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SPECIAL SECTION: TOOLS OF THE TRADE — COVINGTON ENGINEERING

THE EARTH’S TREASURES • MINERALS & JEWELRY

TAKING IN TSUMEB EXPLORING THE UNIQUE AND UNCOMMON SHAKESPEARE’S GEMSTONES Literal and Literary Treasures 5 GENERATIONS STRONG (Part II) One Family’s Love of the Hunt BRILLIANT BRONZE AGE Discoveries Made at the Museum

ROCK&GEM • Vol. 51 No. 9 • U.S. $5.99 Issue Code: 2021-09 • September 2021 Display until 9/21/2021 • Printed in the U.S.A.

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VOL. 51 NO. 9 • SEPTEMBER 2021

VOL. 51 NO. 9 • SEPTEMBER 2021

10 TAKING IN TSUMEB Exploring a Historically Rich Locality

28 FOSSIL FIND: PETOSKEY STONE Michigan’s State Stone

By Bob Jones

By Joseph “PaleoJoe” Kchodl

20 7 QUESTIONS WITH JIM BRACE-THOMPSON

34 SPECIAL SECTION: TOOLS OF THE TRADE Sponsored by Covington Engineering

22 EASY PICKINS’ AT AUSTRALIA’S AGATE CREEK

40 NEPTUNITE Benitoite’s Uncommon Partner

By Jenni Clark and Leigh Twine

46

Bob Jones

50 ROCKHOUNDING CHARACTERS AND STORIES GALORE The Original “Adam’s Family” Part II

By Janie George Duncan

60 SHAKESPEARE’S GEMSTONES Elizabethan Gems: Literal and Literary

By Steve Voynick

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For this reason, advertisements appearing in Rock & Gem should be considered as requests to inquire, rather than as unconditional offers to sell. All prices are subject to change without notice.

REGULAR COLUMNS Field Notes ............................6 Earth Science News............16 Bench Tips ..........................18 R&G Kids .............................30 Community Outlook ............44 The Road Report.................46 Rock Science ......................68 Show Dates .........................70 What to Cut .........................74 On the Rocks.......................76 Parting Shot.........................82

On The Cover A specimen of scorodite, found in the Tsumeb Mine, Tsumeb, Namibia, photo

by Jeff Scovil, photo provided by Unique Minerals. Design by Shawn Stigsell

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FIELD NOTES our staff WHAT DO THE GREEK GOD NEPTUNE AND THE LITERARY GENIUS WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE HAVE TO DO WITH ROCKS, GEMS, AND MINERALS? At first blush, you may think the answer is nothing, or not much worth considering, but the truth is, both carry an interesting connection to minerals and gemstones, as our esteemed contributors Bob Jones and Steve Voynick explain in this issue of Rock & Gem. Flip to page 40 to learn about Neptune and the mineral Neptunite connection, as discussed

by Senior Consulting Editor Bob Jones. Plus, starting on page 58, prolific contributor Steve Voynick, explores the many literal and literary gemstone connections created by Shakespeare in his various writings.

In this issue we also spend some space becoming more familiar with two international rockhounding hot spots, Tsumeb, in northern Namibia and Agate Creek, located in Northern Queensland, Australia. In a fascinating review, Bob Jones explains many of the unique aspects, history, and modern discoveries to come out of Tsumeb, a well-known site and source for a myriad of minerals. In addition, Australian rockhounds (fossickers) Jenni Clark and Leigh Twine bring us to the happening rockhounding area of Agate Creek, which was first mentioned in reports as early 1900. The two rockhounds explain how ownership of the area has changed hands over the years, the most common types of minerals to come from this site, and they explain their own experiences hunting for minerals in this locality.

One of the best things about these stories is that even if you cannot travel to these sites, you can become a bit more familiar and enjoy a “virtual” experience. Plus, they can serve as great fodder for adding these destinations to a bucket list of possible travel destinations.

You’ll also find the quarterly Tools of the Trade special section in this issue. This Tools of the Trade is sponsored by Covington Engineering (covington-engineering.com).

Did you know that Covington Engineering has been in business since 1848? Did you also know the business relocated from its long-time home base in California to Idaho in 2020? There’s a lot to learn about this industry-leading company, as well as interest-

6 ROCK&GEM | WWW.ROCKNGEM.COM

ing facts about some of the company’s devoted customers, all found in the special section, which begins on page 34.

EDITORIAL BOB JONES Senior Consulting Editor ANTOINETTE RAHN Managing Editor SHAWN STIGSELL Graphic Design JIM BRACE-THOMPSON MARC DAVIS RUSS KANIUTH BOB RUSH HELEN SERRAS-HERMAN STEVE VOYNICK Regular Contributors

EDITORIAL SUBMISSIONS GLORIOUS GEMSTONES his month also marks the conclusion of our latest print-digital hybrid special series, Glorious Gemstones. The third and final issue of this series includes intriguing articles including the culmination of Helen Serras-Herman’s must-see gemstone digging destinations, an interesting article about lesser-known tourmaline crystals written by Bob Jones, an insightful article written by Wade Abel about the polish and symmetry of diamonds, and an inspiring article, penned by Helen SerrasHerman, about various opportunities and experiences available to anyone seeking to study gemology. To access this digital series for free, visit https://www.rockngem.com/ digital-issue-library.

ROCK & GEM 50TH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE As we’ve discussed many times this year, 2021 marks the 50th anniversary of Rock & Gem. As part of our celebration, we’ve created a limited-edition anniversary issue.

The 112-page, all-color magazine is a fitting tribute to Rock & Gem, its readers and its contributors. RG50 can be purchased by visiting www.beckettmedia. com/rng50th-anniversary, or by calling 855-777-2325.

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WWW.ROCKNGEM.COM | SEPTEMBER 2021 9

UNIQUE TS U M E B NAMIBIA PA R T

O N E

BY BOB JONES

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SCORODITE THIS SPECIMEN OF SCORODITE, DISCOVERED IN THE TSUMEB MINE AND ONCE PART OF THE STORIED COLLECTION OF ROCK H. CURRIER, SHOWS VARYING DEGREES OF PLEOCHROISM. HERITAGE AUCTIONS

T

CERUSSITE THIS SIZABLE “SNOWFLAKE” EXAMPLE OF CERUSSITE HAS DARK GRAY TO BLACK VEIN MATTER INTERMIXED WITH THE LIGHT SMOKY CERUSSITE AT THE EDGES OF THE PIECE, AND IT MEASURES 9 X 6 X 3 INCHES. HERITAGE AUCTIONS

he mine at Tsumeb, Namibia, now known as the Ongopolo mine, is world-famous for its amazing assortment of common and rare mineral species, some of them the world’s finest. Among the nearly 350 different known species from this location are unknown species first found in the ores of Tsumeb, where the study continues.

The deposit produced a variety of metals, including copper, lead, zinc, silver, gold, cobalt, and germanium, from a huge mineralized nearly vertical pipe that had surfaced and was heavily oxidized to depth. Mining reached nearly a depth of over 4,000 feet before closing.

The variety, high quality and in many cases huge quantity of some species of this mine is so well known that I doubt there are many mineral collectors who haven’t heard of this location in Tsumeb, Namibia. Many general mineral collections and mineral museums have fine examples of minerals from this African source. This is because Tsumeb is an exceptional ore deposit, so much so that it is unique, unlike all other copper-lead deposits. No other major ore deposit is like Tsumeb for one reason alone. It had not one upper oxide zone but three zones of oxidation separated by primary sulfide ore bodies. In addition, each oxide zone has a somewhat different suite of minerals with its own variety and dominant species that developed there.

Most ore bodies exposed to the elements have an upper oxide zone where the primary sulfide ores have been broken down and changed by atmospheric components. Below a deposit’s oxide zone is the primary ores untouched by weathering. At Tsumeb, in some areas, both primary and secondary minerals occur together.

WWW.ROCKNGEM.COM | SEPTEMBER 2021 11

UNIQUE TSUMEB NAMIBIA

You can just imagine the huge volume of superb minerals that came from deep in the Tsumeb mine through this Dewitt head frame. BOB JONES

In the desert, oxidation may penetrate a thousand feet. Other regions like Cornwall may only have an oxide zone of tens of feet. At Tsumeb, the upper oxide zone extends much deeper than normal. After mining the oxide zone, miners expected and did encounter sulfide ores but continued mining at depth, opening a second oxide zone that extended down several mine levels before the ores were, once again, primary sulfides. As mining continued at depth, the miners had no idea yet a third oxide zone was waiting for them. It contained another treasure trove of secondary collectible specimens like scorodite and wulfenite.

The obvious question has to be how three oxide zones happened in a single ore body at great depth. The answer is because not only was the ore body fractured by normal faulting, but a major fault, the Great Fault, developed some distance away and extended diagonally deeper and deeper from a distant surface, cutting across the Tsumeb ore body at a great depth. This created a rare avenue, which introduced oxidizing conditions where the ore body was exposed to the earth’s surface.

Connected to this Great Fault were the North Break Zone and South Break Zone. Together these faults created a second and then the third suite of oxidized secondary minerals. All this makes the Tsumeb ore body very complex structurally and a unique hydrothermally produced ore body. In addition, the hydrothermal solu-

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tions that created the deposits were also very complex, bringing in many trace elements which helped create a wide range of species. Currently, specimens from Tsumeb are still being studied, despite a 1990s closure.

Thus far, the deposit has produced about 350 different species, many of them from the three oxide zones.

With three oxide zones discovered over a long period of time, Tsumeb was a prolonged source of choice secondary minerals, starting in about 1906 and continuing into the 1990s. As each oxide zone was breached at depth, various species were produced in quantity, with each oxide zone producing a variety of species in common and each with its own unique suite of species.

This development gave stimulus to the hobby as each oxide zone came online with its own suite of secondary species trigging another period of high interest among collectors. This fact is reflected in my book, A Fifty Year History of The Tucson Show, as I labeled some show years “The Year of Cerussite” or “The Year of Dioptase.”

The upper oxide zone at Tsumeb is noted for exceptional azurite and malachite, including the ‘Bird’s Nest’ azurite to be described later. The middle zone is known for its cerussite production and dioptase discoveries. The lowest oxide zone is better known for quantities of smithsonite. Much more rare are the scorodite crystals found in the lowest oxide zone. Only a few specimens were found, and it is one of the very uncommon species found here.

An interesting example of Tsumeb smithsonite was explained to me by Prosper Williams, a Canadian mineral dealer. Each year before the Tucson Show, Prop, as we called him, would stay at my house for a day and show his mineral stock to local collectors we would invite. His stock was always rich in the latest Tsumeb material because he made frequent trips there, especially before the Tucson Show.

Perhaps the world’s finest azurite, the Bird’s Nest, from Tsumeb’s upper oxide zone. NEW YORK MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

This five inch white anglesite is an exceptional size with black tetrahedrite crystals on it. BOB JONES

A close up of a Kagel malachite ps azurite from Tsumeb’s upper oxide zone. BOB JONES

WWW.ROCKNGEM.COM | SEPTEMBER 2021 13

A small calcite example tops this lovely malachite spherical cluster found at Tsumeb. BOB JONES

On one Tsumeb trip when the lower oxide zone was being mined, Prop told me about when the Tsumeb miners set off a blast, returning to the area after the gases had cleared to mine the broken ore.

Exposed by the blast was one wall covered by bright pink smithsonite crystals. The miners collected what they could, but the rest went to the crusher. He had some of the pink smithsoniite specimens whose color is due to a trace of cobalt to sell at Tucson.

The Tsumeb ore body is an oval-shaped vertical pipe structure that forced its way into a series of crustal dolomitic and carbonate limestone formations. These host rocks date over 500 million years. The ore body did not appear at that time. It invaded the host rocks less than 300 million years ago. The entire area was later uplifted and subjected to repeated fracturing, faulting and dissolution, so the formations of this region are termed karst formations. Groundwaters and movements have created caves and underground channels by dissolving some of the dolomite and limestone formations. These are subject to surface collapse when large enough, and the resulting pits fill with water to form a lake. There is such a large lake at Tsumeb.

New Mexico’s Carlsbad Caverns is a good example of a cave in a karst region. Subjected to repeated faulting, the rocks of the ore deposit were also brecci-

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ated and vuggy, which lends itself to crystal pockets.

The limestone formations had also been the site of stromatolite growths. As these oxygen-producing bacterial growths die, they leave behind openings that can also host later forming mineral crystals.

The Tsumeb copper-lead deposit was known and surface mined by natives before Europeans explored Africa. The local tribes were drawn to the area, which was a green stained low hill of rocks. They collected surface minerals and used them for trade to other tribes like the Ovambo peoples, who knew crude smelting methods to recover copper. As for the name “Tsumeb”, there is some question of its origin. It may mean “place of algae,” probably referring to the greenish waters or “place of frogs,” many of whom lived there.

When Europeans did begin to explore Africa, the English and others learned of Tsumeb’s ‘green hill,’ and in the mid-1800s, bought the area from the local tribes in hopes of mining it. They were not successful, so when Germany declared the entire Namibia area a German Protectorate, they took over development. The Protectorate was later named South West Africa, and mining began in about 1906.

During World War I, Germany’s Frederick Kagel was the mine superintendent, and he was also a collector. They mined the upper oxide zone

UNIQUE TSUMEB NAMIBIA and produced some amazing azurite specimens, most of which ended up in Germany.

One German collector, Carl Bosch. a noted industrialist inventor, had a huge collection rich in Tsumeb species. After World War II, the Carl Bosch collection was brought to America and placed at Yale in hopes the family could sell it. Stored under lock and key and not well known publicly, I was lucky enough to be allowed to see it in 1948. Finally, Curator Paul Desautes of the Smithsonian found out about the collection and bought it. It took two huge moving vans to transport it to D.C. You can also see Frederich Kagel’s Tsumeb pieces in the Los Angeles County Museum as part of the collection of Dr. Mark and Jean Bandy, good friends of mine. Before Jean donated the collection to the L.A. Museum, Mark was commissioned by the Smithsonian to go to Switzerland to pack and ship Kagel’s collection.

Mark was allowed a couple of duplicate specimens for his efforts.

If you live in the New York area, you can see an upper oxide zone azurite that many judge as the most beautiful Tsumeb azurite in the world. It is the “Bird’s Nest” azurite, in the New York Natural History Museum. The specimen is about 6 x 5 inches, a more or less oval flat minimum matrix which is crowned by an inter-grown stack of tightly clustered azurite crystals measuring up to five inches set at a jaunty angle leaning against smaller sharp blue crystals of azurite that support the large crystals. There is no damage and the larger crystals have subtle parallel striations on each crystal face. If this is not the top azurite specimen in the world, I’d love to see its competition.

Tsumeb has been The Bird’s Nest was mined responsible for a in the 1940s in the upper oxide bewildering variety of Anglesite forms: stubby, zone by a miner who was off pyramidal, white, gray, shift. He kept it for a time, but transparent, opaque, blue, yellow, elongate, eventually, his bar bill in the etc., etc. One of the more miner’s hotel got so large that exotic of the litter is this tall, thin model with he had to use the azurite to pay good transparency and the bill. There it was displayed interesting terminal faces.

HERITAGE AUCTIONS for some time, but eventually,

This azurite is from Tsumeb’s upper oxide zone and was in the Frederich J Kagel collection. BANDY COLLECTION

A fine twin specimen of chalcocite from the Tsumeb ore body. BOB JONES

the Newmont Mining company took possession of the piece and put it on display in the lobby of their New York office along with a major gold specimen. And there it stayed until the Tucson Show Committee decided to request it for display at the show when azurite was the show theme. A company officer went to the lobby to get the Bird’s Nest and ship it to Tucson. He found that the glass case holding the very valuable gold and equally valuable azurite was not even locked! I’ll bet it is now in a locked case at the New York Museum.

What is fortunate about Tsumeb today, though it is closed, is the number of specimens still seen for sale at shows. Most of what you see will be azurite, cerussite, dioptase and smithsonite. In each case, large quantities of each of these species were found in more than one oxide zone. Cerussite is probably the most often mineral seen today. Smithsonite is less often available and well worth having.

Part Two of “Unique Tsumeb, Namibia” will appear in the October issue of Rock & Gem. We will describe the wide range of minerals found in Tsumeb, which are still on the market today.

WWW.ROCKNGEM.COM | SEPTEMBER 2021 15

Earth Science In The News

BY JIM BRACE-THOMPSON

Volcanoes Continue to Capture Headlines n the first half of 2021, I reported on one volcanic eruption after another. Well, it looks like I’ll be continuing to report on volcanoes so long as I’m writing these articles.

For instance, here are two recent reports that appeared in the scientific literature…

Being able to predict when a volcano might blow its top is of major import for public safety when volcanoes are near populated areas. When it comes to the difficult science of predicting a volcanic eruption, earth scientists might measure substantial increase in earthquakes and other seismic activity and/or they might use measurements of deformation and bulging in the earth around a volcanic cone.

Writing in the journal Nature Geoscience, a team led by Társilo Girona (University of Alaska Fairbanks) has identified a new way to predict and warn of a potential volcanic eruption, giving earth scientists and public safety officials a new arrow in their quiver. Namely, they have cued into “large-scale thermal unrest,” or subtle but long-term increases in surface heat that can now be detected via Earthmonitoring satellites.

In other news, Mount Nyiragongo in the Democratic Republic of the Congo continues to wreak havoc after an initial eruption that killed more than 30 people. Although its major eruptive events and fast-moving lava flows have stopped, some 400,000 evacuees remain forbidden to return home as

I

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small earthquakes continue and dangers remain from toxic gases.

Mount Nyiragongo is a classic and poignant example of the need to develop ever-better ways to monitor and predict volcanic eruptions.

RESEARCH PLOTS NEAR MOUNT ST. HELENS THREATENED BY A ROAD PROJECT A new U.S. Forest Service (USFS) road project near the notorious Mount St. Helens stratovolcano in Washington is in the planning stage. Developers suggest it could help avert flood risk in the area. Per an article in a recent issue of the journal Science, the road is intended to repair and service a tunnel draining nearby Spirit Lake to prevent potential flood events that could threaten tens of thousands of people should a natural debris dam created by the volcanic eruption collapse. Up to now, heavy construction equipment has been helicoptered in, and the USFS says the new road presents a better option in the face of a major public safety issue.

“But hold on!” exclaim ecological research scientists.

When Mount St. Helens let loose with a mighty eruption in 1980, it created a blast zone of some 230 square miles. As devastating as it was at the time, the big boom created a big boon for scientists studying ecological communities and how they rebound after near-total disaster.

In fact, nearly 1,000 research plots have been established in the blast zone to study the return of

The Lava Lake inside the Volcanic Crater at the top of Mount Nyiragongo in Virunga National Park, Kibati near Goma, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Africa.

GETTYIMAGES

Earth Science In The News

plants and wildlife. These scientists say that the road project will cut right through 25 key research areas and that they were never consulted about the planned road. They also argue that the risk of catastrophic flooding is not as dire nor as imminent as USFS officials claim.

Who will prevail? Well, look to the courts. Several scientific and conservation groups have filed a lawsuit to prevent the road.

Stay tuned!

WHEN FLOWERING PLANTS FIRST BLOSSOMED It’s all thanks to a coal mine in Inner Mongolia. With 125.6-million-year-old Early Cretaceous fossils pulled from that mine, scientists led by paleobotanist Gongle Shi (Chinese Academy of Sciences Nanjing Institute) have new insight into the origins of flowering plants, or angiosperms, as reported in a recent issue of the journal Nature.

Back in the day—think Dinosaur Days—gymnosperms such as ginkgoes, conifers and cycads dominated the landscape. But starting some 135 million years ago, angiosperms began taking root. Today, they dominate the land, numbering no fewer than 350,000 species!

Fossils from that Mongolian coal mine may prove to be the “missing link” connecting more ancient gymnosperms with today’s angiosperms. In particular, Shi’s team found well-preserved specimens of an extinct gymnosperm with double-coated seeds similar to today’s angiosperm seeds. Most gymnosperm seeds have just one outer protective coat, so this particular fossil plant may have been a forerunner of most plants on today’s Earth, given that

it also had leaves and other traits more similar to angiosperms than gymnosperms.

Researchers are suggesting that these “transitional” plants ought to be assigned to a whole new group: the angiophytes.

“ROTTEN EGGS” HINT OF EARLY LIFE ON EARTH “We noticed the intense smell of rotten eggs when we crushed them.” So said geobiologist Helge Mißbach (University of Cologne, Germany). Mißbach researches organic matter in truly ancient rocks and attempts to determine if such matter was created by biological or abiotic processes.

As reported in a recent issue of the journal Nature Communications, the rocks his team crushed were no less than 3.5 billion years old! Specifically, they were barites from the Dresser Formation of Western Australia and were collected by a team centered at the University of Göttingen in Germany. That same formation holds fossilized “microbial mats,” and Mißbach’s team believes the organic matter found in the barite may have provided the nutrients for the microbes that produced those mats and that some of the gases may have been emitted as waste products after ingestion.

The barites formed around hydrothermal vents and captured fluids and gases in bubbles.

Crushing the barites not only released a rotten egg smell but also allowed the researchers to identify such organic compounds and gases as acetic acid, methanethiol, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen sulfide.

