimberly), and the silent auction ($2,280 – thanks, Dave). The rest was from the raffle ($374 – thanks, Hank & Rosemary), junior table ($98 – thanks Carl), and some miscellaneous sales. The major expenses are the advertising ($3,300), building ($2,625), state police security ($2,240), and table rental ($1,880). Another nine items tallied up the other $3,000. For example the potluck and hospitality (coffee, water, and donuts) totaled $656 but we also had printed programs, chair rental (yeah, we’ll rent a few more next year), electricity, parking passes, set-up supplies, signs, awards, badges and holders, and miscellaneous. So what am I going to do with the money? I was hoping to spend it all on a trip to Maui – but the show committee voted that down. Seriously, the money is pretty well spoken for. Off the top, we need $2,000 for our scholarships to UNM and Tech students, and a couple of hundred more for Science Fair winners’ prizes. About $1,000 will be needed to cover the short fall between club operating expenses and income from dues. Hey, you guys made the show work so you might as well get SOME benefit from it. That money is why we no longer ask for donations at the summer picnic or the Christmas dinner. We need to spend at least $1,000 on new display cases as the old ones are falling apart! That leaves us less than $800. This we can keep as a cushion in case of some extraordinary expense. Well, that’s about it until we start planning for Treasures of the Earth-2005 in the late fall. Gee, maybe 6 months without a show blurb! Can you stand that?

Paul Hlava 040510

(p.s. – I could really use a nice vacation to Maui. Maybe if enough of you were to talk to the committee members you could….)

VP-Membership- Kimberly Richie – 296-7746

E-mail: cattrax55@wmconnect.com

Orlando Garcia - 345-0520

E-mail: jabog02@msn.com

Stephanie Melof - 281-7192

E-mail: stephbell22@yahoo.com

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

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

VP – Field Trips – Open

Secretary – Scott Wilson; Home phone – 792-0951; E-mail: swilson@copper.net

Treasurer - Stephanie Melof; Home phone: 281-7192; E-mail: stephbell22@yahoo.com

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

Editor - Darlene Nelson; Home phone: 271-4694; E-mail: agmcnews@aol.com

Show Chair - Paul Hlava; Home phone: 255-5478; E-mail: hpf1@quest.net

Special Events - Hank Miller; Home phone: 255-7218; E-mail: rgmhgm2@msn.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 are held at 7:30 pm on the first Monday of each month. (Call for location). The public is welcome to both meetings.

I'd like to begin this month by thanking some very special people who make every meeting of the Albuquerque Gem and Mineral Club a lot nicer for all of us.  People like Sherry Ann Miller; Bob & June Brothers; Marilyn Licht; and Charlotte Cooper -- the people who have brought  refreshments to this year’s meetings.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!  The munchies and drinks (besides being tasty) really contribute to the social atmosphere of each meeting.  So the next time you are enjoying some of those goodies you may want to take a moment to thank the person who took the time to bring them.  This month I'd like to thank Pat Brown for taking care of our refreshments.

Just a quick note on memberships:  forms and checks can be given to Kimberly (Membership Chair) at our monthly meetings or in her absence to Stephanie Melof (Treasurer).  Remember dues are 20 dollars
and can be sent to the AGMC; P.O. Box 13718; Albuquerque, NM  87192.

The AGMC was invited to participate in the Mitchell Elementary School’s science fair, which was held on April 22^nd. When I told the teacher, Mrs. Gagliano, that we could probably set up a table for the event, she told me we would have an entire room. I almost told her we didn’t have anything ready for something like that but after talking to Kimberly and Julie B. we decided it was worth the effort even on such short notice.

We had three tables with each of us in charge of a table. Kimberly had a table with specimens and giveaways, Julie had a map of 2001 field trips and field trip pictures and I had a table with samples of ores with economic importance and finished products made of the metals extracted from those ores (e.g., cuprite and copper tubing).

We had never done this before and we weren’t sure what to expect. When the event began at 6:30pm we were swamped with kids 5-11 years old and their parents. We aren’t really sure how many came to our room (lots!) but we had kids three deep with questions and little hands touching stuff for the next hour and a half. A few of the parents shooed their kids on to the next room while they spoke with us about minerals and field trips. Then, as suddenly as they arrived, they disappeared at 8:00pm when the fair ended.

