The Rockhound RecordThe Rockhound Record Volume 74, No. 6 Page 2 President: Chris Whitney-Smith...

Table Of Contents

Officers/Committees 2

President’s Message 2

MSA June 11, 2015 Meet-ing Minutes - Editor’s Cor-ner

4

MSA Special Recognitions 6

Arizona State Fair Display

Case Refurbishment 7

STEM Journals 9

TN Competition, 2015 Hall of Fame & 2016 MSA Of-

ficer Nominations

10

September Program 11

Mineral of the Month 14

Arizona Mineral Collector 17

Pinal Gem & Mineral Soci-

ety Updates 18

MSA and FMF Mineral Collections at UofA Miner-

al Museum

22

June Meeting Photos 24

Gilbert Show Photos 29

In the Field 31

June Field Trips Report 32

September Field Trip Info. 54

Upcoming Shows, Events

& Fliers 56

2015 Meeting Schedule 60

Membership Info. 61

Misc. Info. 62

The Rockhound Record MINERALOGICAL SOCIETY OF ARIZONA

W W W . M I N E R A L O G I C A L S O C I E T Y A R I Z O N A . O R G C O N T A C T U S : M S A C L U B 1 9 3 5 @ G M A I L . C O M

Volume 74, No. 7 September 2015 Alice LaBonte, Editor

SCHEELITE, 11.1 cm, Rogers mine, Dos Cabezas, Cochise County, Ar izona, USA;

Flagg Mineral Foundation (FMF) collection, Jeff Scovil photo.

The Rockhound Record Volume 74, No. 6

President: Chris Whitney-Smith

[email protected] (602) 405-1502

Vice President: Mike Williams


Secretary: Dawn Boushelle


Treasurer: Lynne Dyer


Editor: Alice (Margie) LaBonte


Associate Editor: Chris Whitney-Smith

Membership Chair: Ron Ginn


Field Trip Chair: Joey Philpott Jr.


Field Trip Co-Chair: Don Boushelle

[email protected]

Refreshments/Co-Social Coord: Maria Nichols


Co-Social Coordinator: Joyce Hendrix

[email protected]

Mineral Curator: Chris Whitney-Smith


Junior FRA Chair: Nathan Scholten

[email protected]

AZ State Fair Chair: Nathan Scholten

[email protected]

Coalition Field Trips: Betty Deming


Print Newsletter Distribution: David Lay

[email protected]

Hospitality/Door Prizes: Bob Holm

(623) 247-1325 [email protected]

Statutory Agent: Terry Dyer


Webmaster: Patti Polk

[email protected]

Board of Governors:

Joseph Philpott Jr. * Nathan Scholten

(2017)

Bob Holm * David Lay (2016)

Don Boushelle * Terry Dyer

President’s Message

Welcome back from summer recess! If you didn’t

escape to cooler mountains or tropical beaches and

you dwell in a valley of the Sun, you are enduring the

Sonoran Desert heat like true Arizonians.

I’m a 4th generation Arizona native and every sum-

mer there is a point I walk outside about midday and

feel my face start to sizzle (flesh is burning folks), you

can see super heated air waves, hear the cicada buzz-

ing and think, the valley of the Sun is the valley of

death! Then I remind myself to stop sniveling, it’s

normal for us Sonoran Desert dwellers and we endure

it and sometimes enjoy it, because come Fall, Winter

and Spring, Arizona is the envy of the nation and ab-

solute joy for Rockhounds and field trips! While the

Sun may keep us in pools or indoors during the sum-

mer, we wouldn't exist with out it and we are after all,

made up of star stuff from the Carbon in our DNA and

tissues, Calcium in our bones, Iron in our blood and along with Hydrogen, Oxygen,

Nitrogen, Phosphorus and many other elements, our bodies and life itself owes its

very being to our Sun and Stars. I love Arizona and knowing how connected we are

to the Sun and geology of the universe and humbled by the amazing light it brings to

our hobby.

Join us September 10th for a special Father & Son family program presented by

Mr. Chuck Kominski and Master Harris Kominski on “Thumbnail Collecting, Min-

eral Displays and Thumbnail Competition.” Chuck & Har r is will present high-

lights from several recent field trips to Utah, Colorado & Arizona with a focus on

Thumbnail collecting and competitive entry at mineral shows. Their program will

be educational and inspire families to get out and explore together around the state

and around the country.

On a historical note, MSA members can be proud that the measurement term

Thumbnail and Thumbnail collecting originated at MSA. MSA/FMF Junior Mem-

ber Harris is reigning 2015 Tucson Gem & Mineral Show® “Junior Master Thumb-

nail Champion” and can speak well on Thumbnails and competitive entry.

Our June 11th program presented by Mr. Evan Jones on “The Milpillas Mine - A

Modern Bonanza” and one of Ear ths r ichest sources of fine Azur ite was beyond

expectation with many one-of-a-kind world class, best of species minerals from the

private collections of Dr. Brendan O’Connor and Mr. Evan Jones on display. I had

to remind folks, this is a very special evening and a rare opportunity to see many of

the best minerals Milpillas has ever produced.

October is a special month set aside for programs dedicated in honor of our founder.

Our October 8th program will be presented by F lagg Mineral Foundation Chair-

man and MSA Honorary Life Member Mr. Phil Richardson on Flagg Mineral Foun-

dation & our founder Mr. Arthur L. Flagg.

Our November program will be presented by Mr. Rick Miller and Pinal Geology &

Mineral Museum crew. The program will cover new Pinal museum and Rick’s col-

lecting adventures in Black Hills & field trips with South Dakota School of Mines

where he received his BS in Geological Engineering.

JUNIORS PROGRAM: Juniors, please ar r ive no later than 6:40PM for Junior

Program before General meeting. Junior Program is “The Perfect Thumbnail; Col-

lecting, Trimming and Display” (6:45-7:15PM) and will be presented by

our Field Trip Chair Mr. Joseph Philpott Jr.

To volunteer to bring Refreshments for next meeting, please call Maria

“Helen” Nichols at 480-636-1251 or [email protected].

2015 Committee Members


President’s Message - continued

Arizona State Fair is around the corner and Nathan Scholten &

I need volunteers to help refurbish 4-5 State Fair Display cases on

behalf of MSA on Saturday, September 12th (see elsewhere in

newsletter for more details).

Please also consider registering a competitive entry. State Fair

competition is great practice before MSA Junior & Adult TN com-

petition in December, Flagg Gem & Mineral Show Junior TN

competition in January and Tucson Gem & Mineral Show in

February. You may not win every time, but losing is part of

winning. Every time you fail, you're better for it.

Rockhound Record Has New Cover: I have thought about

having a featured mineral on cover of RR newsletter for some-

time now and wanted our first cover mineral to be special and

symbolic of the close affiliation between MSA, FMF and our

founder Mr. Arthur L. Flagg. The featured mineral will likely

always be same as our Mineral of the Month, but featured

cover photo could differ based on circumstance. I discussed

with Margie and we are delighted to feature this iconic Arizona

Scheelite as 1st cover photo from our sister organization, Flagg

Mineral Foundation’s collection.

BIG MSA THANK YOU to following who joined me in mak-

ing donations to MSA at previous MSA meeting:

Dr. Carleton Moore Mr. Joey Philpott Jr. Ms. Sharleen Harvey QUALITY MINERAL DONATIONS WITH LABELS NEED-

ED: Please see Mike Williams or Chris Whitney-Smith. Min-

eralogical Society of Arizona is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organiza-

tion and will gratefully acknowledge your significant In-Kind Do-

nation with a TAX Deduction Letter. All individuals making In-Kind donations to our non-profit organization may claim a tax

deduction based on the fair resale value of the items donated. It is

the contributor’s responsibility to determine this value. Your con-

tribution to Mineralogical Society of Arizona is fully deductible

for tax purposes to the extent allowed by the current tax laws.

If you have any further questions, please consult your tax advisor. Thank you again for supporting Mineralogical Society of Ari-

zona! MSA TABLE OF FREE AWESOMENESS: Several flats of

rock & mineral specimens from recent adventures will be availa-

ble for MSA membership for Free. Based on available quantities

and first come first serve basis, members are requested to pick one

item and allow all members who are interested a chance to take

home a little treasure. No hoarding allowed. This is a generous

and fun practice to build collections & offer members who weren’t

able to join a field trip an opportunity to select a specimen from

recent excursions.

WEARING MSA NAME BADGES PAYS OFF!! MSA

members wearing their MSA Name Badges to general meeting

will be issued a special raffle ticket and be eligible to partici-

pate in an additional prize drawing! If you don’t have an MSA

Name Badge, see Membership Chair, Mr. Ron Ginn at meet-

ings or email Ron at [email protected]. MSA Name

badges are $7.50.

48th ANNUAL DENVER GEM & MINERAL SHOW®

September 18 - 20, 2015 - "Minerals of the American

Southwest" Denver Mar t Expo Hall (former ly the Denver

Merchandise Mart) 451 E. 58th Avenue (I-25 at Exit 215)

http://www.denvermineralshow.com/

MARK YOUR CALENDAR: Earth Science Day event

sponsored by Earth Science Museum is scheduled for Saturday,

October 17th in celebration of Earth Science Week. MSA

will have a booth at event. Stay tuned for more information.

LECURERS: MSA Members, who lecture around the

country & world, please provide your schedule of lectures to

MSA Editor to share with membership.

2015 Arizona State Fair is around the corner and MSA lead

by Dr. Nathan Scholten will launch MSA partnership with

American Federation of Mineralogical Societies Junior

Rockhounds of America program concurrent with Ar izona

State Fair display cabinet refurbishment project. See elsewhere

in newsletter for more about Arizona State Fair refurbishment

project, volunteers needed and registration deadline for com-

petitive displays.

Mineral Donation to MSA over Summer 2015 from Milestone

Life Member Ms. Lois Nelson. I received call from Lois’

friend Ms. Eleanor Hamrick wanting

MSA to know Lois desired to make a

donation. Lois is a retired Microbiol-

ogist in her nineties and was delight-

ed to know her rock & mineral treas-

ures would be going to MSA.