Could all this have been part of some truly ancient Egg McMuffin feeding primordial life at the hydrothermal drive-through?

WWW.ROCKNGEM.COM | SEPTEMBER 2021 17

BENCHTIPS

BY BOB RUSH

A Different Decoration From the Back any of my previous monthly articles have featured decorations that show through the front and are the result of carving holes into the back of a cab. These carved holes have been a random pattern or a planned pattern, but they were all just holes.

This month I am trying something different and a bit more complex than the holes. This new attempt will be a heart shape.

I started with one of my favorite shapes, a sharply curved teardrop made from Piranha agate from Brazil. Its name is derived from the state of Parana in Brazil, but after the material arrived in the U.S. the spelling devolved into the name of a fish, the piranha. This agate is much more highly colored than the typical Brazilian agate from elsewhere in Brazil. I really like making cabs from this material because the colored bands are so highly defined and complex.

Before I started carving the heart shape into this cab, I decided to do a trial piece to understand what complications and problems would arise. I also need to know which tools would be needed for the project.

When I was selecting the material and shape for the cab, I did so to add the heart shape carving to the back of the cab.

I also wanted to be able to have the color pattern situated where it would slightly curl around the heart shape.

I started the project by grinding, shaping, sanding, and polishing the cab as I normally do. After completing this step, I selected a template with the size and shape of the heart that would be appropriate for the size of the cab. Using this template, I traced the shape on the back of the cab with a fine point sharpie.

Following the outline of the drawn heart shape, I ground it, starting with a 7.78mm (.30”) 80 grit diamond ball bur.

I completed the smaller areas with a 6.38 (.25”) 80 grit diamond ball bur. Then I refined the shape with 220 and 400 grit burs.

As I was completing the grinding steps, I frequently measured the depth of the recess with a caliper to ensure that I wasn’t grinding too deeply, especially because the cab was rather thin at 4.23mm.

I used a preshaped round wood bur to sand the recessed area by first using 220 grit tumbling media. I shaped another wood wheel to do the final sanding with a 400 grit tumbling media. The sanding steps are outlined in previous articles.

The final step involved yet another preshaped round wood bur utilizing a slurry of cerium polish.

The addition of the heart shape, in my opinion, greatly enhanced the overall attractiveness of the piece.

M

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1) I decided to do a trial piece to learn how to do a heart.

2) When I selected the rough piece I did so with the intent of carving a heart shape.

3) I selected a template with the correct size for the cab.

4) Following the drawn heart shape I started the grinding steps.

5) The compleded project.

Bob Rush has worked in lapidary since 1958 and metal work and jewelry since 1972.

He teaches at clubs and Modesto Junior College.

Contact him at rocksbob@sbcglobal.net.

0921 Kingsley North uv4_Layout 1 7/15/2021 1:52 PM Page 1

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CONTRIBUTOR Q&A

BY GUEST CONTRIBUTOR

7 Questions With Jim Brace-Thompson Editor’s Note: As part of our year-long 50th Anniversary celebration we will feature Q&A’s with regular Rock & Gem contributors and others in the community. This month we’re showcasing Rock & Gem contributor and Rock & Gem Kids and Earth Science In the News columnist Jim Brace-Thompson, a member of the Rock & Gem team since 1992.

Rock & Gem: What inspired your appreciation for minerals, rocks, and gems, and how long have you held this fascination?

Jim Brace-Thompson: My fascinations have expanded to gems, minerals, agates and lapidary arts, but Midwestern fossils is where it began in the early 1960s when my father (a soil scientist) let me tag along on field trips offered by the Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS). Trips included stops at quarries, creek beds, road cuts, and mines.

R&G: Tell us how you came to be such a champion for young rockhounds?

JBT: It started with the benefits my father and mother gave me via those ISGS trips and visits to the Chicago Field Museum of Natural History.

Their encouragement of a child’s fascinations led me to encourage my own kids when we enrolled them in a co-op preschool, where parents were asked to participate. Soon, I was giving “make-a-fossil” lessons with plaster, clay, and seashells to fouryear-olds, running the kids booth at our Carmel Valley Gem & Mineral Society show, giving presentations to schools, and before I knew it, asked to become Junior Activities Chair for the California Federation of Mineralogical Societies (CFMS).

There has been no looking back.

R&G: Who are three of your most significant mentors in life, and why?

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JBT: As noted above, my parents would have to come first for encouraging their child’s bizarre fascination for rocks, of all things. Life has come full circle as I now find myself the primary caregiver for my 90-year-old mother. Rather than individuals, next are two institutions: Rock & Gem magazine and the community composing the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies (AFMS).

Seeking Paleozoic fossils in a quarry with kids of the Indian Mounds Rock & Mineral Club in Rogers City, Michigan, 2019, helping them earn AFMS/FRA Fossils and Field Trip badges.

I’ve enjoyed terrific editors and encouragement. I’ve enjoyed similar support from the CFMS and AFMS, where I’ve served as Juniors Chair for two decades, developing a Badge Program for kids and writing a manual that has gone through five editions.

R&G: Travel seems to be another essential activity in your life. How many continents have you visited, and where is one place you’d visit time and again, and why?

JBT: My wife Nancy and I’ve been graced with opportunities to visit sites across North America as well as Asia and Europe with rockhounding adventures. We’ve made lasting contacts with David and Carolann Andrews of the Scottish Mineral & Lapidary Club and hope to enjoy return visits to our ancestral homeland, especially given that our young Sottish-American-Slovakian grandson Lukáš resides in Edinburgh.

R&G: Do you have a type of rock, mineral, or gem that is among your favorites, and what makes it so?

JBT: When I joined a rock club in 1991, my passion was fossils.

That interest remains and trends to fish, arthropods, plants, and echinoderms. But since joining the rockhounding community and starting the AFMS Badge Program, my interests have diversified. Quartz and agates attract me for their variety.

I’ve also taken up lapidary arts: cabbing and, recently, silverwork.

R&G: What are two of the most important tips you can share about working with rocks and gemstones in lapidary projects?

JBT: I’ve spent 30 years traveling, enjoying field trips and gem shows, all the while amassing an all-too-large trove of lapidary rough that I would “someday” work.

Thus, my first tip. Don’t wait! As soon as you acquire it, craft it!

My second tip comes courtesy of the COVID pandemic. With travel restrictions, I’ve been walking my local beaches with my loyal Australian shepherd, Symon. The world is great and vast, but first, enjoy the treasures in your own backyard.

You’ll be surprised at what you find!

R&G: What is your hope for the future of the rockhounding, mineralogy, and lapidary hobby and industry?

JBT: My hope is that everincreasing restrictions don’t strangle access for recreational rockhounding. I am all for preserving our natural heritage but I also support the concept of responsible multiple use. Another hope is that children of the future may enjoy the fun and joy and “the sense of wonder” (in the words of Rachel Carson) that this child, now a grandfather, enjoyed and continues to hold dear in this fun hobby of ours.

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Easy Pickins’ at Australia’s Agate Creek

BY JENNI CLARK AND LEIGH TWINE, TREASURE MAPS’N’DATA

A

s a member of a few Australian Facebook fossicking (rockhounding) groups, I had been seeing photos of an amazing variety of cut and polished agates posted by people who had found them at Agate Creek. I had never been much interested in agates, but these photos really opened my eyes to the diversity and beauty of these round rocks. Now geography is not my strong suit – I leave that to Leigh – but when I realized that Agate Creek is actually up in our neck of the woods (North Queensland, Australia), arrangements were made to spend a few days there.

More than a century ago, prospectors explored the area around Gilberton for gold deposits, as the region had shown a lot of promise for commercial gold mining ventures. It was discovered that an abundance of amygdule-derived agates had accumulated in one of the creeks that flowed into the Robertson River. These agates were believed to have weathered and eroded from basalts of Carboniferous age, which were covered in sedimentary sandstone material when this region was an inland sea. The creek became known as Agate Creek and was first officially mentioned by W.E. Cameron in his GSQ report dated 1900. At that time, agate was thought to be beautiful but

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of little real value as mines in Germany and Brazil supplied the world market.

After World War II had affected Germany’s output, a couple of commercial mining companies began using machinery to recover sufficient quantities to make a viable operation.

Unfortunately, Agate Creek’s remoteness and lack of infrastructure were against them. Lapidary and rockhounding became a more popular pastime for hobbyists. After some considerable conflict between miners and fossickers in the field, the Department of Minerals & Energy amended the regulations to prevent mining with equipment from being carried out at Agate Creek. Anybody could use hand-tools, but this, of course, led to the closure of the mines and the area being subsequently declared a General Permission Area (GPA).

Although Agate Creek has been a popular fossicking spot and camping area for more than fifty years, it is a place that keeps on giving. The GPA is a roughly rectangular-shaped plain of some 45 square kilometres bordered by a rim of hills. Agate Creek itself runs the length of it, though it is dry for most of the year. The only approach to the GPA is a gravel road that heads south from the little gold-mining town of Forsayth. This road passes by the turn-off to the tourist attraction of Cobbold Gorge, so it is generally

AGATE CREEK BLACK SOIL PLAINS ARE WHERE TO FIND THUNDER EGGS AND SMALL AGATES.

(Left) The easiest ways to remove dirt from the stone is to pressure clean with water.

(Right) Even stones destined for the ‘leavearite’ (leave it right there) pile has potential to be further slabbed and cabochoned after a light polish in the tumbler.

ALL IMAGES PROVIDED BY JENNI CLARK AND LEIGH TWINE

WWW.ROCKNGEM.COM | SEPTEMBER 2021 23

FOSSICKING AREA THE AGATE CREEK FOSSICKING AREA IS WITHIN A VALLEY SYSTEM BOUNDED BY A WEATHERING SANDSTONE ESCARPMENT.

well-maintained. However, corrugations, loose gravel, and dust mean that caution is required. In 2019, a gold mine adjoining the southern boundary was opened, with the ore transported to Georgetown for processing.

The resultant constant heavy vehicle traffic has made the road a little more hair-raising for campers and caravans than in the old days.

There are two camping areas according to the map – the Agate Creek campground at the entrance to the GPA, and Safari Camp, situated at the far end of the GPA. Although the gate’s sign proclaims it open, Safari camp is unattended and very run-down, apparently closed until further notice. The Agate Creek campground is well sign-posted and easy to find. It is a large flat area with enough trees to be pleasantly shady but leaving plenty of room so that campers aren’t in close proximity together.

This is just as well, as, during the winter months

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(April to September), Agate Creek is home to upwards of 50 people, many of whom stay for weeks or months at a time. They bring generators, rock-saws, and other lapidary equipment to process their finds on-site. One regular resident is reported to bring all the makings of a vegetable garden, which she plants, harvests, and completely removes upon leaving.

There is ample potable bore water available and two well-appointed amenities blocks with a hot-water donkey for showers. A daily or weekly camping fee is charged by the owners of Old Robin Hood station, who own the GPA land and maintain the facilities.

It is expected that you leave the required cash in the honesty box at the camp entrance and take all your garbage home with you. Inland northern Queensland is not somewhere you want to camp in summer. It is very hot, very dry, and then unpredictably flooding

Easy Pickins’ at Australia’s Agate Creek

A comprehensive map depicting the agate fields is found on the Department of Natural Resources and Mines, Queensland site.

occurs, making the roads impassable for days or weeks.

According to Wikipedia, agate is a ‘rock consisting primarily of cryptocrystalline silica, chiefly chalcedony, alternating with microgranular quartz. It is characterized by its fineness of grain and variety of color.’ It is a fairly common stone found in many locations worldwide, and each area tends to produce its own characteristic color range and banding effects. These depend on the circumstances of how it was formed, what minerals were available to affect the hues, and what temperatures and time-frames it had to endure.

I’m told that an agate expert can often identify where a specimen was found simply by examining the colors, patterns, and internal structures. Agate has a hardness of 6.5 to 7 on the Mohs scale, making it suitable for most jewelry applications as beads or cabochons. It can be carved into bowls and vessels and sculpted into decorative items.

Translucent, pale-colored agate is frequently sliced into thin slabs and dyed. The different components in the slab take up the dye to different degrees

The creeks in the Agate Creek fossicking area are the best location to find stones of good quality.

highlighting intricate patterns. These slabs are then used in various applications where the light shines through to reveal the banding effects and colors.

Agate Creek agate commonly displays a concentric banded pattern. However, other types such as moss agate, dendritic agate, seam and tube agates, banded onyx, and sardonyx can be found. While most nodules are solid

WWW.ROCKNGEM.COM | SEPTEMBER 2021 25

Easy Pickins’ at Australia’s Agate Creek

Finding small agates in the host rock makes for easy pickins’ .

agate, others have an agate outer layer packed tightly with quartz crystals that grow inwards to fill the void.

Geodes are hollow agate nodules that are often lined with crystals of quartz, aragonite, or calcite. The attraction for agate-lovers is that every nodule has a different pattern and color structure – no two are identical.

Each named site at Agate Creek is known for its own particular color or design. Fossicking in the creek bed will present any variation as they have been collected and jumbled by floodwaters.

Before making our trip, I researched Facebook requesting background knowledge from people who had actually been there. Several fellow fossickers offered helpful advice on their favorite digging areas based on what you are hoping to find – crystals, thundereggs, or even what color agates are predominantly found in each field.

We were also warned that the GPA is located on a working cattle station, and the herd had learned that easy pickin’s can be had by raiding camps while the occupants are off hunting rocks. Apparently, bread is a particular favorite. If you want to return to find your camp undisturbed, it is best to make anything tasty inaccessible to the bovine population.

To access the GPA, turn right out of the campground gate and follow the road southwards, taking the left fork at the Gilberton turn-off. The first field you come to is Black Soil on the left. Not really knowing what we were doing, we all disembarked and took a walk. Black Soil is literally that – a flat plain of dark, cracked, fine silt with broken pieces of agate and quartz everywhere you look. No digging is required, so grab

26 ROCK&GEM | WWW.ROCKNGEM.COM

a bucket and start collecting. Easy pickins’, indeed!

These pretty little bits are great for your tumbler or cabbing, and they come in an astonishing array of colors and patterns. We were like kids in a lolly shop (candy shop) who couldn’t decide what to grab first!

It seems that this particular type of soil has a high moisture absorption ability, so when the yearly rains come, the flat plains flood with water and become quagmires. As the soil dries out, it cracks open in fissures, and this action brings the smaller stones to the surface.

I believe this is why Agate Creek has been producing agate for more than fifty years and will continue to do so for a long time to come.

As usual, if you are after the good stuff – the museumquality specimens – you do need to dig. Should you come after a particularly heavy rain event, foraging in the creek beds will produce the odd, unexpected beauty.

As a rule, the best stones require effort. Judging by some of the excavations we came across, it is evident that many fossickers expend a lot of energy and sweat.

They probably return to the same site year after year, for months at a time. Agates and geodes can be found pretty much everywhere in this country – at the top of hills, in creeks, on the flats, in the sides of old riverbeds.

There is a lot of untouched territory yet to be dug up.

Some diggings are a sandy loam, which yields easily to the pick and shovel. Others are virgin hillside or riverbank silt/clay soil requiring the removal of boulders to access the paydirt. Rough agates, unless broken, are quite unremarkable to the untrained eye.

Stones that we collected with great hope turned out to be ‘mud-rocks’ or ‘just-rocks.’ Stones that we nearly left behind have proven to be treasures once cut in half and the beauty within revealed. Agates can sometimes be distinguished by the weight when held in hand. They are heavier for the size than you would expect due to the dense mineral composition.

However, if the said specimen is actually an agate or chalcedony outer shell with a lining of crystals, it may be lighter than you expect and be tossed out with the rejects. It can take a while to get in the groove.

Crystal Hill is well worth a visit. It is located relatively centrally in the GPA, and a short walk up to the top gives you a spectacular 360-degree view of the whole plain. Some interesting permanent personal memorials have been constructed at the summit. I would love to know the stories behind them. As you can tell by the name, this is where geodes filled with white, clear, or smoky quartz, or occasionally amethyst crystals, are likely to be found. We spent a morning

UNIQUE EACH AGATE IS UNIQUE, AND A LIGHT POLISH OF THIS STONE HAS REVEALED A BEAUTIFUL FLAME AGATE.

B R OW B R OW B R OW

there and found only small geodes, but we now have some lovely sparkly specimens in our collection.

There are other areas like ‘Bald Hill,’ ‘Mushroom Rock,’ and ‘Chimneys’ that are named after prominent landmarks or topography. ‘Pink Patch’ and ‘Green Patch’ are named for the predominant color of the stones found there. Some unique rock and mountain formations just beg to be photographed for their sheer majesty and uniqueness.

As newbies to Agate Creek, we soon realized that we did not pack enough buckets, boxes, or rock transport receptacles. As rockhounds know, fossicking and collecting becomes addictive, and it is hard to leave a potential treasure behind. However, we had not accounted for the sheer weight of the material we wanted to take home.

Our campers’ floors were packed tight, and the back of our four-wheel drive was loaded full, leaving just enough room for the dog. Not only did we have lots of agate, but the banded jasper found in this area is also beautiful.

I acquired a couple of basketball-sized rocks that

desperately needed to live in my home rock garden.

Unfortunately, when I rolled one down the hill for Hubby to collect, it bounced at the last moment, striking him squarely on the shinbone. He has never allowed me to forget how I wounded him, and this story has become one of the family legends.

Apparently, there has also been gold found in the Agate Creek area. Hubby swung his mate’s detector for a couple of hours in a nearby creek and had only tinfoil and ring-pulls to show for it.

Next time, he will be more scientific about where he prospects, and the return might be better.

It is impossible to spend time at Agate Creek and find nothing worth taking home, as there are beautiful rocks everywhere you look. In fact, the official rock pile of rejects at the camping area gate itself was easy pickins’ for us. We were not as fussy as the experienced collectors who only take home the best. We left quite satisfied with our haul and look forward to using our newly-acquired lapidary equipment to show us what we really have!

WWW.ROCKNGEM.COM | SEPTEMBER 2021 27

FOSSIL FINDS

BY JOSEPH “PALEO JOE” KCHODL

“PETOSKEY STONE” Michigan’s State Stone The Hexagonaria coral (actually Hexagonaria percarinata) is commonly called “Petoskey Stone.” o paleontologists, this coral truly does not become a “Petoskey Stone” until someone slices and polishes it (and charges people lots of money for it). Then it becomes a Petoskey Stone. In its rough natural form, it is really a piece of Hexagonaria coral. Walking along the northern Lower Peninsula shorelines of lakes Huron and Michigan, it is easy to see this fossil’s natural attraction on people. Looking into the water, one can sometimes see this coral, rounded by relentless waves, worn smooth showing its beautiful internal structure. It is easy to see that rockhounds, jewelry makers and almost everyone would be taken by this attractive fossil. Once removed from the water, however, it quickly dries and loses its bright polished shine. To achieve that permanent shine it is necessary to polish the rock by grinding and sanding it with various grits of sandpaper and abrasives, finally finishing it with a polishing compound to bring out the beautiful luster of the stone. Then it is a Petoskey Stone. There are at least nine species of Hexagonaria, but the only true “Petoskey Stone” is the H. percarinata.

Corals are marine organisms that are made up of many – sometimes thousands of hard calcium carbonate exoskeletons called corallites. Each corallite contains a polyp – an individual multi-cellular animal. There are two major types of corals. Solitary corals growing by themselves, and colonial

T

Hexagonaria colony as found inland Northern Lower Peninsula, Michigan

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corals, growing in a tight community of genetically identical polyps. The polyp is the actual living individual creature that inhabits each corallite. As the coral grows, it extends the calcium carbonate exoskeleton and seals off part of the base.

Corals live in a symbiotic relationship with a variety of marine algae. Although the corals had stinging tentacles and were able to capture food such as zooplankton, the algae provided more of what corals needed to survive. Food was captured by tentacles and brought down to the center where the mouth and stomach were located. The algae used a process called photosynthesis to provide additional energy to the coral polyp. In turn, the hard calcium carbonate exoskeleton of the coral and stinging tentacles provided protection for the algae. The coral polyp produced waste products that the algae needed for its survival. Because sunlight is needed for the algae photosynthesis process and sunlight only penetrates the ocean to a certain depth, the corals normally grow in shallow waters from 30 to 150 feet.

On to Petoskey Stones. Hexagonaria coral is a colonial marine animal that lived in warm shallow salt-water tropical seas. Prehistoric Michigan was once such an environment.

During the Devonian Period some 419 - 358 million years ago, Michigan was located much closer to the equator. Much of Michigan’s bedrock is made up of huge limestone beds that underlie the surface soil. These large tracts of limestone bedrock are the remains of ancient coral reefs that filled the sea that once covered what is now Michigan. These coral seas were full of a variety of creatures that included but were not limited to, corals - both solitary and colonial.

Each corallite of the Hexagonaria is made of a sometimes five but usually six-sided “compartment,” which adjoins the others in the colony and created the elaborate six-sided hexagon. The radiating lines one sees in the “Petoskey Stone” are the septa and theca. The septa are the lines of division between each corallite and the theca are the internal radiating lines. These patterns of hexagon shapes and radiating lines are what will eventually give the Petoskey Stone its uniqueness among rocks.

