Our Guest Speaker - Earth Science Museum

January 2013
.
Is in ASU’s Physical Science Building (PSF)
room 123, Tuesday January 22nd, starting
at 7:30 PM.
Welcome to the reinvigorated Leaverite
newsletter!
Note that this is the same building as
previous meetings. The room is near the
elevators on the first floor in the same
building as the Dietz Museum (now closed).
Free parking in the Tyler street garage after
7 PM. There may be a class prior to us
(until 7:15) so please wait for them to leave.
First, I want to thank
Steve Pegler for his
service as president the last two years. It
takes a large time commitment to juggle
work and lead a volunteer group like ours.
Steve organized a field trip committee and
expanded into new collecting locations.
The last two years were volatile due to our
AMMM “home” being shut down but Steve
worked through this with a friendly and
comfortable style.
He greatly expanded
our mineral cleaning expertise with many
experimental “witches brews”. Thank you
Steve for all of the hard work!
Our Guest Speaker:
Mining and Exploration in Central
Arizona by Nyal Niemuth, Arizona
Geological Survey, Phoenix Branch Chief.
The program will provide an over view of
Arizona mineral resources and production
featuring three major mines in Yavapai
county. Additional special topics will include
a quick review of possible new mining
projects, why everyone is excited about
potash and the Holbrook evaporate basin,
and recent gold exploration/mining activity.
Nyal Niemuth has been involved in mineral
exploration in the southwest US since 1978,
and worked over 30 years for the former
Dept. of Mines and Mineral Resources as
Mineral Resource Specialist and Mining
Engineer. Since January 2011 he has
served as the Arizona Geological Survey’s
Phoenix Branch Manager. He became a
registered geologist in Arizona in 1994 and
serves on the Board of Technical
Registration’s
Enforcement
Advisory
committee for geologists. In 2010 Nyal
received the Medal of Merit from the
American Mining Hall of Fame.
Secondly, thank you Mardy for being the
“heart of the club” with your work as
treasurer, outreach coordinator, raffle prize
organizer, and fluorescence expert. Mardy
has agreed to continue to lead these efforts
in 2013.
Thirdly, thanks to new volunteers who have
stepped up to roles they haven’t done
before. Stan has agreed to be VP, Casey &
John will chair the field trip committee, Bob
is our photographer, and Harvey is the club
mineralogist. We added other explicit roles
in order to distribute the load across more
people and to make sure we have timely
and diverse content for our newsletter and
web site. Every volunteer organization is
only as good as the people they attract and
the energy level of the team. By being
explicit on who is doing what, we can be
more organized with a volunteer team.
(President’s Message cont. on pg 2)
January 2013
(President’s Message cont. from pg 1)
Each month’s newsletter will provide details
on upcoming field trips with meeting
locations, mine site(s) history, photos of
past material collected, and field trip leader
contact info. We will describe what
minerals/lapidary or material/fossils will be
present and discuss their mineral
properties. The following newsletter will
include a trip report and photos. We will
describe upcoming coalition trips and
Arizona rock & mineral shows. We also
need a few volunteers each month for a
new feature - describe what aspects you
enjoy in this hobby, your favorite rock, best
trip, and what got you interested in
rockhounding etc. This will help us create a
stronger Leaverite community as we get to
know each other a little bit more.
In January’s meeting I will summarize the
info you provided on interests in Steve’s
survey. We want to make sure that we
continue to hear the voices of our club
members. There are still many Phoenix
rock clubs, and we want to maintain our
“niche”. Our club has been a magnet for
folks who enjoy getting out in beautiful
Arizona and finding minerals and lapidary
materials. The other clubs in the Valley
have limited field trips in comparison. Field
trips are where club members get to know
each other and form the bonds that make
for friendships and good times.
If possible we will add more time to our
monthly meetings to socialize. We will still
strive for quality programs where people
learn new things about our hobby and hear
exciting trip reports. Please send Stan or I
your suggestions on speakers and also let
us know if you want to present. One of the
best ways that people get to know each
other is to tell stories about their recent
trips, lapidary work or cool specimens. We
2|Page
want to hear tips on mineral cleaning,
jewelry
making,
spheres,
innovative
rockhound tools, etc.
