El Gambrisino 2014-01

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ELGAMBRISINOGem Crafters & Explorer's Club Bulletin,

P.O. BOX 3091, Las Cruces, NM 88003

Jan. 2014 - Volume 57 Issue 1

Affiliated with: American Federation of Mineralogical Societies www.amfed.orgMember of: Rocky Mountain Federation of Mineralogical Societies www.rmfms.orgMember of: Blue Ribbon Coalition www.sharetrails.org

2014 OFFICERS & Volunteers:

President Dave Smith 521-3103 [email protected] President Sheri Gaines 526-7176 [email protected] Treasurer Pat Grace 202-2862 [email protected] Secretary - Bill Pickert 532-9351 [email protected] Don Saathoff 382-3464 [email protected] Programs Eric Fuller 524-0204 [email protected]

Field Trip Director- Eric Fuller 524-0204 [email protected] Editor- Maxine Wyman 649-4900 [email protected]

We meet on the third Friday of the month at Gardiner Hall, Room 118, NMSU campus, Las Cruces, NMat 6:30 pm for social and 7 pm for the meeting. There are no meetings in July and December. Duesare $10 per adult per year. They are due Jan.1st of each year. A membership form will be emailed ormailed to you in December to be filled out and returned with your check to the treasurer. There are noregular committees or board meetings nor do we sponsor a show.

Our purpose shall be to gather knowledge and provide educational

benefits to members on geological, archaeological, lapidary, andmineralogical topics of interest, to include assistance to members inall lapidary problems, the study and identification of minerals and gemstones in the rough, the field study of geological formations whichproduce minerals and gem stones, the collection of minerals andgemstones, and the exploration of any geological or archaeologicaltopic or area which may be of interest to the membership.

NOTE: All articles and photographs are by the Editor Maxine Wymanunless otherwise noted. Any address or email changes must be sent tome at: [email protected] 4680 St. Michaels, Las Cruces, NM 88011.

Permission to reprint is granted if acknowledgement is given.

We reserve the right to edit all material submitted for publication

Info for the Newsletter: If you have information, articles, pictures or a website related to gem crafting, rock collectingor exploring and would like to share please give me a call at 649-4900 or email me at [email protected] If youhave a good idea or story to tell I will be more than happy to help you write it up. Also if you have minerals, outdooror camping equipment, etc. that you would like to sell please let me know for our FREE "Classifieds."Maxine Wyman, Editor

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Gemcrafters and Explorers Club "EL Gambrisino" Jan. 2014 - 2 -

As there was not a meeting or field trip inDecember there will be no minutes, programdetails or field trip reports this month. Insteadhere are a few pictures from our Christmas Partyheld on Dec. 6

th.

The CHRISTMAS PARTY 2013

It was a great get together with good food and goodfriends. Our hosts Pat and Tony outdid themselvesonce again. Thirty some attended and there were 25people who brought gifts to exchange. Enuf said,time for a few pictures to see for yourself.

Our most gracious hosts Tony Nunez & Pat Grace

Larry Howell, Cookie Saathoff, Lee Attawayout by the fire pit (the smoking area)

Brenda Gadberry & Kathy Fuller

Alice Hall & Elaine Franz

Part of the Chow Line

Alice & Doug Hall & George Spencer(Look out Doug, George has his eye on your plate)

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Jeff Porter & Linda Sanchez

Joan Smith, Cookie Saathoff & Eric Fuller

Time for the gift exchange

Mike & Sherri Gaines

Kathy & Al Spencer & family

Yours Truly

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Reminders and Gen. Info:

The next meeting will be as usual on the third Fridayof the month which is JAN. 17

thin Room 118 of

Gardiner Hall on the NMSU campus. We meet at6:30 PM for socializing and 7 PM for the meeting.

I hope everyone has had agreat Christmas and that youdidnt over do the New YearsEve thing.

Now for some important news:ITS TIME TO PAY OURDUES ONCE AGAIN. Amembership form is attached.Please fill it out and along withyour check or cash mail orbring it to our meeting and the

sooner we get it over with thehappier Treasurer Pat will be. What a small price topay for such a good time as we have. Well, therenow, that wasnt so bad was it?