The Hexagonaria are found across Michigan along lakeshores and rivers in the sediments commonly called the Traverse group. They are rounded fragments of the coral Hexagonaria. Some of these coral reefs still lie beneath the ground and some under the water of Little Traverse Bay.

Fossil finds

Polished Petoskey Stones. PHOTO’S COURTESY OF

Due to the wave and abrasive action of the sand, these stones are rounded and washed up on the beach. The action of ice also brings these stones into shallow water. The best time to hunt for Petoskey’s is in the spring as soon as the ice melts, but beware. I have seen locals donning dry suits and walking in waste deep water as ice floats by picking up the stones before they even reach the shore.

The name Petoskey is said to come from an old Odawa Indian legend. It is said that a French fur trader Antoine Carre came to Michigan traveling extensively in the area now known as Petoskey where he met and married an Odawa princess. In time he was adopted by the local Odawa tribe and eventually was made their chief. It is further told that in the spring of 1787 traveling with his wife on his way from near present day Chicago he camped near what is now Kalamazoo. During the night, his wife gave birth to a son. It is the legend that as the morning sun rose, the sun’s rays fell upon the infant’s face, and his father pronounced his name shall be Petosegay, and he shall be an important person.

The translation of the Odawa Petosegay means sunbeam, or rising sun or rays of dawn.

Petosegay also became a fur trader like his father and also

THE KCHODL COLLECTION.

became quite wealthy. He owned much land in the Petoskey area, and a community was settled on the shores of Little Traverse Bay. The present location of the city of Petoskey stands as a tribute to Petosegay. Because these rounded and water-tumbled fossils were found in great abundance on the shores of Little Traverse Bay, they became known as Petoskey stones.

PETOSKEY STONE The Petoskey stone was made the state stone of Michigan by legislative action. Then-Governor George Romney signed House Bill 2297 in 1965, thus elevating this fossil to the prestigious position it now holds around the world as something one must have seek, find, or purchase when visiting Michigan.

Joseph J. “PaleoJoe” Kchodl is an awardwinning paleontologist, author, storyteller, collector, a revered expert on the topic of trilobites, highly-sought-after presenter of school programs about fossils, keynote speaker and lecturer, and a global ambassador promoting digging and the appreciation of fossils.

More can be learned by visiting his website: www.paleojoe.com.

WWW.ROCKNGEM.COM | SEPTEMBER 2021 29

M I N E R A L S TO B E WA R E O F

Myrickite S like “Montana agate” or “picture stone.” It is named for prospector Francis Myrick (1850-1925), who uncovered specimens in 1911.

The first official description is of specimens found near Myrick Spring in San Bernardino County, California.

The best-known source of myrickite is the now-defunct Manhattan Mine in Napa County, California. It is said that myrickite deposits are only found overlying gold deposits, and gold is what folks were looking for in establishing the Manhattan Mine.

While some gold was found, the mine primarily produced mercury—and myrickite. The quantity of myrickite was small, less than one ton was eventually mined in the early 1950s. Still, this

GETTY IMAGES

ome venomous snakes and stinging wasps and bees advertise their dangerous nature with bold red, yellow, and orange colors that seem to say, “Stay away!”

So, too, do certain toxic minerals, particularly mercury.

Normally, metallic, tin-white mercury often goes by the name cinnabar and is bright red when found as an inclusion in agate. Another variety is vivid orange. This is myrickite, which may occur in agate or opalite.

Agatized material tends to be orange-red, whereas opalized varieties are orange against a black background. Both are so vivid they almost seem synthetic.

Myrickite is not an official mineral name but a lapidary term

Relatively big seams of myrickite from the Manhattan Mine of Napa County, California.

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Cabochons of agatized myrickite.

WWW.ROCKNGEM.COM | SEPTEMBER 2021 31

represents the largest deposit found to date, and many specimens on the lapidary market today came from that singular deposit.

Mercury is a toxic mineral. The website Mindat.org recommends the following in dealing with rocks or minerals containing mercury: “Always wash hands after handling. Avoid inhaling dust of associated rock or matrix…and store under cover.”

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Mercury bound in agate is not necessarily feared, especially given that the percentage of mercury in myrickite is less than 0.01 percent.

While sources I’ve consulted (including mindat.org) do not indicate a health hazard associated with myrickite, still, it contains mercury.

One wise mineral expert has told me, “always treat any mineral specimen with care.” That is advice well worth

heading, especially with a mineral to beware of. Like a bright orange bee, myrickite clearly advertises its contents!

Jim Brace-Thompson began and oversees the AFMS Badge Program for kids and has been inducted into the National Rockhound & Lapidary Hall of Fame within their Education Category.

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EVOLUTION AND EXPANSION OF AN INDUSTRY-LEADER TOOLS OF THE TRADE Editor’s Note: As part of this Tools of the Trade, we caught up with a few Covington Engineering customers to ask them about their experiences with Covington equipment.

Some things not only truly stand the test of time, but they improve and expand as time goes on. Covington Engineering is a prime example of this unique type of sustainability.

A leading manufacturer of lapidary and glass equipment and supplies, Covington Engineering opened its doors in 1848. The last few years have been something for the record books for this industryleading business by all accounts.

One of the many history-making moments in this company’s recent history took place just before the COVID-19 pandemic, and has been a blessing to the company, explains Ashlee Emoto, general manager of Covington Engineering.

The blessing was the company’s move from Redlands, California, to Meridian, Idaho, in January 2020.

“We believe the timing of the moving was nothing short of miraculous. Because we moved when we did, we were able to continue the production of equipment through the pandemic. Our new factory allowed our employees to be socially distanced from each other, maintaining safety throughout the shutdowns,” said Emoto. “Being essential to aerospace, oil field industries, and other scientific fields meant we had to maintain production, which was vital to many customers and to our employees.”

34 ROCK&GEM | WWW.ROCKNGEM.COM

In addition to operating the business during a pandemic, the move to Idaho also helped the company reduce overhead costs while maintaining the cost for products. It wasn’t until March of 2021 that when products became even more scarce and material prices increased greatly, the company was forced to increase equipment price.

“We truly believe that our move to Idaho is what allowed us to stay in business,” reported Emoto.

The year 2021 also saw a new chapter take shape in the company’s history, with the purchase of the Ameritool line of products and supplies. According to Emoto, this acquisition took place in January of 2021 and is considered a “match made in heaven.” In fact, in the spring of 2021 the company saw its biggest production list ever.

While the wait for machinery, due to limited access to materials, can be up to 10 weeks, Covington Engineering customers are willing to wait for quality, Emoto explained.

With the Ameritool line of products complementing the Covington line, the accessibility serves the needs of a greater audience of customers and people of varying skill levels, according to Emoto.

“These machines are a great way to introduce people to lapidary work! We produce the machines and the pro sanding disc diamond pads in our factory in Idaho,” she said. “The Ameritool grinders and saws are a great introductory machine at a great price.”

Another recent addition to the Covington Engineering family is a line of ultrasonic drills. The company took over Cutting Edge Solutions in late 2020, which means customers have the opportunity to purchase ultrasonic drills, which are a great tool for quickly cutting holes through stones, added Emoto.

The evolution of the business, whether it’s the type of products offered, or moving to a new location, has been part of Covington Engineering’s long-time history.

Another example of the company’s evolution was the purchase of a plasma cutter, which helped take a great deal of time and labor out of the process involved in creating every piece of equipment the company makes. Since the purchase of the plasma cutter in 2009, the company has added CNC mills, lathes, and a press break.

“Each of these items has allowed us to hold tighter tolerances while producing products more quickly and with higher quality materials,” Emoto said. “We have also been able to bring much of the work that used to be done by outside vendors in-house. This has increased accountability while decreasing costs.”

Asked what the founders might think about all these evolutions and expansions, the sentiment is a tremendous sense of pride.

“I think the Covington founders would be most impressed with the company’s ability to adapt to

change over the years. The past decade alone has seen the business grow and adapt through countless changes,” according to Emoto.

With so many changes and expansions, one of the long-time standards in the Covington Engineering lineup remains a top seller: saws!

“Saws of all sizes, from 6 inches to 36 inches, are a hot commodity,” Emoto said.

People discovering or rediscovering a love of lapidary during the pandemic prompted an excitement and interest in lapidary equipment and supplies, including saws, as well as smaller items of equipment, like tumblers, Emoto explained. The rise in popularity of these items hasn’t diminished with more people returning to pre-pandemic activities.

“2021 has seen even more of an increase in interest in lapidary and our lead time for equipment has become a daunting average of 10 weeks,” reported Emoto. “People are still interested in the usual

equipment such as flat laps, combo units and sanders but this year has definitely been the year for saws.”

Although much has changed from the early days of Covington Engineering’s story, the timeless commitment to creating quality equipment and materials remains at the center of the activities of this industry leader.

“Covington makes equipment that is designed to last a user for decades.

We purchase high-quality materials and take great care to maintain tolerances and produce precisionbased machinery,” Emoto said. “It is this care and dedication to our work that sets our equipment apart.”

“Seriously, if not for Covington’s amazing customers and dealers we would not be where we are today.

They have really stuck with us over the last year and a half. 2020 and 2021 have been wild, but our customers have been extremely patient and understanding! We really have a wonderful dealer network and the best customers!”

5 KEYS TO GOOD BUSINESS Take care of your customers.

Stand behind your product.

Take care of your customers.

Make a quality product.

Take care of your customers.

WWW.ROCKNGEM.COM | SEPTEMBER 2021 35

MARK STEGMAN

ARROWHEAD LAPIDARY & SUPPLY www.arrowheadlapidarysupply.com

HOW LONG HAVE YOU USED COVINGTON EQUIPMENT AND WHAT ITEMS OF EQUIPMENT DO YOU OWN AND USE? We have used Covington equipment since about 2007. We also use a 16 inch saw, little sphere machine, maxi-lap, triple gallon tumbler and a Rociprolap.

WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO COVINGTON MACHINERY, AND WHAT DOES THE MACHINERY ALLOW YOU TO DO THAT IMPRESSES YOU MOST? Quality construction and they are made in the USA. They are sturdily made, and they last a very long time.

Also, Covington has great customer service and support on their products.

HOW DOES WORKING WITH COVINGTON MACHINERY CHALLENGE YOU IN A POSITIVE WAY IN YOUR HOBBY/BUSINESS? They make working on our products less time consuming.

HOW DID YOU GET STARTED IN THE WORK YOU ARE DOING PRESENTLY? It started in 1996, when we were in Montana. We visited a rock shop and saw all the interesting things that were made out of stone. Having an industrial background, we thought it would be fun, and then it made a good business.

36 ROCK&GEM | WWW.ROCKNGEM.COM

BOB CARMAN

BOB’S JADE AND GEMS https://www.facebook.com/Bobs-Jade-and-Gems-401656309964970

HOW LONG HAVE YOU USED COVINGTON EQUIPMENT AND WHAT ITEMS OF EQUIPMENT DO YOU OWN AND USE? I have owned my Ameritool equipment for about about seven to eight years. I have the universal grinder and the 4 inch trim saw. These machines are dependable and have given me years of enjoyment.

WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO COVINGTON MACHINERY, AND WHAT DOES THE MACHINERY ALLOW YOU TO DO THAT IMPRESSES YOU MOST? The 8 inch grinder is a versatile machine that allows me to make standardized and freeform cabs and polish flat and rounded surfaces. The 4 inch trim saw is very useful for prepping cabs, freeforms, and preforms. The trim saw diamond blades are thin and will save expensive rough material.

These compact machines conveniently run on water and take up minimal workbench space.

HOW DOES WORKING WITH COVINGTON MACHINERY CHALLENGE YOU IN A POSITIVE WAY IN YOUR HOBBY/BUSINESS? What I find challenging is using my imagination to craft new and unique lapidary art forms. With some creativity, these units offer a wide range of design potential.

HOW DID YOU GET STARTED IN THE WORK YOU ARE DOING PRESENTLY? I was always interested in rocks and minerals.

I learned to do lapidary from a young age. At one of the gem and mineral shows I attended, I bought my first piece of jade. I have since become hooked on collecting and working with jade.

Most of the lapidary work I do now is with jade.

WWW.ROCKNGEM.COM | SEPTEMBER 2021 37

MARK BOLICK

ASHEVILLE, NC HOW LONG HAVE YOU USED COVINGTON EQUIPMENT AND WHAT ITEMS OF EQUIPMENT DO YOU OWN AND USE? I’ve used Covington equipment for 25 years, from flat lap grinders, to belt sanders, to lathes, and Rociprolaps.

WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO COVINGTON MACHINERY, AND WHAT DOES THE MACHINERY ALLOW YOU TO DO THAT IMPRESSES YOU MOST? I’ve always been impressed with the build quality and customer service from Covington. They understand their equipment and what pieces will work the best for the process you need to accomplish, and you can count on the equipment to do the job. The nice thing about Covington equipment is that it is easy to operate and understand. I don’t have to spend working time trying to figure out how a piece of machinery works — it just works and allows me to increase productivity instead of re-training.

HOW DOES WORKING WITH COVINGTON MACHINERY CHALLENGE YOU IN A POSITIVE WAY IN YOUR HOBBY/BUSINESS? Having the ability to quickly accomplish things that need to be done opens up new opportunities to discover what we never thought might be possible before. It’s so easy to experiment and test new techniques, that it pushes us to discover new and different ways to manipulate materials with the equipment.

HOW DID YOU GET STARTED IN THE WORK YOU ARE DOING PRESENTLY? Once equipment and tools were readily available to achieve an optically flat surface in a home studio, it expanded our ability to move from strictly blown work to a more constructed design.

PHONE: 208-609-6636 VISIT: www.covington-engineering.com EMAIL: admin@covington-engineering.com IN PERSON: 520 E. Franklin Rd. | Meridian, ID 83642 covingtonengineering

38 ROCK&GEM | WWW.ROCKNGEM.COM

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520 E. Franklin Road Meridian, ID 83642 208.609.6636 www.ameritoolonline.com www.covington-engineering.com admin@covington-engineering.com WWW.ROCKNGEM.COM | SEPTEMBER 2021 39

This plate, mined in San Benito Co., California, features a spattering of well-formed black Neptunite crystals alongside some bright blue Benitoite crystals.

HERITAGE AUCTIONS

Benitoite’s Uncommon Partner

BY BOB JONES

40 ROCK&GEM | WWW.ROCKNGEM.COM

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amed for the Roman Sea God, Neptunus, neptunite is often found with California State’s official gem mineral benitoite.

Neptunite is found with such a bright blue gemmy associate that it is so popular and rare that everyone wants to own benitoite. No wonder neptunite has not been given the attention it deserves. It is understandable that benitoite tends to eclipse neptunite for attention. But neptunite is a beautiful mineral in its own right. It appears as a lustrous, black, opaque crystal on a stark white matrix. Crystals can measure up to two inches with perfectly terminated prismatic faces in nice-sized display specimens.

Neptunite is found in the San Benito Mountains , locked in a contrasting snow-white natrolite matrix.

The specimens are very attractive and well worth collecting as the lustrous stark black crystals contrast nicely with blue benitoite and white natrolite matrix.

Neptunite is very complex chemically composed of sodium, potassium, lithium, iron, manganese, titanium silicate. It is also found elsewhere as a high manganese neptunite and so-called manganneptunite. This forms when manganese substitutes for some of the iron atoms in neptunite’s chemistry.

The neptunite from California is the iron end member of a series, with mangan-neptunite the opposite member. Localities that yield manganneptunite are nepheline syenite pegmatite deposits, unlike the San Benito source.

Benitoite is a barium titanium silicate and it isn’t as chemically complex as neptunite. They form together in a hydrothermal replacement deposit made up of glaucophane schist and serpentine and the typical rock types in the San Benito Mountains, which are part of the Diablo Range. The entire range is composed mainly of metamorphic-type rocks that can also contain chrysotile asbestos. The composition of these mountains has been an important factor in recent years as we became more aware of the danger of fibrous minerals like asbestos. This has caused the government to close the entire Diablo Range for a two-year study to determine if the rocks are hazardous. Even the roads were closed, restricting travel and reducing dust. The area has since been opened with some restrictions.

The benitoite-neptunite deposit, usually called the Dallas Gem mine is also subjected to health controls now, and what used to be a place where rockhounds could enjoy a weekend of digging and claim owners could use heavy equipment was suddenly subjected to serious controls. No more

heavy equipment is allowed. No blasting is possible and gem mining is really restricted to hand tools due to environmental concerns. The deposit today is still claimed and some collecting is possible.

This unique deposit of benitoite and neptunite is a case of an accidental discovery. A prospector looking for one valuable mineral accidentally discovered another. Unlike most prospectors in California over 100 years ago, this prospector was not looking for gold but mercury! But even his search had its beginnings with the discovery of California gold in 1848.

When native gold is found in streams and rivers, the initial finds are tiny nuggets and flakes large enough to see so they can be separated from the sands and gravels with ease. But for centuries, prospectors have known they were missing the tiniest, nearly invisible flakes of gold, so when possible, they employed liquid mercury to capture the unseen gold or as known in prehistoric times, the oily fleece of a sheep, hence the “golden fleece” legend.

Black neptunite contrasts nicevly against the stark white background of natrolite. UNIQUE MINERALS

Mercury has an infinity for gold, combining with it to form an amalgam that is later easily parted with heat to recover both metals by boiling off the mercury to release the gold. The mercury is not lost as most of it can be captured for use again and again. The problem with using mercury is the initial cost, and some would be lost and had to be replaced. The early sources of mercury were mines located across the ocean in Spain and down in Mexico. As mercury demand grew with the California gold rush, so too did the need for and price of the liquid metal in 1849, as the use of mercury was done.

Fortunately, this problem was solved. The price of mercury dropped with the discovery of mercury deposits not far from the California gold fields at places named New Idria and New Almaden after Spanish mercury areas. With the increasing demand for mercury, prospectors began searching for it.

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A few tiny joaquinite crystals survived the acid etching and stayed with the neptunite. UNIQUE MINERALS

This shows that the neptunite crystals developed within but not attached to the white natrolite on crossite. BOB JONES

Acid etching was used to expose this perfectly positioned sharp, doubly terminated neptunite. KRISTALLE

One lucky prospector, James Couch from nearby Coalinga, CA, set out to find mercury ore. Couch obtained a grubstake from R. R. Dallas and headed off in search of the liquid metal. After a couple of days in the field, Couch ended up camping in a high mountain meadow near the San Benito Mountains. In the morning, Couch noticed a large white area on the side of a nearby mountain and decided to check it out. To his

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delight, though he found no mercury minerals, he did find small bright blue gemstones that had weathered out of the white rock. Depending on what you read, Couch thought he had found diamonds or sapphire crystals.

Couch forgot about mercury prospecting and headed back to Coalinga to show his find to his benefactor R. Dallas. The stones were eventually tested at a university and proved to be a new mineral later named benitoite.

I’ve read a lot about Couch’s discovery, including his own writings, and what is curious is that I find no mention of the lovely black neptunite crystals that had to be present in the white natrolite of Couch’s find.

Indeed, that snow-white rock that attracted Couch had to have loose crystals of this black complex mineral scattered about right there with the blue benitoite.

The San Benito Mountains are not the only location neptunite has been found. Its type locality is a nepheline syenite pegmatite deposit at Narssarssuk, West Greenland. Crystals from here are sharp, up to an inch or so long, and shown to be the manganese-rich specimens called mangan-neptunite. Like so many minerals in a series, you can not visually tell the difference between iron-rich neptunite and manganeserich mangan-neptunite. Another essential source of manga-neptunite is Mount St. Hilaire, Canada, also a nepheline syenite deposit. When I collected at Mt. St Hilaire, I did find serandite, but not mangan-neptunite.

Neptunite did not get much attention because of benitoite, another mineral found in the San Benito Dallas mine, and also joaquinite, which is even less well known. It is found as tiny, nearly gemmy monoclinic crystals embedded throughout the white mineral.

Joaquinite is very complex, even more so than neptunite. Chemically, it is comprised of sodium, barium, iron, titanium, silicon, oxygen, and fluorine hydroxide.

How so many elements in quantity can fit into such small crystals is a feat of Mother Nature! Joaquinite crystals are seldom more than two or three millimeters across and very uncommon. One reason you seldom see joaquinite crystals is they are not firmly attached to any matrix. Like neptunite, they developed as free crystals simultaneously with white natrolite as it formed.

So, they developed as complete crystals unattached to the natrolite, just like neptunite and most benitoite.

Since all three of these species, benitoite, neptunite and joaquinite, have free-formed and are completely enclosed in the developing natrolite, they can only be exposed and collected from the natrolite by etching the natrolite to expose the valuable crystals. The good thing is the crystals are almost all completely formed

and doubly terminated in the case of neptunite. But, if etching the natrolite is not done with care, you end up with loose crystals. Since benitoite and neptunite had developed as large crystals, they are easily exposed with care. But the tiny joaquinite crystals, once loosened, might well be missed and lost. To this writer, the better specimens from the Dallas Gem mine show all three of these uncommon species together.