We all had a great time and are hoping to do similar events like this one in the coming months and years. And yes, we were invited back for next year’s fair.

Orlando Garcia

Start: 7:39PM

Grant Kuck presiding

JUNIOR PROGRAM: Carl Johnson had a very active junior program this evening, beginning at7PM. A study was made of the physical properties of mica, especially the peculiar behavior it exhibits in being split into very thin sheets. Great job, Carl!

VISITORS:We had 13 visitors today! Welcome to our club!

SCIENCE AWARDS: Christine Welch and her mother attended the meeting tonight and showcased her excellent science fair project entitled "Is it Possible to Calculate the Diffusivity of Water and Pollutants Through the Soils of the Rio Grande?"  Christine was awarded the AGMC Senior Division Science Fair prize earlier this spring. James Burton and his family were also to present his project on synthesis of quicksand. James was awarded the AGMC Junior Division Science Fair prize this year. These young scientists were outstanding among their peers, and they were presented the AGMC "Nobel" Prize" for their work. Both were presented with $100 gift certificates to Barnes and Noble. Very nice work, Christine and James!

SPECIAL PRESENTATION: A plaque was presented to Orlando Garcia as a special thanks in recognition of his service to the club as president for several terms and for his many years on the board of directors. Many, many thanks, Orlando!

MARCH ToTE SHOW: Paul Hlava reported that the ToTE show was a tremendous success. A large number of dealers responded with our exit questionnaire. A common theme was that the dealers felt that they were members of our club family and they really appreciated that. They were very thankful for the service provided by our happy and helpful club members. Very nice job, great show, and tremendous thanks go to everyone who helped out! Paul is looking for someone to take on the job of show chair so he can focus more on the dealers. Please talk with Paul if you are interested.

Next year, we will also be on the same weekend (3rd weekend of March), which once again will be concurrent with the Builders Showcase. This appears to have been helpful to the show as it supplies a large number of visitors to the fairgrounds, and some of them make their way over to our show. Thank you, Paul for your expert management of the show this year!

FIELD TRIPS: The next field trip will be to the Phelps Dodge Chino Mine (Santa Rita) on May 29, 30, 31. Get signed up quickly; there is a 33 seat limit due to the vans used by Phelps Dodge to ferry us around the mine facilities (only mine vehicles are permitted beyond the main parking area at the headquarters building). If the trip is full, get on the backup list as cancellations may occur. This is a very serious trip and you can collect museum quality specimens in the pit (no underground). The trip will be led by Bob North, the chief geologist of Chino.  Bob provides highly educational instruction of the mine, geology, ore occurrence, and processing/recovery technology during the trip. There may be a side trip to the mine at Tyrone as well. If you have a hard hat, bring it!

PROGRAM: Patty Frisch of the NM Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources presented a program on Gold and Diamond Exploration in Ghana. She earned a BS in geochemistry at Northern Arizona University (Flagstaff), and a MS in geochemistry at New Mexico Tech. She is currently adjunct curator at the mineral museum at NMT, working with Virgil Leuth. Patty has just returned from fieldwork in Ghana, where she was working with graduate student Dylan Canales under the direction of Dave Marlan, professor. A number of gold and diamond deposits were examined.

Ghana is located on the Gold Coast of Africa (western shore). It is a hot and humid country. This tends to be a safe and stable country by regional standards. There are two major gold belts, both located in the southwestern portion of the country. These belts also produces diamonds, (6th largest producer), mostly industrial diamonds.

Geologically, the regions of interest are Tarkwaian, (which includes the Huni Quartsite, Tarkwa phyllite, Banket, and Kawere), the Upper Birimian, and the Lower Birimian and the contact zones between them. These are all precambrian zones. The gold is found in these zones and contacts. There are eight major gold belts. The amount of gold present is very large, even in the surface soils and plants.

The first area visited is Nkroful, a "galamsey" area, which is mostly worked by claim jumpers (these are the galamsey). This area runs two shifts per day, 20 people total moving about 1 ton of rock per day, about 23 ppb Au in veins. The workings and processing plant yield about 8 grams Au/day. Recovery rates are very low, about 35%. Much of this is due to improper operation of the concentration equipment. The gold yields about $150/month per person. This is an incredibly rich area from a gold perspective.