Another change for our club is our
enrollment into the Rocky Mountain Mineral
Federation. You should soon start receiving
their newsletter with a wealth of info and
field trips.
Club Officers & Chairs
President: Dave Fanger, DFanger@cox.net,
(Board Member) 480-460-8290
Vice President: Stan Celestian,
stancelestian@gmail.com (Board Member)
Treasurer: Mardy Zimmermann,(Board
Member) maztempe@yahoo.com 480-8396390
Previous President: Steve Pegler,
stephenpegler@earthlink.net
Secretary: Sue Parish (Board Member)
Newsletter Editor: Deanna Smith,
azland61@yahoo.com
Field Trip Coordinators: Casey Haderly
chaderly@klandeng.com & John McLaughlin
jemstone@fastq.com
Field Trip Team: Casey Haderly, Steve Baker,
Tom Wistuber, John McLaughlin, Tim Messang,
Steve Pegler, Myron Wagner,
Coalition Rep: Tom Parks,
tlparks_us@yahoo.com
Leaverite Photographer: Bob Lagodny
Leaverite Reporter: TBD
Webmaster: TBD
Club Historians: John McLaughlin, Pierre
Cantou, Dick Zimmerman, Dave DeWeese
Hospitality/Greeter/Membership: TBD
Raffle: Mardy Zimmerman with help from TBD
Leaverite Mineralogist: Harvey Jong
Lapidary Experts: Doug Duffy, Tom Parks
Fluorescent Expert: Mardy Zimmerman
ASU Geology Student Rep Karen Rieck
krieck1@asu.edu
ASU Geology Faculty Rep: Prof. Steven
Semken semken@asu.edu
January 2013
This year’s Flagg show was the biggest and
best ever. The show opened, as always,
with the parade of elephants, each holding
a Foundation flag with the Red Cloud
wulfenite symbol on it. The clown car did
not make the show this year as most of the
participating Arizona legislators had not
arrived in Phoenix yet.
Mardy set a Flagg Show record by
providing over 1,000 egg carton collections
to the same number of happy kids and
winter visitors from Iowa. Mardy noted that
providing the record number of egg carton
collections was possible due to the
Leaverite members who volunteered their
time.
Dick had the helium tank and
balloons for those people who were
experiencing a helium deficiency.
The publicity for the show included two or
three articles in the Arizona Republic, TV
interviews by several stations and of course
the volunteer squadron of skywriting
planes. This year the skywriting spelled out
“Vanadinite For Sale” and was highlighted
by two of the planes creating the crystal
shape of vanadinite. The result was that
every parking space at Mesa Community
College was occupied by folks who rocked.
The show featured new and used
equipment, lots of lapidary rough, fine
minerals, lousy minerals and meteorites,
though no one was injured by the
meteorites arrivals.
For anyone who
missed the show, it combines unusual
minerals, rocks, egg cartons, funnel cakes,
folks with colorful hair and lots of fun.
3|Page
Most of the vendors I spoke with enjoyed a
financially successful show. The space
costs are low and the amount of space
given the dealers by the Flagg Show
Committee is most generous. Anyone
wishing to get rid of old equipment, excess
lapidary rough, duplicate specimens or
annoying children can afford to participate.
Your author and his wife are planning to
take our earnings and purchase the island
of Oahu.
Pictures from the Flagg ShowThanks Bob!
Leaverite Egg Carton Program
Earth Science Museum’s Fluorescent
Display
January 2013
The Arizona Leaverites Rock & Gem
Society, Inc., an Arizona 501(c)(3) taxexempt corporation, was formed in 2003 as
a charitable foundation to facilitate
volunteer activities and to provide a way for
people and companies to make taxdeductible gifts to support earth science
education in Arizona
Since 2003, the
Leaverites have provided over $35,000
worth of display cases, museum lighting,
and CDs for Teacher Kits. Additionally, the
Leaverites have sponsored a state-wide
museum
Outreach
Program
where
volunteers provide support for mining and
mineral educational enrichment programs
for schools and clubs across the state.