Neptunite was finally identified in specimens from West Greenland in 1893. It is a monoclinic mineral that forms in elongate, square crystals. Terminations develop with sloping faces that come to a sharp straight edge. Most crystals have developed singly, but inter-grown clusters have often been found at the Dallas mine. They look black, but you may see their true color, a reddish cinnamon brown if examined on a thin edge. Crystals were well known long before the mineral was formally identified.

For decades the deposit was accessible to collectors.

Some collectors made it a life’s work collecting at the Dallas Gem mine, often with great success. One pleasing property is that benitoite responds under short wave ultraviolet excitation as a brilliant blue color.

The natural color of benitoite has been studied and is the result of what is called charge transfer, the action of electrons. As light energy enters the crystal, titanium and oxygen electrons get energized with light energy, and the electrons transfer back and forth between the titanium and oxygen. With electrons continually absorbing some light waves from the red end of the color spectrum, the complementary color of red, which is blue, becomes a dominant color and is visible.

If you have handled a lot of benitoite crystals, you are well aware of the gray-white zoning seen in many crystals. This outcome is due to included white crossite fibers of the host rock, which get included in the benitoite as it develops. Neptunite does not seem to suffer inclusions, probably because neptunite crystals develop in the natrolite, away from the gray host rock.

In recent years a major specimen collecting effort was made at the deposit by Collector’s Edge, out of Golden, Colorado. This very aggressive specimen mining dealership is world-famous for its successful mining projects, with the Sweet Home mine rhodochrosite crystals at the top of their success list.

In fact, the company has extended that project by opening the Detroit City mine on the same rhodochrosite vein, and work is proceeding successfully.

Collector’s Edge made a concerted effort to mine benitoite and neptunite at the old Dallas Gem mine

A good example of California’s official gem benitoite joined by its rare companion neptunite.

An exceptional example of neptunite showing a myriad of crystals of all sizes. PALA INTERNATIONAL

with modest success. Large boulders were opened, and excavations on the dumps and deposits were successful as fine specimens were mined. Of course, the environmental concerns stopped specimen mining in quantity as only hand tools are now permitted.

With the most productive neptunite source in the Diablo Range, California out of action, except for small diggings by the claim holder, we have to hope other known sources will produce a few neptunite specimens. There is one known locality in South Wales, Australia where neptunite occurs in a serpentinite rock formation, not unlike the California deposit. However, I have not seen any crystals from there. Other specimens have been found near Zoomba, Malawi, but they have not appeared on the specimen market in the U.S. There are two other United States localities outside of California where neptunite has been reported; Sweet Hills, Montana and Point of Rocks, New Mexico. Again, I have not seen examples of these specimens on the market.

While visiting mineral shows, the only neptunite crystal specimens you will see, and they are scarce, are from the benitoite-neptunite locality in the San Benito Mountains, California. If you come across these specimens, they are definitely worth owning.

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R&G communit y outlook QU E STI O N O F TH E M O NTH

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received regarding rockhounding?

Best piece of advice: Mentor and follow through with continued mentoring to our youth.

The amount of rocks you find is directly proportional to the amount of time you spend looking for them.

– Carl F. T. Harris

– Kathy Hrechka, Alexandria, VA

Slow down enjoy your pick

When rock hunting “If you’re not finding anything slow down and look closer “!

– Chris Cooley

– Jeff Smith

Frank Perham taught me to recognize your soil, and check both sides of a stone, treasure could be waiting.

– Summer Black

Be persistent, go slow, look where others give up!

– Erik Rintamaki

I’m a member of the Ventura Gem & Mineral Society (California), which was founded in 1944. Upon moving to Ventura and joining the club in 1998, I had the great pleasure to meet a couple of VGMS “old timers,” Bruno and Opal Benson.

They were especially active between the 1950s and 1990s, when Bruno passed away, shortly after I met him. Opal invited me and my wife Nancy to her home to purchase an old display case Bruno had made decades earlier. She also showed us many a fossil specimen she and Bruno had collected during their travels far-and-wide, from Baja, Mexico, to Colorado and Wyoming and Utah and Idaho, as well as all up-and-down California. Elderly and stooped, Opal offered these words of wisdom: “Get out and do it all. Do it now, while you still can. If we could have done it over, Bruno and I would have traveled so much more, gone so much further. Don’t wait! Get out and do it all!” While nowhere nearly as old as Opal was when she offered up these pearls, I’m now old enough to fully appreciate the urgency behind those words. Life is short. When you realize how much time has passed, it can take your breath away. Get out and do it all!

-Jim Brace-Thompson

Get there before others, go where others don’t go, dig deeper than others would dig. Drink plenty of water.

Cull and be selective in the field so you can put more and better finds in your vehicle. Don’t trespass ever.

– Daniel Way

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Be a diplomat for your hobby, your reputation will proceed you and land owners recognize that!

– Andrew Brodeur

R&G communit y outlook S O CI A L M E DI A S IG HT S

What Do You See? Each week on the Rock & Gem social media feed you’ll find a question that calls on people to share information about a view they see within the design of a stone.

The “What Do You See” post featured is that of a Needle Peak Pom Pom agate from Needle Peak, Texas, hand-selected by Rock & Gem community member, Richard Nass. Included are comments from community members about what they see within this agate pattern.

DAVE MAYER The starship Enterprise leaving an exploding galaxy BARB ZELM-BUTT I see a Beautiful eccentric Lady blowing bubbles JEAN BRETANUS BUETOW Side profile of a lady EDWARD G. FIERRO I got the new barista's first attempt at making a heart in my Coffee latte I ordered with Cinnamon.

Why me all the time?

CATHERINE ISBELL A sea nudibranch TERESA BARTELL Profile of a beautiful woman!!

LISA HLAVATY Seahorse LAURA SMITH A seahorse JEFF SMITH Bloodshot eye CARL F. T. HARRIS Pharaoh

Your Chance to Weigh In Now there’s a chance for you to share your thoughts about what you see in a featured image. Take a close look at the photo pictured here, and send comments about the images you see within this stone to editor@rockngem. com. Look for comments about this feature in a future issue of Rock & Gem.

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THE ROAD REPORT

BY HELEN SERRAS-HERMAN

Bronze Age Jewelry Rival Contemporary Designs

Nafplio Archeological Museum

T

he historic seaside town of Nafplio is located on the eastern Peloponesse peninsula of Greece.

Nafplio (also spelled Nafplion or Nauplio) is accessible via an easy two-hour drive south of Athens.

The town is close to the famous Bronze-age acropolis of Mycenae and Tiryns, both recognized as UNESCO World Heritage sites since 1999. The citadels are famous for the massive Cyclopean walls, tombs, and the immense collection of Mycenaean gold masks, engraved gems, and jewelry. The Mycenaean Greek civilization flourished during the last phase of the Bronze Age in ancient Greece, from around 1600 to 1100 BC. Several discoveries from that period are on exhibit at the Archeological Museum of Nafplio.

The beautiful old city of Nafplio with its narrow alleys and streets, three Venetian fortresses, seabreeze, and panoramic views, is a favorite place for tourists and Greeks alike. The town became the capital of the first Hellenic Republic from the start of the Greek Revolution in 1821 until 1834. The Venetian castle of Palamidi, built

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under Venetian rule (1685 to 1715), looms majestic over the old town. I still remember my first visit to the castle with my family as a young girl.

Nafplio’s Archeological Museum is located in the heart of the old town. The massive, three-floor stone building dominates the picturesque Syntagma Square. The building dates from 1713, when Nafplio was governed by Venetian Proveditore Augustino Sagredo, and used as the navy’s arsenal depository.

The museum’s extensive collections are displayed in the building’s two upper floors. Exhibits include objects from the Paleolithic Age, Neolithic times from 6,000-2800 BC, vases and terracotta masks from the Classical period (7th c. BC), and beautiful terracotta female figurines from the later Hellenistic period.

Among the museum’s highlights are finds from the Bronze-age Mycenaean civilization (1600-1100 BC). Fine-looking pottery and bronze vases fill the cases. A very unique discovery and prominent display in the museum is a warrior’s bronze panoply (armor suit) from the 15th century BC, with remains of boar tusks on the helmet. It was

Road Report

1) A prominent display in the museum is a warrior’s bronze panoply (armor suit) from the 15th century BC, with remains of boar tusks on the helmet.

2) A variety of necklaces with glass, faience, amethyst and carnelian beads (15th c. BC) 3) An incredible amount of lapidary work in this one necklace with several engraved beads, exhibited with numbered drawings denoting those engravings.

4) This necklace has blue faience grooved beads, graduating in size, with two engraved cylindrical beads at the end.

5) I was attracted to these beautiful Bronze

Age terracotta goddess figurines, some with raised arms, about 11 inches tall.

6) All the jewelry and pottery from the Kazarma tomb dating from around 1500 BC is exhibited in one case along with a photograph showing the excavated tomb.

7) Engraved cornelian gemstone beads are on exhibit, along with uncut rough carnelian material.

8) A wonderful numismatic hoard discovery consists of 92 gold stater coins from the early 3rd century BC Hellenistic era.

9) Amethyst and rock crystal round bead necklace from around 1500 BC. ALL PHOTOS BY HELEN SERRAS-HERMAN

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Road Report

discovered at the cemetery of Dendra, which is outside the third Mycenaean center, the well-preserved 13th century BC Acropolis of Midea. Excavations there brought to light elaborate jewelry and figurines, valuable discoveries that document the wealth of that era.

I was attracted to the beautiful Bronze Age terracotta goddess figurines, some with raised arms, about 11 inches tall. One of them, a wheel-made divinity figurine from Midea has bright horizontal stripes.

Another one, found in a shrine at Tiryns, exhibits a prominent nose and very round eyes, bedecked with jewelry – a diadem, necklaces and bracelets, while her garment is adorned with garlands.

consists of several engraved beads, exhibited with numbered drawings denoting those engravings. The necklace includes glass beads, carnelian (#25) and amethyst (#26) beads, an amethyst seal stone with animal (#27), a carnelian seal stone with birds (#28), a glass cylinder seal with gold fittings with griffin (#29), and two amethyst cylinder seals with griffin, lion and female figure (#30) and chariot with lions (#31).

An incredible amount of lapidary work in one necklace!

There are more necklaces with glass, faience, amethyst and carnelian beads (15th c. BC). In addition, engraved cornelian gemstones and beads are on exhibit, even some uncut rough carnelian material.

A fabulous string of gold beads, possibly from a bracelet, dates from BRONZE AGE JEWELRY 1500-1350 BC. The artifacts I was truly drawn Lastly, there is a wonderful numismatic hoard consisting of 92 to at the Nafplio Archeological Museum were the amazing Bronzegold stater coins of Phillip II, AlexAge jewelry, dating from about 3,000 ander III, Phillip III Archideaus, years ago, including necklaces that possibly Lysimachus, Seleucus I and could rival any contemporary design.

Demetrius Poliorcetes. The hoard One of these necklaces was made was found inside a clay vessel in the with various shells, including Luria sanctuary of Artemis from the early Lurida (a cowry shell), Glycimeris 3rd century BC Hellenistic era. (bittersweet clams), Pinna nobilis The presence of coin hoards inside (noble pen shell), and Cerithium sanctuaries reveals the importance The Archeological Museum of Nafplio is housed vulgatum (sea snails) shells, dating of coins as offerings to the gods and in a massive Venetian-era building, which ca. 6800-3200 BC. This necklace the sanctuaries’ function as banks dominates the old town’s picturesque square. was discovered in the Neolithic-era during antiquity.

Franchthi Cave, where obsidian was also found, indicating To learn more about the Archeological Museum of Nafplio, visit www.nafplio.gr/en/stateandprivatemuseums/ the extent of exchange networks.

The next necklace that caught my attention had blue archaeologicalmuseummenu.html faience grooved beads, graduating in size, with two engraved cylindrical beads at the end, discovered in a chamber tomb AREA ATTRACTIONS There is much more to see and explore in Nafplio and in Panariti, from the 16th-15th centuries BC. The ancient faience glass was a sintered quartz material. The quartz the eastern Peloponnese, a region steeped with history and underwent vitrification by exposing it to heat and was ancient Greek myths. My husband and I have visited the covered by a vitreous coating, resulting in lustrous colors area several times, each time focusing on the nearby archeoof transparent blue or green glass. logical sites and museums. I have shared some in my articles, Three strings of amethyst beads demonstrate the preci- Mycenaean Gold (July 2013 R&G), the Kotsiomitis Natural sion techniques the ancient lapidary artists processed, History Museum (Nov. 2014 R&G), and the Komboloi Museum cutting perfectly round beads by hand. They were discov- recently featured in the July 2021 issue of Rock & Gem. ered in burial pits at the tholos (beehive) tomb at Kazarma, Helen Serras-Herman, a 2003 National another Mycenaean fortress on the road from Epidavros Lapidary Hall of Fame inductee, is an (where the ancient theater is) to Naflio. All the jewelry and acclaimed gem sculptor and gemologist pottery from that tomb — dating from around 1500 BC — with over 38 years of experience in unique is exhibited in one case, along with a photograph showing gem sculpture and jewelry art. Visit her the excavated tomb. website at www.gemartcenter.com and her Another amazing necklace from the Kazarma tomb business Facebook page at Gem Art Center/Helen Serras-Herman.

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WWW.ROCKNGEM.COM | SEPTEMBER 2021 49

The Original “Adam’s Family” Part 2

Rockhounding Characters and Stories Galore

Karl George with son Gene George in front of gas station. Look at the rock and shell pillars Karl built.

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Editor’s Note: This is a continuation of the series The Original “Adam’s Family,” which appeared in the August 2021 issue of Rock & Gem.

BY JANIE GEORGE DUNCAN y father, Karl George, was born in 1902 followed by the birth of his brother Marion on what is now known as the JG bar ranch. There is an old family yarn about an incident that occurred at the ranch. When my father was eight years old, an outlaw moseyed up on to the George property on his horse.

He dismounted and pulled out a hunting rifle and started shooting at the house. My father’s dad, John, quickly told his wife Jessie and the boys to go hide in the rear of the house while he got his gun out and went up to the second floor. He fired a few shots back, thinking he would scare the intruder away. Well he soon realized he must of have hit him as the dude fell over and wasn’t moving on the ground.

John waited a good piece before he went out and realized the drifter was dead. They loaded him up in a wagon and took him into the sheriff in Absarokee and explained what had happened. When they got to town the deputy showed him a wanted poster of the culprit and told him that the outlaw had killed an entire family that were gunned down under similar circumstances. There was a reward on his head dead or alive and John collected $50 for the bounty. That was quite a large sum at the time and Grandpa was the local hero.

The JG ranch was big enough to raise 100 head of cattle each year and when the calves were big enough in the fall, they were shipped by train to Omaha to the stockyards.

John always traveled with the cows and the story goes that he had ordered a huge carved wooden dining room table from somewhere back east. He was told it was lost while being transported by train. Two years later, John and his teenage sons were looking around the train yard and found an abandoned box car on a siding. Curious, they looked inside and found John’s missing table with his name on the packing slip!

The JG is on an alluvial plane that stretches up towards the Yellowstone Park plateau. The land is very rocky, so growing crops was a real challenge. I learned to drive in an old 1940’s pickup truck in the hayfield, which meant dodging the boulders that were too big to roll off to the edge of the field. There is a bounty

M

GETTY IMAGES

1943 Karl Geor Tower Service Sge’s in Laurel Mon tation tana.

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ROCK HOUNDING CH A R AC TER S A ND S TORIE S G A LORE of moss agate, jasper and petrified wood to be found and soon John and his sons were avid rock collectors.

Both John his brother Marion went to boarding school at Wentworth Military Academy back in Missouri and were well educated. They both served in the National Guard. John’s geology education came from books.

My grandfather and my father both knew of an area where Montana jade was found. I remember going way up on the mountainside somewhere between Roscoe and Red Lodge to look for it as a kid. The area was not too far from the ranch as it was a day trip, but all maps and records have been lost. There is still a Native American burial ground on the property undisturbed. I do have some beads and artifacts, found on the ranch, in my collection today. John became an avid rockhound and built a lapidary workshop in one of the outbuilding across from the main house.

There he taught my father Karl about lapidary.

His favorite projects were making book ends and cutting and polishing stones he found or traded for.

He had a special display area off the dining room to show his collection to guests. Many of his specimens are in my basement museum. The discards are in piles up by the tractor barn and I would sift through them hours finding hidden treasures as a child.

During the early years on the ranch, there was a particularly bad winter. The snow kept coming far too long into the spring. Cattle were dying due to the lack of food. Grandpa John had good fertile land and had grown plenty of hay. He opened up his storehouse to neighboring ranchers to save their stock in the blizzard.

Without his help, many would have lost their ranches and these farmers were always grateful for John’s generosity. John organized the adjacent ranches to dig an irrigation ditch that allowed everyone downhill to have fresh water for cattle and hay. On the United States Geographical Survey map of the area, you will see the “George” Ditch featured. I always wondered what kind of great rocks he dug up to construct the channel.

John’s land had rich black volcanic soil. The hay grew tall and thick for the cows. Before the tractors, haying was done with teams of horses and wagons. The old hay rack still sits weathering away on the ranch. There is a natural spring just below the ranch house where the water is so cold and pure you could drink right of it as it bubbled out of the ground. When I was a kid, there used to be an old metal milk can set down into the runoff, and it was full of buttermilk. The ladle hung on the side and anytime you were thirsty, you could scoop up buttermilk or ice-cold water to quench your thirst.

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Just down the hill from the JG ranch is the Lazy E-L Ranch homesteaded by Malcolm S. Mackay, a wall street stockbroker, philanthropist and outdoorsman. The Mackay family has worked their ranch for five generations. Malcolm was a good friend of Charlie Russell who spent a lot of time in Roscoe and was the area’s most famous celebrity.

The Mackay family donated numerous artworks to the Montana State Historical Society in Helena.

In the summers, John worked the ranch with hired hands. In the winters, he and the family traveled all over the U.S. and Mexico. In their later years, they wintered in Florida. I have many postcards from Cypress Gardens, home of the best water-skiing extravaganza and the other interesting places they visited.

They camped and shared their hobbies of rockhunting, geology, radio and photography with the people they met along the way. I have pictures of the family from the coast of Maine, Washington DC, Natural Bridge of Virginia, sugar cane fields of Florida, Hollywood, Steamships in San Francisco Bay, Pyramids of Mexico, Indian ruins of the Southwest and much more. All my life, I remember my dad never eating pork and beans because he said when they were out on the road, they had beans at every meal when camping.

My father, Karl George, married my mother, Hallie Lutzenhiser, his second wife, on his birthday in 1933 so he wouldn’t forget the date. Mom was born in 1910 the day that Halley’s comet passed the earth and she vowed to live long enough to see it, and she did in 1986. Mom said the first time she met my dad he rode up on a horse and she remembered his bright red hair. They married in Columbus at the courthouse and that night traveled back to Roscoe where they had rented a one-room cabin. When they got there at dusk the previous renters told them they could not move out until the next day, so my parents spent their wedding night in a hay stack.

According to the family history, the cabin had been used for grain storage, and Dad caught as many as three mice at a time in a trap. When my father took his new bride to meet his mom and dad for the first time, it did not go well. Karl’s first marriage was arranged by Jessie, his mother. It did not last long, and Jessie was mad as a wet hen that Karl married someone she did not approve of. When they visited the ranch, Jessie, who had a terrible temper, chased Hallie with a pitchfork. Thank goodness my mom was a quick stepper! Many years later my sister carried on the family tradition by sleeping in a haystack somewhere in Utah on her honeymoon.

My husband, Chris Duncan, and I were married in

ROCK HOUNDING CH A R AC TER S A ND S TORIE S G A LORE the courthouse in Pasadena after the judge had just finishing giving a murderer life in prison with no chance of parole for double homicide. He joked saying he had never given out two life sentences in one day before.

My mother’s side of the family has a interesting history too. My great grandfather on her side once held the title of “Wheat King of the World.” The best quality, highest yield, of any farmer in the world. In Hallie’s linage her distant relatives, Sarah and Adelaide Yates married Chang and Eng Bunker, the original Siamese conjoined twins, from Siam, now known as Thailand.

They were born in 1811, connected at the waist, and no doctor ever attempted to separate them. Born in a small fishing, village word spread throughout the land of the strange humans. The king requested they be brought to his palace to meet them in person.

There they met Robert Hunter from Scotland, who was in port, trading cargo. He convinced their mother to sell them the boys for $500 after her husband passed away. The young twins set sail for Boston with him as a side-show attraction. The twins never returned home.

They had traveled the world as circus oddities, meeting most of the great heads of Europe. Years later they

Karl George looking for gold in Montana in1926.

Karl George boating and rock hunting in the Yellowstone River near Laurel Montana.

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George family tour of Mammoth Cave in 1954. Second row from bottom on the left side Carol Hallie Gene and Karl George.

saved up enough money to buy their freedom from the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus. Chang and Eng settled in America and became naturalized American citizens under the name of Bunker, the name of an old woman they loved who had helped them.

One of my mom’s other famous relatives was Captain George Yates, an officer in the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment,who was killed in the Battle of the Little Bighorn under Lt. Colonel George Custer.

Custer’s Battlefield is located only seventy-seven miles east of Laurel, and has a wonderful visitor’s center.