Other mines include Bibiani, Awaso, Obuasi, Dunkwa, Prestea, and Tarkwa. Tarkwa is the second largest mine, producing 555,000 oz/year. They are upgrading their processing plant to raise output to 800,000 oz/year. The mine has 11 million tons of ore reserve at 1.55g/ton Au.

The Damang Mine is a paleoplacer area, where seams of ancient gravels are processed for the gold that is entrapped in the ancient streambed riffles. This requires careful study of the structural geology in order to obtain high yields.

The Prestea mine is a group of operations and is primarily a pit operation. The Au occurs free and in arsenopyrte in graphite schist. This schist is 2.1Byrs old. 7 million tons of reserve are present. Background laterites have soil anomalies of 70-80 ppb Au! This surface dirt is 60 times richer that the ore at mines in Nevada. A bio-oxidation leaching plant is being built now, in which a bacterial brine is used to break down pyrites and arsenopytires (sulfides), leaving the gold as a sediment that is collected from the bottom of the tanks and refined.

Obuasi was also visited, the largest gold mine in Ghana. 20 million oz of reserve are present., with 30 million oz of prospected potential reserve. A 29 million oz reserve has been found 2km deep. This mine includes 632 sq miles of contiguous high grade gold claims!  This is the only mine in Ghana that gives public tours.  The gold is in quartz, sulphides,  and other mineral ensembles. The ores were originally treated by roasting, but due to health hazards (arsenic toxicity), this process has been displaced by BiOx. The recovery yield is 84%! An additional 7% is recovered by panning the tailings. This area produces visible gold in quartz. 90% of the ore is non-sulphide in nature. The mine is accessed through a single shaft, with no declines or ramps. The processing plant has a capacity of 7000 tons/day.

Bibiani was visited next. This is a 600m deep pit into ore grading at 3.5 g/ton Au. The pit is at 70 degrees angle of repose, and it has failed recently. Mining is now mostly underground, but the mine operators intend to dig out the failed benches and continue mining at very high pitwall angles. Patty noted that this practice would not be permitted in the US.

One of the exploration projects visited was a Newmont project at Ahafo. Discovered in a 1988-1991 drilling program, this project shows lots of gold. A great deal of geochemistry was done on this project. 7 g/ton Au anomalies have been found. A 70 sq km region shows elevated soil Au concentration. No arsenopyrite is present.  This area will go into production in 2006 as a pit mining operation. The operators will then go underground after the pit closes to continue economic extraction of the gold ores.

About 70% of Ghana diamonds are smuggled out, causing serious political problems. Trade is strongly controlled by DeBeers, with diamonds laser etched with a serial number. DeBeers is supported by the UN to try to manage the market for diamonds in Ghana to reduce smuggling and corruption.

Akwatia is the only mine producing diamonds, many of the gold mines are able to produce diamonds, but the don't do it because they are too busy producing The soil in this area is being literally stripped for diamonds.  The diamond bearing soils are hand picked for diamonds. Many claimjumpers (galamsey) operate in non-commercially viable areas under fee to the mining companies. This is the area that Dylan is focusing on in his studies. Many health problems exist in this area, including malaria and cholera due to the manner in which the mining occurs and lack of development of infrastructure.

Bort diamond gets $40/ct (80% of production) while high quality cutable diamond is around $300/ct.  Around 100 million ct have been produced in this area. Ultramafic rocks crop out for a 1 sq km area; these types of rocks are strongly correlated with the presence of diamond. Two diamond bearing units have identified. They typical indicator minerals (chrome rich pyrope garnet, chrome diopside, etc) , appear NOT to be present so far.

The government of Ghana holds 10% of all mining companies in the country and actively promotes mining (as opposed to the US). Ghana is tremendously underexplored and we can expect to see high gold and diamond production from Ghana for years to come.

A big round of applause for Patty!

Patty made an observation that it is possible that the really big diamonds are on the dumps, as the sorting screens are 1 cm aperture and the plus size material is tossed on the dump. Most of the diamonds recovered are 1 mm and smaller.  Some occur at a few mm and up, some as perfect octahedral forms.

