Post on 03-Oct-2020
May 2010 Issue How Safe Are Your Work Practices? 1
No Stone Unturned
President Bill Reece
Secretary Jeanne Mora
Editor & Publisher:
Jeanne Mora
News and views of the
Cairns Mineral & Lapidary
Club Inc
Opening Times:
Monday: 7:00pm-9:30pm Wednesday:
8:30-4:00pm (7:00pm-9:30pm tuition)
Saturday: 10:ooam-4:00pm
Club Rooms: Youth Centre Grounds, 129
Mulgrave Rd. Cairns, Queensland. PO Box
389, Westcourt Queensland 4870
Crystal Interrupted
The quartz crystal pictured
left is from Keith Hill’s col-
lection. It clearly shows
growth lines as the crystal
grew, then remained static
for a time then recom-
menced growing as condi-
tions once more became
favourable. Each striation is
where the crystal recom-
menced its growth.
This specimen measures
approximately 120mm long.
Trying Something New
Below from left to right Sylvia, Kay, Anne and Val are knitting wire with added
pearls, beads or polished gem stone chips to form bracelets and necklaces. The
end result is a wide lacy and light cuff. Below left are some of the bracelets they
have completed
REMEMBER TO
COLLECT SOME
RAFFLE
TICKETS TO
SELL
May 2010 Issue How Safe Are Your Work Practices? 2
OFFICE BEARERS
CLUB PATRON HON. DESLEY BOYLE MP
President Bill Reece Ph 4054 2498
Vice President Allan Rose Ph 4039 3880
Secretary Jeanne Mora Ph 4033 0028
Treasurer Anne Barham
Assistant Secretary David Croft
Assistant Treasurer Jan Saal
OTHER PERSONNEL
Purchasers Betty Reece, Bill Hall, Spec-imen Curators David Croft, Laurel Voigt
Cabochon Instructors Chrissy Wilson
Silver Instructors Bill Hall, Sylvia Rose, Jenni Hedges,
Jan Saal, .
Faceting Advisor Jim Lidstone, Joe Ferk,
Trevor Hannam, Noel Hedges
Carving Advisors Jean Morrow
Machinery Curators David Croft, Jim Lidstone
Specimen Testers David Croft, Trevor Hannam
QLACCA Delegate Bill Reece
Youth Centre Delegate Bill Reece
Librarians Betty Reece, Jean Morrow
Events Coordinators Noel Hedges, Allan Rose
Honorary Auditor Vic Cummings
The positions of Field Officers and carving advisors are yet to be filled
Please give these people all the help you can!
MEETINGS
General Meetings are held at 1:00pm on the first Saturday of each month. (unless otherwise advised) Management Committee Meet-ings held at 10:30am last Saturday of the month (unless advised otherwise)
CLUB HOURS
Monday Nights: 7:00pm to 9:30pm
Wednesday; 8:30am to 4:00pm
Wednesday Night: 7:00pm to 9:30pm (Classes)
Saturday: 10:00 am to 4:00 pm
Club closed on long weekends and public holidays.
MEMBERSHIP FEES (due January 1st)
Family: New $60:00 / year
Family: Renewal $40:00 / year
Adult Member: New $30:00 / year
Adult Member: Renewal $20:00 / year
Junior Member: New $ 20:00 / year
Junior Member Renewal $10:00 / year
(Members are those over 12 years of age. Children under the age of 12 are
welcome on field trips and in the main Clubroom under their parents’ supervi-
sion. (They must not enter the workrooms.)
INSTRUCTION CLASS COSTS
Dates will be advertised on notice board..
Cabbing $30:00 (includes material)
Jewellery $85:00 (includes material)
Faceting $72:00 (includes material)
Carving $8:00 (includes materials)
Casting $5:00 firing/flask (materials extra)
(You must purchase all materials for casting. Please see Bill Hall to order
commercial waxes, which take up to three weeks to arrive. We sell carv-
ing wax, for those who’d like to make their own wax mould. Investment
powder, wax & silver are all available for purchase at the counter.)