When I was a youngster in Girl Scouts, we went to the battlefield on the train in a cattle car. Looking back, I remember it was a nightmare. Over 100 degrees, no bathrooms in the car, and there was no refrigeration for our sack lunches. It was hell! Not at all like today with our air-conditioned automobiles.

My parents, Karl and Hallie, worked hard and built a gas station in Absorokee, Montana. Today, just west of Absorokee, on the road to Roscoe, you will see the sign telling you to turn towards the small town of Nye, Montana. This is where Sibanye-Stillwater Mining Company operates the Stillwater and East Boulder platinum/palladium mines. The United States is the fifth largest platinum producer in the world, with a production of 3.6 metric tons in 2018 produced from the two mines in the Beartooth Mountains.

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The area has a history of chromium mining and copper. On a trip to Montana a few years back, I visited the Carbon County Historical Museum in Red Lodge.

There is a picture of Timothy and Amanda George, my great grandparents, on the wall when you walk in the door. One of the caretakers there was also interested in rocks and gave me a core sample from the Stillwater mine. I never thought I would have something so rare in my collection. In 1972, the mines were used

by NASA to geologically train the Apollo Astronauts in recognizing a coarse-grained igneous intrusion.

Astronauts who would use this training included Apollo 16’s John Young and Apollo 17’s Gene Cernan and Jack Schmitt. Jack was a professional geologist. I have a personal interest in NASA, as my nephew’s wife, Sandy George, won two regional Emmys Awards for upgrading NASA TV into a digital format. She is an electrical engineer and works as a NASA contractor.

My nephew, Vance George, helped set up telecommunications gateways around the world including Russia. When he was working in Moscow, Vance got to visit a state-run private museum where he was able to touch the reentry capsule that Yuri Gagarin returned to earth on the world’s first manned space flight.

In 1940, Karl sold his first gas station to his brother, Marian George, and moved to Laurel Montana where he built a second gas station, George’s Tower Service.

ROCK HOUNDING CH A R AC TER S A ND S TORIE S G A LORE In the office of the new building, Karl, designed a display area for his fabulous rock collection. He liked minerals, but fossils were the main focus. Karl had to go to Wyoming to buy gasoline from the gas refinery and trucked it back where he delivered it to local farms as well as the gas station.

He timed his weekly trips so that he could go out searching for fossils near Cody, Wyoming where the refinery was located. Dad knew all about the dinosaurs’ bones found there. Wyoming is one of the richest sources of dinosaur fossils in the nation, with many major discoveries found in the sedimentary rock of the Morrison Formation of the Big Horn Basin.

Millions of years ago evidence shows the current Jurassic Mile Dinosaur Site hosted a good water source and abundant vegetation in which dinosaurs flourished.

The Jurassic period terrain was made up by a large floodplain leading to tidal flats on the shore of an inland sea. Along the shoreline, dinosaur tracks have been found in fossilized form. We don’t know how many years my dad searched before his big find in 1938 when he found a three-foot-long dinosaur femur bone. He carefully brought it home where it was the center of his rock room. However, he was never able to find out what kind of dinosaur bone he had discovered. This bone was his legacy left to me and my future generations.

My dad was an entrepreneur. He ran the gas station, built and rented four cabins, repaired cars, televisions, and enjoyed boating and cameras. He offered a film-developing service in our basement and belonged to a camera club.

My brother Gene and my sister Carol were born in the house that my dad built on the main road that ran through the town of Laurel. I came along unexpectedly twelve years later when dad had planned to retire at the age of fifty. All the Georges have outgoing personalities and love to show our rock collections to anybody who is willing to talk to us. My dad, Karl, took many fieldtrips and went rockhunting down on the Yellowstone River.

He hunted for moss agates, petrified wood, ammonites and bacculites. He closed the station on Sundays, because it was rock hunting day for the family.

I remember walking with a bunch of children one day along the riverbank and a boy runs up to my dad and asks what kind of rock is this? My dad said it was a “rabbit rock. Only good enough to throw at rabbits.” He never wanted to hurt a child’s feelings by telling them a rock was worthless.

Another time my dad led a large group of people out into the Pryor Mountains to look for dryhead

agate and petrified wood. They left my mom to watch all the children for hours. She tried to entertain the children by having a ball game near the cars. The ball rolled into some bushes and when she recovered it, she found a huge example of petrified wood about a foot across. When the explorers returned disappointed with the day’s dismal discovery, she had the last laugh.

Dad named the specimen the “Wishing Stone,” and when guests visited the rock room they could rub the rock and make a wish. This went on for many years.

In 1940, my dad went rockhunting near Shell, Wyoming, a locality famous for its large fossils. The well-known dig-sites in the Bighorn Basin include the Howe Dinosaur Quarry. The “Buffalo Bill Center of the West” also has a long history with Wyoming dinosaurs.

My son is named Cody after Wild Bill and the town of Cody, one of my favorite places. In the early 1870s, Buffalo Bill Cody traveled through Wyoming with famed Yale University paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh. Marsh collected tons of dinosaur fossils and shipped them by boxcar back to Yale. He discovered many spectacular fossils in the area while Buffalo Bill guided the expeditions. Can you picture the Yale party, mounted on ponies armed with guns, and rock picks?

In 1891, Othniel C. Marsh discovered ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs in the Sundance Formation of the Bighorn Basin. These reptiles lived in a shallow, inland sea that covered the area about 150 million years ago.

The fossil remains of ammonites, several fish species, clams, oysters, and crinoids are commonly found with these dinosaurs. My dad, while rockhunting on a hillside, scored a huge ammonite almost two feet across.

He eventually met another rockhound who had been hunting in the same area. The other collector told dad he also had a very large ammonite half. They talked on the phone many times and came to the conclusion

Dad’s bone in picture taken in 1943. Rock cases are in now Janie’s Good Old Days Museum Monrovia CA. Look closely at Karl George varnishing his large ammonite.

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Karl and Hallie George in their first cabin after they got married in 1933.

that both specimens were found on the same hillside.

After a few years, the men finally got together, and they each had one half of the same ammonite! Of course, both men wanted the other half, and ultimately my dad traded a quarter of his rock collection to get the complete fossil. Dad researched the ammonite and called it a donvandosauruschephlopodammonitepondahaus. I am not sure this name is correct, but I had the word memorized by the time I was six, so I could tell daddy’s story of the ammonite. The family historians say that he put it in the back of his pickup truck and drove it to Washington, D.C. on a summer vacation, to the Smithsonian, where he had it documented and was told it is the sixth-largest in the world of this species. This is where my love for ammonites started.

Dad loved to hunt for agates in the Yellowstone river down by Glendive. This is not far from “Pompay’s Pillar,” which is a Cretaceous sandstone rock formation that stands 150 feet above the river. The rock features petroglyphs and is the only physical evidence of the Lewis and Clark expedition. There you can still see the signature of William Clark engraved in stone on July 25th, 1806. My folks would drive down to the “Pillar” and launch the boat into the river with my mom ready to drive the truck back to pick them up miles downstream. The boaters could hunt the sandbars and areas that you could not reach from the shoreline.

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One day my dad and a friend went out on the river.

It was springtime which is always the best time to hunt agates after the thaw. You need to wait until the water level drops, leaving fresh deposits visible along the banks and islands. The men hit the mother lode that day and got a little too greedy. They were headed towards the rapids and my dad was caught between “a rock and a hard place.” Keep his moss agates or lighten the load. He did have enough time and when the boat hit the rapids the craft was too heavy and tipped over and sank. Both men swam to shore, walked out to a farm, and called my mom to pick them up. Dad had lost everything.

The boat, motor and all the agates! His wallet and keys were buttoned in his front pockets and that was all he swam out with. He and his buddy learned an important lesson that day. As a child growing up, I spent many days boating and rockhunting with my dad. I was pole man. I sat on the very front of the boat and when dad signaled, I would put the pole with one end painted red down towards the bottom of the river. If it hit, it was too shallow, and Dad would raise up the motor to protect it from damage by the propeller hitting the sandbar underneath. He would not let anyone in the boat unless you wore a life preserver and knew how to swim.

He must have taught dozens of people how to swim, from little kids to elderly, and had an amazing ability to give them confidence and not be fearful.

Dad also made us wear these red hard safari hats so he could see you in the water if you fell overboard.

I still have mine from when I was a child.

Karl often hosted free picture nights where he showed his travelogues and taught geology through slides and movies. He never charged for these shows and he provided them to many groups and on native American Indian reservations. I remember one time Dad showed a movie and rock display in the auditorium on the Crow Reservation. At the end, when the lights came on, we looked down in horror as all the film on the reel was in a pile about 3 foot deep on the floor and we had to wind it all back on the reel before we could drive 200 miles home in the night. My dad had all the film editing and developing equipment in our basement photo lab.

He also tinted black and white pictures by hand with oil paints and Q-tips. I would sit for hours watching him bring a photo to life.

In 1959 the Hebgen Lake 7.2 earthquake occurred in Yellowstone Park. The 7.2 earthquake destruction was catastrophic. My dad documented the quake aftermath from an airplane the following day and taught earthquake geology with a slide show. Although

ROCK HOUNDING CH A R AC TER S A ND S TORIE S G A LORE it is almost 200 miles from Laurel, Montana where we lived, I will never forget waking up when the shaking rolled me off my bed when I was five years old.

When I was in eighth grade my mother’s great uncle Abe died and she received a small inheritance due as old Abe had never married nor had any children. I was born on his birthday and out of all the young’ ins that gave us a special bond.

My mom debated what to do with the funds. She finally decided to buy apple trees for our new house.

It was a couple of acres and she got seven trees. Mom knew her apples as she spent ten years living in Lake Chelan, Washington, where her father owned an apple orchard growing up. Soon the trees at our house started producing and all the years we lived there we enjoyed uncle Abe’s apples. Many years later when I married my husband Chris in California, we got a whopping $25 as a wedding present. With that money I bought a lemon and a tangerine tree and today, 40 years later, we are still enjoying the fruits of our marriage. I am telling you I think it is a fine idea.

Sometime in the late 1950’s Grandpa, John George, bought two man made diamond rings on one of his travels. He gave one to his wife, Jessie, and one to my mother. Did you know that researchers at General Electric created the first, small, gem quality, synthetic diamonds that could be faceted into gemstones? Initially, they were mostly small and yellow, but the quality steadily improved. My mom’s ring was passed on to me as my engagement ring. Growing up I was told the ring was mine if I graduated from college or got married. I ended up getting hitched. I have had an expert look at it and it is not very valuable as it is softer than a real diamond. It is a pastel yellow in color, and has scratches around the crown, but so few of these early man-made diamonds survived.

Another inspiring person in my life was my brother, Gene, who was 15 years older than me. He built his own telescope and the first observatory in the state of Montana and in our backyard in Laurel. He went on to become the first glassblower in the United States Army. Near the end of his army career he was able to set up the first laser that was used in research for the government. Gene continued his education at the University of Montana for his degree as a physicist.

He worked as a seismologist outside of Bozeman, Montana inside an old mining tunnel. I remember going with him deep inside to read the seismograph instrument that records the shaking of the earth’s surface caused by seismic waves. It had to be placed

Karl George with the boat he made out of oil cans from his gas station

on solid rock for the correct readings. He had to carry a gun with him as the rattlesnakes also liked the cool, dry climate inside the cave. He killed three in one day.

My brother, Gene, also went on to become an optical physicist and invented the measuring device that measured liquid fuel in the Saturn 5 rocket and worked on the camera equipment that took the first pictures of the dark side of the moon. He belonged to an astronomy club with Werner Von Braun.

Gene was a real jack of all trades. He had many hobbies including knife making and inlaid woodwork.

He repaired musical instruments and designed jewelry. He was a fabulous photographer carrying on dad’s hobby. My favorite picture was of an epic battle between a rooster and a rattlesnake.

My sister Carol eventually became a camp director using dad’s skills. She was a school teacher and bragged that her dad had taught her how to skin a rattlesnake.

One week one of her students brought a dead snake to class and she had to show them how it was done.

My sister was also a good shot with her rifle and got her own buck at age fifteen. On the way home from the hunt, my dad and sister were stopped by the game warden in Columbus, Montana on the way home. The cop did not think my sister had shot the buck, so he asked Carol to shoot at a highway sign. She nailed it, which much to my dad’s delight, broke a state law for defacing public property. The story was printed in the local newspaper, where she was listed as the new “Annie Oakley.” My sister has been a volunteer for the Billing Police Department for the last fifteen years as a cold case reporter and then as a fingerprint processor. My sister and her husband David also wrote a book “History Galore: Ghost Towns and More, which was an accumulation of twelve years of research on Montana ghost towns, of which the majority are old mining towns.

As I said, in Part I of this series, my family truly may be the original “Adam’s Family,” with unique characters and stories galore.

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Shakespeare’s Gemstones Elizabethan Gems; Literal and Literary

BY STEVE VOYNICK

T

These lines from the plays and poems of William Shakespeare are just a few of many that reflect his awareness and extensive poetic use of gemstones.

In his 37 plays and 154 sonnets, Shakespeare uses the terms “crown,” “ring,” and “bracelet” (which one assumes are set with gemstones) some 400 times, and “precious stone” and “jewel” around 300 times. He also mentions specific gemstones and gem materials more than 100 times.

In Shakespeare’s writing, gemstones and jewelry served as metaphors for wealth and beauty and as words that evoke images and elicit emotions. If the frequency of usage is any indication of Shakespeare’s personal gemstone preferences, he was most enamored of pearls, which he mentions 43 times, followed by diamonds at 22 times.

Shakespeare also refers to ruby, agate, amber, jet, carbuncle, emerald, turquoise, opal, rock crystal, sapphire, and chrysolite, most of which were popular gemstones and gem materials during England’s Elizabethan Era when Shakespeare did most of his writing. Examining the sources, value, and importance of these gemstones is a window into life during Elizabethan times.

William Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Stratfordupon-Avon, Warwickshire, England, a village 90 miles northwest of London. While in his 20s, he became an actor, writer, and part-owner of an acting company; he went on to produce most of his work between 1589 and 1613. Although not widely acclaimed at the time of his death in 1616, he is today recognized as arguably the greatest writer in the English language.

The Elizabethan Era, which coincides with the 1558-1603 reign of Queen Elizabeth I, is considered England’s “golden age.” It marked a renaissance in art, music, theatre, and literature and was a time when many English citizens were intrigued by gemstones.

The cover of a 1609 copy of Shakespeare’s sonnets.

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

The concept that gemstones set into royal crowns and scepters signified wealth, power, and authority was well-established in England by 1000 CE. Queen Elizabeth I’s father, King Henry VIII, who reigned from 1509 to 1547, had a particular fondness for gemstones; his seven-pound, golden crown was studded with 344 gems and pearls. His daughter was equally fond of gemstones and gem-studded jewelry.

The Elizabethan Era was part of the long transition period between medieval beliefs and the age of science, and its perception of gemstones was rather complex.

Then as now, gemstones were statements of fashion and

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Shakespeare’s Gemstones

Pearls were popular during the Elizabethan Era; Shakespeare mentions them 43 times in his plays and sonnets.

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

wealth. But in Shakespeare’s time, with mass education far in the future and illiteracy the norm, gemstones were also closely linked with medicine, folklore, and religion.

And with science only in its rudimentary stages, belief in gem-related miracles and superstitions was common.

It is unknown whether Shakespeare personally possessed any of the gemstones about which he wrote. But he certainly saw many fine gems in pageants and processions during the years he lived and worked in London. His acting company also performed at royal functions where elite attendees were well-adorned with costly gems and jewelry.

Shakespeare writes most often of pearls, which were hugely popular in Elizabethan England and the favorite

of Elizabeth I. Shakespeare frequently associates pearls with dewdrops and tears, as in Richard II when he writes: “The liquid drops of tears that you have shed/ Shall come again transformed to orient pearl.” The term “orient pearl” referred to an especially fine pearl from the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, or the coast of India.

Shakespeare seems aware of these sources, for in Troylus and Cressida, he writes: “Her bed is in India, and there she lies, a pearl.” Today, the term “orient” refers to the luster and color of a quality pearl.

Troylus and Cressida also provides an example of Shakespeare’s metaphoric use of pearls: “She is a pearl whose price has launched o’er a thousand ships.”

Elizabethan royalty wore pearls as jewelry and also as decorations on cloaks and robes. In Henry V, Shakespeare describes one such garment as “an intertissued robe of gold and pearl.” In royal portraits of Elizabeth I, her gowns are often studded with hundreds of pearls.

While the best pearls then came from the “Orient,” many of those available in Elizabethan England were freshwater pearls of somewhat lesser quality from the rivers of Scotland.

In Shakespeare’s time, diamonds came only from the Pannar and Krishna rivers in what is now India’s Andhra Pradesh state. Although Indian diamonds reached Europe during the time of the Roman Empire, the trade did not resume again until about 1600 with the founding of the British East India shipping

… Continued on page 64.

Two representations of the Three Brothers gem ensemble, which consisted of four large pearls and a large, pyramid-cut diamond surrounded by three rectangular-cut , red spinels. WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

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QUEEN ELIZABETH I THIS PORTRAIT OF QUEEN ELIZABETH I, PAINTED ABOUT 1590, SHOWS THE THREE BROTHERS GEM ENSEMBLE OF DIAMOND, SPINEL, AND PEARLS IN THE CENTER.

B R OW B R OW B R OW

STEVE VOYNICK

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B R OW B R OW B R OW

AMBER LARGE QUANTITIES OF AMBER FROM THE BALTIC SEA BEACHES REACHED ELIZABETHAN ENGLAND. STEVE VOYNICK

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B R OW B R OW B R OW

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Shakespeare’s Gemstones texts as “turkies”—the English root of our modern word “turquoise” and an allusion to the gemstone company. By then, Indian diamond mining was a routes that passed through the country of Turkey. major industry that employed 30,000 workers and Shakespeare also mentions the medieval custom the Indian treasury held 135,000 carats of uncut of sacrificing gemstones to thank or beg favors from diamonds, none weighing less than 2.5 carats. higher powers. After almost drowning, the queen At that time, diamonds were valued less for their in Henry VI says, “I took a costly jewel from my beauty than for their rarity, extraordinary hardness, neck/A heart it was bound in with diamonds/And and mystique of distant origin. Precise, symmetrical threw it towards the land/The sea received it.” faceting as we know it today did not yet exist. Large Lesser gemstones are sacrificed in Shakespeare’s diamonds were crudely shaped, partially faceted, or narrative poem A Lover’s Complaint: “A thousand cleaved into octahedrons; smaller diamonds were favors from a [basket] she drew/Of amber, crystal, and set in the rough into rings and crowns. beaded jet/Which one by one she into the river threw.”

Although few great diamonds reached England, Amber, rock crystal, and jet all enjoyed those that did attracted the attention of great popularity in Elizabethan England. many, including Shakespeare. One Amber, a polymerized fossil tree such diamond was the centerpiece resin, came from the southern of what came to be known as beaches of the Baltic Sea, the “Three Brothers” gem where it had been collected ensemble. Fashioned in Paris since antiquity. Large around 1400, it featured quantities of amber a large, pyramidal-cut reached England diamond, surrounded in trade during the by three rectangular, Elizabethan Era. red gemstones and Rock crystal, or four large pearls. The “crystal” in Shakespeare’s usage, Three Brothers became the colorless, transparent form of part of the British Crown macrocrystalline quartz, was far Jewels in 1551 and is seen in more valuable in Shakespeare’s Jet from Whitby, England, was another popular several portraits of Elizabeth I. time than it is today, and was set gemstone often mentioned by Shakespeare.

STEVE VOYNICK In the early 1600s, the value of in crowns and jewelry side-bythis pyramidal diamond was stated at 7,000 English side with precious gems. Although lacking diamond’s pounds, roughly the equivalent of $1.3 million in sparkle, it was much more workable and affordable. today’s U.S. dollars. Unfortunately, the Three Brothers And a steady supply of rock crystal was obtained from disappeared about 1645; its fate remains unknown.

England’s Northumberland and Cumberland areas.

In his plays, Shakespeare employs diamonds as royal Shakespeare’s “crystal eyes” and “crystal tears” are gifts or as metaphors for great beauty and value. Their metaphors for brilliance, transparency, cleanliness, or monetary value is inferred in The Merchant of Venice clarity, as in Richard II: “The more fair and crystal is the when the moneylender Shylock laments the loss of his sky/The uglier seem the clouds that in it fly.” In Romeo diamond: “Why there, there, there, there, a diamond and Juliet, he infers that a lady’s love should be measured gone!/Cost me two thousand ducats in Frankfort!” on “crystal scales,” meaning with great clarity of thought.

That sum is roughly the equivalent of $140,000 today.

Our modern expression “crystal clear” derives directly Shylock also laments losing a turquoise of from Shakespeare’s metaphoric use of the word “crystal.” great sentimental and monetary value: “It was my And England also had the world’s premier source turquoise/I had it of Leah when I was a bachelor.” of jet at Whitby on its eastern coast. A form of This is Shakespeare’s only mention of turquoise. lignite coal that occurs in small pods rather than Although the gemstone had been mined for thousands seams, jet is fine-grained, lightweight, durable, of years in Persia (present-day Iran) and in Egypt’s Sinai easily workable, and takes an excellent polish.