Our goal is to have fun with all our club
activities! Many of our founding members
have been active since the clubs' inception
and there are many members that have
considerable technical expertise in geology,
lapidary and the jewelry arts. You can
always count on learning something new at
the meetings or on a field trip.
Once again we had great weather for our
Christmas Party. About 40 members and
guests gathered for our “Best Ever Pot
Luck” Christmas feast.
This year we
extended seating from the Zimmermann’s
patio using the Earth Science Museum’s
new tent. A highlight of the party was a
Silent Auction, which replaces the one we
had done in April in the past.
The
donations were excellent, and the club
netted $436 which will be donated to the
Earth Science Museum.
The Flagg Show also enjoyed good
weather for the entire weekend and turned
out to be the most successful one yet. The
Leaverites again sponsored the Egg Carton
Program and we set a new record: 1,048
total. The $1048 raised is earmarked for
the Earth Science Museum. Thanks to the
tremendous support and help from
Leaverites in helping me serve the many
students and families: Lynne Wheeler,
Cyndi Buckner, Jennifer and Randy Jordan,
Georgia Zeutenhorst, Wally Frilch, Harvey
Jong, and Dianne and Glen McFaul. Also
much gratitude to all of the Leaverites who
help by saving egg cartons and donate
rocks, minerals, and fossils to the Egg
Carton Program.
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
The club used to provide considerable
support for the Arizona Mining and Mineral
Museum, but it was closed by the Arizona
Historical Society. The Leaverites are now
helping the new Earth Science Museum, as
this museum is geared towards rock
hounds and earth science education of
children.
4|Page
You can pay at the meeting, or
Contact Mardy @
maztempe@yahoo.com
480-839-6390
January 2013
By Harvey Jong
This article kicks off a new regular feature
of the Arizona Leaverite newsletter. Each
month we will focus on a specific mineral
and provide the following information:




Basic
background
and
key
identifying properties
How the mineral forms along with
common associations with other
minerals
Arizona localities and specimens
Other notable occurrences
The Mineral of the Month (MOTM) may
involve minerals from recent or future field
trips, new finds at gem and mineral shows,
or your suggestions.
With over 4800
minerals officially recognized as valid
species by the International Mineralogical
Association along with dozens of new
mineral discoveries every year, there are
plenty to choose from!
This feature is not a super original idea, but
hopefully we will have some fun learning a
thing or two about minerals. To add some
visual appeal, lots of photos and diagrams
will be included, and members are
encouraged to share images of interesting
specimens in their collections for future
articles.
So, without further ado, let’s start the
MOTM series with the mineral Chalcoite. If
you went on the second Johnson Camp
field trip, you may have collected a sample
of a dark gray metallic mineral:
Chalcocite with Malachite and Azurite
Copper Chief mine, Johnson Camp, Cochise Co., AZ
Size: 8 x 4 x 6 cm
Harvey Jong specimen and photo
This mineral has been identified as
Chalcocite based on its black lead-gray
streak and hardness of 2½ to 3. It has a
monoclinic crystal structure; however, if it
forms above 103 oC the mineral assumes a
pseudohexagonal shape and is known as
Djurleite.
Chalcocite Crystal Drawing
Courtesy of www.smorf.nl - CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 license
Chalcocite crystals are relatively small and
uncommon, tabular, often striated, and
exhibit twinning. Twins have a hexagonal
outline. Other identifying properties include
metallic luster and conchoidal fracture.
(Continued on page 6)
5|Page
January 2013
Chalcocite is an important ore of copper
and has been mined for centuries for its
high copper content. Its chemical formula
is Cu2S which indicates that the mineral is
nearly 80% copper by weight. It is relatively
easy to separate the copper from the sulfur,
but Chalcocite is not abundant as other
copper ore minerals. The name is derived
from the Greek word, “chalkos”, for copper.