INSTRUCTION CLASSES ARE ADVERTISED ON THE
SANDWICH BOARD NEAR THE FRONT DOOR. MEMBERS
SHOULD CHECK DATES AND DETAILS AND SIGNUP IF
INTERESTED.
Inquiries may also be made at the front counter
WORKROOM FEES (payable at counter before sessions)
Monday Night : $4:00
Wednesday: Full day: $8:00
Half Day: $4:00
Saturday : Full day: $6:00
Half Day: $4:00 (Meeting Satur-
days, no work is to be done while meeting is in progress)
CUTTING FEES
30c / inch² (members)
50c / inch² (non-members)
A Big Welcome to all our New Members
We wish all members born in May a very Happy
Birthday .
Thalia Moore, Wilma & Keith Hill, Sylvia Rose, Stuart &
Donna Blackshaw. Debbie Bloomfield, Wayne Williamson
The Editor wishes to advise that articles or advertisements for inclusion in “No Stone Unturned” should be handed to the editor or emailed. All articles must be signed and will be published at the Editor’s discretion. The Editor reserves the right to emend all copy used. Contributions should be submitted 2 weeks before the monthly meeting.
Opinions expressed in articles are not necessarily those of the Club or the Editor. The Publisher is not responsible for any consequence of inaccuracy or omission. The Publisher ex-cludes all warranties able by law to be excluded.
Well I didn’t Know That!
One of the most fascinating things about lapidary, is that you can al-
ways learn something new about the hobby. Almost every time I talk to
a member, I pick up a snippet of information that I’ve never heard before
(or heard and forgotten). I’ll bet you have too! Lets start passing these
tips on to all members. Please let me know of any you hear for future
publications. Editor
May 2010 Issue How Safe Are Your Work Practices? 3
Hi, I hope everyone had a happy and successful trip over the public holiday weekends and found plenty to keep them busy.
Well it’s that time of year that we start our major raffle so think about how many tickets you can sell. Just think
how many we would sell if every member took a book of 10 to sell (apart from what they buy for themselves), instead of leaving it to the same old few. While on the subject of fund raising think about what job you can do at the Gem festival & either tell Noel or put your name on the list that will be provid-ed. Don’t leave it till the last minute as Noel will need to see where he will need more help.
I will be away for the next two weeks but when I return we will need more helpers to construct our rear awning. That should be the last major job for a while.
For those of you who haven’t noticed, on Wednesday morning we have a happy chatter group who have been donating material & time to making objects to sell at the Gem Festival. On behalf of our club, I thank them very much. If you feel you can help, join them (they are not dragons) & you may also get some handy hints, from these talented ladies (and John too of course).
There’s not much more to add but keep up the good work. We are a strong club because of the attitude of our members. We still have some problems but we are gradually overcoming them. That’s life!
Bill
WHO DOES IT ? Dare I compare a Club such as ours to the human body?
After all a club is a body of likemind-ed people performing a variety of functions in a single and closed envi-ronment.
The constituent people go about their particular interest with a seem-ingly lesser focus on the body whole.
The human body requires regular cleaning and maintenance lest it become foul and subject to break-down. So goes our Club. The seem-ingly unnoticed service and maintenance aspects are carried out by small and dedicated few….too few.
Let us all be more aware of this part of our Club life and reflect ”Who does it ?”
Allan
ALLAN’S MUSINGS
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
NAME % Au
gold
% Ag
silver
% Cu
copper
% Ni
nickel
% Zn
Zinc
Melting Point
ºC
Spec
Grav.
