News Nuggets

Newsletter of the Albuquerque Gem & Mineral Club

Volume 51 Number 11

This year’s symposium at New Mexico Tech in Socorro was attended by 210 hearty souls. Heavy snows were predicted throughout the state yet we all showed up to learn more about minerals and geology. The Super 8 was booked solid and dealer’s doors were open for business on the ground floor of the main building. Buying and selling continued from about 6PM till 10PM on Friday night.

It was snowing and cold when the symposium opened at 9AM on Saturday. The club had a table for the silent auction registration. Anyone wanting to sell minerals at Sunday afternoon’s AGMC sponsored silent auction could ‘buy’ a table at the auction for $20.00. Tables sold quickly and all 24 tables were sold by noon on Saturday. Our club donates the proceeds of the auction to the state mineral museum in Socorro.

This year’s keynote speaker was former astronaut and U.S. Senator Dr. Harrison Schmitt. He narrated a CD of his moon landing and some rarely seen movies of the lunar landscape. Dr. Schmitt finally stopped taking questions at 5PM.

The evening banquet was ready to begin as soon as his talk ended. Over $2,000 was raised for the museum at that night’s silent auction.

The dealers were back open for business by 8:30 Saturday evening. Almost everyone was checking out before Sunday’s symposium so there were many bargains available. The specimens for sale this year were some of the nicest you can find anywhere.

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 – 792-095; 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@qwest.net

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: Darlene Nelson, Editor, 817 Sagebrush Trail SE, Albuquerque, NM 87123, or email to agmcnews@aol.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 6:45 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.

Well the Annual New Mexico Mineral Symposium has come and gone for another year and yes it was a success but more than that it was alot of fun.  Personally I enjoyed the tailgating that went on at the Super 8 Motel both Friday and Saturday nights (I got some great specimens at really reasonable prices, met some friends from previous symposiums and enjoyed talking to many of the dealers too).  I liked the talks and some of the outstanding minerals that were displayed on the big screen.  I got a kick out of being able to visit with the speakers and other attendees during our continental breakfasts and break times.  And then there was the Albuquerque Gem and Mineral Club sponsored Silent Auction which was a wonderful way to wrap up a wonderful weekend (Boy, did I get nice specimens).  If you have never been to a symposium you might want to think about it for next year.

Well enough about the 25th Annual Symposium for now...if you want to know more just ask anyone who attended and I'm sure they'll tell you all you need to know. And speaking of things you need to know, let me just say that I've waited all year and it's almost here!  I am talking about the Albuquerque Gem and Mineral Club's Holiday Event going on Saturday the 11th of December beginning at 6:30pm.  This year the party is at the Continuing Education Center on 1634 University NE.  The Center is just north of the intersection of University and Indian School.  For more information please check out Gwen Poe's announcement in this edition of the News Nuggets.  In the meantime circle December 11th on your calendar.  I hope to see you there!

Coming up at our next meeting don't forget it's "Election Time".  Time to vote for those who will serve the AGMC for another year.  All the nominations are in at this time so the only thing we have to do is vote which shouldn't take too long.  Then on December 11th at the AGMC Holiday Event we will recognize and install our officers. We will also meet our 2 scholarship recipients for 2004 and award them each a check for $1,000.00.

By the way, it's never too early to renew your membership.  You don't have to wait to January.  Just bring 20 dollars to our next meeting and give it to our current Vice President of membership, Kimberly Richie.  Remember all memberships are family memberships and include all members of the household.

Also if it is more convenient for you may send your membership renewal check to:

The Albuquerque Gem and Mineral Club (or simply the AGMC), P.O. Box 13718,

Albuquerque, NM  87192.

On a personal note I want to thank Ray Demark and Paul Hlava for filling in for me at the last couple of meetings.  I think I mentioned that I was back in Michigan helping my Mother to move to the Land of Enchantment.  Well she is here now and it is good to be back.  I'm glad it all took place before the Symposium began so I was able to attend.  And since I already chatted about the Symposium perhaps now is as good a time as any to bring this letter to a close.  I hope to see you at our next meeting and till then, "Keep Looking Down" (unless of course you aren't rockhounding).

