Rock Collecting in Morocco

Making Cabs with Glue

OCTOBER 2016

An Ode to Agate

VOL. 46 ISSUE 10

Blue Wrinkle Lapis Lazuli

150 YEARS OF MINERALS AT YALE

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ROCK & GEM rockngem.com U.S. $5.99 • Vol 46 No. 10 • Oct. 2016 Issue code: 2016-10 Display until 10/25/16

Natural Bridges: Geologic Wonders

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Vol. 46, No. 10 • October 2016

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BLUE WRINKLE LAPIS 10 A Colorado classic is available again. By Steve Voynick

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A ROCKHOUND’S 80-YEAR ODYSSEY 16 Part II: The Tucson years led to great adventures. By Bob Jones YALE’S NEW DAVID FRIEND MINERAL HALL A state-of-the-art addition to a historic museum. By Bob Jones

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FACETING AND CABBING WITH GLUE Avoiding the disadvantages of dop wax. By

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Steve Kreis

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AN ODE TO AGATES 38 The 2016 Agate Expo in pictures. By Lynn Varon ROCK & GEM KIDS

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ROCK COLLECTING IN MOROCCO In search of the one that got away. By Bob

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Farrar

NATURAL BRIDGES 56 Geologic wonders around the world. By Helen Serras-Herman

Regular Columns Field Notes .......................... 6 Lapidary of the Month ....8 Bench Tips ......................... 24 Rock Science .................... 32 What to Cut ...................... 64 Picks & Pans ...................... 68 Show Dates ....................... 70 On the Rocks .................... 80 Parting Shot...................... 82

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Notice: On rare occasions, typographical errors occur in prices listed in magazine advertisements. For this reason, advertisements appearing in Rock & Gem should be considered as requests to inquire, rather than as unconditional offers to sell. All prices are subject to change without notice.

This 4,000-plus carat gem tanzanite crystal from the Merelani Hills of northern Tanzania will be on loan to the new David Friend Hall from Rob Lavinsky, of The Arkenstone. (Joe Budd photo/Rob Lavinsky collection)

Periodicals postage paid at Dallas, TX 75260 and at other mailing offices. Printed in U.S.A. Copyright 2016 by Beckett Media, LLC POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Rock & Gem, c/o Beckett Media, 4635 McEwen Rd., Dallas, TX 75244.

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© 2016 by Beckett Media, LLC. or [email protected]. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any material from this issue in whole or in part is strictly prohibited. Single-copy price $5.99. Subscription in U.S.A. and possessions: 1 year (12 issues) for $29.95; 2 years for $52.95; 3 years for $74.95. Add $24.00 per year postage for Canada and all other foreign countries. EDITORIAL CONTACT INFORMATION: [email protected]

Rock & Gem

Field notes READER LETTERS “Amazing Amazonite” Addendum A friend showed me his copy of the April 2016 issue of Rock & Gem and called my attention to Bob Jones’ article “Amazing Amazonite”. I want to point out a correction in the paragraph regarding the Amelia County, Virginia, Rutherford and Morefield amazonite localities. Rutherford has been closed since 1958, when Warren “Bill” Baltzley lost his lease with the owner, Mr. Keener. It was during this time that Bill mined some excellent red and orange gem spessartites, some of which were cut by his friend Dr. John Sinkankas, who was on site with Bill at all times. You may not know that Bill and a partner were early operators of the Rist mine in North Carolina, during which time some very fine emeralds were mined. Bill re-opened the Morefield mine in 1985 after the death of his Rist mine partner. We purchased Morefield mine in 1996, and my wife, Sharon, and I have operated it seasonally since then. We have produced some fine amazonite, and Morefield amazonite was the subject of one QVC show, during which 900 pieces of dark amazonite cabs in necklaces were sold. Over our almost 20 years mining the Morefield mine, we have introduced thousands of schoolchildren and families to the mineral kingdom, and pegmatite minerals, in particular. We have mined just under 2,000 tons of pegmatite, almost all by hand. Virtually all of it is hauled home by schoolchildren and other customers. Bob’s comment, “These mines were worked in the 1950s, but yield little or nothing today” bears correcting. Please check our Web site, www.morefieldgemmine.com, and see the Photo Gallery. I think you will enjoy the photos, and be surprised, as well. You might also enjoy the menu item Mining of Minerals. —Samuel M. Dunaway Jr. Morefield Gem Mine Inc.

Reader Feedback I enjoyed the article “Blue John Stone” (Susie Kearley, August 2016) until the end and the “metaphysical” part. “Stimulate dream visits by your power animal”, “the violet life force and blue ray of trust”,

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“dream talismans”, and “place it on your forehead and you might receive the gift of clairvoyance”? I thought that kind of thing went out with those who believed wearing amethyst would keep you from getting drunk. —Bob Boyd McKinleyville, CA I wish to offer some opinions about certain articles in recent issues. August 2016, Blue John Stone: Included with this article is a sidebar on “Metaphysical Uses”. Is it necessary to offer such information in Rock & Gem? Does the magazine want to transform into a New Age publication? Or how about printing an article documenting that science has verified these claims that certain minerals influence physical or mental aspects of humans? September 2016, Indroda Dinosaur and Fossil Park: Does Rock & Gem accept as-is articles from outside contributors (i.e., other than your listed regular contributors)? I realize that the magazine is not a peer-reviewed academic journal, but some quality control would be helpful. This article is an example of one where a regular contributor could’ve read it as it came in and could’ve made some recommendations about polishing up the writing and presentation. When a writer is not a regular contributor, sometimes you include a sentence or more at the end commenting on them. How about doing that in all cases? —Sherman Clebnik Berlin, CT I don’t think a sidebar constitutes the transforming of the magazine, and the inclusion of metaphysical information is pretty rare. Most of our editorial contributors are amateur writers, and in one or two cases, English is not their first language. I think the article was intelligible, but would be happy to address any specific passages that are of concern to you. An occasional author will provide a bio, but most don’t. Many of our contributors are simply rockhounds who want to share their experiences in a one-time article, while others are more experienced or more widely published and want to share their credentials. —Editor