Peninsula, it was costly and rarely seen in Elizabethan In The Merchant of Venice, jet is used to creEngland. Shakespeare, who seems to value this gemstone ate a sharp contrast: “There is more difference nearly as much as diamond, refers to it in his original between thy flesh and hers/Than between jet and

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Shakespeare’s Gemstones ivory.” And in Henry VI, Shakespeare describes a gown’s color as “Black, forsooth, coal-black as jet.”

Our descriptive term “jet-black” also stems from Shakespeare’s comparative use of the word “jet.”

Shakespeare’s red gemstones are “rubies” and carbuncles. “Carbuncle” then referred loosely to moderately hard, red gemstones, but especially to garnet. Red gemstones harder than garnet were specifically called “rubies.”

While a limited number of true rubies—the red gem variety of corundum (aluminum oxide)—reached Elizabethan England, most hard, red gemstones were actually spinel (magnesium aluminum oxide). The British and Dutch East India companies only began bringing quantities of true ruby from Southeast Asia to Europe around 1600. And true ruby was not even mineralogically differentiated from spinel until 1783.

Shakespeare uses “ruby” only as an adjective for a bright or rich shade of red. In Measure for Measure, he compares rubies to blood when Isabella says “the impression of keen whips I’ll wear as rubies.” Spinel was then known as “balas ruby,” from the Arabic Balakhsh for its source near the present-day AfghanistanTajikistan border. Balas rubies were well-known in

In Shakespeare’s time, pyrope, known as “carbuncle,” came from the Ceské Středohoří Mountains in the present-day Czech Republic’s Bohemia region. WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Elizabethan England, thanks to the fabled Black Prince’s Ruby. According to legend, this two-inch, 170-carat, irregular cabochon was taken by Don Pedro, the King of Castile, from the Muslim prince of Granada in 1367. Don Pedro later passed it on to Edward of Woodstock, known as the “Black Prince.” The gem appears in Henry VIII’s 1521 crown-jewel inventory as the “large ruby” set in the Tudor Crown. Although later

CRYSTAL ROCK CRYSTAL WAS WORTH MUCH MORE IN SHAKESPEARE’S TIME THAN IT IS TODAY; IT WAS MINED IN NORTHUMBERLAND AND CUMBERLAND, ENGLAND. STEVE VOYNICK

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CLOISONNÉ INLAY DURING THE ELIZABETHAN ERA, PYROPE SERVED AS BOTH A STANDALONE GEM IN RINGS AND AS CLOISONNÉ INLAY IN GOLD JEWELRY WIKIMEDIA COMMONS)

Opal from Červenica in the Prešov region of present-day Slovakia; this was the only source of opal during the Elizabethan Era. WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

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mineralogically identified as spinel, the Black Prince’s Ruby has nevertheless retained its traditional name.

Shakespeare would also have been familiar with the “rubies” in the previously mentioned Three Brothers gem ensemble, in which the “brothers” are actually three large, rectangular-cut spinels.

Shakespeare’s “carbuncle” is pyrope garnet. With its deep-red color and relative affordability, carbuncle had been a favorite gemstone in England since Anglo-Saxon times. During the Elizabethan Era, it served as a standalone gem in rings and a cloisonné inlay in gold jewelry.

At that time, pyrope came from the Ceské Středohoří Mountains north of Prague in the Bohemia region of the present-day Czech Republic. This pyrope had weathered free from peridotite host rock and concentrated in vast alluvial deposits. This was the world’s first great pyrope source and its type locality;

Shakespeare’s Gemstones some deposits are still being mined there today.

In Elizabethan superstition, carbuncle generated its own internal light. Shakespeare apparently shared this view, for he uses carbuncle as the glowing eyes of ominous figures as in Hamlet, when he describes the “hellish” Pyrrhus as having “eyes like carbuncles.”

Carbuncle remained synonymous with red garnet for centuries. The word “pyrope,” which first appeared in the English language in 1804, fittingly stems from the Greek pyršpos, meaning “fiery-eyed.”

Although Shakespeare usually mentions gemstones to project beauty, wealth, power, and mystery, an exception is found in The Comedy of Errors when he ironically describes a blemished nose as “all o’er embellished with rubies, carbuncles and sapphires.”

In this line, Shakespeare makes a clear distinction between ruby and carbuncle. It is also the only mention of sapphire in his plays. Sapphire then came from the island of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Shakespeare’s only other mention of sapphire is in A Lover’s Complaint where it is described as “heaven-hued,” reflecting the belief at the time that all sapphires were blue.

Another popular Elizabethan gemstone was agate.

Most agate during this time was engraved with human likenesses and mounted in rings that were especially popular among merchants and aldermen. Agate then came from Europe’s leading gem-cutting center at Idar-Oberstein, Germany. In Love’s Labour’s Lost, Shakespeare compares engraved agate to a lover’s heart: “His heart, like an agate, with your print impress’d.”

Shakespeare rarely mentions emerald and only then as an adjective for a vivid shade of green. Until the early 1500s and the Spanish colonization of the New World, emeralds came only from Egypt’s historic mines.

And these were pale and clouded, not something that Shakespeare would have chosen as a metaphor for green. But he likely had been familiar with the vividly colored, transparent emeralds just then reaching Europe from Spain’s Viceroyalty of Peru (modern Colombia).

In A Lover’s Complaint, Shakespeare alludes to the ancient belief that emeralds cured eye ailments: “The deep-green emerald in whose fresh regard/ Weak sights their sickly radiance do amend.”

One of Shakespeare’s best-known lines in Twelfth Night is: “ . . . and the tailor make thy doublet of changeable taffeta/For thy mind is opal.” The Clown is comparing the Duke’s vacillating mind to the stone’s constantly changing, opalescent colors.

Until the discovery of Mexican and Australian opal in the 1800s, the world’s only significant opal source was Ĉervenica in the Prešov region of present-day

The cover of Shakespeare’s First Folio with a woodcut of the author was published in 1623. WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Slovakia. In Elizabethan times, Červenica opal was very costly and considered especially lucky because its multicolored opalescence was thought to have captured the virtues of every other colored gemstone.

In Othello, chrysolite is a metaphor for beauty and value: “If heaven would make me such another world/Of one entire and perfect chrysolite/ I’ld not have sold her for it.” Shakespeare’s “chrysolite” was actually peridot (forsterite, magnesium silicate) which had been mined since Roman times on Egypt’s Zabargad (St. John’s Island) and was still occasionally mined during the Elizabethan Era. Shakespeare’s frequent use of gemstones in his plays and poems provides striking imagery and insight into the Elizabethan perception of gemstones. Two excellent sources on Shakespeare and his literary use of gemstones are Shakespeare’s Gemstones by David W. Berry (privately printed, 2004); and Shakespeare and Precious Stones by George Frederick Kunz (J. B. Lippincott, 1913, Project Gutenberg E-book reprint, 2005). Both are accessible online in their entirety.

WWW.ROCKNGEM.COM | SEPTEMBER 2021 67

ROCK SCIENCE

BY STEVE VOYNICK

SMITHSON, SMITHSONITE, AND THE SMITHSONIAN mithsonite, or zinc carbonate, is a favorite among down and minted into U.S. coinage worth $508,318. Valued mineral collectors for its range of pleasing colors and at roughly $15 million today, this was the seed money for the often well-developed, botryoidal form. Most collec- establishment of the Smithsonian Institution. tors agree that smithsonite’s most striking color is Congress founded the Smithsonian Institution in 1846 as the saturated, robin’s-egg blue of the lustrous, translucent the National Museum of the United States. In 1904, telephonespecimens from Magdalena, New Mexico. inventor Alexander Graham Bell, then a Smithsonian regent, Smithsonite is also interesting for its unusual historical brought Smithson’s remains from Genoa to Washington, D.C., connection, which is rooted in “calamine,” a mineral that scien- to be reinterred in the Smithsonian’s original “Castle” building. tists initially believed to be zinc oxide. But in 1803, English The motivation for Smithson’s generous bequest to the chemist James Smithson demonstrated United States, which he had never visited, that calamine was actually a mix of three remains uncertain. But historians cite zinc minerals—an oxide, a carbonate, three possibilities. One was a desire to found an institution that would outshine and a silicate. Smithson’s success in his aristocratic father’s legacy. Another chemically differentiating oxide and carbonate minerals was a major advancewas his displeasure with the failure of the ment in qualitative mineralogy. In 1832, English social system to acknowledge him calamine’s zinc-carbonate component as the son of a duke. Finally, Smithson, who had lived in Paris during the French was formally named “smithsonite” in Revolution, may have admired the United his honor. But Smithson’s legacy was destined to go much further.

States’ revolutionary spirit and believed his gift would have greater impact on a James Smithson was born in France in 1765 as James Lewis Macie, the illegitiyoung nation that, unlike the nations This fine specimen of smithsonite from Magdalena, New Mexico, mate and unacknowledged son of British of Europe, had few major research and is displayed at the Smithsonian’s subject Hugh Smithson, the first Duke of educational institutions.

National Museum of Natural History.

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS Northumberland. Smithson eventually Whatever Smithson’s motivation, his adopted his father’s name, became a naturalized British citizen, bequest had huge consequences. Today, the Smithsonian and in 1786 earned a degree in chemistry from Pembroke Institution is the world’s largest museum complex. It consists College (University of Oxford). of 16 individual museums and the National Zoo, along Smithson’s intense interest in mineralogy led him to with several research centers. Given his interest in minerals, devote much of his attention to the qualitative analysis of Smithson would be especially proud of the Smithsonian’s minerals. Among his many significant mineralogical papers National Museum of Natural History, where the original is A Chemical Analysis of Some Calamines, which describes mineral gallery was replaced in 1997 by the Janet Annenberg the mineral that would later be named for him. Smithson Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems and Minerals. This $18-million, inherited a sizeable estate from his mother and increased its 20,000-square-foot hall displays 2,450 mineral specimens value substantially through shrewd investing. When he died representing 600 species. Among these specimens are 548 in Italy in 1829 (and was buried in Genoa), Smithson left most gems, including the 45.5-carat Hope Diamond, the world’s of his estate to his nephew Henry James Hungerford—with largest, deep-blue diamond. the contingency that should his nephew die without heirs the Smithson would also be pleased by the Smithsonian’s display estate would instead go to “the United States of America, to of two superb smithsonites, one from Tsumeb, Namibia, and found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian the other a spectacular botryoidal, robin’s-egg-blue specimen Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion from Magdalena, New Mexico. of knowledge.”

Steve Voynick is a science writer, mineral When Hungerford died in 1836 with no heirs, the United collector, and former hardrock miner, and States Congress accepted Smithson’s bequest—104,960 the author of guidebooks like Colorado English gold sovereigns, which arrived two years later at Rockhounding and New Mexico Rockhounding. the United States Mint at Philadelphia. These were melted

S

68 ROCK&GEM | WWW.ROCKNGEM.COM

Fluorescent Calcite

Fluorite Aquamarine Photos by Dr. Paul Bordovsky

Austin Gem And Mineral Society’s 59th Annual

Gem, Mineral & Fossil Show Palmer Events Ctr, 900 Barton Springs Rd, Austin Texas

October 22, 23 & 24, 2021 Fri & Sat 9 am – 6 pm Sun 10 am – 5pm

The Austin Gem and Mineral club is a 501c3 that has a great clubhouse in Austin, TX where the whole family can participate and learn about gems, minerals and fossils. We have monthly educational presentations, a library, gem cutting lessons and much more. Come to a club meeting as our guest and check us out. www.agms-tx.org

@agms_tx

@Austingemandmineral

@AGMSTX

Advertiser Index A & S Opals

77

John E. Garsow Gems & Minerals

49

Raytech Industries

77

Astro Gallery of Gems

81

Johnson Brothers

7

Robert Daugherty

75

Austin Gem & Mineral Society

69

Joseph P. Stachura

33

Rock N Spheres

77

Blaine Reed

49

Jox Rox

75

Royal Peacock Opal Mine

21

Blue Stone

75

Kelley’s Kaleidoscope

49

Samson Gems

19

Bonanza Mining Jade & Gold

77

Kingsley North Inc.

Sherman County Rocks

49

Cam’s Crystal Gallery

75

Knights Gems

49

9

Lot O’ Tumbler

75, 77

9, 39

Love of Rocks

77

Condor Agate Mine Covington Engineering Co. Dallas Gem & Mineral Society EONS Expos RLLP

77 1

19, Back Cover

Minnesota Lapidary Supply Nature’s Treasures

49

Stone Goddess Designs

75

The Village Smithy Opals

8 33 75

33

Tru-Square Metal Products

21

Opal Resources Canada Inc.

77

Ultra Tec

Pioneer Gem Corp

33

Wilderness Mining & Minerals

Poland Mining Camps

19

Nevada Mineral & Book Company

Forsythe Gem & Mineral Club

21

New Era Gems

Gilman’s

19 75

Inside Back Cover

Stone Age Industries

Triple A Rock Shop

75

Hard Rock Summit

75

8

Treasures of the Earth

Excalibur Mineral Corporation

Great Canadian Prospecting Co.

33, 49

Spanish Stirrup Rock Shop

5

Jesco Products

33

R & T Rocks

75

JL Gray Rock Shop

75

Radical Rocks

75

Inside Front Cover 75

WWW.ROCKNGEM.COM | SEPTEMBER 2021 69

Show Dates

TO VIEW LATER CALENDAR DATES VISIT OUR SITE AT ROCKNGEM.COM.

AUGUST 2021 14-15—GONZALES, LOUISIANA: Annual show; Baton Rouge

Gem & Mineral Society ; Lamar Dixon Expo Center Trademart Building, 9039 S St. Landry Ave; Sat. 10-5, Sun. 10-5; $5 Adults; $3 Children 5-12; Children 4 and under free; $1 off for Scouts in uniform; Military personnel free with military ; Vendors will be selling rock specimens, fossils, minerals, tools & jewelry. We will be raffling off an Amethyst Cathedral again this year. ; contact Wanda Gawarecki, 5191 Hwy 19, Ethel, LA 70303, (225) 603-3870; Email: mercymom3@gmail.com; Website: www.brgemandmineral.org 19-22—WOODLAND PARK, COLORADO: Annual show; Kim

and Bodie Packham; Ute Pass Saddle Club grounds, 19520 W. Hwy 24; Tue. 9-5, Fri. 9-5, Sat. 9-5, Sun. 9-5; Free; We have a mineral auction both Friday and Saturday nights, starting at 6:00pm.

Lots of fun and great buys! ; contact Kim Packham, 87 Plum Creek Rd., Divide, CO 80814, (719) 360-9665; Email: wpgemshow@outlook.com; Website: woodlandparkrockandgemshow 20-22—LEBANON, PENNSYLVANIA: Annual show; Mid-

Atlantic Gem and Mineral Association; Lebanon Valley Fairgrounds and Expo, 80 Rocherty Road; Fri. 10-6, Sat. 10-6, Sun. 10-4; Adults $6, free admission for children under 12; MidAtlantic's 23rd annual premium gem, jewelry, bead, mineral and arts show: Gem Miner's Jubilee; contact Teresa Schwab, PO Box 352, Monrovia, MD 21770, (301) 807-9745; Email: beadware@rcn.com; Website: www.gem-show.com 20-22—RICKREALL, OREGON: Annual show; Willamette

Agate and Mineral Society; Polk County Fairgrounds - outdoors, 520 S Pacific Hwy W; Fri. 9-5, Sat. 9-5, Sun. 9-5; free; outdoor show with various vendors; contact Theresa Donley , (503) 930-5115; Email: tkdddt@hotmail.com; Website: www.

WAMSI.net 21-21—SHELTON, WASHINGTON: Annual show; Shelton Rock

and Mineral Society; Mason County Recreation Association, 2100 E Johns Prairie Road; Sat. 9-5; Free Admission and parking; 11th Annual Tailgate Rock Sale and Swap Rock hounders and vendors of rocks, minerals, fossils, rock crafts and equipment are invited to have a tailgate space at $40. Contact Susan at srms242@yahoo.com or 360-275-9432 Like us on Facebook; contact Susan Perault, Shelton, WA 98584, (360) 275-9432; Email: srms242@yahoo.com 21-22—TEHACHAPI, CALIFORNIA: Annual show; Tehachapi

Valley Gem and Mineral Society; Tehachapi Senior center, 500 East ; Sat. 9-5, Sun. 9-5; Free; Gems, Minerals, Jewelry ,Kid's activities , raffle's, beads, something for everyone. ; contact Ronald Myrick, 105 Brentwood dr., Tehachapi, CA 93561, (661) 972-1117; Email: travis462@outlook.com; Website: tvgms.org 21-22—BOSSIER CITY, LOUISIANA: Annual show; Arklatex

Gem & Mineral Society; Bossier Civic Center, 620 Benton Rd., 2009 Chelsy Dr.; Sat. 9-6, Sun. 10-4; $4.00; Aug 21-22 Bossier City, Louisiana: 46th annual show, Ark-La-Tex Gem & Mineral Society, Bossier City Civic Center, Sat 9-6, Sun 10-4. Adults $4.00, Admission is free for Children under 6 & Students with I.D., Custom and unique Jewelry, Beads, Gems and Minerals, Fossils, Educational exhibits and Demon; contact Delwin Glasner, 2009 Chelsy Dr., Benton, LA 71006, (318) 517-7372; Email: dglasner2001@yahoo.com; Website: Delwin Glasner 27-28—CASTLE ROCK, WASHINGTON: 55th Annual Show;

70 ROCK&GEM | WWW.ROCKNGEM.COM

Southern Washington Mineralogical Society; Silver Lake Grange, 3104 Spirit Lake Hwy, Exit #49 off I-5; 7 miles up Spirit Lake Hwy; Fri. 10-5, Sat. 10-5; Free; Dealers, member displays, demonstrations, and activities for children ; contact Vicki Johnson, PO Box 704, Longview, WA 98632, (360) 751-8031; Email: vickijrocks@msn.com 28-29—EAST PEORIA, ILLINOIS: Annual show; Geology

Section of Peoria Academy of Science; East Side Center, #1 East Side Drive; Sat. 9-5, Sun. 10-5; free admission; 57th Annual Show with dealers, demonstrations, bead making, flint knapping, fluorescent display, and activities for children; contact Jim Travis, 2812 N. Peoria Ave., Peoria, IL 61603, (309) 645-3609; Email: boatnik@aol.com; Website: pasgeology.com

SEPTEMBER 2021 3-6—HENDERSONVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA: Annual show;

Henderson County Gem & Mineral Society; Whitmire Center, 310 Lily Pond DR; Fri. 9-6, Sat. 9-6, Sun. 9-6, Mon. 9-6; adults $4.00 children under 12 free with adult; Exhibits, Demos, Vendors, Hourly door prizes; contact Diane M Lapp, 22 Foxmoor Ct, ETOWAH, NC 28729, (828) 775-8098; Email: dlapp48@gmail.com; Website: HCGMS.com 10-12—BOWLING GREEN, OHIO: Annual show; Toledo Gem and Rockhound Club; Pratt Pavilion, Wood County Fairgrounds , 13800 W Poe Rd; Fri. 12-8, Sat. 10-6, Sun. 11-5; $6 adults, $12 three day pass; contact Jerri Heer, 9016 122nd Ave, Tampa, FL 33637, (419) 344-9999; Email: jheerx6@aol.com; Website: Rockyreader.com 10-12—GREENFIELD, INDIANA: Annual show; 500 Earth

Sciences Club; Hancock County 4-H Fairgrounds, 620 North Apple Street; Fri. 10-6, Sat. 10-6, Sun. 10-4; FREE; 44th Annual Greater Indianapolis Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show Dealers and Swappers in Fossils, Minerals, Gems and Jewelry and Lapidary Equipment ... Plus Silent Auctions, Door Prizes and Much, Much, More! Kids Activities, Demonstrations, Educational Displays and Programs for All!; contact Tom Odom, 650 W. Henry Road, Kirklin, IN 46050, (765) 325-2690; Email: tomodom650@gmail.com; Website: 500earthsciencesclub.org 10-12—WINSTON-SALEM, NORTH CAROLINA: Annual show;

Forsyth Gem & Mineral Club; The Winston-Salem Fairgrounds, 421 West 27th Street , Education Building; Fri. 10-7, Sat. 10-7, Sun. Noon-5; Adults $3, free admission youth through grade 12 when accompanied by an adult ; Show theme: North Carolina Minerals and Gold. Nearly 30 dealers, demonstrations, displays, and activities for children.; contact Ken Reed; Website: https://forsythgemclub.com/ 10-19—DENVER, LOUISIANA: Annual show; Eons Expos, RLLLP; National Western Complex, 4655 Humboldt Street; daily 10-6; Free admission; Denver area largest show, with 100 tents outside and 400 dealers inside on both floors of the Main Building and on both levels of the adjacent Events Center; contact Lowell Carhart, 106 Horseguards Ave, Bossier City, LA 71111, (804) 291-6357; Email: lowellcarhart@yahoo.com; Website: https://www.coliseumshow.com 11-12—PORT ANGELES, WASHINGTON: Annual Fall Rock

Show; Clallam County Gem and Mineral Association; Vern Burton Community Center, 308 East 4th Street; Sat. 9-5, Sun. 10-4; free admission; contact Kathy Schreiner, PO Box 98, Sequim, WA 98382, (360) 460-0827; Email: kmsjes@olypen.com

TO VIEW LATER CALENDAR DATES VISIT OUR SITE AT ROCKNGEM.COM.