Thank You Lois & Eleanor for sup-

porting MSA for a life time!

September RR is another long edition, but we are catching up

for 3 months after all. For those who would rather a slimmer

RR with a quick what happened, what is happening and what

will happen, you’ll want to pace yourselves and enjoy RR in

small bites. Point of pride: The Rockhound Record has been

heralded as best newsletter in Arizona and perhaps one of best

in RMFMS and AFMS. Margie’s 1st Place Award for New

Editor awarded at 2015 RMFMS Convention in Cody, Wyo-

ming attests to the awesome responses RR is receiving.

Cheers and Enjoy!!!

Chris Whitney-Smith

Lois Nelson photo of photo

by Chris Whitney-Smith..

mailto:[email protected]


June 11, 2015 Mineralogical Society of Arizona General Meeting Minutes Dawn Boushelle

The meeting was called to order by MSA President Chris Whitney-Smith at 7:35 PM at the Franciscan Renewal Center. All stood and

recited Pledge of Allegiance. Visitors introduced themselves and were welcomed by the group.

Opening Announcement:

Chris reminded everyone about the evening’s silent auction, raffle and the opportunity to buy, sale or trade after the meeting.

Chris introduced the program speaker Even Jones. Evan gave us the presentation he premiered at the 2014 Dallas Mineral

Symposium, “The Milpillas Mine, Sonora, Mexico – A Modern Bonanza” Afterward, Chris presented Evan with a Certificate of

Appreciation.

Chris presented awards:

Dana Slaughter awarded Certificate of Commendation for his services and donations to MSA in 2014.

On behalf of Officers & Board of Governors, Chris awarded Dana Slaughter MSA Honorary Life Membership for his valued services

as Mr. Mineral and generous donations to MSA.

Phil Richardson awarded Certificate of Commendation for his services and donations to MSA in 2014. Bob Hendrix awarded Certificate of Appreciation for his volunteer services to MSA in 2014 and scouting collecting locations

Joyce Hendrix awarded Certificate of Commendation for her volunteer services to MSA in 2014 and generous donations of gemstone

wire trees she made.

The Mineral of the Month was Azurite. Dr. Brendan O’Connor displayed several best of species specimens from his personal

Milpillas collection including Azurite, Chris Whitney-Smith displayed a killer Bisbee Azurite from MSA Collection (MSA Azurite to be

added to MSA AZ minerals already on exhibit at UofA) along with specimens from his personal collection and Joey Philpott Jr. displayed

several nice Azurites.

Joey was introduced and discussed the field trip to Lynx Creek for gold panning this weekend. The trip is an overnighter; campsites can be

reserved, but are booking fast. Several spaces have already been reserved by the Mike and Paula Brown and Don and Dawn Boushelle,

each can accommodate 1 extra tent. We will be meeting at the campsite at 8:00AM Sat, June 13th.

Joey asked Don Boushelle to talk about the July Field Trip to the Mogollon Rim. This trip is also an overnighter for anyone wanting to

camp. We will be meeting at the Rim road turnoff off Interstate 87 at 8:00AM.

Joey is also taking orders for Field trip Leader shirts.

Anyone interested in going on the Colorado field trip should contact Steve Pegler.

Announcements:

Chris mentioned that he was contacted by a club in Arkansas that would like to start a trading program with the MSA. They would like to

trade Arkansas minerals for like valued Arizona minerals.

MSA members were invited to 7th Annual Gilbert Mineral Show on August 15. Several notable collector/ dealers will be selling their min-

erals.

Chris reminded the group about the upcoming Thumbnail Competition in December. Chris is securing experienced judges. The minimum

numbers of specimens for entry are: Juniors (10 specimens), and Adults (20-30 specimens). This competition will be a good primer for the

Flagg Gem & Mineral Show in January for Juniors and Tucson Gem & Mineral Show® in February for all ages. The Arizona State Fair in

October is nearest opportunity for everyone to register to compete with their displays & collections.


June 11, 2015 MSA Minutes Continued and Editor’s Corner.

The Arizona State Fair is coming up. Dr. Nathan Scholten has been working to refurbish the old State Fair display cases. He is considering

running an ‘adopt a case’ program to fund the project, and soliciting other clubs to help.

Chris will be putting together a record of minerals named for MSA members. A few we know of are Joe Hon. Joe Ruiz, Mr. Bob Jones and

Dr. Ray Grant.

The Flagg Mineral Foundation and MSA have their mineral collections on display at UofA, admission is free for members of MSA & FMF.

The Pinal Gem & Mineral Society is opening the Pinal Geology & Mineral Museum in Coolidge, AZ and the Flagg Mineral Foundation

will be donating specimens for display.

Earth Science Day will be October 17Th at Mesa Community College. Volunteers will be needed to man the MSA table & spinning wheel.

The evening’s business concluded and the meeting was adjourned. The raffles and silent auction were held. Refreshments were severed. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Jeepin’ in Julian! By Alice (Margie) Labonte

Wow what a summer! We made it

through yet another sweltering summer,

and even squeezed in a trip to San Diego,

CA to visit our daughter. While we were

there we visited Julian, CA. Julian is the

southernmost gold rush town in Califor-

nia, but is still alive and well. Julian is

about an hour outside of San Diego and is

a beautiful drive. You’ll pass boutique

vineyards, cattle ranches, and egg, camel

and u-pick vegetable farms. However,

Julian is probably most famous for its

apples - Julian apples.

This quaint town boasts antique shops,

breweries, wineries, gift shops and cafes

serving up healthy slices of Julian apple

pie. However, since Julian is an old min-

ing town, what would a trip be if we did-

n’t stop and visit the Eagle Mine?

There are really two Eagle Mine stops –

one for the tourists and one for those who

know better. We chose the non-tourist

stop. Oh, you can take a “mine cart” ride

through the old mine tunnel, but we chose

to visit the old saddle barn that serves as

the gift shop. We met real miners who

told us about the local ores and how they differ

from Arizona ores. We told them we’d visit

again the next time we’re in San Diego, but

maybe we’ll also take that mine cart ride.

Another highlight of my summer was being

awarded the Rocky Mountain Federation of

Mineralogical Societies (RMFMS) 2014 New

Editor award. I submitted for the contest

back in February of this year. My submission

is now in the hands of the American Federation

of Mineralogical Societies (AMFED), the

head of all societies. AMFED chooses winners

in October, so I’ll have to wait another month

to see if I won an AMFED editor award.

ESM Update

As some of you know, I am a member of the

Earth Science Museum (ESM) and firmly

believe in their mission of educating the com-

munity in the earth sciences.

ESM has been an annual recipient of the Sta-

ples 2 Million in Change grant program and

I am happy to announce that once again ESM

has been awarded a $5,000.00 grant.

This generous grant will allow ESM to contin-

ue to expand their popular free outreach educa-

tion program. ESM has been expanding

into higher grades, more areas of the earth

sciences and more Arizona counties. I

would like to personally thank Chris Whit-

ney-Smith for his help in sponsor ing

ESM and for Staples in recognizing organ-

izations who help build communities with

free outreach programs.

~ Alice (Margie) LaBonte


Special Recognition: RMFMS 1st Place “New Editor” and FM Chris Whitney-Smith

Congratulations to Margie LaBonte for being awarded

1st Place plaque, ribbon and citation as “New Editor”

for Mineralogical Society of Arizona RR at 2015 Rocky

Mountain Federation of Mineralogical Societies Conven-

tion in Cody, Wyoming.

AWESOME RECOGNITION, MARGIE!!!

Chris Whitney-Smith presented Alice “Margie” LaBonte

with Certificate of Commendation and Editor Rockhound

Record Name Badge at June 11, 2015 MSA meeting in

appreciation of her terrific services as Editor.

Chris Whitney-Smith photo.

Vol. 45, No. 3 - July 2015 issue of Friends of Mineralogy (FM)

National Newsletter includes featured ar ticle by MSA Legacy Life

Member and National President of FM, Dr. Alex Schauss on 3rd China

Gem and Mineral Show (CGMS) and Summit and Education Forum held

in late May 2015 in Chenzhou, China.

FM formed in Tucson, Arizona on February 13, 1970, operates on a

national level and also through regional chapters. It is open to member-

ship by all. FM’s objectives are to promote, support, protect and expand

the collection of mineral specimens and to further the recognition of the

scientific, economic and aesthetic value of minerals and collecting

mineral specimens.

http://www.FriendsOfMineralogy.org


MSA Call To Action: Arizona State Fair Display Case Refurbishment Dr. Nathan Scholten

You are cordially invited to participate in Arizona State Fair Display Case Refurbishment Project

along with MSA and other rock, gem, mineral, lapidary & museum organizations. See below for

details. Each group will be able to promote their organizations on cases they refurbish. RSVP needed ASAP to Nathan. The date to refurbish the displays is Saturday,

September 12th at AZ State Fairgrounds at 9:00 AM. Please send Nathan Scholten a reply

email at [email protected] if can join us to help out and he will send detailed

meeting area instructions. From: Nathan Scholten Dear Fellow Rockhounds, Please allow me to introduce myself. I am the Mineralogical Society of Arizona liaison to the