The slave trade is still very active in Ghana, including a practice of hospitals taking children from low income mothers and selling them!

Q: Can diamonds be bought and brought to the US? Yes - via the Diamond House and export licenses. Buying and bringing out gold specimens does not appear to present a problem.

Q; Is the diamond matrix kimberlite? No - no lamproite either. The area does not appear to be structurally controlled, as in a pipe. Dylan is working on this and suspects the diamonds are weathered in-situ, as they exhibit only short distance transport wear.

Q: Does the Ghana government get more gold money or more diamond money? Likely more gold revenues, due to the very large production.

Q: Where is all of that cash going? That's a good question. It is unclear! There are major and massive basic problems, including sanitation, water, power, landfills, AIDS, malaria, cholera, dysentery, lack of medical facilities, short lifetimes (very rarely over 50). Poor roads and transportation abound. There are 20 million people in an area the size of New Mexico!

Patty showed a number of gold specimens for members to enjoy during the break.

ATTENDANCE: 107

REFRESHMENTS: Charlotte Cooper brought the goodies tonight. Many thanks Charlotte!

 May 29th & 30th, 2004

The May trip will be to the Phelps Dodge Company’s Chino Pit on Saturday May 29,and the Tyrone site on Sunday May 30. Both mines are near Silver City. It is about 5 hours drive time from Albuquerque.

There are some general instructions that apply to both days. No open-toed shoes allowed, long pants required, long sleeves are recommended. Hard hats and safety glasses will be supplied, but bring your own if you have them, and you will be more comfortable in your own equipment. Bring a lunch for both days. Don’t forget water. We will not be out in the wilderness but we will not be close to facilities either. You will need hard rock tools (hammer and chisel), and a hand lens. There are interesting micro minerals that occur in both locations.

Time: 8:00 AM.:  (It may seem early but it will be cooler.)

Meeting place:  Intersection of NM 152 and US 180, about 9 miles east of Silver City. This is the turnoff (south) to Bayard and Hurley.

Passenger cars acceptable - 4wd not needed.

From here we will caravan to the mine parking lot, where the personal vehicles will remain. After signing the Phelps Dodge release form, and receiving any last minute instructions, we pile into the company vans and we’re off!  A note about the vans: their maximum is 11 persons plus the driver, so plan your ‘carry-on’ items accordingly, allowing for collected material that you will be bringing out.

Time: 8:30 AM

Meeting Place: town of Tyrone, NM.

Directions: Take NM 90 south off of US 180 in Silver City toward Lordsburg. Travel south about 5 miles. You will encounter a gas station (closed), post office, and on the right (west) the old Phelps Dodge Mercantile, now a real estate office. In front of this building is a large parking lot - we will meet here. From here we will caravan the balance of the distance to the mine and do the switch to the vans for the tour and collecting. Bill Seibert, Tyrone Chief Geologist will lead the trip.

Due to the limited space the sign-up sheet has overflowed into a waiting list. If you signed-up to attend this trip and you find that you cannot attend please call me to free your spot for someone else. My number is 296-8847.

Mr. Robert North, Chief Geologist for Phelps Dodge at Chino, has gone far out of his way to offer and host another memorable trip for the AGMC. Thank You’s to Mr. North, and to Phelps Dodge for allowing us to tour their
facilities. I believe that our timing could not be better. The price of copper has increased due to overseas demands. This means that, once again, it has become profitable to mine and process copper, and in the weeks to come the Chino will be a very busy place.

Mr. North is also the program speaker for the May general meeting on May 24th. In addition to his presentation, he will talk a bit about the field trip. If you have questions about the mines, or the minerals that occur there, he is the one to ask!

If I have left out any pertinent information or if there are questions please call me at the number above. As for accommodations, there is a KOA campground, City of Rocks State Park, and motels in Silver City. There are two routes that will take you there and will show very different sections of New Mexico.