EDITORIAL BOB JONES Senior Consulting Editor LYNN VARON Managing Editor JIM BRACE-THOMPSON MARC DAVIS RUSS KANIUTH BOB RUSH HELEN SERRAS-HERMAN STEVE VOYNICK Regular Contributors EDITORIAL SUBMISSIONS: Lynn Varon / Rock & Gem 5235 Mission Oaks Blvd. #201 Camarillo, CA 93012 (972) 448-4626 e-mail: [email protected]

ART DEPARTMENT LINDSEY JONES Art Director RAVIJOT SINGH Designer ROBYN AUSTIN Contributing Designer

ADVERTISING BILL DUMAS Advertising Director, Beckett Media PRISCILLA TORRES Advertising Sales (972) 448-9131 [email protected] TOM CARROLL Rock & Gem Ad Traffic Coordinator ADVERTISING INQUIRIES: Bill Dumas / Rock & Gem Beckett Media LLC 4635 McEwen Rd., Dallas, TX 75244 Ph. (972) 448-9147 Fax (972) 991-8930 e-mail: [email protected] SANDEEP DUA President JAMES L. MILLER Founder

Rock & Gem

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lapidary

of the

month OCTOBER 2016

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hen I was growing up in Central Oregon, my family was interested in rock hunting and lapidary work, as far back as the 1950s and ’60s. Many a weekend was spent out in the desert searching for geodes, limb casts, red, yellow and green jasper, and plume agate of many sorts. We also went to various rock shows to explore new finds. We all had a passion to see what these stones looked like once cut and polished. In later years, my interests moved toward working with chrysocolla and turquoise. In keeping with Native American Indian traditions, I have created some unusual items. Through my travels and collecting of natural materials, I came upon this ram skull, which had been sitting aside for some time, and decided to try my hand at doing some inlay. The skull and horns were a bit disgusting, so with a toothbrush and knife, I began to clean and prepare them for crafting. Once the skull was clean, I cleaned the horns and sanded them with 400 grit sandpaper. I didn’t want to use anything coarse enough to distort the characteristics of the horns themselves. Once sanded nicely, I used several coats of a gloss clear-coat spray to finish them and set them aside. I had a bucket of scrap turquoise, which I had been using for other inlay work. I took many measurements to ensure everything would fit together upon completion. The layout of stones had to be close enough that the horns would fit properly, as well. Each piece was laid out and then fitted into the spaces needed. Once the layout was complete, each piece was rounded and shaped with a 200

grit grinding wheel and sanded with a 400 grit wheel. I used a two-part clear epoxy to set each piece into its allotted space, which took several hours. Then I set the skull aside for a few days to let the epoxy to cure. When cured, I used an extra-fine rubberized abrasive wheel over each stone and finished up with Zam, a polishing compound, to obtain the luster I wanted. For the final stage of the stones, I again used a two-part epoxy, mixed with a drop of black India ink, and began filling in the voids around the turquoise stones. Then the skull was again set aside to cure for approximately 24 hours. I painted the areas around the eye sockets and the edges black to match the black epoxy, then sprayed the entire skull with a gloss clear coat to provide the clear, shiny finish. Next came the task of setting the horns in place. They don’t always fit exactly the way you want them to look. They have to be aligned on the skull so that they are spaced across from each other properly. Once aligned, the horns are set with the two-part epoxy and cured for 24 hours. I again used the two-part epoxy with a drop of black ink to do the finishing. I used a couple of pieces of tanned deerskin to cover the junctures between the skull and the horns, which I attached with leather glue. The wall hanger was also made from deer leather. At the age of 75, I finally accomplished this project. —Marilyn Sholes Bend, OR

CONTEST RULES Would you like to be named Lapidary of the Month? To enter the contest: • Write a 500-word step-by-step description of how you crafted your lapidary project from start to finish. Save it as a document file. • Take at least one sharp, close-up, color digital photo of the finished project. Photos must be high-resolution (300 dpi at 4 inches by 5 inches, minimum). • Attach your document file and digital photo (.tif or .jpg) to an e-mail and send it to [email protected] with the subject line “Lapidary of the Month”. • E-mail the editor or call (972) 448-4626 with any questions about these requirements.

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Rock & Gem

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Noel Adam displays jewelry items on a massive piece of rough Blue Wrinkle lapis lazuli.

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Rock & Gem

Blue WRINKLE Lapis A Colorado Classic Is Available Again Story and Photos by Steve Voynick

This 2-inch-long, lapis “statement” ring is an example of Navajo “channel” work, with thin strips of silver inlay accenting the blue color of the lapis.

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here are fewer than a dozen occurrences of lapis lazuli in the entire world. And of those, only three have ever been commercially developed.

The premier sources of lapis lazuli are Afghanistan’s leg-

endary Sar-e-Sang mines. Also important is the Flores de los Andes deposit in northern Chile. Less widely known is the third commercial lapis source. Located in the United States, it’s the Blue Wrinkle deposit on North Italian Mountain in western Colorado, 35 miles northeast of the city of Gunnison and 10 miles northeast of the town of Crested Butte.

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Blue Wrinkle Lapis

ABOVE: This display case at Zacchariah Zypp contains hundreds of jewelry items made from Blue Wrinkle lapis by Native American craftsmen. BELOW: One of Noel Adam’s fastest selling creations is the “Moon over the Mountain” pendant, in which the “moon” is a faceted aquamarine from Colorado’s Mount Antero and the “mountain” is Blue Wrinkle lapis.

The Blue Wrinkle deposit was last mined in the late 1980s. Soon afterward, much of its production went into storage. And since then, Colorado lapis has received little attention. Recently, however, Noel Adam, a goldsmith and gemstone aficionado from Crested Butte, acquired the entire stock of that lapis, which was mined some three decades ago. Noel’s shop—Zacchariah Zypp, in Crested Butte—is now the sole source of rough and finished Blue Wrinkle lapis. And Noel has become a major player in the latest chapter of a fascinating tale of gemstone discovery, mining and marketing. Lapis lazuli is a rock consisting of an indeterminate mixture of several minerals. Its characteristic azure color is due to its primary

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mineral component, lazurite, a sodium calcium aluminum sulfosilicate with several polymorphic crystalline forms. Lazurite usually makes up between 20% and 40% of lapis. Stones with the highest percentage of lazurite exhibit the most intense blue colors and have the greatest gemological value. Other minerals present in lapis are calcite and pyrite, along with haüyne, nosean, afghanite and vladimirivanovite. The last four minerals are chemically similar to lazurite. Many mineralogists now actually consider lazurite to be a sulfur-rich variety of haüyne, rather than its own distinct species. Lapis, a metamorphic rock that is the product of intense alteration, is often found in marble skarns. Skarns are emplacements of