Arizona State Fair. My job is to re-invigorate the mineral, fossil, and lapidary portion of the state

fair. I have been actively participating in the competitions for the last five years. During that time the

number and quality of entries has dramatically decreased. It is for this reason that I am contacting

you. I am seeking out rock and mineral groups across the state to solicit help and involvement in breathing new life into the state fair. Letter of cooperation from the Arizona State Fair on next page. My plan is threefold: * Obtain volunteer participation from state groups to come to the fair grounds and refurbish one or two display cases. They would then be

the sponsors of that case. Sponsorship would list the club name, location, and contact information on the case itself. * Encourage each club to place an entry in the State fair. This display would be judged against all other club entries. The winner would be

based on overall merit regardless of discipline. The winner would then receive the bragging rights and their name on a an award plaque. * Encourage clubs to have their members enter in the state fair. Taking advantage of the state funded outreach program if distance is a prob-

lem. There are plans in the works to not only upgrade the display cases, but our overall exposure as well. Starting next year we are scheduled to

be in the main coliseum show area. This move from the barns to in the back will provide us with better lighting, exposure, and consequently

greater attendee exposure. The date is September 12th. meeting at the state fairgrounds at 9:00 AM. Please send me a reply email if you plan on helping out and I will

send detailed meeting area instructions. Each group is asked to provide the following: * Volunteer labor * Sandpaper and related supplies. * Painting supplies * We use Kensington Clark semi gloss black, latex paint. You can find it at Ace Hardware So there you have it fellow "rockaphile". If you or your club is interested in helping us make our portion of the Arizona State Fair a world class

event, please contact me. Respectfully Nathan Scholten D. V. M. [email protected] petra lacessent ibimus Historic MSA Award Ribbons, Les Presmyk photo.

https://us-mg6.mail.yahoo.com/neo/b/[email protected]



Arizona State Fair Display Case Refurbishment & Competitive Entry Dr. Nathan Scholten and Mr. Chris Whitney-Smith

February 23, 2015 Nathan Scholten D.V.M Mineralogical Society of Arizona Dear Nathan, The 2015 Arizona State Fair submits this Letter of Interest to the Mineralogical Society of Arizona and request that the projects listed be-

low be considered for inclusion in the 2015 Arizona State Fair Mineral & Jewelry department. The following projects are listed to refurbish the Mineral & Jewelry cases: * Strip the cases of timeworn stain with sand paper * Putty any necessary flaws in the wood * Stain and finish the wood with 2015 AZSF approved color * It is my understanding, all materials needed to complete this project shall be graciously provided by clubs associated with the Mineralogi-

cal Society of Arizona. Each participating club shall sponsor a display case for the duration of the 2015 Arizona State Fair to encourage participation in the com-

petitive entries portion of the Mineral & Jewelry section of the State Fair. Each volun-

teer on the grounds needs to sign a Hold Harmless Agreement. I love the Competitive Entries Department of the Arizona State Fair and I’m very

dedicated to making sure that every aspect of this department succeeds. Thank you for

your interest in supporting the development of the Lapidary and minerals section and I

look forward to working with you in this exciting new venture. Sincerely, Stephanie Anaya Entertainment and Events Solutions, Community Outreach Arizona State Fair

You can register on-line this year!! Click on below website to review catego-

ries, rules and important dates and deadlines:

https://azstatefair.com/sites/default/files/home_arts_mineral_jewelry_final_0.pdf

MSA President will award a Special Exhibit Premium Award Ribbon for

best display in 2015 Arizona State Fair Mineral & Jewelry Categories, so

get your displays together and let’s go compete!

MSA to refurbish 4-5 Display Cases at AZ State Fair . MSA Needs

Volunteers for Saturday, September 12, 2015 refurbishment project.

Please contact Nathan Scholten ASAP: [email protected]



STEM Journals: "Rocks & Minerals" and "Rockhounding with Lynne Dyer" By Chris Whitney-Smith

Chalcedony over Calcite Geode ( Fluorescent SW UV),

17 cm, Potts Canyon, Pinal County, Arizona, USA;

MSA Mineral Collection # 996, Jeff Scovil photo.

Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). Photos & web links courtesy of Paint It Black TV Productions & Cox.

"Paint It Black TV Productions” Producer David Routt and

STEM Journals Investigator, Brad Piccirillo teamed-up with MSA

Education & Outreach Coordinator Lynne Dyer, MSA members

(Terry Dyer, Dave Lay, Julie Massey, Chloe Main) and ASU Geolo-

gists around Potts Canyon off Queen Valley Road on December 17,

2012 and filmed two episodes for The STEM Journals educational

series.

These two episodes are currently running on COX7 and I will have

Vimeo links added to MSA website at a future date. Until then,

(from a home PC as below web links may not work on all smart

phones), please enjoy the following STEM Journals episodes from

COX 7 and Paint It Black TV Productions!

Rocks & Minerals: http://www.cox7.com/video/rocks/

Rockhounding with Lynne Dyer: http://www.cox7.com/video/

rockhound/

http://www.cox7.com/video/rocks/

http://www.cox7.com/video/rockhound/

http://www.cox7.com/video/rockhound/


December Junior & Adult Thumbnail Mineral Competitions, 2015 Hall of Fame and 2016 MSA Officers & Board Nominations Chris Whitney-Smith

2015 MR. ARTHUR L. FLAGG THUMBNAIL (TN)

MINERAL COMPETITION FOR JUNIOR MEMBERS

This is a call to action for Junior Members to complete your TN

selections and refine your labels and presentation for competition.

JR. TN Competition will be held at December Holiday Jamboree

and it will be here before you know it. MSA competition in

December is a springboard for collection refinement and further

challenge in Flagg Gem & Mineral Show JR TN competition in

January and ultimate competitive entry in Tucson Gem & Mineral

Show® in February. See the rules below. Great prizes for every Junior member who

enters, so start refining your TN choices and showmanship!

Rules Each junior member can enter 10 thumbnail specimens.

They must be in thumbnail perky boxes.

They must be labeled as to what they are and where they are

from.

Juniors can collect specimens, trade for them, buy them, use

specimens handed out at the meetings.

They will be judged on presentation (label completeness and

neatness) and what the specimens are.

The competition will be held at the December Holiday

Jamboree and prizes will be awarded.

2015 THUMBNAIL (TN) MINERAL COMPETITION

FOR ADULT MEMBERS

Adult Members of MSA This is a call to action for you to com-

plete your TN selections and refine your labels and presentation

for competition. Adult TN Competition will be held at December

Holiday Jamboree along with Junior TN Competition. I encourage

everyone to also consider competitive entry at Arizona State Fair

in October.

MSA competition in December is a springboard for collection

refinement and further challenge and ultimate competitive entry in

Tucson Gem & Mineral Show® in February.

See the rules for Juniors (Only Difference is: Adults should have

between 20-30 TN specimens). Prizes will be awarded for Cham-

pion, 1st Runner-up and 2nd Runner-Up.

2015 Mineralogical Society of Arizona Hall of Fame Commit-

tee consisting of MSA Secretary, Treasurer , Vice President

and Two Board Governors will review nomination forms now

through October 8th to determine a 2015 Hall of Fame Inductee. Award is for MSA Members who have provided conspicuous

service to Mineralogical Society of Arizona. Nomination Form can be found on MSA website, under Hall of

Fame tab. Please complete nomination form and submit to Miner-

alogical Society of Arizona, Hall of Fame Committee, P.O. Box

30031, Mesa, AZ 85275 or email completed form to

[email protected] no later than October 8th, 2015.

Award bestowed at December Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. Thank you in advance for bringing fine nominees to our attention

to help make the award a viable honor to bestow. 2016 MSA Nominating Committee for Officers & Board of

Governors consisting of Dr. Ray Grant, Mrs. Lynne Dyer and

Mr. Ed Nichols will convene in October to interview current offic-

ers & board governors to develop slate of 2016 Candidates for

Board review. Election of 2016 Officers & Two Board Governors

will be held at December Holiday Jamboree.


September 10, 2015 Program – “Thumbnail Collecting, Mineral Displays and Thumbnail Competition” Presented by Mr. Chuck & Master Harris Kominski.

Our September 10th program will be presented by Father & Son

team of Mr. Chuck Kominski and Master Harris Kominski on

“Thumbnail Collecting, Mineral Displays and Thumbnail Competi-

tion.” Chuck & Harr is will present highlights from several

recent field trips to Utah, Colorado & Arizona.

Harris will talk about the history of Thumbnail mineral collecting.

The talk will also focus on competing at mineral shows with

thumbnails, what he looks for and how to display the collection for

maximum effect.

Harris is reigning 2015 Tucson Gem & Mineral Show

“Junior Master Thumbnail Champion.” Harr is & Chuck are

active members of Mineralogical Society of Arizona and

Flagg Mineral Foundation.

Chuck and Harris Kominski have been collecting minerals together

since about 2005 either at shows or in the field. They love collect-

ing in Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado localities. Harris

has been competing in mineral displays for the past three years at

MSA Junior Thumbnail Competition, Flagg Gem & Mineral Show,

and Tucson Gem and Mineral Show®. Besides mineral collecting,

both Harris and Chuck are active in youth baseball, Harris as a

player and Chuck as a coach. Chuck is a chemical engineer and

travels to mines around the globe. Harris is currently a Freshman

at Seton High School in Chandler, Arizona.

Harris 2012 Lake George, Colorado holding a Smoky Quartz and

Amazonite combo that he dug up; Chuck Kominski photo.

Harris and Chuck 2012 Goethite Hill, Lake George, Colorado;

Kent Greenes photo.

Harris at Lake George Mineral Show in front of the largest single

Smoky Quartz crystal found to date in Colorado;

Richard Fedderdt collection, Chuck Kominski photo.


Harris 2014 Crystal Peak region Lake George, Colorado;

Chuck Kominski photo.

September Program – Continued.

Chuck 2012 Waterman Mountains, Arizona; Chris Sands photo.

Harris at the Colorado School of Mines Geology and Mineral Museum

in front of “The Legend” Amazonite and Smoky Quartz retrieved at the

Smoky Hawk mine by Joe and Tim Dorris; Chuck Kominski photo.

Harris 2012 at Topaz Mountain in Utah holding up a

Specimen containing a red beryl and sherry topaz in

rhyolite matrix; Chuck Kominski photo.


Harris Kominski in front of his 2015 TGMS competitive Junior Mas-

ter Thumbnail display case; Chris Whitney-Smith photo.

September Program – Continued.

Harris Kominski TN display wins 2015 Tucson Gem &

Mineral Show® “Junior Master Thumbnail Champion”

award ribbon and trophy; Chris Whitney-Smith photo.