Chalcocite can occur as a primary mineral
(a mineral that forms at the same time as
the host rock), but it is more typically a
product of secondary enrichment.
The
enrichment process starts when surface
water reacts with sulfide minerals, such as
Pyrite, to form sulfuric acid. This acid
leaches
copper
sulfides,
such
as
Chalcopyrite, and the dissolved copper is
carried downward by groundwater. The
copper ions precipitate when they reach the
water table and produce secondary copper
minerals, such as Chalcocite, with higher
copper content. A layer of Chalcocite
forms around the water table level and is
called a “Chalcocite blanket”.
Arizona Localities and Specimens
The 3rd edition of the Mineralogy of Arizona
reports that Chalcocite is widely distributed
in Arizona and lists over 50 localities. Here
are a couple examples of Arizona
specimens:
Chalcocite Crystals
Bisbee, Warren District, Cochise Co., AZ
Field of view: 3.5 x 2.6 cm, largest crystal is ~3 mm
Harvey Jong specimen and photo
Secondary Enrichment
Chalcocite can be found in association
with Bornite, Calcite, Covellite, Cuprite,
Chrysocolla, Enargite, Malachite, Pyrite, or
Quartz.
Chalcocite
Magma mine, Superior, Pinal Co., AZ
Size: 2 x 1.2 x 0.8 cm
Photo by Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA_3.0,
via Wikimedia Commons
(Continued on page 7)
6|Page
January 2013
Other Notable Occurrences
U.S. localities that are known for fine
Chalcocite crystals include:
Chalcocite can form pseudomorphs of
many different minerals including Bornite,
Covellite, Chalcopyrite, Enargite, Galena,
Pyrite, and Sphalerite. Below are a few
examples:
Chalcocite
Bristol Copper mine, Bristol, Hartford Co., Connecticut
Size: 2.0 x 1.2 x 0.7 cm. Photo by Rob Lavinsky,
iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA_3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Chalcocite pseudomorph after Covellite
Butte, Silver Bow County, Montana
Size: 7.1 x 5.4 x 3.2 cm. Photo by Rob Lavinsky,
iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA_3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Chalcocite
Flambeau mine, Ladysmith, Rusk Co., Wisconsin
Size: 11.5 x 7.2 x 6.0 cm. Photo by Rob Lavinsky,
iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA_3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
7|Page
Chalcocite pseudomorph after Wood
Nacimiento mine, Sandoval Co., New Mexico
Size: 4.5 x 3 x 2.5 cm
Harvey Jong specimen and photo
(Continued on page 8)
January 2013
(Continued from page 7)
Cornwall, England is one of the classic “Old
World” mining areas, and the region is
famous for the rich diversity of minerals that
includes some fine Chalcocite crystals.
Mining activity started in the Bronze Age
and continued until the late 1980’s.
Chalcocite
Mammoth mine, Mount Gordon, Gunpowder District, Mt.
Isa, Cloncurry, Queensland, Australia
Size: 3.0 x 2.9 x 2.4 cm
Photo by Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA_3.0,
via Wikimedia Commons
Recently, some very lustrous Chalcocites
have been found at the Telfer gold mine in
Western Australia.
Chalcocite on Quartz
Cornwall, United Kingdom
Size: 3.7 x 2.8 x 1.7 cm
Photo by Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA_3.0,
via Wikimedia Commons
Australia has produced some exceptional
specimens, and one well known location is
the Mammoth mine in Queensland.
C
halcocite
Telfer Gold mine, Western Australia, Australia
Size: 2.2 x 1.7 x 1.4cm
Photo by Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA_3.0,
via Wikimedia Commons
(Continued on page 9)
8|Page
January 2013
Some of the Telfer specimens have an
interesting penetrating twin habit where
elongated
prismatic
crystals
have
arrowhead terminations.
to lead you the rest of the way. High
clearance will be necessary for last part of
road so think about carpooling to get to the
sitet.
(See
http://museum.wa.gov.au/research/collectio
ns/earth-and-planetary-sciences/mineralcollection/chalcocite)
I apologize for the late notice but hope you
all can make it. Looking forward to seeing
you out there.