Grant

We still do not have the names of this year’s scholarship winners. They will both be attending our dinner on December 11.

FOOD, FUN, AUCTIONS, & ENTERTAINMENT

Call Gwen at 247-1533 if you want to help in any way.

Lead by Paul Hlava

Nineteen of us meet at the Einstein’s Bagel shop in the 4-Hills shopping center for today’s geology field trip and Paul started right here in his descriptions of the geology of the area. He noted that there is lots of faulting between here and Wyoming Boulevard a couple miles to the west with theses faults buried in sediments about 18,000 feet beneath our feet. When one drills through this overlying sediment, first encountered are Quaternary and Tertiary sediments then Mesozoic Era sedimentary rocks before getting to the older Paleozoic Era, Pennsylvanian limestone represented in the rocks at the top of Sandia. All the Mesozoic, Cenozoic and Quaternary rocks that were once found on the Sandia Mountains have been eroded away. Those of us that are interested in geology are fortunate to be living in one of a handful of Rift Valleys in the world. It has been studied by scientists around the world.

Driving up the road into Tijeras Canyon we stopped and had explained to us the aspects of spheroidal weathering displayed by the granite lying conspicuously exposed on the west and south flanks of Sandia. Apparently this granite was intruded in several pulses about 1.1 billion years ago which is displayed mainly in their chemistry. Large phenocrysts were pointed out in this granite in the road cut and it was explained that previous studies have determined that the largest ones were all K-feldspars while the smaller ones are sodium feldspars. The red color imparted to the feldspar in granite is caused by small percentages of iron incorporated into the feldspar structure. Nearly all the elements of the periodic table are found in these granites but in size and quantities that they can be found only by using special equipment and techniques. Molybdenum, for instance, is found in the mica and gold in such quantities that it would not be economically feasible to extract. Xenoliths were pointed out in this road cut and described as a foreign rock incorporated into the granite from a surrounding source to the intruding granite plutons. Some showed signs of a reaction around their rims to the surrounding molten granite. We were pointed out the granite wash or weathered granite at the base of the road cut. Liesegang Rings were noted and explained formed by the complex interplay of diffusion, chemical reaction, and precipitation. Aplite dikes were explored and their formation explained as having been originally an obsidian glass that has slowly devitrified over the eons and has the same chemical makeup as the surrounding granite.

At the next stop we were shown what is called Greenstone of Precambrian age. It is metamorphosed basalt that was cut by quartz veins and has indications of gold. Also found were specimens of the quartzite seen earlier from a distance. This quartzite was thought by the early prospectors to have been the mother of all quartz veins which should contain gold but it wasn’t and it didn’t.

Looking at a fault in the limestone and shale just west of the Forest Ranger Station on NM337, we saw the adjacent beds being bent and the associated fault gangue. We were told that these limestones are made up of myriads of small skeletons of small life-forms like foraminifera tests. The clastic sediment of fissile shale was interbeded in the limestones. Sedimentary rocks are divided into two types, clastic sediments and chemical precipitates. World wide, clastic (weathered sediments) make up 90 per cent of sedimentary deposits versus 10 per cent chemical sedimentary rocks (mostly limestones). Shale makes up 70 percent of all sedimentary rocks and sandstones and conglomerate make up the last 20 per cent.

