Volume 50 Number 11

The major business of the meeting will be the election of the 2004 AGMC Board of Directors. The following slate of officers will be recommended by the 2003 Board of Directors:

President Grant Kuck

VP Speakers Ray De Mark

VP Field Trips open

VP Membership Kimberly Richie

Secretary Scott Wilson

Treasurer Stephanie Bell

Editor Darlene Nelson

Historian Dave Moats

Special Events Hank Miller

The office of Vice President in charge of Field Trips is still open for two volunteers. If you would like to fill this position – or if you know of someone who would be willing – please contact Orlando Garcia, Grant Kuck, or any other board member at the meeting

Pot Luck "GRAZING PARTY". Each member is asked to bring an hors d’oeuvre or finger food. AGMC will provide cupcakes and drinks and service ware.

"White Elephants and Uniques" Silent Auction: Bring a special gift for the auction. Every defrayed expense dollar adds to the scholarship fund. Be generous.

Set-up: begins at 5:pm All hands are welcome. Clean-up is a club project:

Door Prizes: We could use about five, and we need someone to secure them.

Guests: Now is a fabulous time to invite someone to visit and join our club. Family dues are only $20 a year.

Charlotte and I are working on entertainment. Color theme will be based on round or oblong tables. Both will start with Red. If you have special ideas or interests, please contact one of us. Gwen-247-1533 Charlotte 881-4436

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: Darlene

Last month, Tom Katonak, Mike Potts, and Dave Moats gave a talk on their field trip into the Juanita mine down by Magdalena.  They emphasized, and I want to re-emphasize, that the exploration of an abandoned mine site is extremely dangerous and should not be casually attempted.  They had done extensive research and had a map of the mine and all it’s known tunnels. More importantly, they are all very experienced in mine exploration.  If we didn’t believe they had been as careful as humanly possible this program would not have been presented at a general meeting.  The club as a corporation does not recommend underground exploration by novices.  Our field trips that involve entering mines are guided and include limited numbers of participants.  Any underground exploration that is not on a club-sponsored field trip is not authorized by the club and is taken at your own risk.  Just don’t do it, please!

Julie and I are dashing off to Socorro now for the evening of mineral room shopping at the Super 8.  The 24th annual New Mexico Mineral Symposium starts tomorrow.  I’ll tell you about it next year (remember, no newsletter and no general meeting in December).
-Orlando

Howdy Folks. I’ve sent out the first round of contracts to most of the dealers from last year and some former dealers to fill in a couple of known holes. I expect to be getting responses back before you all get this note. The response deadline for this first round of offers is December 8^th. After that, I’ll be contacting dealers on my back-up list and it will be first come, first served from then on. There are 30 (oops, make that 31) outfits on that list so far and another calls about once a week or so. However, if you know of someone who is a good choice and possibility, let me know. Not all of those on my list will pan out.

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 of the dealers did well or better. I ran into someone who did FANTASTIC at our show selling at the Denver Show in September. He did MUCH better at our show than at Denver and his costs were way down in ABQ (our booths cost about 1/3 as much). 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 Arizona, Colorado, California, Kansas, Illinois, and Georgia! That’s in addition to ABQ and the rest of the state. (Everyone who helped at the show this year should now pat yourself on the back.)

Orlando’s show case committee had a demonstration display case built and set up at the board of directors meeting. It looks good. We are planning to get between 4 to 6 made for us. If any of you want your very own case (for the same cost ), see Orlando.

Publicity for the show is underway. Judy DeMark 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. One glaring absence is someone to plan and coordinate activities for the kids. Several have mentioned the need but no one has come forth to lead the task. How about you?

Monday, 27Oct03

Orlando announced that Walter Morris and Paul Hlava are recovering from serious operations and that Tom Katonak had bought cards that will be sent to them. Members were asked to sign these cards with a personal message.