22K coin-
age
90 10 940 17.2
18 K yellow 75 12.5 12.5 904 15.5
18 K white 75 5 15 5 904 15.7
18 K rose 75 5 20 932 15.5
14 K yellow 58 25 17 802 13.4
14 K white 58 20 14.5 7.5 927 13.7
14 K rose 58 10 32 827 13.4
10 K yellow 42 12 41 786 11.6
10 K white 42 26 20 11 1760 11.8
10 K rose 42 10 48 927 11.8
In the May Edition of “No
Stone Unturned” , a table of
common alloys (page 3) was
included. You will have noticed
that the final three rows for 10
karat gold did not add up to
100%. This is because the
quantities were taken from a
1982 publication “The
Complete Metalsmith” by Tim
McCreight. Gold dealers were
standardising their 10K alloys
at the time and were allowed a
3% variation in the ratio.
The quantities in 18K rose
gold should read as amended.
This was a typing error. We
apologise for any inconven-
ience this may have caused.
May 2010 Issue How Safe Are Your Work Practices? 4
CONGRATULATIONS Sylvia Rose celebrates her 70th birthday this month and Thalia Moore her 21st. DID WE MISS YOUR BIRTHDAY?
Please let Jeanne know the month of your birthday. If
we don’t know it we can’t send you a birthday hello in
“No Stone Unturned”.
BELOW IS A LIST OF OUR FABULOUS MONSTER
RAFFLE PRIZES.
At just $1:00 a ticket you have a chance of winning one
of these prizes. Good value in anyone’s book.
They are on display on the front table behind the carving
display, Check them out to see just how impressive they
are.
1.Handcrafted gold ring & blue topaz - Trevor Hannam
2.Faceted sapphires—J & J Elliot
3.Digital compass & map measurer- NQ Miner’s Den
4.Sterling silver choker— David Roney
5. Framed tapestry - Jean McGuigan
6. Prospecting hammer—Club donation
7.Faceted sapphire— Coolamon Mining
8.Silver and CZ ring—Joe Ferk
9.Gem- tree—Kay Gadd
Happenings from
around the Club
A FEW REMINDERS
COMING CLUB GEM SHOWS:
May & June:- See April Edition
July:-
3 QLACCA General Meeting
3—4 Atherton Lap Club Show
17—18 Townsville Gem & Mineral Show
31/7—1/8 Cairns Mineral & Lapidary Club Inc. Gem
Festival
August:-
7 QLACCA General Meeting
& Ipswich & District Lap Club Show
6—8 Anakie Gemfest
14—15 Central Qld Gem show, Gladstone
21 Innisfail Club Gem Show
TBA Kybong Rock & Mineral Fest
(Addresses for the club rooms may be seen on the
QLACCA Calendar …..front counter)
CONDOLENCES:
Members offer their sincere condolences to
Colin & Jan Saal and family and John Baldwin
and family on their recent bereavements.
The picture below wasn’t taken at the club BUT it raises a possible solution to the congested parking at the club
on Saturday mornings. It certainly is “creative parking” - but the drivers don’t seem too happy about it ….
May 2010 Issue How Safe Are Your Work Practices? 5
GEM TREES by Janine Peterson
Gem trees are very popular at the club these days
and our members are becoming more and more cre-
ative and diverse in their creations. These minia-
ture gem trees originated in China and were pat-
terned on the ‘bonsai’ trees, which were miniatures
of the large gnarled trees that grew in the forests or
clung to the rocky, wind blown cliffs.
It was in China that the first ‘bonsai’ trees were
grown in pots in the courtyards of the affluent
homes. They were usually arranged on tiered
shelves and watered and manicured with great care.
However, within the home, the philosophy of feng
(wind) shui (water) developed. Feng shui is the
Chinese art of creating positive and harmonious
surroundings by using natural energy within the
home. It uses ‘chi’ - the basic life force energy of the
universe, the elements—water metal, earth, wood
and fire- and the opposing forces of yin and yang.
There are nine life satisfaction or good luck areas,
which can be enhanced by gems within the home.
These gems can be on a gem tree, or may be in the
form of symbol like the turtle, which symbolises long
life.
If you want wealth and prosperity, your gem tree will
have leaves of citrine, jade or agate and the colours
used will be light green. If you want health, it will
have leaves of tiger eye or pyrite in conjunction with
the colour yellow, a good career will mean leaves of
hematite or lapis lazuli combined with dark blue and
so on.