We then drove to a location via North Zamora road, where the Permian Abo Formation was exposed in a road cut displaying two lamprophyre dikes cutting the formation at a near vertical angle. The dike to the east was a rather hard rock verses the one about twenty five yards to the west that was crumbly. Paul suggested that this was probably due to the presence of water in the westerly one which also showed some alteration of the adjacent rock verses the other that did not. Some black euhedral crystals of the amphibole hornblende were observed in both formations but in the westerly one they weather out and can be collected in the dirt below. This Abo formation is generally colored red with some white bands and sometimes white round circles in the surrounding red. Paul explained that the surrounding red sandstones are the result of the oxidation of the ferrous iron in the sediments on or near the surface of the earth and that these white areas were caused by the reducing action of organic matter or fish poop! These round circles of white have been found to have at their very centers uranium oxide and the vanadium mica, roscoelite that was attracted to the area during the reduction reaction of the organic matter. This type of formation is found worldwide. The age of the dikes was revealed only after observing several locations where they cut more recent formations.

A little further down the road we stopped and were pointed out the eroded edges of the Tijeras anticline in the distance of the surrounding area. This was caused by the up-faulting of the Sandias. This area and the route we would be taking north through Cedar Crest would be described as like the wrist of your up-flexed hand with extremely fractured rocks that show a jumbled arrangement in this "wrist joint." This geology causes a problem for local residents in predicting at what depth they can find water.

Stopping at a church on north NM14 we observed an old gyprock quarry where there was exposed gypsum of the Toldilto formation (Jurassic in age). It was laid down in a restricted basin exposed to evaporation and periodic re-introduction of water so as to lay down a large stratum of gypsum. It represents a chemical precipitate along with the thin band of underlying limestone that shows thin layering. Limestone is always the first to precipitate after most of the water volume has been evaporated. Limestone is less soluble than the gypsum that is the next to precipitate. In this location there is the characteristic underlying thin band of limestone that shows small laminations. It has a strong feted smell to a freshly broken piece due to the presence of hydrogen sulfide. This location of gypsum var. alabaster was first exploited by the local cement company in Tijeras but they discontinued its use after finding other sources that required less expenditure. It was then quickly discovered by the local artisans for their use in making alabaster carvings.

On the drive north we were pointed out outcrops of the Upper Cretaceous Mesa Verde sandstone, the variegated shales of the Jurassic Summerville Formation and the Triassic Chinle Formation red beds.

Soon after passing the tiny town of Golden we made a stop and listened to a short description of the San Pedros and their associated scarn zones. Fairly fluid andesites and some rhyolites produced sills and a laccolith in the San Pedros. A little further down the road and way off on the western sky line we were pointed out the volcanic neck of Cabazon (Spanish for "big head") that was observed just behind Dark Mesa, a Quaternary age lava flow topped mesa.

We drove by the Madrid bituminous and anthracite coal mines. Anthracite is rarely found in the West. In this case it was formed by the nearby laccolith and at further distances from this laccolith, in the same seam, it is bituminous coal. This is one of the two places world wide where this has occurred.

Driving further north we passed many laccolith and sill intrusives. We made a short stop at an andesite outcrop then proceeded a little further north where we parked just beyond a blind curve on the edge of the road. Here, carefully avoiding get run over by cars, we found in a hornfels, pelecypod fossils of inoceramus sp. Finding fossils in a metamorphic rock is very unusual as they are usually destroyed in the metamorphic process. Hornfels is a rock very close to slate, the main difference is that the micas are not aligned as they are in slate. It is formed by contact metamorphism of argillaceous sediments.

This original Mancos Shale had been metamorphosed by a nearby laccolith.

Just to the north we stopped in the historic and quaint town of Cerrillos (Spanish meaning "small hills") where we stopped for a visit and tour at Trader Todd Brown’s shop and museum. Todd and his wife Patricia, AGMC members, were our gracious hosts. They allowed us free admission to their extensive museum of artifacts, rocks, minerals, fossils and you name it. Todd demonstrated the equipment he uses to break a geode with a clean break and gave several specimens to the members. They have many nice mineral specimens and artifacts for sale and some of us took the opportunity to make some purchases. After spending quite a bit of time here we moved on, after thanking Todd and Patricia for their hospitality.