Next Mineral of the Month
The theme of the upcoming Tucson Gem
and Mineral Show is “Fluorite, Colors of the
Rainbow”, so the next Mineral of the Month
will be Fluorite.
Any questions, please contact me at 918440-0152 or email me.
Katy Tunnicliff, President
Saturday, February 9, 2013
Mingus Gem & Mineral
Cottonwood Slag Heap
Our February Coalition Trip is set for the
Slag Heap in Cottonwood, Arizona.
There are 2, count them, 2 !!!!
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Apache Junction Rock & Gem
Hewitt Canyon Marble
We are going to Hewitt Canyon for beautiful
pink, white and green striped marble.
Meeting time is 9 a.m. on Queen Valley
road which is 12.4 miles east of Goldfield
Road on Highway 60. You go east past
Gold canyon, turn north on Queen Valley
Road and go about 1.25 miles. There is a
wide spot on the east side of the road and I
will be there with maps and someone
9|Page
The date is Saturday, February 9 at 9 am.
All those wishing to attend will have to sign
a liability waver upon arrival. There are
some sharp edges on some of the slag, so
heavy boots, thick clothing and gloves are
appropriate and recommended. The
representative from Mineral Research, Tom
Hurkett, will be there to let us in. There is a
new access road off of 6th Street and
overflow parking may become necessary
and is available close by.
This is a fun trip and most who have
attended in the past will not hesitate to
come
again.
See
you
there.
Your
Mingus Gem and Mineral Club
Hosts:
January 2013
January – Quartzsite, Arizona :
Jan. 1 – Feb. 28, 2013 Quartzsite Desert
Gardens Gem ,Mineral & Jewelry Show.
Feb.16-17—MESA, ARIZONA: 47th annual
show; Apache Junction Rock & Gem Club;
Skyline High School; 845 S. Crismon Rd.;
Sat. 9-5, Sun. 10-4; adults $3, students with
ID $1, children (12 and under) free. Hourly
door prizes, silent auction, grand raffle, gem
tree-making activity, Wheel of Rocks;
contact Kelly Iverson, (480) 325-2705; Web
site: www.ajrockclub.com
March 2013
Jan. 23 – Jan. 27, 2013 (Wed-Sun)
Quartzsite Pow Wow 46th Annual 500+
vendors from all over the world that
are at least 75% gem/mineral or
jewelry related. Free admission and
parking with two shuttles running all
day from the parking area to the main
hall. 52 showcases of beautiful gems,
minerals and jewelry. There are also 2
field trips per day – see website for
more info: http://www.qiaaz.org/
February 2013
Feb. 14-17. Tucson Gem & Mineral
Society; 59th Annual @ Tucson Convention
Center; 260 S. Church Ave.; Thu. 10-6, Fri.
10-6, Sat. 10-6, Sun. 10-5; adults $10 (2
days $17), Active Military and seniors (62
and older) receive $2 off on Fri.; contact
Tucson Gem & Mineral Society Inc., PO
Box 42588, Tucson, AZ 85733, (520) 3225773; e-mail: tgms@tgms.org; Web site:
www.tgms.org for more info.
Theme
“Fluorite: Colors of the Rainbow”.
Lectures and seminars are held Thursday
through Sunday of the Show week in the
Crystal Ballroom and Turquoise Ballroom at
the Tucson Convention Center. They are
open to the public and free of charge
Feb.16.
Tucson Mineral Symposium.
See page 11 for details.
10 | P a g e
March 2-3—FOUNTAIN HILLS, AZ:
Fountain Hills Gem & Mineral Show; O.B.