LeRoy sent in this notice for the DAAS groupmeeting. The Doa Ana Archaeological Society willmeet at 7 PM Tuesday, 14 January 2014, at theGood Samaritan Auditorium, 3011 Buena VidaCircle, Las Cruces, NM. Society member BernieMcCune will give a presentation "Archaeology andCulture of Japan - An Introduction". His presentationwill explore the beginnings of Japanese archaeologyuntil the present with general findings to date, a briefdiscussion of prehistory cultural development basedon these archaeological findings, and an introductionto several interesting excavations sites in Japan.The meeting is free and open to the public.Information; 575-524-9497.

THE EL PASO BUYING TRIP REPORT

By Mike Bromwell

The group of 8 met behind the old Dairy Queen andsocialized till 9:30 then left for Carmen's home on"Lady Hawk" off of Ressler in El Paso (actually onlyabout a half hour drive). The new specimens ofAzurite were spectacular. Everyone seemed pleasedwith their purchases. I was very pleased with my 200pounds of Crazy Lace Agate and the 100 pounds of"Las Trancas" geodes that I bought and,subsequently resold in Flagstaff AZ!

I'm looking forward to the "show" and seeing whatelse Carmen has removed from his 2 car garage that

is stuffed floor to ceiling with boxes of specimens forthe show!

OWHYEE JASPERSource Ron Gibbs

On the eastern side of Oregon there is a lake called

Owyhee Lake, fed by a river with the same name.This area of Oregon is high desert country andcontains an abundance of fine jaspers and agates.The various varieties of Owyhee Jasper share ageographic region not a single locale.

There are many different looks to the Owyheejaspers and they are not all found in the same spot,but all include Owyhee as part of their name. Notonly do the Owyhee area jaspers produce the scenicvariety, but it also produces artistic worksreminiscent of Asian paintings, modern works of art,and strong abstract color patterns. Two example of

Owyhee scenic type jasper can be seen here, onehappens to have a green sky, but Owyhee scenicalso produces blue skies in some pieces. Mountains,valleys, and dunes are common scenic features,some with small dendritic plants or tree shapes.

Asian style design and paintings can often be foundin the Owyhee Flower Jasper which, by the way, isalso sold as Chinese Dendritic Jasper. This jasper isusually cream colored with red splotches, oftenconnected with fine dendrites, and the red areas areoften surrounded by pale green halos. The exampleshows warm, brown-red color zones connected by afine series of dark lines. The Owyhee SunsetJasper, has warmer colors, less details, but oftenshows us the world with a stylized sunset.

Last, but certainly not least is the Owyhee known asthe Cherry Creek variety. This is my favorite type forits bright red color veining that is often surroundedby cream-yellow or even blue areas of color,sometimes both in the same stone. It often containsfine dendrites and resembles strong abstract art. All

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of the Owyhee Jaspers appear to come fromsilicified mud-stones or siltstones. They are very finegrained, uniformly hard, take a great polish; they aretruly porcelain jaspers of the highest quality.

Via CHIPS N SPLINTERS via Moroks 02-2013

Rock City near Minneapolis, Kansas is a tiny parkwhich contains about 200 huge Dakota sandstoneconcretions. The spheres are up to 27 feet indiameter and you are encouraged to climb on themand do pretty much whatever you want. They claimthat there is no place else in the world with so manyhuge concretions

Via http://www.kansastravel.org/chalkkansas.html

Please go to www.amlands.organd read about what ishappening with our public lands.This site will tell you how youcan help. We need to protect of

collecting sites for future generations. Time isrunning out for many areas. Please help.

BENCH TIPS FROM BRAD SMITH

MOBILE STAND

A handy mobile stand for your flexshaft can be madeeasily and quickly from the base of an old swivel

office chair. You can find these chairs being thrownout at office buildings and schools. I just ask thecustodian in my building to set one aside for me.

To separate the chair from thewheeled base, simply removethe spring clip from the centerbottom. I use a smallscrewdriver or a pair of pliers.

To make the stand, you'll needtwo pieces of threadedgalvanized steel pipe and a pipefitting from a hardware store.The first length of pipe is 3/4inch diameter to fit the hole inmost chair bases. The secondpiece is a length of lessexpensive 1/2 inch pipe. Totallength of the two pipes shouldbe five feet. I used a two footlength of 3/4 pipe and a three

foot length of 1/2 pipe. They are joined together by apipe fitting called a 3/4 to 1/2 reducing coupler.

LOCAL METALS SOURCE

Local sheet metal shops typically have barrels ofscrap copper, brass and aluminum sheet that theysave for recycling. Shops will usually let you gothrough the barrels to select the shapes andthicknesses you want. Prices vary but will generallybe just a little more than the wholesale per-poundscrap value.