Rock & Gem

Blue Wrinkle Lapis calcium-rich silicates that develop within metasomatic contact zones where magma has intruded limestone and other elements, such as aluminum, have been introduced. Lapis usually occurs as veins or pods in a matrix of white or gray marble, which is itself metamorphosed limestone. The Blue Wrinkle lapis deposit, located just above timberline on 13,339-foot-high North Italian Mountain, was discovered in 1939 by miner and prospector Carl Anderson. Carl, who had staked lead and garnet (grossular) claims on the mountain at roughly 11,700 feet, had been working his claims and spent the night in his timberline cabin. In the morning, despite an early autumn storm that brought a cold, steady rain, he began hiking toward the nearby Star mine, a small, underground, leadzinc-silver-copper operation, where he was employed as a miner. At the base of a steep talus slope, he noticed several unusual rocks with a blue color that had been intensified by the rain. Carl collected samples of what he probably thought were some form of copper mineralization. But after closer study, he concluded that the samples did not contain copper at all. Whether he suspected they were lapis lazuli is uncertain, but he did take them to the Colorado School of Mines in Golden for positive identification. Mineralogists there informed him that his samples were lapis lazuli of a very high gemological quality. Back on North Italian Mountain, Carl returned to the spot where he had collected the samples. Unable to immediately locate the in situ source, he climbed the steep talus slope and began rolling small boulders down the steep grade, hoping to replicate the descent that his float samples had taken. A few days later, he found a point that seemed right. When he kicked rocks down the slope, they came to rest in the general area in which he had originally found his samples. Carl then dug through several feet of loose talus to discover what is now recognized as North America’s premier lapis lazuli deposit. Working quickly to investigate his discovery before snowfall closed the high country for the winter, he traced the lapis vein laterally for several hundred feet. The erratic network of lapis veins ranged in thickness from only an inch to about 2 feet and was emplaced in a matrix of gray marble. Bounded by a quartz intrusion on one side and a mass of greenish limestone on the other, the lapis occurrence was a textbook example of a contact-metamorphic deposit. Carl named his discovery the Blue Wrinkle and filed claims at the Gunnison County Courthouse in Gunnison. He then continued his pick-and-shovel exploration work each summer, collecting enough lapis to occasionally sell in Gunnison and Denver. Although he never attempted any serious mine development, he apparently wasn’t adverse to publicity. Newspaper articles about the Blue Wrinkle claims, written with Carl’s cooperation, appeared as early as 1940. In 1944, he gave a tour of his claims to a writer who published an article in Rocks & Minerals magazine. Carl also sent specimens to prominent museum curators and

October 2016

Ande Anderson was reclusive and, like his father, Carl, preferred to work his lapis deposit alone.

mineralogists, who were impressed by the quality of his lapis. Geologist Frank C. Whitmore, of the National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian Institution), in Washington, D.C., described his lapis as “the equal of any of the specimens of this mineral from any of the localities represented in our collections”. In the 1960s, Carl performed his annual claim-assessment work with the help of his son Ande Anderson, an accomplished accordion player who had performed as a musician on cruise ships. When Carl died in 1969 without leaving a will, Ande quasilegally took over his father’s claims by talking a county clerk into transferring them into his own name. Somewhat eccentric, Ande was reclusive and, like his father, preferred to work alone. Ande often lived in his father’s one-room cabin near the Blue Wrinkle deposit, remaining there for months at a time during the brief alpine summers. While Ande never did any serious mining, he continued to collect enough lapis to occasionally generate a little cash flow. When he needed another car in 1975, he took a bus to Denver, carrying 100 pounds of rough lapis that he sold at the Denver Gem & Mineral Show. Although regional rockhounds were aware of the Blue Wrinkle lapis deposit, Ande never had problems with trespassers. He always wore an imposing revolver on his hip and posted his claims with a sign reading: “This Property Belongs to a Madman—He’s a Dead Shot—No Digging!” Yet another side of Ande contradicted his “madman” persona.

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Blue Wrinkle Lapis In Gunnison, he spent a great deal of time at Western State College (now Western State Colorado University) attending theatrical productions and at the Gunnison County Public Library listening to children’s storytelling programs. During 1979, events half a world away made a big impact on the Blue Wrinkle claims. The Soviets occupied Afghanistan to curtail the export of Afghan lapis. As lapis prices soared, Oklahoma oilman Paul Schultz, a board member of Tulsa, Oklahomabased Anchor Gas, saw the commercial potential of developing a domestic source of lapis—namely the Blue Wrinkle deposit. He talked with Ande, whose health was declining, and offered to buy his lapis claims. Schultz then convinced the other board members to approve the company’s purchase of the Blue Wrinkle claims for a sum disclosed only as “something over $60,000.” Backed by Anchor Gas capital, Schultz organized and personally supervised mechanized mining on the Blue Wrinkle claims. By drilling, blasting and bulldozing the broken rock, mechanized mining exposed more of the lapis vein in just two summers than Carl and Ande were able to do in 40 years. Schultz then contracted with Hugh and Nancy Pressler, owners of the House of Art, a Gunnison shop specializing in fine jewelry and mineral specimens, to act as the exclusive distributors of Blue Wrinkle lapis. During the winter months, Schultz worked the lapis himself in a small shop behind the House of Art. He also displayed the lapis at the gem and mineral shows in Denver and in Tucson, Arizona. In 1990, Anchor Gas, citing diminishing returns on its milliondollar investment, sold the Blue Wrinkle claims to local geologist Gary Christopher, who performed only limited exploration. Nevertheless, Gary did his part to preserve the legacy of Colorado lapis when he donated what may be the finest piece of Blue Wrinkle lapis ever mined to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. That 15-inch-long, 3-inch-thick, polished slab of deeply colored azure lapis is displayed today at the entrance to the museum’s Coors Hall of Gems and Minerals. In the years that followed, Blue Wrinkle lapis became hard to find—until Noel Adam entered the picture. Noel, who grew up in Denver, studied various genres of art before working as a photographer, illustrator, goldsmith, and jewelry-making instructor. By 1972, Noel had put down roots in Crested Butte. Nestled in the Elk Mountains at an elevation of 8,885 feet, Crested Butte was founded as a coal-mining town in 1880. After its mines closed in the early 1950s, it survived a few tough decades and is now thriving again, this time as one of Colorado’s premier, year-round vacation destinations. In Crested Butte, Noel joined the fire department as a firefighter and engineer, became an emergency medical technician, and established Zacchariah Zypp, a jewelry shop on Elk Street in Crested Butte’s historic downtown business district. As a jewelry maker, Noel had long been intrigued by Blue