Harris Kominski Junior Thumbnail competitive display at 2015 Flagg Gem and

Mineral Show; Chris Whitney-Smith photo.

Harris Kominski 2012 Mineralogical Soci-

ety of Arizona Mr. Arthur L. Flagg Junior

Thumbnail Champion award plaque;


Harris proves Mineralogical Society of Arizona Thumbnail competition

in December is a springboard for collection refinement and further chal-

lenge at Flagg Gem & Mineral Show in January and ultimate competitive

entry at Tucson Gem & Mineral Show® in February.


Mineral of the Month - SCHEELITE By Dr. Ray Grant

Members are invited to bring one sample from their collection of the

mineral of the month and give a brief story about where they collected it

or something about the specimen.

***Unknown minerals for identification can still be brought

to the meetings***

Mineral of the Month for September is Scheelite (CaWO4). Scheelite has

been mined as an ore of tungsten and is widespread in small amounts at

many localities in Arizona. Mindat.org has over 230 Scheelite localities

listed for Arizona.

Scheelite is hard to identify by sight as it often looks very similar to Quartz

in color and luster, but two things help to make it easier to identify.

One, it is very heavy (has a high specific gravity) compared to Quartz and

two it always has a bright bluish white fluorescence under sort wave UV

light. So going to the 230 Arizona localities with a UV light will be the

easiest way to find Scheelite.

The best Arizona Scheelite specimens came from the Cohen Mine,

Dragoon Mountains, Cochise County. (See the Arizona Mineral Collector

in this newsletter for more about the Cohen Mine and the different names

for that locality.) Other localities in Cochise County have produced good

crystallized Scheelite especially around Johnson Camp where Scheelite

crystals as inclusions in Quartz were found. Mindat.org lists this as

“A secret occurrence near the Republic Mine.” Galbraith first reported

this locality in 1947, as near the Republic Mine, so it is probably more a

lost locality, not a secret one. Most of the other Scheelite localities in

Arizona have only produced massive material.

SCHEELITE, 5.8 cm, Dos Cabezas, Cochise Coun-

ty, Arizona; Les & Paula Presmyk collection,

Jeff Scovil photo.

SCHEELITE, 3.8 cm, Mt. Xuebaoding, Pingwu, Sichuan,

China; Brett Keller collection, Jeff Scovil photo. http://scovilphotography.com

SCHEELITE, Fluor ite & Dolomite, 5.8 cm, Yaogangxian mine,

Yaogangxian, Yizhang, Hunan, China; Ken Roberts collection,

Jeff Scovil photo.

http://scovilphotography.com/


Mineral of the Month - SCHEELITE - Continued.

SCHEELITE, 11.1 cm, Rogers mine, Dos Cabezas, Cochise County,

Arizona; Flagg Mineral Foundation collection, Jeff Scovil photo.

Go see this Scheelite and many other world-class minerals from FMF collection

on exhibit at University of Arizona Mineral Museum in Tucson, Arizona.

SCHEELITE crystals in Quar tz under UV light

from near Republic mine, Johnson Camp, Cochise

County, Arizona; Dr. Ray Grant photo.

SCHEELITE & Quar tz under white light (left) and under UV light (r ight), Zannarapolis Tungsten mine,

5 miles South of Bagdad, Yavapai County, Arizona; Dr. Ray Grant photos.


Mineral of the Month - SCHEELITE - Continued.

SCHEELITE & Quar tz, 8 cm, Hauyllapon mine, Pas-

to Bueno District, Pallasca Province, Ancash Depart-

ment, Peru; Jurgen Tron collection, Jeff Scovil photo.

SCHEELITE on Muscovite, 10.6 cm, Mt. Xuebao-

ding - Pingwu, Sichuan, China; Collector's Edge col-

lection, Jeff Scovil photo.

SCHEELITE, 48.87 ct, Metzger -Cornell collection, Jeff Scovil photo.

SCHEELITE, Fluor ite & Dolomite, 4.6 cm, Yaogangxian mine,

Yaogangxian, Yizhang, Hunan, China; Ken Roberts collection, Jeff Scovil

Arizona Mineral Collector – Number 180 By Ray Grant


The mineral of the month for September

is scheelite. The best Arizona scheelite

specimens came from the “Cohen Mine”

in Cochise County. They are wor ld

class. There are several other mine names

associated with these specimens including

A.A. Cohen Tungsten Mine, Arthur Co-

hen Mine, Adams Property, Comstock

Lode Tungsten Claims, Comstock Mine,

Rodgers Mine, and various combinations

of these names.

F.W. Clark first claimed the area of the

mine in 1944 and in 1945 he sold the

claims to Archie Arthur Cohen of Wilcox.

So the first names for the mine were A.A.

Cohen Tungsten Mine, Arthur Cohen

Mine and probably just easier and shorter

finally Cohen Mine. In one later report it

is referred to as the Coin Mine, which is

probably the way the name sounded to the

later owners.

Cohen let the claims go and R. B. Adams

of Bowie reclaimed the property before

1955 and it was worked under the name

of Adams Property in 1955. At that time

the Tyone Mining Company of Tyler

Texas had a couple claims in the area and

leased Adam’s claims.

In 1956, Donald Rogers and Pearl Rodg-

ers of Safford purchased the mine from Ad-

ams. The Rogers asked that the name be

changed to the Comstock Mine and another

report at the time called it the Comstock

Lode Tungsten claims. In the Arizona De-

partment of Mines files it is listed under

Comstock Mine. The Rogers worked the

mine on weekends as they had full time jobs.

They knew the value of crystal specimens,

which they sold at mineral shows.

It was around this time that Loris Woolery

purchased the best Cohen Mine scheelites.

Here is Woolery’s description of getting the

scheelites from an article about the Woolery

collection in Arizona Highways May 1965

by Floyd Getsinger.:

“We heard about this old miner from a man

in Bowie. We were told that he had a camp

back in the Dos Cabezas Mountains out from

Wilcox. I took a good car over fifteen miles

of real bad road and found his camp. No one

was there so I took a business card and wrote

a note. I asked him to let me know if he ever

had any good crystallized mineral specimens.

Three months later an old miner-prospector

came to my office and pulled out a superb

scheelite crystal. I almost fainted. He just had

this one with him, and I was afraid he would

sell it before I could get to bid, so I asked

him if he could possibly wait until Saturday.”

Woolery did buy that crystal and several oth-

ers. He went to Bowie and the deal was he

had to buy everything the man had not just

the good crystals, so he paid so much a pound

for the ore and a higher price per pound for

the crystals. The Rogers claimed that a pocket

of crystals was stolen from their mine while

they were away one week, and it is possible

that the Woolery crystals came from that

pocket. The best scheelite specimen came

with the Woolery collection to the Flagg Min-

eral Foundation. The specimen card that the

Flagg Mineral Foundation has from Woolery

says from 1956 find so it was found when the

Rodgers owned the mine. Woolery’s value for

the specimen is $250, but we do not know

what he paid for it.

More recently Graham Sutton worked at the

Cohen, but only found a few small scheelite

crystals.

Photos courtesy of Ray Grant.


Pinal Gem & Mineral Society and Pinal Geology & Mineral Museum Mr. Chris Whitney-Smith & Dr. Ray Grant

There is a new fun, friendly and educational museum in Coolidge, Arizona!! Dr. Ray Grant, President of Pinal Gem & Mineral Society

(www.PinalGemandMineralSociety.org) and Curator of Pinal Geology & Mineral Museum (www.PinalGeologyMuseum.org) along with a

cadre of passionate volunteers from Pinal Gem & Mineral Society and Coolidge Chamber of Commerce assisted in the development of the

Pinal Geology & Mineral Museum within the new Copper State Heritage Museum (www.CopperStateHeritageMuseum.org).

OPEN FOR FUN!! The Museum will star t being open on a regular basis star ting September 4th, it will be open on Fridays from 10

AM to 3 PM (September 4, 11, 18, and 25). Museum located within the Artisan Village in Coolidge located at 351 N. Arizona BLVD,

Coolidge, AZ 85128.

The Mission of the Pinal Geology & Mineral Museum is dedicated to educating the public through its exhibits, collections, public lectures,

tours and other programs. They strive to provide a wide range of unique learning experiences that will enhance their visitors’ understand-

ing of the natural world.

The museum provides teaching and outreach programs through presentations of geological, mineralogical, paleontological and anthropo-

logic materials for the education and enjoyment of its visitors. They have a special focus on creating exhibits of geological and mineralogi-

cal samples from around the state of Arizona as well as unique specimens from around the world.

PGMM got a great write up in the Coolidge

Examiner on August 5 after the Open House.

Thanks goes to Joey Chenoweth for coming to

the open house and reporting on the Museum.

The Pinal Gem & Mineral Society and

Pinal Geology & Mineral Museum invit-

ed officers and board members from

Mineralogical Society of Arizona, Flagg

Mineral Foundation, and Earth Science

Museum to their Open House event on

Friday, July 31, 2015. They had a terrific

turnout and the passion and positive ener-

gy of the Pinal club members and muse-

um volunteers was contagious! My con-

gratulations to Museum and Artisan Vil-

lage volunteers on a great open house!

Bravo and well done to all who made this

dream come true!

Note from Phil Richardson, FMF

Chairman: “The Flagg Mineral Founda-

tion recently loaned vintage Flagg Gal-

lery, Edward Flagg constructed display

cases to Pinal Geology & Mineral Muse-

um for immediate use & display.”

Note from Bill Yedowitz, FMF Mineral

Collection Curator: “For those of you

who are unaware of this museum, it is

quite incredible. With a loan of the fluo-

rescent display and 24 specimens from recent donations, (not the main collection), it gave the museum a jump start. Numerous other dona-

tions quickly occurred. The museum then quickly took off like a rocket. In about a months’ time, it opened with very good fossil, mineral

and lapidary displays, as well as some great Pinal County geology information. There is also a nice fossil dig area for kids. I am sure that

once the cases are refurbished and hung up other wonderful donations will quickly fill them up. Phil Richardson and I attended the opening

at the end of last month and we were both very impressed to see what the club and Chamber were able to do in a very short time. I urge all

of you to stop by and visit the museum while in the area or on the way to Tucson.”

http://www.PinalGemandMineralSociety.org

http://www.PinalGeologyMuseum.org

http://www.CopperStateHeritageMuseum.org


Pinal Geology & Mineral Museum: Open House Chris Whitney-Smith photos except where noted.