I've found it's much cheaper to buy metal this waythan ordering from a catalog. There are no shippingcharges, and you'll be supporting a local smallbusiness in your community. Do remember to bringyour thickness gauge and work gloves if you try this.

More Bench Tips by Brad Smith are atfacebook.com/BenchTips/or search for "Bench Tipsfor Jewelry Making" on Amazon

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A FEW SCENES FROM THE EL PASOGEM & MINERAL SHOW 12/8/2013

A nice piece of Rhodonite

Jim Enos was busy demonstrating Lapidary work

Mineral Birds from Peru

A lovely Quartz cluster from Arkansas

There are 189 Alabama points here. Vendor JohnScully said it was from a very old collection.

I hope everyonegot a chance toget to the showthis year. Wedidnt get overuntil Sun. andthere were stillsome goodlooking things leftto be had.

It was a littledissapointing thatfewer mineraldealers showedup this year. Lets

hope for more in2014.

A young vendor who knew his stuffThats a beautiful piece of Fluorite

that hes showing me.

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Padparadscha sapphires are little known to thegeneral public, but they are treasured by gemstoneconnoisseurs. The term padparadscha is derivedfrom the Singhalese word for an aquatic lotusblossom, which has an unusual salmon color. Manyagree that padparadschas straddle the colorboundary between pink and orange, yet afterdecades of debate, collectors, dealers, andgemologists cannot agree on a uniform standard forthe padparadscha color range. Points of contentioninclude how pink or how orange these sapphires can

be, and whether certain tones are too dark to qualify.Some padparadscha sapphires are not evenlysalmon colored, but rather zoned pink and yellow.

Some experts insist that true padparadschas cancome only from Sri Lanka, which, for centuries, wasthe only source of this coveted stone. We feel thatthe finest stones do in fact come from Sri Lanka, butMadagascar is now producing a major percentage ofthe stones available on the market. The stones fromMadagascar are usually more pink than orange, andalthough they are classified as padparadscha, theyare normally sold at a price that is about 20 percentless than the Ceylon padparadschas. The newsapphires from Madagascar are very beautiful and awelcome addition to the padparadscha supply.

Clarity is an important element for padparadschasbecause their light tones re-veal inclusions. Any sortof cloudiness will also dull a padparadschasapphires delicate color. Nevertheless,padparadscha sapphires are so rare that consumersmay have to sacrifice a preference for high clarity inorder to obtain a stone with acceptable color. Theextreme scarcity of padparadscha rough means thatcut stones will be shaped to conserve as muchmaterial as possible. This also means that

padparadschas may have unusual, asymmetricalcuts. A padparadscha sapphire with a more orangehue because of the high prices that these raresapphires command, many treatments have beendeveloped to create padparadscha-like color insapphires. In the late 1990s, the world gem marketexperienced a sudden influx of padparadschasapphires. Consumer enthusiasm turned to outragewhen it was discovered that these stones had been

colored by a radical new treatment method. Whenheated to extreme temperatures in the presence ofberyllium, poorly colored pink sapphires can emergewith an exquisite pinkish orange to orangey pinkpadparadscha color. When a sapphire crystal isheated to near its melting point, small atoms ofberyllium penetrate the crystal lattice and becometrapped within. Unlike the titanium used to enhanceblue sapphires, beryllium penetrates deep into thesapphire, making it extremely difficult to detect.Gemologists eventually developed reliable testingprocedures for beryllium diffusion, but not beforesubstantial numbers of beryllium treated pinkishorange to orangey pink sapphires had been sold asnatural.

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THE MINERAL FLUORITE & Its USESBy Betty Jones

It is not unusual for a rockhound, especially in theearly days of collecting, to confuse mauve or purplefluorite with amethyst. However, it is really quite

simple to distinguish the one from the other. Thecolor may be the same, but the crystal form is quitedifferent, amethyst having the hexagonal shape andpyramid top of quartz, while fluorite crystals form aperfect cube or octahedron1. Besides this, amethysthas the hardness (7) of quartz while fluorite is only 4on the Mohs scale. For this reason, it does notmake very suitable jewelry material as it scratchesso easily. However, it does carve well, and theChinese are known for beautiful carvings in fluorite.