Left:
Peter Egan
examines a
bunch of
grapes crafted
from polished
gem stones.
(see inset)
Each of the
stones have
been drilled
and attached
with wire to the
bunch.
Above: The combined efforts of Val Evans and Kay
Gaad created this masterpiece, which resembles a
bonsai specimen rather than a gem tree. Where next
girls?
The club ladies have come
FROM THIS
TO THIS
Wealth &
Prosperity
citrine, jade,
tree agate
Fame &
Reputation
Garnet,
carnelian
Love &
Relationships
Rose quartz,
rhodonite
Community &
Family
Harmony
Chrysocolla,
malachite
Health &
Wellbeing
Tiger eye, pyrite
Creativity &
Children
Citrine,
ice quartz
Wisdom &
Spirituality
amethyst
Career &
Life Journey
Hematite, lapis
lazuli
Helpful People
& Travel
Moonstone,
white jade
Continued on page 6.
May 2010 Issue How Safe Are Your Work Practices? 6
DIRK HARTOG’S PEWTER PLATE.
The alloy pewter was discussed in a previous edition of
“No Stone Unturned”, and the pewter plate left on Dirk
Hartog Island in 1616 by Dirk Hartog, captain of the ship
Eendracht of the VOC (Dutch East India Company).
You will recall that Indonesia was once known throughout
the world as The Dutch East Indies, which colonised the
islands in the 17thC. Indonesia was also known as the
Spice Isles because they were an important source of
spices that were essential to Europeans for the
preservation (and deadening the smell) of their meat at a
time before the invention of refrigeration.
The sailing ships that plied between Indonesia and Eu-
rope, with valuable cargos relied for their eastern pas-
sage across the Indian Ocean, on the “Roaring Forties”,
powerful winds that carried their sailing ships swiftly to-
wards the coast of Western Australia. Before making land-
fall in Australia, the ships would veer north, then east
again to Batavia (now called Jakarta).
The ship “Eendracht”, sailing in convoy with a fleet of VOC
ships became separated from the other ships. Captained
by Dirk Hartog, it sailed too far east on the roaring forties
and made landfall on an island off the coast of Australia.
As a memento of his unexpected visit the captain
scratched a message onto a flattened pewter ship’s plate
which read:
“1616 On 25 October arrived the ship Eendracht, of Am-
sterdam: Supercargo Gilles Miebias of Liege, skipper
Dirch Hatrichs of Amsterdam. On 27 ditto she set sail
again for Bantam. Deputy Supercargo, Jan Stins, upper
steerman Pieter Doores of Bil. In the year 1616.”
Dirk Hartog left the island and sailed north, charting the
WA coast to just north of Shark Bay. Before sailing on
to Java.
The plate remained on the island for 81 years until it
was retrieved by another Dutch captain, Willem de Vi-
amingh, who replaced it with his own plate.
The plate was finally returned to Amsterdam where it is
housed in a museum.
The plate, pictured left, is an exact replica of the
original, and is owned by club member, Neville Ridley.
According to Neville, the Australian Government were
interested in acquiring the plate for the Australian
archives, but were promised a replica. Subsequently,
20 replicas were produced. The composition of the
pewter is exactly the same as the original. Neville was
“in the right place at the right time” and was able to
purchase his plate for $80.
Thanks Neville for sharing this with us.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
...continued from page 5:- Some gem trees & their meanings
The peridot tree
for prosperity
The peach plant
for longevity
The citrine tree
for wealth &
prosperity
The lime plant
for good fortune
The rose quartz
tree for love
The peony tree for
love, romance &
wealth.
May 2010 Issue How Safe Are Your Work Practices? 7
AROUND THE CAMPFIRE
After Christmas a teacher asked her pupils how they spent their holiday away from school. One child wrote:
“We always used to spend the holidays with Grandma and Grandpa. They used to live in a lovely big two-storyed house, but they got retarded and moved to a retardment village.