Ray & Cynthia Grant, Chris Whitney-Smith, Sue & Tom Parish; Rick Miller photo.


Pinal Geology & Mineral Museum: Open House Chris Whitney-Smith photos.

Mr. Tom Parish a founding member of Pinal Geology & Mineral Museum gave me an amazing tour of their Metal Arts Work Shop

with numerous Creative Metal Forming Workbenches.

Metal Arts Workbenches include; Silver work, Chasing & Repoussé, Chain Mailing, Hydraulic Press and Pancake Dies,

Fold Forming, Metal Embossing, Sauder & Dremel, Grind & Polishing Wheels and Rock Saw.


Pinal Geology & Mineral Museum two free youth educational programs Dr. Ray Grant

The Earth Science Museum and Pinal Geology & Mineral Museum are co-sponsoring two free youth educational programs.

DATE: Friday, September 11, 2015.

TIME: 9:30-11:00 AM: Introduction to Rocks, Minerals and Fossils for grades 3 to 6.

1:00-2:30 PM: Mineral Identification for junior high students, grades 7 to 9.

LOCATION:

Pinal Geology & Mineral Museum, located within the Artisan Village of Coolidge, 351 N. Arizona BLVD, Coolidge, AZ 85128

Class size limited, so please register at www.PinalGeologyMuseum.org.

For more information, contact Dr. Ray Grant at 520-251-5419.

Teachers/Educators are welcome & encouraged to attend. This outreach program is also available for visits to school classrooms.

The museum continues to grow. We have 15 wall cases from

the Flagg Mineral Foundation that we will be using for the

Wicklund Collection and other exhibits. These cases were in

the Flagg Gallery at the Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum

before it closed and the Flagg Mineral Foundation board voted

on 9/1/15 and made cases a permanent gift.

Fifteen wall cases picked up in Tucson. Thanks Bill Yedowitz

for organizing the pickup and to Tom Parish and Dick Dale for

helping to move them to the Artisan village.

We added an approximately 200 pound specimen of Mahogany

Obsidian Thanks to Rick Miller for the donation and Charlie

Watson for helping to transport it to Coolidge.

We have other good specimens that have recently been donated

and we will highlight them as we add them to the Museum.

The Museum will also be open at 6 PM on Wednesday,

September 16 before the Gem and Mineral Club meeting (Club newsletter next week). Additional opening times will be sent as the volun-

teers are organized and the times are available. We can always use volunteers. Come by on a Friday and see what we are doing or email

Ray Grant at [email protected], if you can volunteer

http://www.PinalGeologyMuseum.org



MSA and FMF Mineral Collections at UofA Mineral Museum By Chris Whitney-Smith

When in Tucson, plan to visit University of Arizona Mineral Museum to view Mineralogical Society of Arizona (MSA),

Flagg Mineral Foundation (FMF) and several suites of other fine mineral collections. UA Mineral Museum is located within Flandrau Science Center & Planetarium, 1601 E. University BLVD, Tucson, AZ 85721.

www.flandrau.org. MSA and FMF Members have FREE admission to UA Mineral Museum while MSA & FMF Mineral Collections are on exhibit;

just show your MSA & FMF Membership Card. Hours of Operation: Monday-Wednesday: 10am - 3pm Thursday-Friday: 10am - 3pm, 6pm - 9pm Saturday: 10am - 9pm Sunday: 1pm - 4pm Parking: Convenient parking available at the Cherry Avenue Garage for a small fee. Free street & surface parking is available on weekends

(game days excluded).

http://www.uamineralmuseum.org/ http://www.mineralogicalsocietyarizona.org/ http://flaggmineralfoundation.org/

Azurite and Malachite, Bisbee, Cochise County, Arizona; MSA Collection, Jeff Scovil photos.

http://www.flandrau.org


Page University of Arizona Geosciences, The RRUFF Project, Mars Curiosity Rover, Mineral Museum and MSA Mineral Collection New Azurite On Display Chris Whitney-Smith photos.

http://www.uamineralmuseum.org/ http://www.mineralogicalsocietyarizona.org/ http://flaggmineralfoundation.org/


June 11, 2015: Mr. Mineral aka Mr. Dana Slaughter awarded MSA Honorary Life Membership Chris Whitney-Smith

On behalf of MSA Officers and Board of Governors, I was honored to award Mr. Mineral,

Dana Slaughter an Honorary Life Membership. As citation reads, every successful rock &

mineral club needs a member with demonstrated expertise about the hobby and who is

happy to help identify and educate curious and enthusiastic members. Dana is that ency-

clopedia of rocks & minerals and MSA is grateful to have him as an active member.

Be sure to say hi and pick Mr. Mineral’s brain next time you see him.

Dana photo by Mike Williams. Mr. Mineral wood shingle made by Mr. Stan Celestian and presented

to Dana at 2015 Minerals of Arizona Symposium hosted by FMF; Chris Whitney-Smith photo.

Mineralogical Society of Arizona Presents this

HONORARY LIFE MEMBERSHIP

MR. DANA SLAUGHTER in recognition of his dedicated service to Mineralogical & Earth Sciences Community.

In the spirit of MSA founder A. L. Flagg (Mr. Rockhound), Dana has become (Mr. Mineral) and is that expert, and encyclopedia of

rocks & minerals that every successful rock club needs. Dana is a trustee of Flagg Mineral Foundation and a well-regarded mineral

dealer. Dana's mineral donations to MSA are top notch and his continued experience & expertise at MSA meetings and functions

as (Mr. Mineral) are priceless. Dana’s dedicated services constitute several proud chapters in the history of Mineralogical Society

of Arizona and our hobby and have earned him the gratitude of all society members and this Honorary Life Membership.


June 11, 2015 Meeting: Awards & Appreciation Mike Williams photos.

Certificate of Commendations presented to Bob & Joyce Hendrix

for their volunteer services and donations to MSA in 2014.

Certificate of Appreciation presented to Evan Jones for his

June Program for MSA. Certificate of Commendation presented to Dana Slaughter for

services & donations to MSA in 2014.

.

Phil Richardson receives Certificates of Commendation for his

services and donations to MSA in 2014.


June 11, 2015 Meeting: Happy Members, Azurite Mineral of the Month and a Gold Nugget Teaser before Lynx Lake Gold Panning Field Trip. Mike Williams photos.


June 11, 2015 Meeting: Junior & Adult Members Raffle Winners

Mike Williams photos.

Junior MSA members always win! Congratulations to Juniors from June 2015 meeting on their treasures!

Photos courtesy of Mike Williams.

Congratulations to Adult Raffle Winners from June 2015 meeting on their treasures!

Photos courtesy of Mike Williams.


June 11, 2015 Meeting: Grand Prize Raffle Winner, Silent Auction & Milpillas Azurite Mike Williams photos.


7th Annual Gilbert Mineral Show Photo Diary: August 15, 2015 Chris Whitney-Smith photos.


7th Annual Gilbert Mineral Show Photo Diary - Continued. Chris Whitney-Smith photos.

Congratulations and thank you to Les & Paul Presmyk,

Evan Jones, Isaias Casanova, Bob & Lisa Williamson, Kerry

Cooper, Mark Candee, Brendan & Tiffany O’Connor and

Fabian Liera for bringing a wide assortment of minerals for all

budgets and ages. The 50% off flats were a huge hit!

This exclusive an intimate mineral show for members of MSA,

FMF, ESM, Minions and META was a packed house!


IN THE FIELD By Joseph Philpott Jr.

Welcome back fellow Rockhounds. I hope everyone enjoyed their summer and found cooler collecting

sites. I know I had a blast in Colorado Springs with fellow MSA members.

We had more trips scheduled for the summer but had to move them around for Colorado and other rea-

sons. As of now, the UA underground mine tour on September 27th is cancelled. The contact I used nev-

er got back to me to confirm the date. If I hear from him between now and then I will let you all know

ASAP. Our next trip is to Holbrook for petrified wood on September 12-13.

I would also like to let everyone know about the upcoming 74th Trona Gem-O-Rama October 10-11 in

Trona, California. This event is full of field trips to collect Halite, Hanksite and other halide minerals.

More on fees times and other information at http://www1.iwvisp.com/tronagemclub/flyer.html

I need volunteers for the Release the Hounds interviews let me know if you’re interested.

We have revised the field trip flyer format to make it easier to find important information. Look for the

new format in this month’s Rockhound Record.

Your MSA field trip team has been hard at work getting ready for next year’s trips. You can expect a

2016 schedule by November meeting. We are excited and hopefully you will be too!

If you have somewhere you would like club to go, please

email me at [email protected] and let me know.

Mike Williams photo.

Joey discussing new MSA T-Shirts and upcoming

Field Trips at June 2015 MSA meeting;

Mike Williams photo.

Lynx Lake, Chris-Whitney-Smith photo.



MSA Field Trip Report: Lynx Lake June 13, 2015 By Joseph Philpott Jr.

GOLD FEVER

Our June trip was to lynx creek near Prescott to pan for gold.

We had 8 members’ camp out and a couple more meet up with us

Saturday morning to look for gold. We searched the creek for what

we thought would be the best spot to find gold and started panning.

We spent most of the afternoon there until the weather started to

turn then we headed back to the cars to return to camp where we

found Frank Burns who had been looking for us and decided to set

up a panning site in the parking lot. He put on a quick demonstra-

tion for us on what techniques to use and how to not lose the gold.