11-12—NEW MILFORD, CONNETICUT: Annual show; Danbury Mineralogical Society; New Milford High School cafeteria, 388 Danbury Rd; Sat. 10-5, Sun. 10-4; Adults $5, Students/Seniors $4, free admission for children under 11 and scouts in uniform; Wholesale room available with Tax ID.; contact Elizabeth Triano, NY, (845) 319-6089; Email: lizziewriter@comcast.net; Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/192286412696317

Show ShowDates Dates

for children; contact Linda Winkelmann, 340 East 24th Street, Holland 49423, (616) 834-6651; Email: lindawinkelmann@att. net; Website: www.tulipcity.org 17-19—PAYSON, ARIZONA: Annual show; Payson Rimstones

Rock and Gem Club; Pioneer Pavillion, 2007 Cherry Street; Sat. 10-6, Sun. 10-5; free admission; vendors and displays; contact Wes Gannaway , (360) 384-4209; Email: debnwes@comcast. net; Website: www.mtbakerrockclub.org

Rock Club; Mazatzal Hotel and Casino, Mile Marker 251 Hwy 87; Fri. 2-7, Sat. 9-5, Sun. 10-4; $3, Ages 13 and under free; Club Displays and Silent Auction, Kids Education Corner, Vendors with Gems, Minerals, Fossils, Slabs, Jewelry, Lapidary Equipment, Specimen Rocks & Minerals, Rough Material; contact Rebecca Bagshaw, P.O. Box 1641, Payson, AZ 85547, (928) 476-3419; Email: paysonrimstones@aol.com; Website: rimstonesrockclub.org

11-12—WALLA WALLA, WASHINGTON: 51st Gem and

18-18—ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS: Annual show; Rock River

Mineral Show and Federation Meeting; Marcus Whitman Gem and Mineral Society of Walla Walla WA; Walla Walla County Fair Grounds, Community Center Building, 831 Orchard St.; Sat. 10-5, Sun. 10-5; adults $3 children free; Show has cases, federation cases, dealers, silent auction, kid’s area, raffle drawings and demonstrations.; contact Jack L. Edwards, (509) 520-1182; Email: jcedwards.2019@gmail.com

Valley Gem & Mineral Society; Odd Fellows Lodge, 6219 Forest Hills Rd.; Sat. 9:30-3:30; free admission; Outdoor Rock Swap, Rain or Shine — buy, sell, trade rocks, minerals, fossils & jewelry, activities for children and social distancing required; contact Duane Cushing, IL, (815) 218-5011; Email: rrvgms@gmail.com; Website: https://www.facebook.com/ groups/890823657607474

11-12—RENO, NEVADA: Annual show; Reno Gem and Mineral Society ; 480 South Rock Blvd. Sparks, NV 89431, 4590 South Virginia Street, Reno Sparks Convention Center (New Location); Sat. 10-5, Sun. 10-4; $5.00 for everyone except kids under 12 free; 56th Annual Show with 40 educational display cases with numerous demonstrations and a silent auction every half hour. Door prizes and a Wheel of Fortune. Gold panning demonstrations, fluorescent minerals booth, and of course vendors from the region of finely selected gems, minerals, and tools.; contact Stephen Norman, 1653, Topeka Circle, Sparks, NV 89434, (177) 560-4782; Email: snorm11@hotmail.com; Website: RENOGMS.ORG

18-19—CHICO, CALIFORNIA: Annual show; Feather River

11-12—FERNDALE, WASHINGTON: Annual show; Mt. Baker

17-19—MARIETTA, GEORGIA: Annual show; Bellpoint; Cobb County Civic Center, 548 S. Marietta Pkwy.; Fri. 10-6, Sat. 10-6, Sun. 10-5; Adults $5, free admission for children under 15 when accompanied by a paying adult ; Select dealers from near and far selling exquisite minerals, gems, jewelry, beads, rocks, geodes, healing stones, fossils, crystals ; contact Damian; Email: mbellpoint@gmail.com; Website: www.bellpointpromotions.com 17-19—ARDEN, NORTH CAROLINA: Annual show; MAGMA,

Jacquot & Son Mining; Camp Stephens, 263 Clayton Road; Fri. 9-6, Sat. 9-6, Sun. 10-4; free admission; 14th annual gem, mineral and fossil show, dozens of vendors from across the U.S. offering gems, minerals, fossils, rocks, artifacts, meteorites, trinitite; contact Richard Jacquot, NC 28748, (828) 779-4501; Email: rick@wncrocks.com; Website: www.

AmericanRockhound.com 17-19—LINCOLN, MISSOURI: Annual show; Mozarkite Society

of Lincoln, Inc.; Mike Hare Memorial Ballfield, Under the water tower; Fri. 9-5, Sat. 9-5, Sun. 9-3; free admission; contact Kelly Blum, (816) 835-2044; Email: Mozarkiterocks@gmail.com; Website: Mozarkite.com 17-19—HOLLAND, MICHIGAN: Annual show; Tulip City Gem & Mineral Club; Soccer Stop Sportsplex, 5 River Hills Drive; Fri. 3-8, Sat. 10-7, Sun. 11-5; Adults $3, free admission for children and students with ID; Theme: Canada's Mineral Treasures; vendors selling rocks, minerals, fossils, jewelry; displays by the A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum, GVSU and Hope College; demonstrations and member displays; activities

Lapidary and Mineral Sociaty; Silver Dollar Fair Grounds, 2357 Fair St.; Sat. 9-5, Sun. 9-4; Adults $4, and free admission for children 16 and under; contact Manuel Garcia, 22331 Samson Ave., Corning, CA 96021, (530) 586-7052; Email: mmpg@att. net; Website: www/ featherriverrocks.org 18-19—GRAND JUNCTION, COLORADO: Annual show; Grand Junction Gem and Mineral Club; Mesa County Fair Grounds, 2785 US Highway 50; Sat. 9-5, Sun. 9-5; Adults $5, children $3; 75 anniversary show—diamond celebration; contact Wayne Sims, 622 Glacier Dr., Grand Junction, CO 81507, (970) 516-3870; Email: lks10042@msn.com 24-26—CLARKDALE, ARIZONA: Annual show; Mingus Gem

& Mineral Club; Clark Memorial Clubhouse Auditorium, 19 N. Ninth Street; Fri. 9-5, Sat. 9-5, Sun. 10-4; Free; The SemiAnnual Clarkdale Gem and Mineral Show and Sale. Wirewrapping and geode-splitting demonstrations, agates, fossils, act Bill Hedglin; Email: billkarin3@q.com; Website: http://www. mingusgem.club/ 25-26—NASHVILLE, INDIANA: Annual show; Brown County

Rock & Mineral Club, Inc.; Brown County History Center, 90 E. Gould Street; Sat. 10-6, Sun. 10-4; free; Demonstrations on gold-panning by the SE Indiana Gold Club, flint-knapping by world-renowned artisan, Ed Mosher, wire-wrapping, lapidary demonstrations, and activities for children; contact Rhonda Dunn, 6033 S Poplar Grove Road, Columbus, IN 47201, (812) 320-6237; Email: bcrmc2010@gmail.com; Website: https:// browncountyrock.webs.com/browncountyrockshow.htm 25-26—LUBBOCK, TEXAS: Annual show; Lubbock Gem and

Mineral Society; Lubbock Memorial Civic Center, 1501 Mac Davis Lane; Sat. 10-6, Sun. 10-5; Adults $4, seniors $3, ages 6-12 $2, and free admission for children 5 an under; Vendors selling rough rock and minerals, fossils, lapidary tools; demonstrations and displays; silent auctions; and activities for children; contact Walter Beneze, PO Box 6371, Lubbock, TX 79493, (806) 797-5832; Email: walt@lubbockgemandmineral. org; Website: www.lubbockgemandmineral.org

WWW.ROCKNGEM.COM | SEPTEMBER 2021 71

Show Dates

TO VIEW LATER CALENDAR DATES VISIT OUR SITE AT ROCKNGEM.COM.

25-26—KENNEWICK, WASHINGTON: Annual show; Lakeside

Gem and Mineral; Benton County Fairgrounds, 1500 South Oak; Sat. 10-5, Sun. 10-4; Adults $5, free admission for children 12 and under with a paid adult; More than 40 collectors’ exhibits; gem, mineral, fossil and jewelry dealers; demonstrations including cabochon fashioning, gemstone faceting, gem trees, sphere making, silversmithing, wire wrapping and jewelry fabrication; and activities for children; contact Larry Hulstrom, (509) 308-8312; Email: rockhound132@charter.net ; Website: www.lakesidegemandmineralclub.com

Francine Bonny, P.O. Box 121, Irvine, KY 40336, (859) 200-46; Email: kyrockclub@gmail.com VERMONT: Annual show; SOUTHWESTERN VERMONT MINERAL CLUB; Grace Christian School, Kocher Drive; Sat. 10-3, Sun. 10-3; Adults $5. Kids Free; contact Bill Cotrofeld, P.O. Box 235, East Arlington, VT 05252, (802) 375-6782; Email: cotrofeldauto@comcast.net; Website: Bill Cotrofeld 25-26—BENNINGTON,

OCTOBER 2021

Annual show; Central Pennsylvania Rock and Mineral Club, Inc; Harrisburg Consistory, 2701 North Third Street; Sat. 10-6, Sun. 10-4; Adults $6, ($1 discount on each of 2 adult admission when presenting flyer or postcard), free admission for children 12 and under with a paying adult; Dealers offering rocks, fossils, minerals, and activities for children; contact Betsy Oberheim, 7952 Appalachian Tr. E, Harrisburg, PA 17112, (717) 439-6549; Email: aoberheim3@comcast.net; Website: rockandmineral.org

1-3—HILLSBORO, OREGON: 40th Annual Portland Regional Gem and Mineral Show; Portland Regional Gem & Mineral Show Association; Wingspan Event Building, 801 NE 34th Avenue; Fri. 10-6, Sat. 10-6, Sun. 10-5; Adults $7, free admission for children 12 and under with paying adult; 45 dealers with fossils, rocks, gems, minerals, beads, jewelry; exhibits; demonstrations; and activities for children; contact Linda Harvey; Email: lindaharvey2010@gmail.com ; Website: www.

PortlandRegionalGemandMineral.com

25-26—FALCON HEIGHTS, MINNESOTA: Annual show;

1-3—ALBUQUERQUE,

Minnesota Mineral Club; Dairy Building, Minnesota State Fairgrounds, 1694 Judson Ave; Sat. 10-5, Sun. 10-4; $4 Adults $2 Seniors Free 16 and Under; New Larger Location, New Date. Rock Identification, Demonstrations, Vendors, Kids Corner, Exhibits, Food Trucks - September in Minnesota is Awesome, Come & Join Us!; contact Earl Netwal, 1694 Judson Ave, MN; Email: Publicity@MinnesotaMineralClub.org; Website: MinnesotaMineralClub.org

2-3—SOUTH

25-26—HARRISBURG,

PENNSYLVANIA:

25-26—SPRINGFIELD, OREGON: 63nd Annual Rock and

Mineral Show; Springfield Thunderegg Rock Club; Willamalane Adult Activity Center, 215 W C Street; Sat. 10-5, Sun. 10-3; free - donations appreciated; Snack Bar *Kid’s Corner *Arrowhead Napping Demos *Free Parking *Grab Bags *Jewelry *Rocks *Minerals *Silent Auction *Door Prizes *Rock Shop Tours Children get a free rock. Proceeds go toward a $750 Scholarship for a Springfield student ; contact Dean Burkhart , , (541) 7441919; Email: burkhaks@aol.com 25-26—LIVERPOOL, NEW YORK: Retail show; Syracuse

Gem & Mineral Society, Inc.; Holiday Inn (Changing to Ramada Inn effective July 1st.), 441 Electronics Parkway (Exit 37 of New York State Thruway); Sat. 10-6, Sun. 10-4; $5.00 Adults.

Children under 12 free with an adult. Scouts in uniform free.; This is a mini show replacing our annual show in July which is at the New York State Fairgrounds.; contact Cheryl Brown, c/o GMSS P. O. Box 2801, Syracuse, NY 13220; Email: show@ syracusegemsociety.com; Website: syracusegemsociety.com 25-26—SANFORD, FLORIDA: Show and sale; Central Florida

Mineral & Gem Society, Inc; 6100 S. Orange Ave., Orlando, FL 32809, Sanford Civic Center, 401 E. Seminole Blvd.; Sat. 9-5, Sun. 9-4; Adults $5, Kids $2, Scouts in uniform Free; Offering: minerals, rocks, fossils, beads, gemstones, hand crafted cabochons, etc. Hosing silent auction, door prizes and family activities.; contact Salvatore Sansone, 6100 S. Orange Ave., Ste. 190A, Orlando, FL 32809, (321) 278-9294; Email: ssfossilhunter@aol.com; Website: http://www.cfmgs.org 25-26—IRVINE, KENTUCKY: Show and sale; Southeast KY

Gem, Mineral, & Fossil Club; Estill Co. Fairgrounds, Hwy. 89, 38 South Irvine Road; Sat. 9-6, Sun. 10-3; Free admission; contact

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NEW MEXICO: Annual show; Sponsored by Jay Penn; Expo NM State Fairgrounds , 300 San Pedro NE; Fri. 9-5, Sat. 9-5, Sun. 9-5; Free Admission, Parking $7; We are in the Creative Arts Bldg. Enter at Gate 3 @ San Pedro and Copper. 60 dealers, mineral specimens, rough, slabs, jewelry, cabochons, beads, fossils, petrified wood, tools, equipment. ; contact Jay Penn, jaypenn246@gmail.com, Abq; Website: http://abqfallshow.wix.com/abq-fall-show SIOUX CITY, NEBRASKA: Annual show; Siouxland Gem and Mineral Society; South Sioux City Senior Citizens Center, 1501 W 29th St.; Sat. 9-4, Sun. 10-4; Free admission for all.; Four dealers with gems, agates, rough and polished specimens, beads, geodes, minerals, superb faceted jewelry, fossils, door prizes, spin the wheel, silent auction, artifacts, displays.; contact Bob Powell, 406 Brandon, Kingsley, IA 51028, (712) 378-2775; Email: bobphyl.powell@gmail.com 2-3—JACKSONVILLE, ARKANSAS: Annual show; Central

Arkansas Gem,Mineral & Geology Society; Jacksonville Community Center, 5 Municipal Drive, 300 Old Highway 11 S; Sat. 9-5, Sun. 9-5; FREE to ALL; Dealers for beautiful gems, fine minerals, fossils, jewelry and beads. Also demonstrations, mineral I.D,geode cracking, door prizes, kids dig and other activities.; contact David Murray, 300 Old Highway 11 S, Hazen, AR 72064, (501) 346-5990; Email: lenoramur@aol.com; Website: www.centralarrockhound.org MICHIGAN: Annual show; Michigan Mineralogical Society; Macomb Community College South Campus Expo Center, 14500 E. 12 Mile Road; Fri. 9-6, Sat. 10-7, Sun. 11-5; Adults $8 (3-day pass $12), seniors (62+) $5, children (5-12) $4, uniformed scouts $3, free admission for military with ID; During these pandemic times, it is difficult to accurately predict all that may be included in this years' show. Currently all is subject to change relative to pandemic restrictions. For updated information on displays, lectures, etc. please go to www.michmin.org/show-info; contact Dave Lurie, 755 Lakeview Ave., Birmingham, MI 48009; Email: dlurie2001@ comcast.net 8-10—WARREN,

8-10—HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA: Annual show; Huntsville Gem

& Mineral Society; Jaycee Community Center, , 2180 Airport

TO VIEW LATER CALENDAR DATES VISIT OUR SITE AT ROCKNGEM.COM.

Rd. Huntsville, AL 35801; Fri. 10-6, Sat. 10-6, Sun. 10-5; Adults $3, weekend $5, primary & secondary students $1, under 5 free; Our returning dealers offer a full spectrum of gems, jewelry, art objects, fossils, materials, and equipment. Displays, demonstrations, and hands-on activities for adults and kids. ; contact Lowell K. Zoller, 12021 Defender Dr., Huntsville, AL 35803, (256) 534-8803; Email: lzol@comcast.net; Website: www.Huntsvillegms.org 8-10—MOAB, UTAH: Annual show; Moab Points and Pebbles Club; Old Spanish Trail Arena, 5 miles S of Moab on Hwy 191; Fri. 10-6, Sat. 10-6, Sun. 10-4; Free admission; Vendors, displays, spin table ,demonstrations, door prizes; Field trips: Saturday - Yellow Cat area. Sunday - Entrada Bluffs.; contact Jerry Hansen, PO Box 1459, Moab, UT 84532 9-9—ANTIOCH, CALIFORNIA: Artisan Jewelry and Rock Sale;

Antioch Lapidary Club; Antioch Lapidary Club clubhouse, 425 Fulton Shipyard Road; Sat. 10-4; FREE; Your invited to the Antioch Lapidary Club's annual Artisan Jewelry and Rock Sale/ Swap. There will be booths with Jewelry, slabs, rough and other rock related item to purchase.; contact Gary Casillas, (925) 4584076; Website: www.antiochlapidaryclub.com 9-10—LOS ALTOS, CALIFORNIA: Annual show; Peninsula Gem and Geology Society; Los Altos Community Center, One No. San Antonio Road; Sat. 10-5, Sun. 10-5; free admission; contact Steve Jobe, PO Box 4062, Los Altos, CA 94022, (408) 834-5384; Email: Steve_joge@sbcglobal.net; Website: Pggs.org 9-10—SIERRA VISTA, ARIZONA: Annual show; Huachuca

Mineral and Gem Club; The Mall at Sierra Vista, AZ, El Mercado Drive; Sat. 9-5, Sun. 10-4; free admission; Indoor and outdoor vendors, free gem identification by graduate gemologist, demonstrations and displays; contact Maudie Bailey, 5036 S. San Carlos Ave, Sierra Vista, AZ 85650, (520) 249-1541; Email: gmbailey@msn.com; Website: huachucamineralandgemclub.info 9-10—TEMPLE, TEXAS: Annual show; Tri-City Gem and

Mineral Society; P.O. Box 1663 Temple, TX 76503, Mayborn Civic and Convention Center 3301 N. 3rd St. ; Sat. 9-6, Sun. 10-5; Adults $5, children (13-17) $3, free admission for children under 12 when accompanied by an adult; Vendors, displays, demonstrations, raffles, and activities for children; contact Ruth Rolston, 106 Ottoway Drive, Temple, TX 76501, (718) 255-9; Email: lrolstoon@hot.rr.com 9-10—TOPEKA, KANSAS: Annual show; Topeka Gem &

Mineral Society; Stormont Vail Event Center, Agricultural Hall, 17th & Topeka Blvd; Sat. 10-6, Sun. 10-5; Adults $5, students (13-17) $1, free admission for children under 13 with paying adult; Dealers offering gems, minerals, jewelry, rocks, fossils, and lapidary supplies; junior rockhound and 4H displays; educational programs; activities for children; coupon for $1 off admission available on the club website www.TopekaGMS.org; contact Millie Mowry, 1934 SW 30th St, Topeka, KS 66611, (785) 267-2849; Email: rock2plate@aol.com; Website: www.

TopekaGMS.org 9-10—WALNUT CREEK, CALIFORNIA: Show and sale; Pacific

Crystal Guild; Civic Park Community Center, 1371 Civic Drive; Sat. 10-6, Sun. 10-4; $12 (Under 12 free); Minerals, Crystals,

Show ShowDates Dates

Gems, Jewelry, beads, more than 30 booths; contact Jerry Tomlinson, PO Box 1371, Sausalito, CA 9o4966, (415) 3837837; Email: jerry@crystalfair.com; Website: https://www.crystalfair.com 9-10—WYSOX, PENNSYLVANIA: Annual show; Che-Hanna

Rock & Mineral Club; Wysox Vol. Fire Hall , 111 Lake Rd; Sat. 9-5, Sun. 10-4; Adults $3.00 Students $1.00 under 8 free; Fluorescent program presented by UVBob , geode cutting, dealers selling minerals, fossils, jewelry, lapidary . ; contact Bob McGuire, 224 Church St., Lopez, PA 18628, (570) 928-9238; Email: uvbob1942@gmail.com; Website: chehannarocks1969@ gmail.com 10-10—BRUSH, COLORADO: Annual show; Mark Elworth Jr;

Jaycee Building, 500 Ellsworth Street, 116 s Clifton St; Sun. 11-5; Free Admission; contact Mark Elworth, 116 s Clifton St, Brush, CO 80723, (402) 812-1600; Email: markelworthjr@aol. com 10-10—FALLBROOK, CALIFORNIA: Annual show; Fallbrook

Gem and Mineral Society; Fallbrook Gem and Mineral Society, 123 W. Alvarado Street; Sun. 9-4; Free!; Fallbrook Gem and Mineral Society proudly presents our annual Fall Festival of Gems - Reinvented! ; contact Michelle L Shearer, Fallbrook, CA 92028, (760) 805-2184; Email: Michelleleeshearer@gmail.com; Website: www.fgms.org 16-17—DES MOINES, IOWA: Annual show; Des Moines

Lapidary Society (DMLS); Iowa State Fairgrounds Elwell Family Food Center, 3000 E Grand Ave; Sat. 9-5, Sun. 10-4; Admission $6, Children 12 & under FREE with adults; Vendors selling a variety of Gemstones, Beads, Jewelry, Silver, Crystals, Cabochons, Slabs, Rough, Mineral Specimens, Fossils, Tools, Findings, Children's Activities, Demonstrations, Displays, and Speakers; contact Show Committee, P.O. Box 470, Des Moines, IA 50302; Website: http://dmlapidary.org/Shows-Swaps/Our-Shows 16-17—SEDONA, ARIZONA: Annual show; Sedona Gem and Mineral Club; Sedona Red Rock H.S., Upper Red Rock Loop Rd; Sat. 10-5, Sun. 10-4; Adults $4.00 - Children under 12 Free; 45 vendors, Many with native Arizona specimens. Kid Adventure to find free mineral specimens throughout the show.