This report summarizes historical information regarding the "Kneeling Nun" monolith near Santa Rita. The Kneeling Nun has become the focus of controversy as a result of Chino Mine Company's (CMC) proposed expansion of the Santa Rita mine. In particular, opponents of the mine expansion have argued that the Kneeling Nun is a historically- significant landmark and, further, that it is, in effect, sacred ground.

The Kneeling Nun is a large rock monolith located on the north side of Ben Moore Mountain east of the Santa Rita open-pit copper mine operated by CMC. Geology of the Nun--it's monolith consists of a single volcanic unit composed largely of ignimbrite--varying to upwards of 400 feet in thickness, with vertical fissures caused by shrinkage.

Regarding the myth of the Kneeling Nun, the myth's origin has faded into obscurity, and the period when the myth was attributed to the rock monolith facing Ben Moore Mountain is not clear. Only by analyses of folklore, newspapers, maps, and other documents is it possible to reconstruct how the Kneeling Nun came to prominence in the region's lore.

The earliest Spanish operators of the Santa Rita mine, Jose Manuel Carrasco and Francisco Manuel Elguea, have left no memoirs describing the Santa Rita vicinity at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Despite this lack of documentation, legend has it that an Apache Indian told Carrasco the location of a copper outcrop, remarking that a "A peculiar rock formation marked the mine's location". Legend also has it that Carrasco was responsible for naming the monolith the "Kneeling Nun".

The earliest description of the Santa Rita area was provided by the American James Ohio Pattie in the 1820s. Pattie, not a chronicler of folk tales, assuming that they even existed, simply noted:

Three years later, William Hunter, a '49er passing through the region on the way to California, noted:

The first direct reference to a stone monolith corresponding to the Kneeling Nun appears in Bartlett's report of the Boundary Commission survey in 1853. Arriving at Santa Rita del Cobre with the intention of establishing a base camp for the boundary survey, Bartlett commented:

In 1857, for example, William Emory completed a resurvey of the US-Mexican boundary. His narratives, while somewhat drier than those of Bartlett, contain no mention of any rock formation resembling the Kneeling Nun. Similarly, Samuel Cozzens' narratives from 1858 accurately describe the Santa Rita region, going so far as to mention the presence of a number of "sandstone" monoliths, but completely fail to mention any monolith or other topographic feature named the Kneeling Nun. Finally, Carleton's 1864 map of New Mexico, when carefully scrutinized, contains no reference to the Kneeling Nun, although the Santa Rita Copper Mines are noted. Considered together, this evidence suggests that the monolith was not named at least as late as 1864.

The earliest description of the Kneeling Nun as the Kneeling Nun appears in 1873 in a newspaper description in "Mining Life" September 1873. The article contains a poem about the Kneeling Nun prefaced with the following comments:

In the following year, 1874, an alternate name for this rock monolith, the Kneeling Virgin, appears in a U.S. government publication. In an overview of mining in the West, Raymond commented that:

Newspaper accounts from 1877 confirm that this monolith was becoming a named landmark, with the added wrinkle that it was in the process of acquiring possible religious connotations. An anonymous article appearing in the Weekly New Mexican observed that:

Yet, the gender and the name ascribed to the rock monolith were by no means settled during these early years. In his survey of southwestern New Mexico in 1877, Wheeler noted on a draft version of a map of the Santa Rita region a rock monolith whose location corresponds perfectly to the Kneeling Nun. However, the name appearing on Wheeler's map is "Kneeling Jesus". This map was never published by the government. However, Wheeler's denotation and the other accounts mentioned above indicate that the monolith was, in the 1870s, known by at least three different names--Kneeling Nun, Kneeling Virgin, and Kneeling Jesus.

An 1881 report about mining in Grant County appeared in the Silver City Enterprise. In this report, the purported mission near Santa Rita is repeated as part of local lore:

In 1885, a strong earthquake rattled much of Grant County. A local newspaper, The Silver City Enterprise, reported the impact of this earthquake on the Kneeling Nun:

Another earthquake in May of 1887 shook much of the Southwest and northern Mexico, including Silver City. Period descriptions appearing in the Silver City Enterprise indicate the impact of this tremor on the Kneeling Nun:

By the 1890's, the rock monolith near Santa Rita appears to have become progressively more established as a named landmark. This is indicated by descriptions of two events in the general area. In April of 1895, The Eagle reported:

Three months later, a fire in the Santa Rita townsite was reported in The Eagle as follows:

By the early twentieth century, the Kneeling Nun became progressively more established in both scientific and popular literature as a landmark and as a culturally important place. Fayette Jones in 1904 noted in his review of mining across New Mexico that:

The importance of the Kneeling Nun as a place name is perhaps best indicated by its appearance on a series of U.S. Geological Survey maps published in 1909. As a notice in the Silver City Enterprise indicated, these maps were prepared in 1907 by which time the Kneeling Nun appears to have become firmly established in local lore.