After the demonstration we returned to camp most of us empty

handed. Total finds for day 1, Paula-1 flake, and Joey-1 crawdad

(who was safely released back into nature after being used to scare

everyone). We all knew the area isn’t known for producing much

gold but come on. One flake? At camp we talked about trying new

techniques and searching for better areas for Sunday.

Unfortunately I became extremely sick overnight and had to return home

early morning. Everyone else stayed behind and I believe Paula found

another flake. As always it isn’t so much about what we find as much as

who we are with. We all had a great time enjoying our company and

surroundings. I would like to thank Don and Dawn for taking over when

I left.

MSA TAKES OVER THE ROCKIES!!!!...... not really.

Late Thursday night on June, 18 2015 four MSA Rockhounds

boarded a plane bound for Denver, Colorado while three others

followed closely behind in their truck. We spent that night planning

our weekend on our way to our hotel in Colorado Springs.

On Friday morning we were joined by our fellow members to hunt

for the elusive Colorado Springs rock shops. After much research

and trial and error we found one. A really good one that we kept

coming back to. The rest of the day was spent exploring the town

of Manitou Springs and getting acclimated to the elevation.

Lynx Lake, Joey Philpott Jr. photo.

Joey Philpott Jr. photo.

Lynx Lake tumbled creek rock & a spider rockhound;



MSA Field Trip Report: Lynx Lake Continued.

Lynx Creek

Gold Panning;

Chris Whitney-Smith

photo.


MSA Field Trip Report: Lynx Lake Continued.

Frank Burns demonstrating proper gold panning techniques at Lynx Lake

Creek for MSA Field Trip Crew; Chris Whitney-Smith photo.


MSA Field Trip Report: Colorado June 2015

Saturday was our first Colorado digging site. We drove to Lake

George and waited for the Leaverite trip leader and fellow Rock-

hounds. Once everyone arrived we followed our leader to the To-

paz claim. We were given a quick site safety orientation by Krystle

Dorris then we were sent off to search for Topaz and Smokey

Quartz. The best technique was to use a rake and drag the dump

material out and look for crystals that the dirt and mud don’t stick

to. I found a few small flakes and one terminated fragment. It was

hard to spot them amongst all of the Quartz. There were a few

sizable finds while we were there. The Dorris’ brought some flats

of material they had collected from their claims as well as the re-

quired bags of Topaz gravel. After we made our purchased we

headed over to the Victor, Colorado Rock and Gem Show. Victor is a small mining town, just South of Cripple Creek, full of gold min-

ing history. The show was kind of small and spread out, but we all still found some good deals. After a quick lunch we headed back to

Colorado Springs to our hotel, along the way we stopped on the roadside to sift through our gravel bags and we were not let down by the

contents.

Sunday was tour day. We traveled back to Victor to take two mine tours.

The Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mining Company (CCV) Open Pit Mine

Tour starts off in Victor where our guide gave us

history on how the town formed and all of the gold

mining history. We took a shuttle bus to the very

top of the CCV mine to a lookout point to get a

good perspective of how massive this open pit

mine is. There was a quick photo shoot, then we

were off to the bottom of the pit. We got to see the

heavy equipment being loaded to go to either the

crusher or to the dump pile. Our guide talked about

the difficulty of mining this area due to the swiss

cheese that the old underground miners left. They

have to map out all of the old shafts and drifts to

make sure they don’t collapse under the equipment.

Back into the tour shuttle and up and out of the pit

we went to see the crusher. Luckily we got to wit-

ness a load being dumped and crushed from safely

inside the operators tower. From there we were taken to the new mine

extension and to one of the giant haul trucks that the mine had decommis-

sioned for visitors to play on and in. we then returned to town and quickly

headed over to

Nicole Craig photo.

Topaz Mountain; Joey Philpott Jr. photo.


Chris Whitney-Smith photos.


MSA Field Trip Report: Colorado June 2015 By Joseph Philpott Jr.

Cripple Creek to go on a 1000ft underground mine tour.

After the lift operator packed several of us plus the guide into

the tiniest double-decker mine worker transport cage I’ve ever

seen. We were lowered or if you ask Mike Brown, we may as

well have been freefalling to the 1000 ft level. Our guide was

very hands on talking about and operating every piece of min-

ing machinery that was under there as well as the history of

the mine and mining life underground. It wasn’t for the faint

of heart you had to be tough especially if you were new. Up-

on returning to the surface we went back to our hotel and

talked about our final day and the one we were most excited

about, the trip to the Dorris’ Smokey Hawk claim.

Monday morning we

arrived at the meeting place eagerly awaiting Joe

Dorris to lead us to the site. From the meeting spot

we followed Joe to the area we were allowed to collect. Joe gave everyone hints and tips on how to

find the Amazonite and walked around helping people find spots to dig. Almost everyone else stopped

and dug at the first signs they found but, Jeff and myself were on a mission to find the best spot we

could and boy did we. We stumbled upon a spot that looked like someone had done some serious dig-

ging at some time before. We stated digging around the area and before long we started finding bigger

and bigger Smokey Quartz and Amazonite. We had been joined by the rest of our MSA group who

must have smelled our excitement. We were already

overcome with what we had found and then we started

finding terminated Amazonite and Smokey Quartz.

Jeff’s wife Nicole even found pieces of broken Ama-

zonite that fit together. We stayed here as long as we

could; however, we had to get back to Denver for our

flight out. While we were packing up, Joe came up for

a visit and we showed him what he found and where

we had found it. He stated that he will be visiting that

spot with his excavator in the very near future. Hope-

fully it makes it on TV. We also showed our spot to

some of the people who were staying behind in hopes

they would have the same luck we did. Joe invited everyone

down to the wall at Smokey Hawk claim where they were ac-

tively filming for the show. Even thought we had to get on the

road soon, we didn’t pass up this chance. We not only got to see it, we were allowed to

help dig and help sort Smokey Quartz

crystals as they came out. As we were

leaving, Joe was nice enough to give

us the crystals he had just found.

We drove back to Denver and flew back to Phoenix that night, ending what was a trip

none of us will forget.

I would like to thank the Dorris family for their hospitality, Steve Peglar for putting this

trip together, my fellow MSA members Jeff & Nicole Craig, Mike, Paula & Erika

Brown, and Chris Whitney-Smith, you guys made this trip the best it could be.

MSA Field Trip Best Place to eat in Colorado Springs,

King’s Chef Diner; Chris Whitney-Smith photo.

Suzy Blue claim; Joey Philpott Jr. photo.

1000 ft under ground;


Chris Whitney-Smith, Krystle Dorris and Joey Philpott Jr.

at Topaz Mountain Dorris claim; Mike Brown photo.


MSA Field Trip: Colorado June 2015

Topaz Mountain Dorris Claim; Chris Whitney-Smith photos.

Road to Lake George, CO with white capped Rocky Mountains about us; Chris Whitney-Smith photos.



Victor Gem & Mineral Show, Victor, CO; Chris Whitney-Smith photos.

Topaz Mountain claim and MSA Crew with Krystle and Joe Dorris; Paula Brown photo.



Historic Gold Mining town of Victor, CO; Chris Whitney-Smith photos.



MSA Crew at bottom of Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mine Open Pit watching haul truck being loaded; Chris Whitney-Smith photos.

Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mine Open Pit and huge CAT 793F Haul Truck with full load and headed to crusher; Chris Whitney-Smith photos.



Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mine post crusher milling and view of haul truck empting into crusher; Chris Whitney-Smith photos.

Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mine Crusher and haul truck ready to deposit its ore; Chris Whitney-Smith photos.


MSA Field Trip: Colorado June 2015 Chris Whitney-Smith

Final processing creates these precious dore’; Chris Whitney-Smith photos.

Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mine Leach Dumps near Crusher; Chris Whitney-Smith photos.

The gold mineralization is found in

two million year old volcanic rocks

with majority of gold ore bodies oc-

curring as rich gold-telluride veins

with quartz, pyrite, and fluorite.

The open pit gold-telluride process

includes; drilling, blasting, mining,

hauling, crushing, milling, leaching,

processing and pouring.

Pouring results in a 98% gold-silver

mixture called "doré" (daw-rey).

The doré is shipped to a specialized

refinery for further refining into

99.999% pure gold or 24 karat.

Each doré is 60 pounds and contains

an estimated 700+ ounces of gold and

300+ ounces of silver and is valued at

$1 million each.



MSA Group photo CCV Gold mine with decommissioned giant haul truck;

Nicole Craig & Chris Whitney-Smith photos.



Mollie Kathleen Mine Head Frame upper left, MSA Crew at Hard Rock Diner upper

right, photo of a historic photo of mine workers on worker elevator bottom left and

Mollie Kathleen mine elevator at 1000 ft below ground;

Paula Brown & Chris Whitney-Smith photos.



Our guide Alica, a veteran hard rock miner guides MSA crew on incredible tour

1000 ft underground upper left, diorama of miners hand working ore body upper

right, example of blasting pattern & rigging bottom left, MSA Junior Erik Brown

leads the way bottom right; Chris Whitney-Smith photos.



Alicia demonstrates hard rock

pneumatic drilling before we

board pneumatic powered train ;


Crystals growing on walls and

ceiling and note the green color

representing presence of Copper.



Let your eyes climb these ladders as you move up drift and onto a timber with mounted drill. Once miner ascended to this spot, they would remain

their for 8 hours or until their shift was over (they took a bucket for their business); Chris Whitney-Smith photo.



Alicia demonstrates pneumatic powered mucker above, mine opens up into room with history of Cripple Creek & Victor mining below;




Everyone got to pick free Gold Tellurium samples from old mine

cart upper left, gold process poster right, Roasted Gold Ore from

same ore samples given to MSA crew bottom;




Early shaft communication consisted of bell & whistle signaling

systems like one pictured. This signaling system was invented &

perfected at Mollie Kathleen mine above, Bucket Dump System

bottom left; Chris Whitney-Smith photos.

Many thanks to Alicia our knowledgeable tour guide.

Dare I say she Rocks!