Gwen Poe gave us an in-depth description of what we can expect at the upcoming club Christmas party and requested help in several areas concerning this yearly, fun event. I’m sure she will cover these topics thoroughly elsewhere in the newsletter.

Four guests and four new members were introduced to the 78 souls in attendance at tonight’s meeting.

Hank went over the details of the upcoming 24^th annual New Mexico Mineral Symposium scheduled for the second weekend in November.

The Nacimiento mine field trip went well for the 33 in attendance and everyone found some nice specimens some of which were on display tonight. The last trip for the year is scheduled for Saturday, November 22, to the Blanchard mines near Bingham, NM. Details can be found elsewhere in the newsletter.

November’s meeting will see the election of next year’s officers that will lead us through 2004. We still need someone to set up and lead us on field trips. Orlando listed the names of those who have volunteered their time and efforts for the other positions and should have them listed elsewhere in this newsletter.

Grant Kuck introduced tonight’s speakers as Tom Katonak, Mike Potts and Dave Moats who would be giving an informative talk on their adventure into the Juanita mine in the Magdalena mining district in early January of this year.

Tom was introduced with a biographical profile that has him involved with mineral collecting for over 50 years as a boyhood hobby in which he won several awards in regional and state science fairs back in the ‘50s! He studied geology (specializing in mineralogy) at Bowling Green State University of Ohio, graduating with honors and majors in geology, physics, math and chemistry. Tom went on to graduate school at Columbia University studying geophysics and while there worked at Lamont Geophysical Observatory where he did pioneering work in submarine seismology. During this period he also designed the short-period seismographs installed on the moon during NASA’s Apollo Program. Related to the field of earth sciences, Tom has worked in the areas of oil exploration, groundwater hydrology, geologic mapping, seismology and high vacuum electron spectroscopy. He joined the USAF in 1966 and spent 21 years working in the field of meteorology, laser physics and systems engineering. During his career in the Air Force, he earned a BS degree in Meteorology from the Univ. of Oklahoma and a MS degree in engineering physics from the Air Force Institute of Technology. In the ‘70s and ‘80’s, he became one of the nation’s experts on precision pointing and tracking for directed energy weapons and served on numerous Government advisory panels in this area. He has numerous publications in solid-state physics, and military laser applications. Retiring from the AF in ’86, he worked for several "think tank" contractors providing guidance to the Government on space-based military systems and still occasionally is consulted in this area. He has been a world traveler while pursuing his mineral hobby in a quest for fine mineral specimens. He has many other active and intellectual hobbies that keep him busy. Tom first joined the AGMC in the early ‘70s and has continued that membership whenever residing in the area.

Dave Moats was introduced as having brought to his home in Northern Illinois his first rocks to save in a collection when only 5 or 6 years old. He continued his interest by earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Geological Engineering from Michigan Tech. Soon after college in 1965 he was commissioned an officer in the U. S. Air Force and in ’66 earned his pilot wings, went through Survival School, and was training in the F4C in Tucson when he met Karen, his wife. He became an instructor pilot in the T-37, a twin-engine primary jet trainer. After leaving the service he worked as an Assistant Buyer and then Departments Manager for the largest Federated Department store in central and southern Ohio managing personnel and merchandise sales. He was hired on at the Federal Aviation’s Memphis Enroute Air Traffic Control Center and years later transferred to Albuquerque Center in March of ’79. After 28 years of government service he retired and soon after became a member of the AGMC reawakening his youthful interests in minerals.

Although Mike Potts did not submit a biographical sketch he has been a valuable, active and contributing member of our club since 1995. He has served on the Board in the Ad Hoc and co-Field Trip Chairman positions, purchased minerals for the club’s door prizes in Mexico and helped with the Show’s Silent Auction for years. He and I have enjoyed may good field trips together.

The information that follows was covered in the talk and gleaned from many sources but the most valuable source was the Geological Survey professional paper 200 published in 1942 by Loughlin and Koschmann on the "Geology and Ore Deposits of the Magdalena Mining District, New Mexico."