Our next stop was at a location where we observed an intrusive that punched through the overlying strata with such force to cause these strata to be near vertical. Observed was a classic angular unconformity with the horizontal sediments overlying the near vertical volcano-clastic rocks.

A little further down the road we turned west onto highway 45 and stopped at a dacite plug and were given an amusing story about an incident that occurred about 30 years ago with a young starlet worried about the possibly of disturbing a motion picture in action. At the Eaves Movie Ranch the John Wayne production of "The Cowboys" was in progress. The unaware geologists working here were told by this distressed actress not to drive or create any dust as a movie was being filmed.

Our next stop was at the world famous Tiffany turquoise mine that was about a half mile distance from the road side from where it was viewed. Some interesting history was given about the mine over its centuries of long usage.

The last stop was about 61 miles from our start, within a mile or so of I-25 at Cero de la Cruz. This is a conical lava flow of unusual rock composition. It is a limbergite, an unusual basic rock of basaltic composition. Instead of feldspar (little or none) it has chiefly nepheline, pyroxene, and olivine with an aphanitic structure. Its name is derived from the German town of Limberg where Limberger cheese also got its name.

Thus we ended a wonderful geology tour of the Turquoise Trail. Paul Hlava was thanked by everyone before they left in their various directions for return trips home on what was a perfectly beautiful, sunny, warm, fall day. Thanks Paul for sharing your time and knowledge.

Monday 25 Oct 2004

By Scott Wilson, AGMC Secretary

Start 7:42PM

Paul Hlava, Show Chair presiding (Grant Kuck, President, is out of town, as is Ray DeMark) Thank you, Paul, for chairing the meeting tonight!

Guests: three guest members were present. One member (Bob Lemson) was present for the first time in thirty years.  He is one of the charter members of the AGMC.  Bob is still an active rockhound at the age of 91!

Elections:

AGMC officer elections will occur at the November general meeting.

Current nominations are:

Pres: Grant Kuck

VP Programs: Kimberly Richie and Mike Sanders

VP Field Trips: Stephanie Melof, Ron Boyd,

Treasurer: Jake Jacobs

Editor: open

Secretary: Scott Wilson

The slate recommended by the board of directors is:

President: Grant Kuck

VP Programs: Kimberly Richie and Mike Sanders (co-chairs)

VP Field Trips: Rob Boyd and Stephanie Melof (co-chairs)

Treasurer: Jake Jacobs

Editor: open

Secretary: Scott Wilson

Scott asked club members to please considering helping out the club by serving as editor. This position could be operated as a co-chair arrangement to make it easier.

Paul asked club members to also consider serving as an ad-hoc board member.

Ad-hoc members are chosen by the president; if you are interested in serving

as an ad-hoc, please contact Grant Kuck. For information about theofficers positions, please contact Scott Wilson, AGMC Secretary.

AGATE show:

The AGATE gem and jewelry show is scheduled to occur on Nov 20-21, 2004 at the LeBaron Courtyard Hotel conference center (just east of University on Menaul). Postcards with event details are available at the front of the room.

Field Trips:

The Tijeras Canyon/N14 geology road trip was attended by 19 enthusiasts; some of the specimens collected are available at the front of the room for interested folks to check out. A few specimens available to be taken home include redbed formation specimens exhibiting fossilized fish waste, limbergite (a rare volcanic rock) from near Cerillos, and marine derived gypsum obtained from a locality in Cedar Crest.

State Fair:

Orlando Garcia thanked everyone for helping out at the state fair and remarked that folks enjoyed our efforts.

NM Mineral Symposium:

The NM Mineral Symposium is coming up November 13-14. Flyers are available at the front of the room showing the fine list of speakers and events. A special news item is that the lead speaker in the schedule has been changed to Harrison Schmidt - he is one of the Apollo astronauts and is a geologist by training. This will be quite a symposium!

ToTE 2005 show:

Flyers are out. Contracts have been sent to the dealers (and some have already

been returned with money!). Pick up extra flyers at the front of the room to give out to folks you might feel would be interested.