Fluorite has a vitreous (glassy) luster, perfectcleavage, and is brittle. Although the cubic (six

square faces) is the most easily recognized habit offluorite; it can be found in octahedrons, and rarely inthe dodecahedron 2, or even a tetrahedron 3, allmodifications of the cubic habit. It is thought thatthese forms are likely to grow at highertemperatures.1. Octahedrona solid bounded by eight plane faces2. Dodecahedron a solid bounded by twelve plane faces3. Tetra hexahedron a solid bounded by twenty fourequal triangular faces.4. Electrolytea nonmetallic electric conductor in whichcurrent is carried by the movement of ions.

As we all know, fluorite is a fairly common

mineral and also quite widespread. It is found inhydrothermal veins with the metallic ores, inparticular with lead and silver, but also in igneousrocks such as granites and pegmatites. The mineralsassociated with fluorite are barite, gypsum, celestite(celestine), and dolomite, and it can also be foundon its own with no other minerals. Fluorite is often tobe found on mine dumps where it was thrown by theold men as gangue (waste), for they had no use forit. However, it became known for its crystal beauty,and miners would bring out the best crystal clustersfor sale to collectors. Some of the best samples inold British collections were acquired this way.

Fluorite sometimes produces fine crystals in thecavities in the limestone rock, having been formed insolution. Thrown out as waste by the old miners,why is it so much in demand today? In fact, inCornwall, England, in the 1970s, I found that theywere reclaiming the mine dumps for the fluorite to befound there. It was, of course, due toindustrialization. Fluorite was found to be of greatuse as a flux in the steel and foundry industries and

for refining of aluminum. The best grades wereused in enameling iron for baths (before fiberglass)and for producing opaque and opalescent glass. It isalso used for producing hydrofluoric acid and rawmaterial for the chemical industry. This acid isessential to the manufacture of synthetic cryolitewhich is used as an electrolyte4 in recoveringaluminum metal which is made from the mineralbauxite. It also produces fluorine for the fluoridesused as refrigerants and for fluorocarbons resinsused in pipe and tank linings. We all know the Teflonlinings on cooking pots and pans which saves us alot of cleaning and scraping; this is a product offluorine. However, the major amount of fluorite isused in steel-making and as a flux in open-hearthfurnaces to produce a slag to clean the steel ofphosphorus and sulfur.

Fluorite that is colorless is important in use formaking special optical equipment. However, it is

becoming very common for synthetic crystals to begrown for this purpose. Fluorite is found in a varietyof colors. When pure, it is transparent and withoutcolor, but this is rare. The crystals may be commonlygreen, amber, dark purple, or mauve, but also, moreuncommonly, pink, blue, or brown. The unusualvariety, known as Blue John, is found only atCastleton in the county of Derbyshire, England.There is a mountain there which consists mainly offibrous, banded blue (purple) and white fluorite. Thearea was mined for lead by the Romans who used tocarve it into vases and bowls, some of which havebeen found in Rome. To this day, Blue John is cut

and polished into jewelry, ornaments, and decorativeitems. In fact, fluorite is found in more colors thanany other mineral. It is interesting to note thatheating and light tend to make the colors disappear,so we should keep our samples in darkness as thecolors will fade. The variety of colors is caused byimpurities and imperfections in the stone.

In the USA, Illinois, Tennessee, and Kentuckyhave produced beautiful crystals. Spain, France,Mexico, China, Russia, and the USA are some ofthe chief producers of fluorite, and good samples areoften available.

Via Gem Cutters News, 12/04.References: Hurlburt, Cornelius S. Jr., Minerals &Man, Publ. by Thames & Hudson, London 1969.Read, H.H., F.R.S. Rutleys Elements of Mineralogy,26th ed. Publ. by Thomas Murby & Co., London

Editors Note: This was first published in EG on 09-08 but due to many questions Ive recently receivedabout the uses of Fluorite so here it is again.