Slides were taken and presented by Tom while Dave and Mike spoke on the geology, mineralogy and history of the area starting with a slide taken on the road as they were entering the town of Magdalena looking back over the Rio Grande’s rift valley.

Here, near the north end of the Magdalena Mining District at an elevation between 7350 and 8540 feet and on the Northwest slope of the Magdalena mountains, there have been more than 40 mines developed. The Magdalena mountains are westward tilted and faulted Carboniferous sedimentary rocks lying on a basement of pre-Cambrian rock. The pre-Cambrian granite covers the largest surface area of any formation in the district. These pre-Cambrian rocks have been worn down to a nearly level surface and form an unconformity upon which the Carboniferous sedimentary rocks were deposited, followed by the Permian with no Mesozoic rocks being represented. On top of the Permian Abo Formation lie mostly extrusive igneous rocks of early and mid-Tertiary period followed by the Pleistocene and Recent landslides and alluvial deposits. Virtually all the ore in the district is found in the Mississippian age Kelly/Lake Valley limestone in and around the "Silver Pipe" or "Indicator" bed of impure dolomitic limestone.

These ores and associated minerals represent extensive replacement of different grades in a skarn type deposit lying mainly in 3 general zones that trend southward about 4 miles from the principal Nitt Monzonite Stock and are closely associated with vertical faults.

It all started with the initial discovery of lead and silver and the opening of the first mine, the Juanita, by the "Father of the Magdalena Mining District", Col. J. Hutchison in 1966. The General Land Office shows the Juanita Claim was not located until 1875. So far as is known very little ore or bullion was shipped before 1881 and what was went by bull-teams via the Santa Fe Trail to Saint Louis after being smelted in adobe furnaces called "vassos." It wasn’t until the coming of the railroad into central and southern New Mexico in the years 1879-82 and the building of the Billings Rio Grande Smelter in Park City just west of Socorro in 1881 that things got really going in the area. Helping this boom along was the locating of a rich silver ore in the Juanita mine in ’78 and large ore bodies in the Kelly and Graphic mines in ’78 and ’79 plus many other claims in the district that were located in 1879 thru 1881. The principal ore, galena, occurred in large quantities and was accompanied in some mines by considerable copper and in others zinc which rendered the ore refractory.

One picture showed the remains of the old Graphic Smelter and adjacent Ozark Mill that are located only 1½ miles west of the Graphic mine. With the closing of the Billings Rio Grande Smelter in 1893, Billings built and operated the Graphic Smelter from1896 ‘til 1902 when it was finally dismantled in 1922. The Ozark Mill was built in 1913 and was still being operated in 1943 thru 1949 by Asarco.

In 1882, in the Juanita mine was found a large body of lead carbonates that was opened up at points for a distance of about three miles. A 40 to 60 foot wide seam of "sand-carbonate", loose or slightly cemented crystals of cerussite, was found and could be shoveled out by the tons. Production of zinc in the west was negligible until 1898. Until 1900 the output of the district consisted of lead and subordinate silver and gold. Copper became the principal metal from 1900 until 1903. The closing of the Graphic Smelter in ‘02 marked the end of the lead carbonate period in district. It wasn’t until J. B. Fitch & C. T. Brown in 1903 took a sample of smithsonite to the Joplin Missouri Smelter and so impressed the operator that the zinc period began. Most of it looked like limestone and had been thrown onto the dumps until then. By 1905 the District was the leading zinc producer in New Mexico and held that rank until 1920. New Mexico became one of the five leading western states in zinc production and in the entire Rocky Mountains, only Leadville, Colorado, and Butte, Montana, could match the district’s output. Large shipments of sulfide ore were shipped from the Juanita in 1904 –1906 averaging 15 to 30 ounces of silver to the ton of ore. The last large shipments of zinc and lead carbonates from the Juanita were made in 1912 even as the district as a whole saw a great advance in production of zinc in 1913 and reached a maximum in 1916 with lead and copper reaching a maximum production in 1917. With a decline in war demand for zinc and the depression of 1919 and 1921, zinc production through the west was almost entirely suspended and operation in the district almost ceased. After that time the district was only a minor producer and fell essentially dormant before the Great Depression in the Fall of ’29.