To learn more about this once in a lifetime 1000 feet underground

adventure, please check out Mollie Kathleen Mine website:

http://www.goldminetours.com/goldminetours.com/Home.html



MSA Junior Erica Brown ready to get dirty top left,

Jeff Craig with his fine terminated Amazonite bottom left,

MSA crew at Suzy Blue claim near Smokey Hawk top and

bottom right; Chris Whitney-Smith photos.


MSA Field Trip: Colorado June 2015 Smokey Hawk Dorris Claim

Joe Dorris gently removing Smokey

Quartz crystals and handing off to Joey &

Jeff. Leaverite mem-

ber Steve Baker pulled out this

Fluorite cube and

Krystle Dorris

promptly cleaned;

Chris Whitney-Smith

photos.


MSA Field Trip Report July 18, 2015: Payson area - Fossil & Agate By Don & Dawn Boushelle

PLAYING IN THE PINES

On July 18th, several members gathered for a beautiful day of Rockhounding among the pines.

The temperatures were cool and the views were amazing along Rim Road. A perfect backdrop for

a day of collecting.

The first stop we made was a spot along Kehl

Ridge near a watering hole where we collected a

variety of fossil shells and coral. Material was

strewn around the banks and the area around the

pond with some regularity. After everyone had

gotten their fill, we proceeded to the second spot

of the day. This next spot was near Rim Road

and FR501. The fossils here were pretty much

the same as the previous spot but were even more

plentiful.

At this point in the day, those of us that were camping

overnight proceeded to the campsite nearby. It was a

gorgeous afternoon and evening that was spent hik-

ing, eating. A little Rockhounding and generally en-

joying each other’s company. The following morning

the remainder of us decided to explore a few spots

near Roberts Mesa Road down the hill near Payson.

Here we collected some great agate, red chert shells,

and a few pieces of horn coral before calling a week-

end and heading home.

All in all it was a fantastic weekend with some fantas-

tic people. Getting out of the Phoenix heat is never a

bad idea, and there are few better places to do it.

Views from Rim Road are awe inspiring and the pro-

spects for the amateur collector seem nearly endless.

Dawn & Don Boushelle photos.


MSA SEPTEMBER FIELD TRIP: Northern Arizona - Petrified Wood

MSA FIELD TRIP

NORTHERN AZ PETRIFIED WOOD SEPTEMBER 12, 2015

PETRIFIED WOOD; JOHN BETTS PHOTO PETRIFIED WOOD; ROBERT LAVINSKY PHOTO GROUTITE; STEREO CHILD PHOTO

LEADER INFO

NAME: JOSEPH PHILPOTT JR. PHONE: (602) 828-9298

EMAIL: [email protected]

VEHICLE: GREEN FORD F250

MEETING INFO

MEET DATE: SEPTEMBER 12, 2015

MEET TIME: 9:00 AM

DEPART TIME: 9:15 AM

MEET LOCATION: McHood Park Campsite Winslow, AZ

DIRECTIONS: 3 h 1 min ~ 188 miles

From Phoenix, AZ:

Head west on W Washington St toward N 1st Ave 0.5 mi

Use the right 2 lanes to turn right onto N 7th Ave 0.9 mi

Use the left 2 lanes to turn left to merge onto I-10 W toward Los

Angeles 0.4 mi

Merge onto I-10 W 0.6 mi

Use the right 2 lanes to take exit 143A-143B to merge onto I-17 N

toward Flagstaff 84.7 mi

Take exit 285 for Gen Crook Tr 0.5 mi

Turn right onto S Access Rd/General Crook Trail 1.6 mi

Turn right onto Hwy 260 E/S Access Rd/General Crook Trail

Continue to follow Hwy 260 E 32.4 mi

Turn left onto AZ-87 N 62.1 mi

Turn right onto AZ-99 E 4.3 mi

Turn left 0.3 mi

Turn left 377 ft.

TRIP DESCRIPTION

RSVP: NOT REQUIRED BUT APPRECIATED SO WE’RE NOT WAITING FEE’s: $10 PER VEHICLE ONLY IF YOU WANT TO GO INTO THE PARK * WE WILL BE MEETING UP AT MCHOOD PARK ON SATURDAY AND COLLECTING IN THE WINSLOW AREA MOST OF THE DAY. WE WILL THEN TRAVEL TO WOODRUFF AND CONTINUE COLLECTION THEN WE WILL CALL IT A NIGHT AT CRYSTAL FOREST CAMPGROUND NEAR THE PETRIFIED FOREST.

* SUNDAY WE WILL VISIT THE PETRIFIED NATIONAL PARK (SORRY NO COLLECTING TREES) THEN WE WILL RETURN HOME.

* PARK HOURS Aug 23-Sept 19, 2015 7am-7pm

* ANY VEHICLE CAN MAKE THIS TRIP.

* YOU WILL ONLY NEED A RAKE, SMALL SHOVEL AND MAYBE A PICK TO PRY.

* WE WILL BE COLLECTING PETRIFIED WOOD WITH THE POSSI-BILITY OF SOME OTHER AGATES AND QUARTZ WE WILL BE COVERING A LOT OF GROUND ON SATURDAY.

* PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU VEHICLE IS TOPED OFF WITH FUEL.

NEAREST FACILITIES (MILES FROM MEET UP)

GAS: (6.2 MILES) Circle K 524 W 3rd St Winslow, AZ 86047 (7.2 MILES) Flying J 400 Transcon Ln Winslow, AZ 86047 FOOD: (12 MILES) Safeway 1601 N. Park Dr North Park Plaza Shopping Center Winslow, AZ 86047

CAMPGROUND: (0 MILES) MCHOOD PARKCAMPGROUND WINSLOW, AZ (57 MILES) Crystal Forest Museum and Gifts, 6492 Petrified Forest Road, Holbrook, AZ 86025 HOTEL: (6.3 MILES) Winslow Inn 701 W 3rd St Winslow, AZ 86047


MSA SEPTEMBER FIELD TRIP - Northern Arizona - Continued

FIELD TRIP MAPS


Upcoming Shows and Events

48th Annual Denver Gem & Mineral

Show - ” Minerals of the American

Southwest”.

September 18 - 20, 2015

Denver Mart Expo Hall (formerly the

Denver Merchandise Mart), 451 E.

58th Avenue (I-25 at Exit 215).

Fri. 9:00am -6:00pm

Sat. 10:00am - 6:00pm

Sun. 10:00am - 5:00pm

Adults: $6.00 Seniors (65+): $4.00

Teens: $4.00 Under 13 free with an

adult. Tickets are available at the door.

Cash and checks only, please. Sorry,

credit cards cannot be accepted at this

time.

Special Exhibits, Featured Presenta-

tions, Competitive cases, Non-Competitive cases, Over 140 Dealers,

Scheduled Events, Video clips...and

much, much more!

For more information, please visit:

Denvermineralshow.com

Mingus Gem & Mineral Club Annual

Show - Sponsored by the Mingus Gem &

Mineral Club Annual Show

October 2 - 4, 2015

Elks Club Lodge, 100 S. Broadway,

Clarkdale, AZ.

Fri. 9:00am - 5:00pm

Sat. 9:00am - 5:00pm

Sun. 10:00am - 4:00pm

1 Free raffle ticket with paid admission.

Daily raffles each day of the show.

Children with paid adult are free.

Children’s activities with free kid’s

rocks.

For more information please visit:

http://www.mingusclub.org

36thAnnual New Mexico Mineral

Symposium

November 14 - 15, 2015

Macey Center, New Mexico Institute

of Mining & Technology, Socorro,

NM


https://geoinfo.nmt.edu/museum/

minsymp/home.cfml

41st Annual Huachuca Gem, Mineral &

Jewelry Show

October 10th & 11th, 2015

Cochise College, 901 N. Colombo

Ave., Sierra vista, AZ

Sat. 9;00am - 5:00pm

Sun. 10:00am - 4:00pm

Free Admission & free parking - handi-

cap accessible.

A certified gemologist will be on hand

for free identification of your mystery

gemstones. Raffle prize for this year is

a large quartz crystal cluster. Live

demonstration, educational displays,

gems, jewelry, lapidary supplies, fin-

ished and raw mineral specimens, raf-

fles, food & beverages and fluorescent

display.

Vendor Info - Contact: Ingrid Baillie

520 459-3718 - [email protected]

General Info - Contact:

Maudie Bailey520 378-6291 -

[email protected]

http://www.huachucamineralandgemclub

2nd Annual HelzaRock'n Gem & Mineral

Show - West Valley Rock

Rock&Mineral Club

October 9 - 11, 2015

Helzapoppin Arena, 802 N 1st St.

(Miller Rd.), Bid Canal and Miller

Road, Buckeye, AZ, 85326

9:00am - 4:00pm each day.

Admission $3 - Children under 12

free (with paid adult) .

Kids Activities, Demos, Rocks, Gems,

Jewelry, Minerals, Fossils, Beads,

Slabs, Cabochons, & MORE. Snacks &

Beverages Available.

For additional information contact:

[email protected]

m

602-405-2926

39th Rock-A-Rama Outdoor Gem & Min-

eral Show

October 30 - November 1, 2015

High Desert Park, 19001 E. Jacie Lane,

Black Canyon City, AZ.

9:00am - 4:00pm each day.

Free parking and admission.

This family friendly, free admission

extravaganza holds interest for rock

hounds of all ages. 30+ vendors and

dealers offer a wide variety of rock re-

lated treasures and activities including

jewelry, minerals, faceted stones, fos-

sils, crystals, tools, lapidary supplies,

beads, raffle tickets, wire wrapping,

stone carving and rock identification.