Now they live in a box sort of house and have rocks painted green to look like grass. They ride around on bicycles and wear name tags because they don’t know who they are anymore.
They go to a building called a wreck centre, but they must have got it fixed because it is all ok now. They do exercises there, but they don’t do them very well. Sometimes they sneak out to golf but their bits are getting stiff. Also they need operations to fix some of their parts. Especially poor old Grandma.
There is a swimming pool too, but all they do is jump up and down in it with hats on.
At their gate is a doll house with a little old man sitting in it. He watches all day so nobody can escape. Some-times they sneak out, and go cruising in their golf carts.
Nobody there cooks, they just eat out. And they eat the same thing every night—early birds. Some of the people can’t get out past the man in the doll house. The ones who do get out, bring food back to the wrecked centre for pot luck.
Grandma says that Grandpa worked all his life and so did she to earn their retardment and that I should do the same so I can be retarded too.
When I earn my retardment I want to be the man in the doll house. Then I will let people out so they can visit their grandchildren.”
(Thanks Allan. I hope it isn’t really as grim as that .)
A Woman Dreams: What I Want In A Man!
Original List: 1. Handsome 2. Charming 3. Financially successful 4. A caring listener 5. Witty 6. In good shape 7. Dresses with style 8. Appreciates finer things 9. Full of thoughtful surprises What I Want in a Man, Revised List (age 32) 1. Nice looking 2. Opens car doors, holds chairs 3. Has enough money for a nice dinner 4. Listens more than talks 5. Laughs at my jokes 6. Carries bags of groceries with ease 7. Owns at least one tie 8. Appreciates a good home-cooked meal
9. Remembers birthdays and anniversaries What I Want in a Man, Revised List (age 42) 1. Not too ugly 2. Doesn't drive off until I'm in the car 3. Works steady - splurges on dinner out occasionally 4. Nods head when I'm talking 5. Usually remembers punch lines of jokes 6. Is in good enough shape to rearrange the furniture 7. Wears a shirt that covers his stomach 8. Knows not to buy champagne with screw-top caps 9. Remembers to put the toilet seat down 10. Shaves most weekends What I Want in a Man, Revised List (age 52) 1. Keeps hair in nose and ears trimmed 2. Doesn't belch or scratch in public 3. Doesn't borrow money too often 4. Doesn't nod off to sleep when I'm venting 5. Doesn't re-tell the same joke too many times 6. Is in good enough shape to get off the couch on week-ends 7. Usually wears matching socks and fresh underwear 8. Appreciates a good TV dinner 9. Remembers my name on occasion 10. Shaves some weekends What I Want in a Man, Revised List (age 62) 1. Doesn't scare small children 2. Remembers where bathroom is 3. Doesn't require much money for upkeep 4. Only snores lightly when asleep 5. Remembers why he's laughing 6. Is in good enough shape to stand up by himself 7. Usually wears some clothes 8. Likes soft foods 9. Remembers where he left his teeth 10. Remembers that it's the weekend What I Want in a Man, Revised List (age 72) 1. Breathing. After being married for 44 years, I took a careful look at my wife one day and said, “Honey, 44 years ago we had a cheap apartment, a cheap car, slept on a sofa bed and watched a 24” black and white TV, but I had the most beautiful 25 year old wife in the world. Now I have a $500,000 home, a $45,000 car, a king sized bed and a plasma screen TV, but my wife is a wrinkled 65 year old woman. Seems to me you’re not holding up your side of things.” My wife is a very reasonable woman. She told me to go out and find a new beautiful 25 year old wife, and she would make sure that I would once again be living in a cheap apartment, driving a cheap car, and sleeping on a sofa bed and watching a 24” black and white TV. Aren’t older women great? They sure know how to solve a mid-life crisis!