It was noted that from 1915 to 1928 Senator T. B. Catron of Santa Fe owned the Juanita mine and leased it to the Mines & Metal Co. of Kelly. Although active almost every year for which records are available, the Juanita was only a small ore producer in the district. Between ’03 and ’39 it contributed only 2.7% of all ore mined. The majority of ore tonnage in the district was of zinc followed by lead and copper. Four million ounces of silver and 10 thousand ounces of gold were produced from the district. The last active mine, the Hays, closed up operations in 1970.

Tom showed a picture of the existing church on the site of the old town of Kelly. It is the only existing building here and was constructed of materials scavenged from the old town of Kelly in the 1950’s. The town of Kelly was originally laid out in about 1879 by prospectors and in its "hay-day" there were about 3000 people living here, with three churches, two schools, a moving picture parlor, fine water system from mountain streams, two hotels that rented beds in 8 hour shifts, and a post office in operation from 1883 to 1945. When the railroad reached Magdalena in 1885 however, Kelly’s inhabitants began relocating to the new town at the end of the rail-head in Magdalena (there was a 1½ mile spur to the Graphic Smelter for ore shipments). Magdalena was also where large shipments of cattle and sheep were loaded on the rails for shipment back east.

We were shown pictures of the Juanita adit, stopes, the framework for the winch and the wince with its track angling down at about a 45^o angle. About half way down there was a cave-in where the track was broken and dangling 10+ feet above the steeply angled ground below with a very treacherous crossing to be made with deep holes on either side of a narrow walk-way to access the track on the other side. But with Mike leading the way we felt safe.J One should be extremely cautions in this mine as it could be nothing short of a death trap. We were shown a picture of what we think is goslarite, ZnSO₄.7H₂O. It is impossible to collect as it desiccates and breaks easily. It was found covering the surfaces of many things in acicular, long bladed, white masses or tuffs. Also pictures of blue allophane, Al₂SiO₅.nH₂O, and fraipontite, 8ZnO.2Al₂O₃.5SiO₂.11H₂O, were shown. Ray DeMark lent us several pictures of azurite crystals found in this mine and he brought some spectacular barite crystals he found in this mine. Our three adventurers also brought in many specimens collected from this location for our members inspection. We were finally shown a picture of them safely outside again having escaped flying bats, falling rocks and bad air, ready to celebrate with a beer and head home. J

Dave Moats

Our final field trip for this season will be to the Blanchard mine near Bingham, NM, on Saturday, the 22th of November.

We will meet at the Blanchard Rock Shop at 10:00 a.m. To reach Bingham, take I-25 south to the U.S. 380 exit which is eight miles south of Socorro. Take U.S. 380 east for 30 miles to Bingham. Driving time to Bingham from Albuquerque is about two hours. You will need hard rock tools to collect here (hammers, chisels, etc.). The rock here is silicified limestone, so don’t forget safety glasses.

The mine is about 5 miles south of Bingham, and passenger card should be able to make it to our first stop at the base of the Blanchard hill. At that point we will consolidate vehicles for the climb up the mountain. There. are no facilities at the mine, so be prepared.

I will allow some underground collecting, so if you would like to collect in one of the adits, you will need a hard hat and lights. No unescorted children will be allowed underground, and everyone will need to sign a liability release. Underground mines are not safe.

The Blanchard mine is without a doubt the best collecting location in New Mexico. World class specimens of fluorite, linarite, brochantite, and barite have been found here. Galena was the ore mineral at the mine and is ubiquitous. Other minerals to be found include cerussite, anglesite, wulfenite, jarosite, gypsum, smithsonite, hemimorphite, and many others.