Everything from high end jewelry to

large slabs of rough rock for landscap-

ing. Door prizes and a vendor hat con

test add to the fun., Food & beverages

available. Ample parking. Food and

beverages available.


http://www.highdeserthelpers.org/

www.facebook.com/HighDesertHelpers

(623) 295-1970

If you or your club has an upcoming event

or show, please email us your event de-

tails, contact information or flier.

http://www.denvermineralshow.com/

http://www.mingusclub.org/show.html

http://www.huachucamineralandgemclub.info/Gem_Show.html

http://www.highdeserthelpers.org/


ESM Sponsored: Earth Science Day Poster


74th ANNUAL GEM-O-RAMA Sponsored by the Searles Lake Gem & Mineral Society

October 10-11, 2015 Saturday 7:30AM to 5PM - Sunday 7:30AM to 4PM

SLG&MS Lapidary and Show Building - 13337 Main St., Trona, CA 93592 (corner of Main & Trona Rd.)

TRONA, CALIFORNIA

OUTSTANDING SHOW - FREE ADMISSION ***

FIELD TRIPS - you drive your own car

DEALER SPECIAL - PINK HALITE - (4 1/2 hours on Friday afternoon $200 per car)

SEARLES DRY LAKE - (2 1/2 hour trips on Saturday, 4 1/2 hours on Sunday)

Registration: 7:30-9:00 am and 1:30-2:30 pm - you must register during these times to go on field trips

Mud Trip- Saturday Only - Departs ONLY at 9AM- Cluster & barrel Hanksite, Trona, Borax - $15per CAR

Blow Hole - Saturday Only - Departs ONLY at 2:30PM- Hanksite, Halite, Borax, Sulfohalite - dry surface- $15 per CAR

Pink Halite - Sunday Only - Departs ONLY at 9AM- In brine, beneath hard salt - $20 per CAR

Pinnacles National Natural Landmark - Self guided, information at show - FREE

Searles Valley Minerals' Plants - Saturday only: 10:40, 11:25, 12:10, 12:55 and 1:40 - in bus - FREE ***

SEARLES LAKE PINK HALITE

FROM THE SOURCE - WHOLESALE PRICES

All Pink Halite collected with permission of Searles Valley Minerals ***

OTHER SHOW ACTIVITIES

20 Dealers - 50 exhibits - Geode cutting and sales - Demonstration - Games - Gem dig - Free parking

Snacks & drinks - Grand Prize Drawing - Hourly door prizes

Good Food in Catered Cafeteria in Show Building

LUNCH: Sat. and Sun. - 10AM to 4PM DINNER: Fri. ($10.00) and Sat. ($10.00)- 5PM to 7PM ***

COMMUNITY EVENTS

PANCAKE BREAKFAST- TRONA COMMUNITY CHURCH (2 blocks north of show)

Sat. 6 to 10AM, Sun. 6 to 9AM - Adults: $5.00, children under 7: $3.00

Large groups - make advanced reservations for prompt service - call Gini Schwartz (760)372-5720

TRONA SCHOOLS - ALL YEAR HOMECOMING - Sat. 10AM to ???

OLD GUEST HOUSE MUSEUM - Sat. 10AM to 4PM, Sun. 10AM to 2PM

TRONA'S HISTORY HOUSE - Sat. 11AM to 4PM, Sun. 10AM to 2PM ***

ACCOMMODATIONS

VALLEY WELLS RECREATION AREA - 5.3 miles north of show, $8/vehicle (dry camp, no resv.)

Find LOCAL AREA MOTELS (Most in Ridgecrest, 25 miles west) ***

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Visit our web page at www1.iwvisp.com/tronagemclub/ or call Jim or Bonnie Fairchild (760)372-5356

THANKS FOR COMING -- HAVE A SAFE TRIP

All contents of this web page are the property of the Searles Lake Gem & Mineral Society. Reproduction or other uses of any of these contents without the written permission of the

owner is prohibited. If you want to use any of the contents, contact the SLG&MS at any of the above.

** Reprint permission granted to Mineralogical Society of Arizona 9-2-2015,

approval on file. Chris Whitney-Smith. **

Searles Lake Gem & Mineral Society

P.O. Box 966 - - - 13337 Main St. Trona, CA 93592-0966

Phone (760) 372-5356

Go to | Home Page | | Gem-O-Rama Site Map|

http://www1.iwvisp.com/tronagemclub/Friday%20Field%20Trip.htm

http://www1.iwvisp.com/tronagemclub/Mud-Digging.htm

http://www1.iwvisp.com/tronagemclub/Pipe-Prep.htm

http://www1.iwvisp.com/tronagemclub/Lake-Collecting.htm

http://www1.iwvisp.com/tronagemclub/Pinnacle.htm

http://www1.iwvisp.com/tronagemclub/NACC-bus.html

tel:(760)372-5720

http://www1.iwvisp.com/tronagemclub/valley-wells.htm

http://www1.iwvisp.com/tronagemclub/Motels.html

http://www1.iwvisp.com/tronagemclub/

tel:(760)372-5356

tel:93592-0966

tel:(760)%20372-5356

http://www1.iwvisp.com/tronagemclub/tronagemclub.html

http://www1.iwvisp.com/tronagemclub/GEM-O-RAMA.htm


44th Annual Flagg Gem & Mineral Show Poster January 8 - 10, 2016


2015 MSA Meeting Schedule and Map


2015 MEMBERSHIP DUES :

If you have not already mailed your dues, you

may bring membership application & dues to next

meeting and give to Membership Chair,

Mr. Ron Ginn.

You may also mail Dues and 2015 Membership

Application to Membership Chair at following

address:

Mineralogical Society of Arizona

Membership Chair

P.O. Box 30031

Mesa, AZ 85275-0031

2015 Dues and Rates are as follows:

Single Adult (18+) : $15.00

Couple: $25.00

Junior (Under 18): FREE

Legacy Life Members: FREE after initial payment.

MSA Name Badge: $7.50

MSA 75th Pin: $3.00

MSA Bumper Sticker: $2.00

Life Membership:

MSA Legacy Life Membership available for pur-

chase based on single adult (18+) for a onetime fee

and comes with Name Badge. See Fee Schedule on

MSA website under “MSA CLUB” tab.

Junior members, Honorary Life, and MSA Mile-

stone Life members are exempt from payment of

dues. MSA Legacy Life members are exempt after

the initial payment.

2015 Membership Application is on MSA website

under “MSA CLUB” tab.

Membership questions can be emailed to Mem-

bership Chair, Mr. Ron Ginn at

[email protected].

Membership Dues and Information

WEARING MSA NAME BADGES PAYS OFF!!

MSA members wearing their MSA Name Badges to

general meeting will be issued a special raffle ticket and be

eligible to participate in an additional prize drawing!

If you don’t have an MSA Name Badge, see Membership

Chair, Mr. Ron Ginn at meetings or email Ron at

[email protected].

MSA Name badges are $7.50.

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?view=cm&fs=1&tf=1&source=mailto&[email protected]

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?view=cm&fs=1&tf=1&source=mailto&[email protected]


I Love You Arizona: Explore - Share - Inspire By Chris Whitney-Smith

“I Love You Arizona” written & performed by Mr. Rex Allen Jr. Click this YouTube link to watch: http://youtu.be/j7xedmvJTzk

A Majestic Arizona Sunset; Ryan Lay photo.

ARIZONA VI

Vol. 46, No. 4 July - August 2015

http://www.minrec.org/detail.asp?id=336

My Favorite Minerals Part III by Bob Jones

Vol. 45, Issue 9 September 2015

http://www.rockngem.com

Arizona VI published by

Mineralogical Record is

latest installment in Arizona

series and features several

Arizona luminaries of our

hobby including MSA Life

Member Les Presmyk.

While Rowley mine and all

small mines in Southwest are

being targeted for closure, a

fantastic Rowley Wulfenite

graces September 2015

cover of Rock & Gem.

My Favorite Minerals Part

III: Wulfenite, Cerussite,

Smithsonite, Legrandite &

Selenite is featured article by

MSA Past President, Life

Member and 2014 MSA Hall

of Fame Inductee Bob Jones.

http://youtu.be/j7xedmvJTzk


I Love You Arizona - Continued. Photos by Chris Whitney-Smith

Fiery August Sunset at Picacho Peak.

Dramatic Mountain Sunset from Mogollon Rim.

Ethereal October Sunset from Mogollon Rim. August monsoon storms are a welcome relief

and signal Summers end is near.

FROM:

ALICE LABONTE, EDITOR

MINERALOGICAL SOCIETY OF ARIZONA

P.O. BOX 30031

MESA, AZ 85275-0031

Mineralogical Society of Arizona

Founded 1935

A Non Profit 501(c)(3) Organization

Explore <> Share <> Inspire

Purpose: To promote popular interest and education in Ear th

Science, and related fields (Geology, Mineralogy, Paleontology,

and Lapidary arts). To foster a fellowship among individuals inter-

ested in Earth Science and enable our members to better identify

materials we collect, and how to display or further process these

materials. To teach all generations about rocks, minerals, fossils,

and what can be done with them, and be collaborative in communi-

ty of groups with similar interests to our Society.

Meetings: 7:30 p.m. on the second Thursday of the month, September

through June; however, to confirm meeting location, dates and times,

please refer to MSA website www.MineralogicalSocietyArizona.org.

*** Contact Us: [email protected]

Annual Dues / Rates

Couple - $25.00

Single Adults - $15.00

Junior (Under 18), Honorary and MSA Milestone Life members - FREE

MSA Legacy Life members are FREE after the initial payment.

For information about purchasing a Life Membership based on your age, please

visit our website: www.MineralogicalSocietyArizona.org and click on

“MSA Club” tab.

Reprinting permission granted with proper credit given.

www.mineralogicalsocietyarizona.org

Rocky Mountain Federation of Mineralogical Societies

www.rmfms.org

American Federation of Mineralogical Societies

www.amfed.org

SCHEELITE with Calcite, 4 cm,

Yaogangxian mine, Yaogangxian,

Yizhang, Hunan, China;

Chris Whitney-Smith collection and photo.

http://www.mineralogicalsocietyarizona.org/

http://www.mineralogicalsocietyarizona.org/

http://www.rmfms.org/

http://www.amfed.org/

The Rockhound RecordThe Rockhound Record Volume 74, No. 6 Page 2 President: Chris Whitney-Smith...

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