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Gemcrafters and Explorers Club "EL Gambrisino" Sept. 2013 - 9 -

UP COMING SHOW Dates:

JAN 1-28QUARTZSITE, ARIZONA:Wholesale and retail show; Desert Gardens RV Park; Desert Gardens RV Park; 1064Kuehn St., I-10 Exit 17; Daily 10-6; free admission; Arkansas quartz crystals, rough and polished minerals, fossils, jewelry, gifts,lapidary equipment; contact Sharon (manager), 1055 Kuehn St., Quartzsite, AZ 85346, (928) 927-6361; e-mail:[email protected]; Web site: www.desertgardensrvpark.net

JAN 1-28QUARTZSITE, ARIZONA:Annual show; Desert Gardens Holdings LLC; Desert Gardens Show Grounds; 1055Kuehn Rd.; Daily 9-5; free admission; hundreds of dealers; contact Dennis Kuehl, 1055 Kuehn Rd., PO Box 2818, Quartzsite, AZ85346, (623) 606-0053; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.desertgardensrvpark.net

FEB 13-16TUCSON, ARIZONA:Annual show; Tucson Gem & Mineral Society; Tucson Convention Center; 260 S. Church Ave.;Thu. 10-6, Fri. 10-6, Sat. 10-6, Sun. 10-5; adults $10, seniors and active military get $2 off on Fri., children (under 14) free; contactTGMS Staff, PO Box 42588, Tucson, AZ 85733, (520) 322-6031; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.tgms.org

FEB14-16QUARTZSITE, ARIZONA:1st Quartzsite Gold, Treasure and Craft Show; Quartzsite Improvement Association,Miners Depot, Natures' Nuggets, Quartzsite Metal Detector Club; QIA Bldg.; 235 E. Ironwood St.; Fri. 9-5, Sat. 9-5, Sun. 10-4;adults $5, children free; dealers, Quartzsite Metal Detector Club hunt, gold panning contest, speakers, author table, demonstrations,metal detecting and prospecting equipment Q&A; contact Richard Trusty, PO Box 4051, Quartzsite, AZ 85359-4051, (928) 927-5479; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.QuartzsiteAZGoldshow.com

FEB 22-23LAS CRUCES, NEW MEXICO; 2nd

annual show, Friends of the NM Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum, NewMexico Farm & Heritage Museum, Las Cruces, Rock, Gem & Mineral Show, 575-522-1232, www.LCMuseumROCKS.com

FEB 22-23MESA, ARIZONA:48th Annual Jewelry, Gem and Rock Show; Apache Junction Rock & Gem Club; Skyline HighSchool; 845 S. Crismon Rd.; Sat. 9-5, Sun. 10-4; adults $3, students $1, children free; dealers, jewelry, gems, cabochons, beads,rocks, specimens, slabs, fossils, lapidary equipment and supplies, door prizes, silent auction, gem tree-making activity, wheel-of-rocks, raffle; contact Katy Tunnicliff, (918) 440-9152; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.ajrockclub.com

MAR 5-9--DEMING, NEW MEXICO; Retail show; Deming Gem & Mineral Society; SWNM State Fairgrounds; Raymond ReedBlvd.; Daily 9-5; free admission; contact Shirley Krasinski, PO Box 1459, Deming, NM 88031, (575) 494-5971; e-mail:[email protected]; Web site: www.DGMS.bravehost.com

MAR 14-16ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO:45th Annual Gem, Mineral and Jewelry Expo; Jay Penn; Expo NM StateFairgrounds; Creative Arts Bldg., 300 San Pedro NE; Fri. 10-6, Sat. 10-6, Sun. 10-5; adults $3 ($1 on Fri.), children (under 13) free;Treasures of the Earth: 40 dealers, gemstones, mineral specimens, jewelry, beads, cabochons, carvings, fossils, meteorites, books,raffles, door prizes, silent auctions, mineral ID, displays; contact Paul Hlava, (505) 265-4178; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site:www.agmc.info

APR10-12WYOMING, MICHIGAN:Annual show; Indian Mounds Rock & Mineral Club; Rogers Plaza Town Center; 972 28thSt. SW; Thu. 9:30-9, Fri. 9:30-9, Sat. 9:30-8; free admission; dealers, minerals, fossils, gems, jewelry, beads, rough, equipment,books, displays, demonstrations, children's table; contact Don Van Dyke, 4296 Oakview, Hudsonville, MI 49426, (616) 669-6932; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.indianmoundsrockclub.com

For further information or shows please check: www.rockngem.comWho knows, there just might be a good rock show in the area of your travels.

A Thought to Ponder: IF A THING WILL GO WITHOUT SAYING LET IT.

Some Interesting Web Sites for you to CheckOut Please send me any of your favorites that you

think others might be interested in and I will pass them along.

http://geology.com/county-map/new-mexico.shtml This site has much more than maps. It covers geology of all sorts.Sent in by Al Spencer

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El Gambrisino 2014-01