AGMC Christmas party:

Gwen Poe provided details about the Sat, Dec 11 Christmas party/officers installation meeting/scholarship awards program. This event will be held at the UNM Continuing Education Building at 6:30PM.

The AGMC will provided the main meal, cake, and drinks. The attendeesare to provide all of the side dishes. Salads and vegetables, breads, etc are nice dishes to bring. Be sure to bring your own plate, utensils, and glasses.

Alcohol is not permitted in the building as it is a University facility -do not bring alcoholic beverages in any form!

Setup will start at 5PM. There is no charge to attend. A silent auctionwill be held; white elephants are popular, as are rock and mineral items. A prize is given for the item that raises the most funds. Volunteers are needed for setup, table decorations, greeters, and door prizes.

A hand vote of the attendees shows that BBQ is the preferred main choice.

Bring something that goes with BBQ! For amusement, bring your high-school yearbook to pass around.

Program:

Liz Huffman presented a talk entitled "Step-by-Step Basic Ring Construction".

Liz is a staff member at Sandia National Laboratory and is a specialist in tribology, the study of friction, wear, and lubrication.

Liz started out as a youngster doing many hands-on arts and crafts involving wire and metal work. She took some lessons at an early age in silverwork and the rest is history! She has been doing silver work for 30 years and has her work on exhibit at galleries in Old Town Albuquerque.

The goal of the talk was to show a complete sequence of all steps needed to take a stone that has been cut into cabochon form and create a custom  ring for that stone. The setting and final polishing was also covered, with the end result being a fully finished piece.

Materials for her ring were silver sheet, bezel wire, silver wire (for an accent), half-round wire for the shank, silver solder, solder flux, pickle solution (an acidic chemical solution), and a cabochon stone. The stone used for the talk was an Australian boulder opal cabochon.

Tools used included various pliers, mallets, a ring mandrel, a jewelers saw, burnishing tools to help set the stone, tin snips, files, a torch and lighter, and some marking tools. The torch was a straight acetylene torch. The flux was Handy and Harman silver flux.

Liz narrated a great presentation with lots of photographs. The basic sequence is:

The stone is first wrapped with the fine silver bezel. A tight fit is madeby marking the bezel and snipping it carefully. The seams must match tightly, helping to ensure that the stone can be securely mounted. The joint is a butt joint. The flux is applied the joint after it is cleaned; the joint must be very clean to avoid the formation of solder pits and defects due to contamination. A snippet of solder is put on the joint and the torch applied in a circular motion. The torch is kept moving to avoid collapsing the silver bezel, as the solder melting temperature is just below the melting point of the silver bezel. After soldering, the assembly is placed in the pickle to remove the flux and prevent oxidation.

The stone should fit cleanly now; there should be no gaps. The stone should be held snugly and should not fall out even if the assembly is turned upside down!

The stone and bezel are next placed on the silver sheet, and a section is cut out with the snips with some extra room all around to enable the accent wire to be soldered on and leave room for trimming and shaping . A hammer is used to flatten the sheet after being snipped from the main sheet, and it is fluxed and soldered to the bezel (after the stone is taken out!). The soldered assembly is put in the pickle to cool.

A wire decorative accent is made by twisting a doubled hank of silver wire with a power drill, making a nice silver rope. This is wrapped around the bezel with a snug fit.  It is marked and snipped, then adjusted as needed to obtain a quality fit. The ends are soldered and the accent is placed in the pickle bath to cool.

The cooled accent is placed on the bezel and soldered to the main assembly after fluxing. The solder is hard solder (high melting temperature) for the bezel. All other joints are made with EZ-Melt solder (low melting temperature). A solder pick can be used to help make sure all of the gaps are pressed out so that the accent lays perfectly flat against the back sheet. The assembly is again cooled in the pickle solution.