Food trucks on site.; contact Mark Moorehead; Email: fifthestate23@gmail.com; Website: sedonagemandmineral.org 22-24—AUSTIN, TEXAS: Annual show; Austin Gem and

Mineral Society (AGMS); Palmer Events Center, 900 Barton Springs Rd; Fri. 9-6, Sat. 9-6, Sun. 10-5; Adults $8, military and seniors (60+) $7, children ages 13-18 $2, free admission for children 12 and under; Theme is Quartz; more than 30 vendors selling gemstones, minerals, crystals, fossils, beads, jewelry; exhibits including a touch table and fluorescent minerals; demonstrations and displays; contact Laird Fowler, 6719 Burnet Lane, Austin, TX 78641, (512) 458-9546; Email: showchairman@austingemandmineral.org; Website: www.agms-tx.org 23-24—DOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE: Annual show; Southeastern New Hampshire Mineral Club; Dover ELKS Lodge, 282 Durham Rd.; Sat. 10-4, Sun. 10-4; Adults $5, free admission for children under 12 (accompanied by an adult) ; 16th Annual Earl and Melvina Packard Rock, Gem & Mineral Show. ; contact Brian, (207) 710-6254; Email: cshore108@yahoo.com

WWW.ROCKNGEM.COM | SEPTEMBER 2021 73

WHAT TO CUT

BY RUSS KANIUTH

Hell’s Canyon Petrified Wood

T

he elusive Hell’s Canyon Petrified Wood has been one of the most popular petrified woods for decades. It was once collected along the Snake River, bordering Oregon and Idaho, until the Hell’s Canyon Dam construction. Now the entire collection site is underwater.

This was a unique find, and there has yet to be another like it since. Hell’s Canyon Petrified Wood is known to be from the Cretaceous and Miocene era (25 to 145 million years ago). It displays beautiful wavy patterns, known as herringbone, which was the natural growth rings of the ancient Sequoia trees. It also contains dry rot holes that have since been filled with silica and micro drusy cavities.

Hell’s Canyon Petrified Wood isn’t always the easiest of materials to find in the marketplace, but it still can be found in various places online and occasionally at shows. Most of what you find are slabs, and rarely do you see chunks of rough on offer. Not that buying slabs is a bad thing, it actually gives you a good view of exactly what you are buying. One thing to note when purchasing, the thicker the slabs, the better, as it tends to be quite brittle to cut and breaks easily. If you find thin slabs for sale, it’s not the end of the world; it just means you will need to back them before cabbing, which may be the best course of action in the first place, not risking breaking any of this rare and usually expensive material.

Prepping your slabs for preforms is really important since you don’t want to lose any portion of your material. I would generally suggest bench testing slabs to see if there are hidden fractures and if the material will break at an early stage in the cabbing process, but with this material, you should just assume it can break at any spot. To avoid risking the entire slab, I usually cut one preform out closest to the edge of the slab, and start my usual cabbing process, and see how it responds. If it can cab without any hazards, you’re good to go with the remaining portion of the slab. If it was too brittle and portions broke off, then you know to back the entire

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slab first before trimming out any further preforms.

Backing your slabs is generally easy, as various epoxies can be used. Many people like to back their cabs with black basanite, or you can choose something that has the same general color combinations as what you are cabbing, possibly another type of petrified wood. Spread out a generous amount of epoxy around the edges of your slab, and fill the center as much as possible to avoid any air pockets. I like to use spring clamps to add pressure all around the glued areas, compressing and expanding the glue to the entire area, and allowing it to ooze out the edges.

It’s better to use too much epoxy than not enough, and just tip the slab up at an angle to dry, allowing the excess glue to drip onto something that can discarded.

Cabbing this material is fairly easy. It just needs to be worked with a gentle touch. Starting with an 80 grit steel wheel may be too aggressive for this type of material, as it’s fairly soft to begin with, and as stated, brittle. So I would suggest starting on a 220 grit steel wheel to shape and dome your cab. Be cautious not to get the dry rot holes too close to the edge, or you might possibly break open the holes, leaving an uneven edge. Once you have your preform cab shaped and domed, move on to the 280 grit soft resin wheel; from this point, you should be able to apply a generous amount of pressure and smooth your cab out, and check thoroughly for any remaining scratches. Once the scratches are completely gone, move to your 600 grit and continue as a usual jasper-type cab.

Once you’ve reached the 14k grit polishing wheel, this is probably as far as you need to go, as it takes a beautiful polish and the patterns will just pop. Trying to use polishing compounds might not only fill in the tiny dry rot vugs, but might also chance creating heat fractures from the friction of the polishing pads.

Russ Kaniuth is the owner of Sunset Ridge Lapidary Arts and the founder and operator of the Cabs and Slabs Facebook group. See more of his work at www.sunsetridgelapidary.com.

Rock&Gem Classified CRYSTALS Cams Crystal Gallery – We sell exceptional value specimens for most any collector ordecorator. Please contact us at camscrystalgallery@gmail.com or (310) 922-8864 with any special requests. CamsCrystalGallery.com

EDUCATIONAL Radical Rocks! Free Education & Entertainment, Videos, Podcast, Blogs, Social Media Links, Store. See you at www.radicalrocks.com Remember, Rockhounds don’t die they petrify!

FOR SALE Bonanza Mining – Highest quality Gems & Minerals for lowest prices. Wyoming Nephrite Jade $12/pp 10# minimum over 100#/$4.50pp. Beautiful Agate, all colors Gem Grade 10#’s/$3.50pp 50#+ $3.00pp. Gary Green Bogwood petrified Jasper – Gem Grade. Beautiful green & other colors $6/pp 10# minimum 50#+ $5/pp. Mahogany Obsidian. Also, giant Apache Tears 3x7 inches. Gem Grade. $2/pp 20# minimum. Beautiful opalized petrified wood from Virgin Valley, NV $8/pp 10# minimum 25#’s $7/pp. Satisfaction Guaranteed. For more information call 208-351-5576 CABS Collection for sale. My 45 years of rockhounding has come to an end due to my health and age. Selling hundreds of beautiful cabs cut to the exact template sizes to fit earrings, bracelets or belt buckles. Mostly made of agates & jasper and from select slabs from dozens of rock shows. All highly shined! Also many slabs that were never cabbed if desired. Stones from all over the world including: Laguna Agates, Copco, picture stones of grade A chicken track, plumb agates, picture agates. Also available are all of my lapidary equipment: 14’’ Lortone saw, like new $1500, trim saw, 3 wheel expandable cab maker, all restored – Gene diamond cabber. Pictures available. Call Jerry 310-326-8692 for more info.

10 acre crystal quartz mining lease for sale in Mount Ida, AR, crystal capital of the U.S. Water clear and phantom crystals found. Less than one half acre

mined. Fully transferable and renewable indefinitely.

25k norsemanllc@yahoo.com Colorado mining property. Fun with the family doing gemstones and gold as a hobby. Income potential. $6500. Call 830-328-3678 or email wildernesslady73@gmail.com R & T Rocks: We have over 70,000 pounds of petrified woods, agates, jaspers, and geodes. Wide Variety. To be sold by the bin, barrel, pallet ONLY. Call (801) 494-4283 or email randtrocks@msn.com PRIDAY RANCH COLLECTION FOR SALE. I have a collection of Priday Ranch Plume slabs, heels as well as eggs all showing plume. There are over 1,700 pieces that all weighs in at 134 pounds of material. Was appraised by Richardson’s Ranch Rock shop $175,000.00 as they had never seen that much of this material at one time. I’m asking a mere $19,000.00, OBO, for the collection as I sold my shop, Triple A Rockshop, pictures available that I can e-mail for those who are interested buyers. Brian 208-467-7788

LAPIDARY EQUIPMENT Large swing arm flat slab polisher. Shop built. Will polish 4’ x 8’ slab, 5/8 spindle 110 V power. 1-970-434-8773

MINERALS Rare Minerals and classic specimens from new discoveries and old collections. Over 200,000 specimens on hand, unique gift items and more. Open Tues-Sat, Excalibur Mineral 1885 Seminole Trail, Charlottesville, VA 22901, (434)-964-0875. www.excaliburmineral.com

PRODUCTS Vibratory Lot-O-Tumbler built since the 1960’s, produces a high quality shine in only 7 days. Superior finish on specimens and gemstones. Great for beginners and used by many professional gem cutters. 507-451-2254 Belt, Inc. 2746 Hoffman, Dr. NW Owatonna, MN 55060, www.lototumbler.com

ROCK SHOPS Loveland, CO. Blue Stone – Colorado’s source for fine gems and minerals. On the road to Rocky Mountain National Park. Jewelry, Crystals, Fossils. Our own cut designer cabochons. Huge selection! 4855 W. Eisenhower. www.bluestonegemshop.com. Facebook – Blue Stone Jewelry Store Austin, Texas – Nature’s Treasures 14,000 ft 2 campus includes a Retail Showroom with Minerals, Agates, Fossils, Jewelry and Unique Gifts. The Rock Yard has bulk rock and natural-scape pieces leading to the Rock Depot that offers loose cabochons, specimen grade Agates, and lapidary services, supplies, tools & equipment. Open 7 days. 4103 N Interstate 35, 78722. (512) 472-5015.

Browse and Shop Online NTRocks.com.

Marbleton, WY – J L Gray Rock Shop. Rough rock, slabs, cabochons, and beads, 614 E. 3rd Street Marbleton, WY. (307) 260-6443. Email: graysrocks@wyoming.com Facebook: Friends Who Like JL Rock Shop Indianapolis Area (Lawrence) – Findings, supplies, minerals, fossils, equipment, rough and finished stones.

No list. Jox Rox, 4825 N. Franklin Rd. Indianapolis, IN 46226. Hours 10am – 6pm. Monday – Saturday.

(317)-542-8855.

Great Canadian Prospecting Co. – Rock and Mineral Shop.

Silver specimens for sale,Native Leaf and Nuggets,also Slabs Will send photos and prices on request Contact wjimpauls@hotmail.com or call 613-483-3459 www.greatcanadianprospecting.com Stone Goddess Designs – Gemstones, Fine Minerals and Crystals. NOW CARRYING FACETING ROUGH! We are located at 1730 w Hildebrand Ave in San Antonio. From tumble stones to high end collector specimens, and everything in between you will not be disappointed or call (210) 689 1852.

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ON THE ROCKS

BY BOB JONES

American Museum’s New Hall is a Must-See Treasure he American Museum of Natural History is one of the scientific treasures of our country. Along with countless millions, this writer has visited its halls and marveled at the history of the natural world so well displayed in the vast halls of this centrally located museum. The main museum is just a stone’s throw from Central Park in the heart of the city and is often referred to as the New York Museum. As it developed, it was supported by some of the wealthiest people like J.P. Morgan, Washington Roebling and many important families and foundations.

Now, thanks to many more benefactors, the Allison and Roberto Mignone Hall of Gems and Minerals, an amazing 11,000 square feet of displays, opened in June for enjoyment and education. Using minerals and gems, the hall tells the story of the evolution of the earth from its birth in space billions of years ago to today.

The American Museum of Natural History had its beginnings when the state of New York, in 1859, passed a bill for the establishment of a museum. Five years later,

T

construction started, and in 1873 the Museum officially opened on Central Park West. From that simple beginning, the American Museum complex has grown to encompass 10 buildings housing major collections of every facet of earth, nature, and science.

The gem and mineral collection on display in previous years was typical of mineral displays I first saw in the 1950s.

Labeled mineral specimens were out in rows. My first visit to the Museum was because of my desire to see dinosaur eggs I learned were on display. Dinosaur eggs were unknown to humankind until the 1920s when eggs were discovered in the Gobi Desert by American Museum’s dinosaur expert Roy Chapman Andrews who discovered them on a Museum expedition.

I can’t write about the American Museum without mentioning the Museum curator most mineral collectors knew, Dr. Fred Pough. Collectors know him through his superb mineral collector’s text, “Field Guide to Rocks and Minerals.” As the hobby grew after World War II, Pough saw

This is just one area visitors see as they enter the Museum’s Mignone Gem and Mineral Hall.

FININ, AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

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For Advertising Opportunities, Contact: Alex Soriano 619-392-5299 | alex@beckett.com WWW.ROCKNGEM.COM | SEPTEMBER 2021 77

On the Rocks

This is one half of a 12,000 pound amethyst geode displayed in the new Mignone Gem and Mineral Halls of the American Museum of Natural History. FININ, AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

the need for a mineralogy book designed for the amateur collector. In 1953 his “Field Guide” was published and is now in its fifth edition. Through his writings and his work at this museum, Fred has undoubtedly impacted our hobby more than anyone else. He became so well known as a gem expert in New York he is the only museum curator I know of featured in a comic book about gems and the museum.

Ironically, in 1964 there actually was a gem theft at the American Museum featuring a character named “Murph the Surf.” He, along with others, climbed through a bathroom

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window and stole a couple of dozen loose diamonds, including the 16.24 carat Eagle diamond, the 100 carats Delong Star Ruby and the Star of India sapphire, 573 carats. The gems were eventually recovered, and this last beauty, the Star of India, is back on display in the new hall. However, the Eagle diamond was never recovered and was probably split up. Murph and his ilk ended up in jail.

A major change in the museum’s Guggenheim Gem and Mineral Hall came about in the 1970s, when curator Vince Manson took over. I had gotten to know Vince at the

On the Rocks

Measuring 6 feet by 7 feet, this is a one ton wall of calcite and willemite fluorescing red and green under ultra violet excitation, part of a larger floor display in the new hall. FININ, AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

Tucson Shows. He was a delightful South African fellow full earth and the universe around it is an ever-evolving story of of stories about working in the South African gold mines. At the known 92 natural elements that make up every type of that time, mineral exhibits were still hued to the traditional rock group; igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary, which practice of display, but were still a refreshing make up of the earth’s minerals. change from the old exhibits. Vince later The new exhibits demonstrate how the earth moved on to the education department eventually formed as meteors and comets of the Gemological Institute of drew together, forming our planet. Once America and has since passed away. formed, the forces of gravity, weathering The current curator, George and all the other forces brought Harlow, took over and was kind about those three major rock types, enough to arrange for Rock & each with its own complex suite of Gem to receive news releases minerals. Today we use the minerals describing the latest major in industry, jewelry, and the growth upgrade of the gem and of today’s modern age. mineral hall. The new hall All this is displayed in the is a complete shift to a new redesigned Allison and Roberto modern, scientific approach of Mignone Gem and Mineral Hall, exhibiting minerals with an overall culminating with wonderful mineral educational theme based on mineral exhibits that range from quite ordinary evolution. but beautifully crystallized species, many of them recently obtained, to classic George has done a masterful job of managing the examples of species of historically important collection that has grown under his tenure to some 5,500 specimens. Along with his curaminerals. What could be older and Created by Cartier of Paris, this gold Crocodile pendant has 60 carats of torial duties, George has done studies more appropriate than a nine-pound yellow diamonds and 66.8 carats of and writings on diamonds, which are almandine garnet recovered during emeralds and is part of the Museum’s new displays. informative and very useful. the building of a subway tunnel in FININ, AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY The American Museum has joined a the ancient metamorphic rock upon movement among public museums to use the evolution of which Manhattan is built? Benefactor Allison Mignone a few dozen known early mineral species, considered the describes walking into the new gem and mineral hall as building blocks of today’s universe and planetary system being like “walking into a jewel box.” Several large examples to the complex earth mineralogy of today of some 5,000 of minerals add to the overall stunning visual impact upon species with more still being discovered. We now know the entering the new hall.

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On the Rocks

Elbaite tourmaline mined in the Gillette quarry, Connecticut in colonial times is now in the Museum collection. BOB JONES

One such pair of large specimens is an Uruguay amethyst geode that has been cut in half to expose the lustrous violet amethyst quartz crystals lining the interior walls of the geode. This huge amethyst geode is an astonishing 12,000 pounds, among the largest in the world, and was recovered from the Molsa mine, Uruguay.

Of all the large specimens on exhibit, my favorite is an old-timer that dates back to the 1880s from Arizona, a four-and-a-half-ton solid block of copper ore. This block of sulfide, and secondary copper minerals had been mined in the Copper Queen mine in the 1980s, during the heyday of this famous copper mine. The mine owners had been invited to exhibit minerals from Bisbee at the 1893 Chicago Exposition. The exhibit included fine specimens and the huge ore block. This block was shown purposely to attract investors to buy stock in the young mining company. Once the Exposition ended, the Bisbee minerals were sold off and the massive block of ore was shipped to the American Museum for display. Upon arrival, the museum folks realized there was a problem. At four and a half tons, the floor could not hold the copper beauty. The floor had to be re-enforced before it could be put on display. I suspect the floor where the giant geode rests has also been strengthened.

Another exhibit in the American Museum I find very interesting is Copperman, the mummified remains of an ancient Chilean native copper miner unearthed during copper mining in Chile in the 1920s. With his leather bag and stone hammer, he had been tunneling in a zone of copper when the tunnel collapsed on him. When found, he was named Copperman and shipped to the American Museum, where he was displayed with much fanfare. The problem is folks expected to see a mummy replaced by native copper and what they saw were the dull grayish dried-out remains of a human. Copperman had to be removed from the exhibit but has since returned for viewing.

The obvious trend in redesigned museums is to feature

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large specimens along with a variety of eye-catching minerals, historically important species, and at some point, precious gems and jewelry. This trend is obvious in the new hall at Yale’s Peabody Museum and, to a lesser degree, in Dallas’ Perot Museum and the new University of Arizona Museum in Tucson. American Museum follows this pattern.

The Mineral Hall is coupled with precious gem exhibits.

Of the large specimen exhibits, the one that will catch every child’s eye is the huge wall-like display of bright green and red fluorescent minerals from Sterling Hill, New Jersey, measuring sixteen feet by seven feet and ten inches high. The wall weighs nearly a ton and looks like an ordinary rock, but under various forms of ultraviolet light excitation, the wall glows bright red and green. This display is made of calcite and willemite from the New Jersey deposits, which are world-famous for the variety of fluorescent minerals found there. Such a fluorescent display will stop visitors in their tracks as they marvel at the magical change in the rocks with a change in lights.

The gems are, of course, the big draw of the general public. The Star of India, with its exciting history and rarity, will always be popular. After all, it is the largest gem blue sapphire in the world, which was formed in rocks two billion years old. The Delong Ruby adds its lore to the exhibits.

These beauties, along with many others, give visitors a lot to absorb.

Along with the gems is one necklace that deserves mention. Many consider crocodiles among the ugliest animals on earth. Who can love one of these big ugly beasts?

Well, actress Marila Flelix could. She thought crocodiles were just fine and worthy of being replicated for jewelry.

She actually took a live small crocodile to Cartier’s in Paris and they created a gold version, replicating the scales for a more realistic effect and made a necklace pendant jewel of gold embedded with over 60 carats of yellow diamonds and nearly 67 carats of emeralds This stunning beauty is displayed with other gems in the Keith Meister Gallery of Gems as part of the Nils Hermann, Cartier collection.

As is the case with other gem and mineral halls recently updated, a visitor should plan for lengthy and multiple visits to the American Museum to fully enjoy and study the presentations and exhibits. Each new hall represents an opportunity to learn about our earth’s minerals that are so critical to its development and so necessary in our lives today.

Bob Jones holds the Carnegie Mineralogical Award, is a member of the Rock hound Hall of Fame, and has been writing for Rock & Gem since its inception. He lectures about minerals, and has written several books and video scripts.

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PARTING SHOT

ROCKS, MINERALS AND JEWELRY

EUCLASE This specimen of euclase on matrix was discovered in the Gachala Mine, Colombia. The mineral euclase, a basic beryllium aluminum silicate composition, often forms in excellent crystals of intense and zone colors, according to information at Minerals.net. Plus, the name is a combination of two Greek words, “Eu”, which means good and the word “klases”, which means fracturing. 14 cm.

PHOTO BY JOE BUDD

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