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Wrinkle lapis. He had met Ande several times during the 1970s, but back then Ande was not interested in selling any lapis. Noel did acquire some from Paul Schultz in the early 1980s, and bought more several years later from the House of Art. “But by 2012 my supply had run out,” Noel recalls. “And I really wanted to work with, and sell, a gemstone with a distinct Colorado identity. That’s when I began wondering what had happened to all the lapis that Paul had mined in the 1980s.” Noel did some checking and learned that the lapis was still owned by Anchor Gas—and had been in storage in Tulsa since the late 1980s. “I thought I could afford about 150 pounds of lapis,” Noel remembers. “But the folks at Anchor Gas weren’t interested in a piecemeal sale. Paul had recently passed away and no one else in the company knew much about lapis at all. They had paid storage costs on the lapis for years and wanted to get it off their books. So they asked if I wanted to buy all of it.” Anchor Gas offered a price that Noel couldn’t turn down. He and some friends rented a 23-foot-long truck, drove to Tulsa, and hauled more than 4,000 pounds of rough and slabbed lapis back to Crested Butte. “I felt like we were bringing that lapis home,” Noel says. “North Italian Mountain is only 10 miles northeast of Crested Butte, so this is where the lapis really belongs.” After securing his large supply of lapis, Noel came up with the commercial name “Crested Butte Lapis” and began designing a line of lapis jewelry that includes rings, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, pendants, brooches, watchbands, and belt buckles. “High-quality lapis lazuli is visually distinctive and immediately recognizable,” Noel explains. “It’s also a particularly versatile gemstone that you can do almost anything with. The most exciting thing about working with lapis is that element of limitless design creativity.” Noel sets his lapis gems in both gold and silver. He has created his own informal, but eminently practical, three-level grading system that includes “bead”, “silver” and “gold” grades “Bead” grade contains the most matrix material, usually calcite, that somewhat modifies the basic blue color of the lapis, but not enough to detract from its appearance in bead necklaces and bracelets. “In fact,” Noel points out, “color variations among beads can actually enhance the appearance of a bead necklace.” “Silver” grade is fine lapis with very little matrix and an intense blue color that is accented nicely by silver mounts. “Gold” grade is top-quality lapis with a deep, royal-blue color that is equal to the best Afghan material and is perfect for gold mounts. “Actually, I also have a fourth grading level that I call ‘extraspecial’,” Noel adds. “This is mineralogically rare lapis that is very high in lazurite content, [is] free of matrix, and has an exquisite, saturated, royal-blue color. I reserve it for special, one-of-a-kind jewelry designs.”

Rock & Gem

Blue Wrinkle Lapis Noel also points out that Blue Wrinkle lapis—unlike a substantial amount of lapis from other sources—is never color-enhanced in any way. Some of Noel’s lapis jewelry designs also incorporate other Colorado gemstones, such as faceted aquamarine gems from the classic Colorado locality at Mount Antero. Another of his popular combinations beautifully contrasts the lighter blue-green of Burtis Blue turquoise from Cripple Creek (see “Colorado’s Burtis Blue Turquoise”, November 2014) with the deep blue of the lapis. Noel carries the work of Native American artists and silversmiths, most of whom are members of the Indian Arts and Crafts Association. Noel works mainly with Navajo and Zuni craftsmen, supplying them with lapis cabs and slabs, which they turn into finished, silver-mounted, lapis jewelry. Particularly eye-catching is the Navajo “channel” work, which consists of inlaid pieces of lapis and thin, silver strips that are polished to a high luster. “There is an inherent justice in this working arrangement,” Noel says. “Blue Wrinkle lapis is an American gemstone, and so it’s fitting that Native American craftsmen can fashion it into fine jewelry.” And for lapidaries wanting to do their own work with Blue Wrinkle lapis, Noel also sells rough and slabs in a variety of sizes and grades. At Zacchariah Zypp, Noel displays literally thousands of pieces of finished lapis jewelry, along with a collection of museum-grade rough. And it comes as a surprise to many of his first-time visitors that fine lapis lazuli has even been mined in Colorado. “My shop becomes a learning experience,” Noel says. “Some folks spend an hour looking at our displays of lapis rough and finished lapis jewelry. I even show old photographs of the Blue Wrinkle claims, of Ande cleaning his revolver, and of the ‘madman’ sign that intimidated would-be trespassers.” The future of the patented Blue Wrinkle claims, which are currently owned by a Gunnison resident, is uncertain. Most of the original vein that Carl Anderson discovered in 1939 was mined out in the 1980s. There are rumors of another vein at depth, although this has never been confirmed by core drilling. The future of the Blue Wrinkle deposit may hinge on current events in Afghanistan. Thirty-seven years ago, Paul Schultz and Anchor Gas became involved with lapis only after prices had soared following the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Because Afghanistan is still politically and militarily unstable today, the supply of Afghan lapis remains uncertain. Should lapis prices soar again, another commercial effort to mine the Blue Wrinkle deposit wouldn’t be out of the question. Noel, who now has a 10-year supply of lapis remaining, has his own dream for the future of the Blue Wrinkle. “If I could afford it,” he says, “I’d buy the claims myself and open them to rockhounds.” The story of Blue Wrinkle lapis lazuli also includes an interesting personal twist. After Ande sold his claims to Anchor Gas in 1979, he retired to a small cabin near the tiny village of Almont

October 2016

This 15-inch-long, 3-inch-thick slab of Blue Wrinkle lapis, displayed at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, may be the finest piece of lapis lazuli ever found in North America.