Rocks & Minerals; Fountain Hills
Community Center; 13001 N. La Montana
Dr.; Sat. 10-5, Sun. 10-5; adults $2,
children (under 10) free; gems, minerals,
fossils, metals, kids' activities; contact Rick
Obermiller, PO Box 64281, Phx, AZ 85082,
(602)826-2218; e-mail: obrocks@gmail.com
March 15-16 (Fri/Sat)—COTTONWOOD,
Mingus Union High School; 1801 E. Fir St.;
Fri. 10-5, Sat. 9-4; adults $3, kids (under
12) free with adult; dealers, minerals, rocks,
beads, jewelry, unset gemstones, fossils,
cabochons, lapidary supplies, wire
wrapping on the premises; contact Val
Latham, 840 W. Charleston Ave., Phoenix,
AZ 85140, (602) 350-1756; e-mail:
val65@cox.net
March 22-23—YUMA, ARIZONA: Retail
show; Yuma Civic Center; 1440 Desert Hills
Dr.; Fri. 10-5, Fri. 9-4; adults $3, kids (under
12) free w/adult; indoor gem and jewelry
show, dealers, minerals, fossils, rough,
slabs, fine and costume jewelry, beads,
copper, unset gemstones, lapidary
equipment and supplies, wire wrapping on
the premises; contact Sharon Szymanski,
1792 E. Laddoos Ave., San Tan Valley, AZ
85140, (480) 215-9101; e-mail:
goldcanyon2@yahoo.com
January 2013
The 34th Annual FM-MSA-TGMS
Tucson Mineral Symposium
Fluorite, A Rainbow of Color
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Tucson Convention Center
10 AM to 3 PM
Crystal Ballroom
Symposium Agenda
10:00 to
Welcome and Introductory
10:05
Remarks
AM
The Emerald green
10:05 to Fluorites and the Golden
10:30 Calcites of the Malmberget
AM
Mine, Gällivare, Lappland,
Sweden
10:30 to
Fluorite: A Favorite of
11:00
Mineral Collectors
AM
11:00 to
Fluorite in Granitic
11:30
Pegmatites
AM
11:30 New Mexico Fluorite AM to Over 10 million years of
12:00 mineralization that
PM
continues today
12:00 to
1:30
Lunch Break
PM
1:30 to Fluorine and Fluorite in
2:00
Mississippi Valley-Type
PM
(MVT) Deposits
The North Pennines
2:00 to Orefield, England - a
2:30
Classic Fluorine-Enriched
PM
Mississippi Valley-Type
Deposit
The Weardale Giant - a
2:30 to
Large Fluorite Specimen
3:00
Recovered from the
PM
Rogerley Mine, England
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Julian
Gray
Peter
Lyckberg
Arvid
Pasto
Mark Ivan
Jacobson
Virgil W.
Lueth
The symposium is held in conjunction with
the Tucson Show. In addition to the Friends
of Mineralogy, the symposium is sponsored
by the TGMS and the Mineralogical Society
of America. The theme is: Fluorite, A
Rainbow of Color. Presentations will be on
descriptive mineralogy, classic and new
localities. An audience of amateur and
professional mineralogists and geologists is
expected.
To sign up for the symposium in advance,
contact TGMS: Phone: (520) 322-5773
Email: tgms@tgms.org Web Site:
www.tgms.org Mail Address: P O Box
42588, Tucson AZ 85733
=================================
Free wirewrap classes are held at
QDoba Grill (602-795-4205) on the
N.E. corner of 7th Street &
Glendale (middle of strip mall).
Classes are held 11:30 – 3:30 on the 3rd
Saturday of each month. Instructors Joanne
Hesterman and Sandi McDonald have different
styles. Joanne’s take on learning from different
instructors, is that “the more people you learn
from, the more it helps you develop your own
style”. Joanne’s style (using half round wire)
emphasizes the stone, so her wirework has less
flourishes than Sandi’s (who uses round wire).
John
Rakovan
Bring a straight edge 12” ruler, masking tape &
a black sharpie. And of course paper & pen for
notes. If you have wirework tools, bring them.
Jesse
Fisher
Joanne is a retired high school teacher. She
taught for 40 years at Central High & North
High. She also volunteered at the AZMMM for
many years
Jesse
Fisher
Note: QDoba doesn’t charge Joanne/Sandi a fee
or rent, so they ask that students buy lunch there
as a way of giving back to QDoba.