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Callaghanite, Premier Chemicals Mine, Gabbs District, Nye County, Nevada |
January 2007 Club members received a rare treat--we obtained the large lot we
were hoping to acquire of the extremely rare mineral Callaghanite
[CuMg2(CO3)(OH)62H20] from its type locality in Nevada. Like most rare and
hard to find minerals, the crystals were very small, best viewed under a 10x
loupe or other magnifier. The write-up tells the the history of its discovery, and describes
in detail contract collecting. |
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February 2007 Another exceptional month as we featured Lazulite
[MgAl2(PO4)2(OH)2] from Rapid Creek, Yukon Territory, Canada! Ranked
#3 on the list of “Canada’s Top Ten Minerals,” you'll be amazed by the
intense beauty of lazulite crystals from Rapid Creek--The best have an
intense blue color rivaling that of azurite. And these are the best! We
spent a number of hours trying to take a photo that would capture the true
intense blue of the crystals, but we failed--you'll just have to see it for
yourself! |
 Lazulite,
Rapid Creek, Dawson Mining District, Yukon Territory, Canada |
Amazonite, Smoky Hawk Mine, Crystal Peak near Florrisant, Teller
County, Colorado |
March 2007
We always like to do something special for March, the eleventh anniversary of
our Club! This year we sent beautiful, well-formed crystals
of the microcline feldspar [KAlSi2O8] variety Amazonite, from the
classic locality at Crystal Peak near Florrisant, Teller County, Colorado.
This was the first feldspar group mineral we've featured in years, so the
write-up contains some great information about this important group of
minerals, as well as a history of the collecting area. Gold-Level-size pieces
were smaller in size than what we typically send. Normally, these specimens
are way out of our price range, but the collector gave us a great price to
make it possible! |
| April 2007 Another excellent month! By
coincidence, over the years, we have featured some of our favorite minerals
in April--labradorite in 1997, charoite in 1998, eudialyte in 2002--and now
this year: Phenakite [Be2SiO4] from a new find in the gem pegmatites
of Myanmar (Burma.) Being both a new find and of gem quality, these crystals
are very desirable, but very small, with Gold-Level-size specimens averaging
only about ⅜" to ½" in length. (The biggest crystal we obtained in the lot
is only 1" high.) They are water-clear, some with a slight yellowish tint,
with excellent terminations, but very small, the smallest specimens we've
ever sent, except for the diamonds in March 2003. But they're nicer than the
diamonds! |
 Phenakite,
Palelni mine, Khetchel village, Molo quarter, Momeik Township, Shan State, Myanmar (Burma). Photo by Jeff Scovil. |
 Brookite,
Kharan District, Balochistan Province, Pakistan |
May 2007
Another incredible month! The buying strategy we mentioned in last month's
newsletter paid off--we approached a European exporter about a large lot of
brookite [TiO2] on quartz from the new find in Pakistan. We picked
out about 600 pieces with a total retail price of over $30,000 (they had
priced each piece retail.) We made them an offer that would put them in the
range of what we can pay for our Club, they said they would get back to us,
they never did, as when we got back to them, they said Yes! The dealer in
the room next to our at Inn Suites had a few of these new brookites, loose
crystals without matrix, and offered us a square brookite about 1" by 1" for
$500, so you can see what a bargain we got, which of course benefits all
Club members. |
| June 2007
In July 1997, when we had only a handful of members, we featured sprays of
exceptional Epidote [Ca2Al2(Fe3+,Al)(Si3O12(OH)] from Peru, and we are happy
to report we were able to feature it again 10 years later! This was an
exceptional month with high quality specimens, and the write-up explained in
detail on epidote and its unique properties, including a report on mineral
collecting in Peru and this history of this marvelous find. |
 Epidote,
Rosario Mabel Mine, Pampa Blancas, Huancavelica Department, Peru |
"Rainbow" Pyrite, Volga Rover, near Ulyanovsk, Ulyanovsk Oblast',
RussiaJ |
July 2007
This was another outstanding month, as we featured the
iridescent drusy pyrite known as "Rainbow Pyrite," found in the
Volga River near Ulyanovsk, Uliynovsk Oblast', Russia. The pyrite
comes in all the colors of the rainbow, in openings and seams in a
clay nodule, very colorful and attractive, and has really caught on
in the designer jewelry field. The write-up explained how
septarian nodules form, what causes iridescence in minerals, and
describes the city of Ulyanovsk. |
 Hematite,
Oumjrane Mine, Alnif, Er Rachidia Province, Morocco |
August 2007
Another exceptional month, as we featured Hematite
[α-Fe2O3] from Morocco. These lustrous black bubbly
botryoidal specimens are quite unique, and Club members really enjoyed them. The write-up
described in detail the many wonderful forms that hematite can
take, and explained the difference between perceived color and actual color,
highlighting the importance of streak color in identifying minerals. |
| September 2007 Another excellent month,
as we featured long thin green crystals of Actinolite [□Ca2(Mg,
Fe2+)5Si8O22(OH)2] in calcite matrix from a new find at the Metals Material
Mine, Pershing County, Nevada. What makes this find unique is that the
actinolite formed as freestanding, distinct crystals, unusual for a mineral
that normally occurs in intergrown masses. The write-up details the
importance of this amphibole group mineral, and describes two of its unusual
forms--Nephrite jade and asbestos! Members were cautioned to be careful in handling
their specimens, some
of these crystals are sharp! |
Actinolite, Metals Materials Mine, Buena Vista Hills, Mineral Basin
District, Pershing County, Nevada |
Fluorite
Huangshaping Mine
Yizhang County
Chenzhou Prefecture
Hunan Province, China |
October 2007 We're very excited about our October offering
of Chinese fluorite. These pieces have great color, transparency, and
crystal form, and the write-up examines all three in detail. It also
explains the way calcium and fluorine combine to form this beautiful
mineral, its worldwide collecting localities, its jewelry and decorative
uses, history and lore, and technological uses. A special section explains
the different types of luminescence seen in minerals, and much information
is given about the forces that shaped the region in China where the
Huangshaping mine is located. |
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November 2007 This was another special month, as we
featured the zeolite group mineral Thomsonite-Ca, from a new find at Shendurni,
Jalgaon District, Maharashtra, India. The write-up has a special section on
the Zeolite mineral group, explaining their unique crystal structure and the
unusual properties they have as a result. It also describes the formation of
India's Deccan Traps, where zeolite minerals are found in abundance, and
details the connection some scientists see between its formation and the
extinction of the dinosaurs. It's an altogether fascinating write-up! |
Thomsonite-Ca
Shendurni
Jalgaon District
Maharashtra, India |
 Vanadinite, Pure Potential mine a.k.a. North Geronimo mine, Silver District, Trigo Mountains, La Paz
County, Arizona. |
December 2007 We always try to feature an especially colorful
mineral in December, so this month we featured one of the most
colorful, as seen in the photo to the left. These were recently collected at a now-classic mine
in Arizona, identified by some as a historic "lost" mine! The write-up has
all the details, plus the history of mineral collecting in the district and
a special section on the fascinating element that gives vanadinite
its name. |
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If you'd like to receive all the minerals we've featured
in 2007 along
with their write-ups, choose one of the memberships available in the box to the
right.
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All 12 Featured Minerals from 2007 in Gold-Level-size (12 for the price of 11)
All 12 Featured Minerals from 2007 in Silver-Level-size (12 for the price of 11
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