Noel Adam’s shop, Zacchariah Zypp, in Crested Butte, is now the sole source of rough and finished Blue Wrinkle lapis.

not far from Gunnison. No one knew what Ande did with the proceeds from the sale of his claims. Shortly after Ande died in 1981, two relatives descended upon his little cabin in a futile search for a suspected hoard of cash. Just a few weeks later, two Gunnison banks announced that they were holding $69,000 in certificates of deposit in Ande’s name, each with a specific payment order to be executed upon his death. The money was payable to the Gunnison County Public Library, where Ande had long enjoyed listening to the children’s storytelling programs. In keeping with Ande’s wish, the money was used to construct a new children’s storytelling room. That room is still in use today. It includes a glass case with 10 pieces of cut and rough lapis—a reminder of Ande and his Blue Wrinkle claims. Meanwhile, the legacy of Colorado’s Blue Wrinkle lapis is being carried on by Noel Adam at Zacchariah Zypp. For further information, contact Noel at (970) 349-5913 or visit www.zypp.net.

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PART II

A Rockhound’s 80-Year

MINERAL ODYSSEY

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Rock & Gem

EDITOR’S NOTE: This series of articles is based on 80 years of adventures enjoyed by rockhound and Senior Consulting Editor Bob Jones. It begins with the September 2016 issue, the month Bob turned 90. Bob saw his first minerals at age 10 on a school field trip to the Yale Peabody Museum in 1936, and he has been involved with minerals these past 80 years. This series highlights his travels to pursue mineral activities to every continent, except Antarctica. He has lectured throughout America, in England, and in China. His video work is well known, and he is currently co-hosting DVDs shot at the major mineral shows in Tucson and in Munich, Germany. He served on the Tucson Show Committee for about 40 years, sometimes as chairman. There, he became friends with mineral people from all over the world. This series was written to encourage all rockhounds to get involved as Bob did, for you never know where it will lead!

October 2016

The Tucson Years Led to Many Great Adventures

M

Story and Photos by Bob Jones

oving to Arizona and joining two mineral groups, the Mineralogical Society of Arizona (Phoenix) and the Tucson Gem & Mineral Society (TGMS), set my collecting activities a quantum leap forward. The reader should understand that today there is no other mineral event in the world like the one in Tucson each February. Centered on the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show®, there are more than 40 mineral- and gem-related shows going on from late January to mid-February.

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A Rockhound’s 80-year Mineral Odyssey: Part II

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o other mineral event, including Europe’s great Munich Show, brings together so many mineralogy professionals, museum curators, mineral dealers, and collectors than the Tucson event. It is the most lucrative event for the City of Tucson that happens each year. The opportunities a mineral collector has to meet people of similar interests and learn more about minerals and current activities in the field are countless. From this one annual event, my entire mineral collecting life grew and expanded, eventually taking me around the world! The move to Arizona was more than fortuitous. Arizona is riddled with old mines, noted mineral localities, and very active collectors. Collecting trips—club sponsored or private—were always a success. We collected nice wulfenite, vanadinite, mimetite, calcite, azurite, quartz, garnets, and countless other species. On most collecting trips, recovering quantities of specimens was never a problem, so trading material was always in hand. One really thoughtful thing we always did was bring our extra specimens to the next club meeting. We put them out on the front table so that club members who could not get access to a site, could not go underground to collect, or were unable to go on field trips at all could add a nice specimen to their collections courtesy of the more active members. Another important feature of living in Arizona is its close proximity to Mexico, a virtual cornucopia of minerals. After World War II, when commercial mines shut down and local miners formed mineral-collecting cooperatives, specimens were abundant. The fruits of their labors were funneled into America

My move to Arizona gave me access to numerous collecting locations. This wall in the Rowley mine, for example, offers wulfenite crystals and bright-blue chrysocolla.

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Rock & Gem

A Rockhound’s 80-year Mineral Odyssey: Part II

Charles and Elizabeth Williams (seated) hosted our mineral tour group for lunch at Caerhays Castle, where we were able to view the Williams collection. That’s me in the center of the back row.

through Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. Taking trips into the mining areas of Mexico to buy from the miners or to go on collecting trips where possible gave us wonderful opportunities to obtain fine Mexican minerals. With such an array of fine nonfluorescent minerals available, I very quickly changed direction from my previous focus. Not that I ignored the UV lamp. When we would go underground at the Red Cloud or other mines for minerals, I would also work the dumps at night for fluorescent willemite, calcite, fluorite, etc. I even got a kick out of the scorpions that glowed a nice, soft yellow-orange color under the UV light. Those I did not collect! One of fun the things we did as Phoenix-area collectors was to hold an occasional open house for other collectors. There was nothing formal about it; when you felt like it, you could pass the word and a dozen or so fellow collectors would come by for an evening of refreshments and a lot of mineral viewing and chatter. This evolved into a more formal get-together. We’d meet for dinner, then do the open house thing. We even involved a couple of Tucson folks, and visits there were organized. Dick Bideaux and his father, George, who was a great fellow, became involved and George, ever the humorist, gave the

October 2016

Phoenix-area group a name, “The Scottsdale Gang”! Today, that social activity has morphed into a larger group called the “Minions”, and Tucson has its own group, the “Metas”. I mention all this because it was at one of my open house evenings that Jerry Blair, a serious collector and an excellent writer, asked me about my writing in Rocks and Minerals. Jerry wrote for Lapidary Journal and suggested I do the same, so I did a few things, and that opened up yet other horizons for me. In the meantime, the Tucson Show was growing nicely. It was moved from April to February, and I found myself more and more involved, helping the show with publicity. I worked closely with Bill and Millie Schupp, who were among the prime movers of that show in the early days. This resulted in me getting to know some of the greats in the hobby: Paul Desautels of the Smithsonian, author John Sinkankas who became my mentor, curators of a dozen museums, and others from all over the world. In the lapidary and gem fields, I got to know Gerhard Becker, a famous gem carver from Idar-Oberstein, and eventually Johann Keilmann, promoter of the great Munich Show, the most important mineral show in Europe. One important resource for the TGMS was researcher

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A Rockhound’s 80-year Mineral Odyssey: Part II Dick Bideaux, because he had contacts all over the world. It was Dick who initiated the invitation to bring Dr. Peter Embrey, curator and expert mineralogist of the British Museum (Natural History), in London (renamed The Natural History Museum, London, in 1989), to the Tucson Show in 1970. His attendance turned the Tucson Show into an international affair, and it grew dramatically after that! By that time, Dick and I were close friends. We collected together and traveled together. Being with Dick was like having your own encyclopedia at hand. He was a brilliant person who enjoyed serious discussions, and when we traveled he would encourage me to study the planned trip ahead of time so we would get the most out of it. I sure miss him now. Dick and I traveled in England and France, and it was through him that I really got to know Dr. Peter Embrey, another mineral genius and curator of the British Museum (Natural History). In fact, I stayed with Pete a few times on my visits to London. The friendship with Peter introduced me to Courtenay Smale, a delightful fellow and an expert on Cornish mining and minerals who lives in Cornwall, England. During one visit to London, Dick was working on his sixvolume work Handbook of Mineralogy. I was doing research on copper minerals and had planned to do some photography at the British Museum (Natural History). Peter set it up so I could photograph the famous Arthur Russell minerals.