(Thanks to Anne Thomas for the last two jokes)
May 2010 Issue How Safe Are Your Work Practices? 8
SAPPHIRES - ZIRCON - CHRYSOPRASE
Come and see our outstanding range of Australian gemstones all from our own mines and guaranteed
genuine and natural. See for yourself that some of the world’s best gemstones are produced right here in
Australia.
Jewellery and Gemstone Buyers
If you are buying a piece of jewellery or a gemstone, you want it
to be beautiful, brilliant and precious and you hope that it will last
forever. Natural sapphire is not only beautiful and precious, it is
extremely durable and is rarer even than diamonds, and comes in
an amazing range of natural colours. Our zircons rival diamonds
for brilliance. Our Queensland chrysoprase has been sold for
years as “Jade”.
Avoid synthetically modified, artificially coloured or radiation
enhanced gemstones, which are often sold to unsuspecting buyers
without proper disclosure. These false gems may be quite pretty,
but they have a very low value.
Choose genuine, natural sapphire (preferably Australian) and ask for
a Certificate of Authenticity from the seller to guarantee that your
purchase is really genuine and valuable.
Come and visit us at the Cairns Gem Festival
at 129 Mulgrave Road – beside the Cairns Showgrounds.
Bring any jewellery with missing sapphires you need replaced.
Or contact us at:
COOLAMON MINING PTY. LTD.
P.O. Box 303, Sapphire, Qld. 4702.
Phone: 07.4985.4277 Fax: 07.4985.4384
Cairns Mineral & Lapidary Gem Festival 31/7 & 1/8, 2010
See us
at the
Gem
Festival
May 2010 Issue How Safe Are Your Work Practices? 9
Did You Know?
Silver and Gold made in Galactic Furnaces
From “The Age”, July 14 2003 By Richard Macey
High in the sky, on any clear Melbourne winter evening, Antar-es glows bright red. "Antares is a red supergiant, a star nearing the end of its life," said Bryan Gaensler, an Australian astro-physicist who is an assistant professor of astronomy at Harvard University.
Professor Gaensler works with NASA's Chandra X-ray Obser-vatory, the Hubble's "sister", to study neutron stars, the cosmic corpses after big stars die and explode as a supernova. Within a million years or so, Antares may suffer such a fate.
But Professor Gaensler, back in Australia for this week's Inter-national Astronomical Union meeting, says such a death is not the end, but merely another phase in the cycle of stellar life.
Eventually, such stars run out of nuclear fuel, can no longer support their own bulk and collapse, blowing themselves apart. The blast spews out carbon, oxygen, nitrogen and other ele-ments - right up the elementary table to iron - that were manu-factured in the star's nuclear furnace during its life. Heavier elements, including silver, gold and uranium, are fused in the supernova itself.
Supernova elements not swept up by the new star can gather to form planets, and everything on them.
"Without supernovae these elements would not exist and there is no way we would exist," Professor Gaensler said. "If you wear something made of silver or gold, you are wearing some-thing made in a supernova. There is no other source in the universe."
May 2010 Issue How Safe Are Your Work Practices? 10
CAIRNS MINERAL and
LAPIDARY CLUB INC.
129 Mulgrave Road, CAIRNS.
DEALERS
MORNING &
AFTERNOON TEAS
BBQ SNAGS &
COLD DRINKS
DEMONSTRATIONS
* Cabochon polishing
* Faceting
* Silver-smithing
* Gold Panning
* Metal Detecting
INSPIRING DISPLAYS
* Club Members’ Work
* Polished Agates
* Mineral Specimens
WHY NOT VISIT THE NORTH’S GEMFIELDS WHILE YOU’RE HERE?
CHILDREN
FOSSICK FOR
YOUR OWN
GEM-STONE
EXPERIENCE OUR GOOD OLD-FASHIONED
NORTHERN HOSPITALITY
WIN GREAT
RAFFLE PRIZES
MICRO-SPECIMENS
See magnified micro-specimens.
Amazing detail on a large
screen.
Grab a Bargain at a variety
of STALLS