The excess sheet is cut away with the jewelers saw. A grinding wheel is used to carefully clean up the edges. Leather finger protectors are used to hold the piece and avoid injury during this step.

The half-round wire is used to form a shank.  It is formed to the appropriate finger size by pressing it on the mandrel and forming it with a soft-face mallet. A file is used to cut the ends of the shank to fit precisely against the back sheet. The stone mount is polished before soldering the shank on as it is easier to do at this time than after the shank is attached.

The shank is precisely placed and soldered to the stone mount after cleaning and fluxing. Solder snippets are placed and flowed with the torch to join the shank to the stone mount. Polishing is now done on a buffing wheel.  A special felt wheel is used to polish the inside of the shank.

Sawdust is used to cushion and set the stone in place. Sawdust adjusts itself nicely to the irregular back surface of stones and is commonly used; other materials used for backing include cardboard, paper, and slivers of wood.

Once the level of the stone relative to the top of the bezel is as desired, the burnishing tools are used to press the bezel around the stone. The metal is actually moved with the tool to form it over the stone. Several passes around the stone are required to form the bezel evenly.  A polishing stick with tripoli compound is used to polish the bezel after the stone is set (many stones can't take being put against the buffer wheel at this point due to heat or discoloration that would occur).

Liz observed that it took between 30 minutes to an hour to do this particular piece! Wow! Liz had the ring up at the front of the room for attendees to take a closer look.

A super nice presentation, Liz. Multiple rounds of applause!

Attendance:

Attendance for tonight was 56.

Refreshments:

Kathleen Lawicki provided the refreshments for tonight. Many thanks Kathleen!

Kathleen treks to our meetings from Santa Fe.

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 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.

This Month’s Mystery Mineral is a secondary mineral formed from weathered ore deposits rich in arsenic and zinc and is often found on limonite It is orthorhombic and forms beautiful, prismatic crystals but is more well know as coarse druses, sprays, or radial aggregates. Cleavage – two good and one perpendicular but poor. Subtransparent, Brittle, Luster – vitreous to resinous, Harness 3.5, Specific Gravity about 4.3 to 4.5, Color – yellow, yellowish green, green, violet, pink.

Questions

What is the name of the mineral?

Who was the mineral named for?

What is the mineral used for?

What causes the green colors?

What causes the violet colors?

Localities – (Just list the famous/important ones)

--NM –

--USA –

--World –

Answers to Last Month’s Questions

What is the name of the mineral? Spurrite

Who was the mineral named for? Josiah Edward Spurr (1870 – 1950), American Geologist

What is the mineral used for? Nothing (well, maybe cabochons for jewelry).

Localities – (Just list the famous/important ones)

--NM – Tres Hermanas Dist.

--USA – CA (Crestmore), AZ, TX

--World – Ireland, Germany, Turkey, Japan, Mexico, Russia

Paul Hlava 041114

Our field trip for November will be to the Blanchard mine near Bingham, New Mexico. We will meet at 9:30 on the dirt road just east of the rock shop on U.S. 380 in the "town" of Bingham.

You will need hard rock mining tools (hammers, chisels, pry bars, etc.) to collect at the mine. This also means safety glasses are needed plus long-sleeve pants and shirts, and boots are desirable. Some underground collection is planned, so if you desire to collect underground, you will need lights and a hard hat. The Blanchard mine has produced world class specimens of fluorite and linarite plus rare minerals such as spangolite. Over 50 different minerals have been found at the mine, and it is generally considered one of the finest collecting locations in the United States.

To reach the mine, take I-25 south to U.S. 380 (8 miles south of Socorro), then east on U.S. 380 for approximately 30 miles to Bingham. Driving time from Albuquerue is about two hours.

Please renew your membership for 2005 before January. When renewals all come in late January it really puts a lot of pressure on the Membership chair to update 200 memberships in one month.

Robert Eveleth

The History of the Steeplerock Mining District

This is the last general meeting of 2004. The next general Meeting will be on January 24, 2005