He also assigned us a clerk to take us through the entire mineral collection at the museum. We got to see minerals that were not normally on view, including the light-sensitive Karabacek, Siberia, gem topaz crystals. It so happened that my transformer burned out while I was working at the museum, so Peter arranged for me to borrow a transformer, a huge thing that weighed 60 pounds. It was a wooden box with a dial on the side. I was headed for Cornwall to take photos, so I picked up the transformer when the museum closed that day. We headed for Peter’s on the Underground, but as we exited our station, we noticed an off-track betting parlor and decided to check it out. I walked into the place, which was crowded, set down the huge, heavy transformer box, and started checking the tote board. I suddenly realized I was alone in the room. Just then, a London Bobby came up to me and, pointing at the box, asked if it was mine. I said it was and showed him it was a transformer. Then I realized everyone else had thought it was a bomb! While researching copper, it was important that I see the historically important Philip Rashleigh collection, one of the finest collections of Cornish minerals assembled in the late 1700s. Peter introduced me to Courtenay by phone. Peter knew Courtenay was on the Board of Governors of the Royal County Museum, Truro, Cornwall, where Rashleigh’s collection and all his papers were housed. Courtenay was very helpful, and I got to see and photograph the important pieces.

The Caerhays Castle collection is rich in uncommon Cornish minerals like this olivenite from Wheal Gorland/Wheal Unity. COURTESY C.V. SMALE

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Rock & Gem

As I became more involved with the Tucson Show, I got to know some of the greats in the hobby, such as author John Sinkankas and his wife, Marge.

Seeing that collection was a treat, but even more exciting was the fact that Courtenay knew the current Philip Rashleigh, who was living in Menabilly, the Rashleigh estate home near Par. Being able to meet Philip and visit his home was an extra treat. Later, I found out how important Menabilly is. Yes, it had housed the Rashleigh collection for years, but its history is even more amazing. The mansion played a role in one of England’s great novels, Rebecca, written by Daphne DuMaurier in the 1930s. As a teenager, Daphne was boating near Par and saw the large, gray-stone mansion. It was not occupied at the time, and she decided to investigate it. On a later visit, she actually broke into the mansion and explored it. She was so intrigued by the place that she fantasized about what amazing stories such an ancient mansion could tell. Years later, her fantasies formed the basis for her now-classic novel Rebecca. In that story, she changed the name of the Rashleigh estate mansion from Menabilly to Manderlay! Later, I read an autobiographical article in the London Times of her youthful visits to Menabilly. In it, she described the interior, the furniture, and various other objects she had seen there in the 1920s. Would you believe that, when I visited Menabilly in the 1980s, I sat on the same pink-striped sofa and handled the same objects she had described? A few years ago, I led a group of 28 rock-

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A Rockhound’s 80-year Mineral Odyssey: Part II

The participation of Paul Desautels (left), of the Smithsonian, and Dr Peter Embrey, of the British Museum (Natural History), turned the Tucson Show into an international affair.

hounds on a tour of England’s museums and mineral collections. Part of that trip was to Cornwall, and I enlisted Courtenay’s help. He arranged for the group to collect fine black-and-red serpentine at Land’s End on a restricted preserve. He also took us into the back rooms of the Truro Museum to see Rashleigh’s private papers and his collection. Finally, he helped arrange a visit to Caerhays Castle to see the Williams mineral collection, of which he is curator. That amazing collection was assembled in the 1700s and 1800s. At that time, the Williams family owned 22 copper mines in Cornwall and assembled a collection of tens of thousands of specimens, some of which are the world’s best for the species. When the family moved into Caerhays Castle, they invited the School of Mines at Cambourne and the British Museum (Natural History) to come and help themselves to specimens. Some of the finest Cornish specimens in the museum were formerly in the Williams collection. As for the Cambourne collection, what I saw of it was in trouble due to roof leaks and lack of attention. Back in Tucson in 1970, Dick Bideaux invited me to be a founding member of Friends of Mineralogy (FM). Dick and his father, George, hosted a meeting of a couple of dozen professionals and advanced

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amateurs to hear about two new ideas: the formation of the FM, being promoted by Arthur Montgomery, and the birth of The Mineralogical Record magazine, which John White wanted to start. John worked with Paul Desautels at the Smithsonian, and Art was a well-known mineralogy professor and avid rockhound. The meeting, held in Bideaux’s home, was to give John an opportunity to announce his intention to start a new magazine. Those of us present were charged with helping that effort. This was an exciting concept, as the magazine was intended to promote the hobby, provide technical information to collectors, and report on the latest mineral discoveries and specimen-mining ventures. Art had helped organize that meeting. He became a good friend and was already a collecting legend in his time. Art and his collecting partner, Ed Over, made several significant finds. If you enjoy the marvelous phosphate minerals—including green variscite—they dug at Fairfield, Utah, and the classic Red Cloud wulfenite specimens found in 1937, thank Ed and Art for these discoveries. At the FM meeting, Art pledged a generous sum of money to help establish Mineralogical Record. The rest of us agreed to help. I did so by writing a few articles for