Despite the fact that the U.S. Geological Survey began to use the name, some locals--notably, the county surveyor, C. E. Johnson--persisted in using Wheeler's original designation, "Kneeling Jesus". The emotional connection between the myth of the Nun and the stone monolith appears to have been well-established in the popular press by the early twentieth century. In 1901, for example, the Silver City Enterprise noted that Fourth of July fireworks would be set off "on the summit of the mountain just above the famous Kneeling Nun". By 1909, the local reporter from the Santa Rita mining camp began signing letters to the Silver City Enterprise with the nom de plume, "Kneeling Nun". Also in 1911, the Silver City Enterprise noted that students from local schools traveled to visit the Santa Rita mine and took the opportunity to view the Kneeling Nun:

In a wide-ranging review of New Mexico's history and traditions, Ross Calvin in 1934 suggests that the Kneeling Nun, which he described as "statuesque, bending exactly like a Sister of Perpetual Adoration," was part and parcel of Hispanic traditions whereby landmarks of many kinds were instilled with religious overtones. Similarly, Morey in 1938 and Weigle and White in 1988 interviews of local residents in the 1930s confirm that the Kneeling Nun was viewed by some residents as a religious icon:

The religious importance of the Kneeling Nun is confirmed by an article appearing in the April 21, 1914 edition of the Silver City Enterprise. Here, a photograph of the Kneeling Nun is shown with a caption entitled "An Easter Offering of the Eternal Hills: The Kneeling Nun." Likewise, Ricardo Munoz in 1984 uses one of the alternate legends of the Kneeling Nun as a springboard for understanding the character of life in Santa Rita before the open pit mine was expanded, noting in the course of his narrative that "Everybody in this village prays to her". Considered jointly, these accounts indicate that the Kneeling Nun is viewed in a religious sense by some segments of the local population.

Even if the Kneeling Nun is not viewed in a religious sense by all the population, it does appear to constitute an important cultural identifier for the region's inhabitants. Mildred Jordan in 1936, wrote "perhaps no story is so dear to the people of Grant County as the Legend of the Kneeling Nun."



What is the name of the mineral series?

What does that name mean?

What are the names of the endmembers?

Who WAS the mineral name for? (I will mention something special about this when I answer the questions.)

What is the mineral used for?

--NM –

--USA –

--World –

Who is the mineral name for? Colonel Hendrik von Prehn (1733-1785) a Dutch military figure of Cape Town, South Africa and The Netherlands who collected the specimens. Von Prehn was also a sponsor of Abraham Gottlob Werner, considered by most to be the "Father of Mineralogy" and an especially esteemed lecturer on mineralogy at the Freiberg Mining Institute. Werner scientifically described the specimens and named them after his sponsor. He thereby caused a rancorous STORM of protest because this was the FIRST mineral named for a person!

What is the mineral used for? Nothing except nice mineral specimens, rarely used as an ornamental stone, and causing storms of protest.

Localities – (Just list the famous/important ones)

--NM – nothing noteworthy

--World – Cape of Good Hope, South Africa; India, Germany, Austria, Scotland, Namibia, Canada, China, Australia, France.

Mr. Robert M. North is the former curator of the New Mexico Bureau of Mines Mineral Museum in Socorro and is currently the Chief Geologist for the Phelps-Dodge Corporation's Chino mine near Silver City.  This will be a unique presentation - don't miss it!

Mr. Virgil Lueth, curator of the New Mexico Bureau of Mines Mineral Museum, is the co-author of this speech. In the event that Mr. North is not able to return from a scheduled business trip in time, Mr. Lueth will be our speaker.