See you at Bingham on the 22^nd.

The Hansonburg mining district lies at the northern end of the Sierra Oscura near Bingham in northeastern Socorro County. Three groups of mines have produced world-class specimens of a variety of mineral species including some of the finest linarite ever discovered. Many specimens can still be found on old mine dumps and in outcrops…

The Hansonburg district has been intermittently active since the 1800’s. Low ore grades and lack of water necessary for processing the ores have hampered development although interest in the deposits has continued to the present time. Two types of deposits are present in the area. The first consists of sandstone-hosted copper deposits in the hills west of the Sierra Oscura. Although of interest mineralogically, these deposits usually do not yield collectible mineral specimens… The second type, of much more interest to collectors, consists of carbonate-hosted deposits exposed in the fault scarps and ridges of the Sierra Oscura.

Major ore minerals of the cabonate-hosted deposits are barite, fluorite, and galena. Other collectible minerals include aurichalcite, azurite, brochantite, calcite, caledonite, cerussite, chalcopyrite, chrysocolla, gypsum, hemimorphite, jarosite, linarite, malachite, murdochite, plattnerite, pyrite, quartz, rosasite, smithsonite, spangolite, sphalerite, and wulfenite, among others…

COLLECTING CONDITIONS IN THE HANSONBURG DISTRICT CAN BE EXTREME. Temperatures often exceed 100 in the summer and may drop below freezing in the winter. Flash floods can occur during summer thunderstorms and roads may become muddy when wet. Lightning can be dangerous on the ridges. Rattlesnakes are present in the area and may be encountered in holes or beneath rocks, particularly in the morning and evening hours. Common sense should dictate collecting activities, and equipment such as hats and hard hats, gloves, and safety glasses should be considered essential, as should plenty of drinking water.

(For a complete listing of all species from the district, see the article by Taggart, Rosenzweig, and Foord in the Mineralogical Record, 1989, v. 20, no. 1, pp. 31-46.)

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 yourselves. 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.

Not technically a mineral at all; it is a mineraloid because it is not crystalline. It is composed of hydrous silica and is found in sedimentary and volcanic rocks. It forms from the solution and redeposition of silica from siliceous volcanic rocks. It is colorless, white, gray, yellow, orange, red,

brown, or black with a white streak. Hardness – 4.5 to 6.5 usually 5.5 to 6, Density 1.9 to 2.3 often around 2.09, Cleavage – none, Fracture conchoidal Luster is vitreous, greasy, waxy to dull. May fluoresce, usually bright green.

What is the name of the mineraloid?

What is the origin of the name?

What is the name of the colorless variety?

What is the name of the special, optical property some of this mineraloid displays?

What causes this optical effect?

What is the name of the ordinary stuff?

What is the mineral used for?

What minerals might it be associated with?

Localities – (Just list the famous ones)

--NM –

--USA –

--World –

What is the name of the mineral? Anglesite

What is the origin of the name? Named after the island of Anglesey in Wales (Great Britain)

What is the mineral used for? Minor ore of lead, mineral specimens

What minerals might it be associated with? Galena, Cerussite, Smithsonite, Hemimorphite, Sphalerite, Azurite, Malachite, Sulfur, Pyromorphite, Brochantite, Linarite, Caledonite, Fluorite, Barite, etc.

Localities – (Just list the famous ones)

--NM – . none really famous, Hansonburg Dist, Magdalena Dist., Carnahan Mine

--USA – PA, MO, AZ, UT, CA, NV, --World – Tsumeb, Namibia; Mibladen and Touissit Morocco; Germany; Spain; England; Wales; Italy; Australia.

Albuquerque, NM 87192

This month’s speaker will be our own Webmaster and international traveler John Scully. John recently returned from South America where he searched for the mineralogical treasures of Brazil.

Come on November 24^th and see what John has been doing with his new camera.