Rock & Gem

Mineralogical Record through the years. I also participated in developing an index of the first 14 volumes of the magazine. There were seven of us who did the indexing, headed by Mike Groben, who edited and published our work. Mike became a lifelong friend as a result of that project. Once the Tucson Show went international, I had many opportunities to meet curators and collectors from all over the world. One curator I particularly enjoyed visiting with was Pierre Barriand, curator of the Curie Museum, at the Sorbonne in Paris. Another wonderful fellow from France was Gilbert Gauthier, a mining engineer and dealer in fine minerals. Gilbert’s stories of mining and collecting in Africa were really entertaining, and his personal collection was a knockout! When Dick and I visited Paris, Gilbert was our chauffer and guide. Pierre was kind enough to allow me to photograph specimens in the Sorbonne collection. When I moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, the town had a fine mineral shop run by Scott Williams. Scott was a well-known expert on minerals and had worldwide contacts. Scott and another fellow had started Minerals Unlimited when he was in college in California. Knowing Scott was a real education. We got in the habit of getting together in his shop on Saturday mornings and spending hours talking about mineral localities and studying minerals. Scott was a great teacher, from whom I learned a great deal. I really admired him greatly and often volunteered to work in his Tucson Show booth—another chance to meet advanced collectors and dealers and to learn more about minerals. The importance of my involvement in the Tucson Show can’t be overestimated. The opportunities to learn about mineral species and localities and the science of minerals were countless. I can’t emphasize enough the importance of the hundreds of people I met at the shows each year, who contributed immensely to my life. Virtually all my activities between 1960 and today are linked more or less to all the people I came to know as a result of being involved in the Tucson Show. Among all those people are some who were special to me and who played a significant role in my mineral-related activities. Part III will tell you more about these people and their contributions.

October 2016

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Bench tips by BOB RUSH

Take A Second Look

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pieces of jasper. My uncle gave me n the November 2015 issue of one of these green jasper pieces for Discover magazine, there is a lapidary use. discussion about a discovery of It was rather dull and uninsome very ancient stone tools in teresting and oddly shaped. Just Africa. They are large—almost 8 before cutting into it with my trim inches across—and rather crudely saw, I stopped and looked at it made, and date to about 3.3 milclosely, and it suddenly dawned lion years ago. This discovery on me that it was a stone tool. The pushes back the stone tool timetool has an intentionally shaped, line, previously thought to be 2.6 chipped edge, as well as a smooth million years ago. These tools have area to fit in the palm of your hand the intentional shaping characand a recess for your thumb. The teristic of a chipped edge that has chipped edge is rather dull now continued throughout history up from a long period of weathering until the recent past. When I come across collections of rocks, I look not just for lapidary materials, but also for these tools. aboveground. I grew up on a farm in southEver since, when I come across central Oregon that was located collections of rocks, I look for these tools. on the shore of an ancient lake—Tulelake— Surprisingly, they are not that uncommon. that had been reclaimed for farming in the My collection currently has about 100 of early 1900s. Quite often, my dad would find them, mostly made of agates and jaspers. A Indian artifacts on the farm, usually when he few weeks ago, as I was looking through my was plowing the fields. The large mortars and club’s soon-to-be-discarded rock pile, I came pestles were easily spotted because of their across a small piece of red moss agate shaped size or noted by the noise that they made into a stone tool. when the farm implements struck them. So as you are digging through that pile of Because of their size and weight, the Indians rocks, train your eyes to take that second look. left them in place when they moved to other This effort may save an ancient tool from the seasonal locations. tumbler or rock saw, so it can be preserved for The lake was inhabited for many centuries future generations to learn from and enjoy. by Indians who made their small tools from Though these stone tools are ancient, they obsidian and large mortars and pestles from don’t have much to offer the archaeologist basalt. The most common tools that we found because they usually can’t be specifically were obsidian arrowheads and spear points. associated with an individual tribe or group. They were quite abundant; since the obsidian The tool has an intentionally shaped chipped source was within a day’s travel, they weren’t edge, as well as a smooth area to fit in the palm Still, I like to hold them in my hand and imagine what the maker felt as he or she of your hand and a recess for your thumb. very concerned when they lost a tool. made and used them. We found other tools, including bola weights, raft anchors, net anchors, and a fire starter. After my dad passed away, I donated samples of these tools to the Indian Museum at the Trees of Mystery, on the California coast, south of Eureka. Prior to the donation, the museum had very few artifacts representing the Klamath and Modoc tribes.

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What we didn’t find on the farm were tools made from jasper or agate. In the late 1950s, as I was learning lapidary from my uncle, we went rockhounding in an open area north of Medford, Oregon, currently called White City. Most of the time we found smaller agates, but once in a while there would be

Bob Rush has worked in lapidary since 1958 and metal work and jewelry since 1972. He teaches at clubs and at Camp Paradise. Contact him at rocksbob@ sbcglobal.net.

Rock & Gem

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Yale’s New David Friend Mineral Hall A State-of-the-Art Addition to a Historic Museum

A Story by Bob Jones

merica is host to a wonderful selection of natural history museums associated with colleges and universities, as well as well-established state museums. All deserve your support and are worth your

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time to visit. Among the many natural history museums, Yale University’s Peabody Museum of Natural History stands out above the rest. Its history of contributions in several fields, including mineralogy, is unchallenged. With 10 significant departments in the sciences holding more than 13 million objects. The Peabody Museum of Natural History is a pillar of the sciences. My personal history with the Peabody Museum goes back to 1936, when I was taken there on a school field trip to see one

of this country’s great dinosaur halls. From that astonishing exhibit hall, I wandered into the mysterious mineral gallery, and my fascination with minerals was born. Today, I’m fortunate to be a member of the Yale Peabody Museum Mineral Council, helping to promote the new David Friend Hall and introducing readers to its amazing exhibition of minerals and gems, which opens to the public Oct. 23. This public opening will be free! The Grand Opening of David Friend Hall

Rock & Gem

YALE PEABODY MUSEUM

This artist’s rendition of the David Friend Mineral Hall gives the reader an idea of the treat in store for visitors on Oct. 23.

is just one of the significant events in celebration of the Peabody Museum’s 150th Anniversary throughout 2016. The David Friend Hall is a spectacular addition to the adjacent Hall of Minerals, Earth and Space. It will feature amazing examples of Earth’s gems and minerals from the massive Yale collection, enhanced by specimens chosen from private collections. Add to that some of the largest, most spectacular mineral specimens displayed anywhere, and visitors are in for a breathtaking

October 2016

exhibit of minerals and gems. These connecting halls are just the jeweled tip of the iceberg of one of the great gem and mineral collections in America. Education is the goal of any museum, so the David Friend Hall also has a 126-seat lecture area, where educational programs, public events, and student activities can be held, fulfilling a major goal expressed by Museum Director David Friend and the museum staff. The museum houses many other very sig-

nificant natural history collections. For bird lovers, the Division of Vertebrate Zoology has one of the most comprehensive collections of mounted birds in the nation, numbering about 130,000 specimens. Few people remember the name Hiram Bingham III, but everyone has heard of Machu Picchu, the Inca citadel located high in the Peruvian Andes of South America. Bingham rediscovered this amazing site in 1911, and at the Yale Peabody Museum you can enjoy exploring the story of his fascinating

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many future scientists. During the month of October, Yale will continue to Fine minerals such as celebrate the smithsonite from 150th annithe Kelly mine, in New Mexico, are versary of the on display in establishment the Peabody MuseumÕ s of this veneraGem and ble natural hisMineral Gallery. tory museum. Its collections are world famous and the scientific contributions and discoveries that have come forth from this classic natural histor y facility are almost countless. M o d e r n mineralogy in America began with the arrival of Benjamin Silliman as a student at Yale in the late 1700s. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, eventually lecturing at Yale. Silliman gained his law degree in 1796. In 1802, he was named Yale’s first Professor of chemistry and natural history. He trav-

YALE PEABODY MUSEUM

expedition. The Peabody marine invertebrate collection is extensive, and the museum is known worldwide for its important Mesozoic Age fossil collection, featuring an astounding number of dinosaur and other vertebrate fossils. The collection was originally assembled by famed paleontologist O.C. Marsh. What locals call the Dinosaur Room houses a wonderful selection of dinos au r s ke l e t ons and partial skeletons, along with fossil remains of ancient creatures. This room was the raison d’être for my school visit in 1936. Can you imagine how many schoolchildren’s future careers are rooted in their Peabody Museum visit? The museum is the birthing ground of who knows how

This amazing aragonite, which came from a cave in China, can be viewed in the new hall.

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IROCKS.COM

Yale’s New David Friend Mineral Hall

Rock & Gem

software, you’ll learn about the minerals on eled extensively, and his efforts to establish exhibit. What a refreshing feature this is, as a mineral collection at Yale resulted in a it goes along with the idea of keeping the series of purchases and donations. The colexhibits up to date. New information can be lection today contains some 40,000 speciincorporated into the program for viewers mens, and is one of the largest and most regularly. important mineral collections in America. For space enthusiasts, the Peabody Earth No museum gallery can exhibit that many Science collection contains some 400 metespecimens, so the astute staff has selected a orites, including the very special Weston small percentage of wonderful and impormeteorite, named for a town in southwest tant specimens to represent the whole in Connecticut. It is the first meteorite in the new hall. What is doubly exciting is North America whose fall was actually witthe addition of some 150 exceptional new nessed, proving it was from outer space! specimens, on loan from private collecIn 1807, a few years after Silliman took tions, that will astound you. over his professorship, a meteorite fall Have you ever seen a gem tanzanite crysoccurred. A brilliant fireball shot over the tal from Africa that weighs 2 pounds? There western part of New England, and fragare 28 grams in an ounce and 16 ounces ments of the meteorite fell in Weston. Sillito the pound, so the total weight of this While a student at Yale, future paleontologist man was able to analyze the meteorite and rare, all-gem, blue monster is 4,480 carats. O.C. Marsh convinced his uncle, George Peapublish a scientific paper on the fall—the Tanzanite rivals blue sapphire for color and body, to donate the money to build a museum. first such identification and description gem value! done in America! Yale obtained a piece The Sword of China is a stibnite plate sev- Hall. How wonderful is that? eral feet across! How could such a crystal The museum is not only bringing the of the meteorite from Silliman’s collection. specimen survive being mined deep under- exhibits to life, but into the modern age Today, you can see America’s first conground and reach the surface unscathed? of technology. Be sure to bring your smart firmed meteorite at the museum. In 1818, Silliman studied rocks that were Lovers of quartz will want to touch the phone or tablet with you when you visit the magical, slender, 2-foot-long pair of Bra- new hall. Through cloud-based open source brought to him from an area in nearby Fairfield County called zil quartz crystals, Saganawamps (now a most remarkable If you like quartz, you’ll love this giant crystal in the new David Friend Mineral Hall. Old Mine Park, in specimen. These and Tr u m b u l l , C o n many other privately necticut). The site owned beauties will produced scheebe displayed for your lite, topaz, and an pleasure. odd form of fluorite The wonder of that glows a ghostly these mineral riches green when heated. is that specimens Silliman was able to can be rotated out identify the element and new ones from tungsten in samples private collections of the scheelite, along brought in on a with other elements regular basis. What in those rocks. Cona refreshing way to necticut collectors avoid exhibit borecan still enjoy searchdom on future visits! ing for minerals at Plans also include Old Mine Park, with rotating the displays permission, as I did to complement lecin the 1950s. Collecttures and student ing is done in daylight activities that are or at night, using an conducted in the ultraviolet lamp. new David Friend

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YALE PEABODY MUSEUM

PUBLIC DOMAIN

Yale’s New David Friend Mineral Hall

YALE PEABODY MUSEUM

Yale’s New David Friend Mineral Hall

The Yale collection contains many historically important mineral specimens, including this old topaz from Saxony, Germany.

The Peabody Museum came into being in 1866. Its current building is not the original one. The mineral collection was housed in Connecticut Hall from 1812 to 1820, until the first Peabody Museum was constructed in 1876, and this stood until 1917. The current facility was dedicated in 1925. Since that time, it has been enlarged to include other structures like the Kline Geology Lab, where the collection is available for study. The Peabody Museum is named to recognize George Peabody, who made a major donation of $150,000 at the behest of O.C. Marsh, a student at Yale and Peabody’s nephew. Marsh later became the Professor of Paleontology at Yale, the first such appointment in America. Marsh is known internationally for his work in discovering and excavating quantities of Mesozoic Era fossil remains as president of the National Academy of Science. Most of the specimens are housed at Yale and in the Smithsonian!

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In the late 19th century, Marsh’s paleontological research and collecting gained great public recognition. His frantic fossil searches and diggings became part of what was called the Bone Wars; he competed feverishly with paleontologists from various institutions, particularly Edward Drinker Cope of Philadelphia, to uncover new fossils across the Western United States. Marsh was one of the more diligent diggers who shipped trainloads of fossil remains back to Yale. The culmination of Marsh’s efforts can be seen in the Great Hall at the Yale Peabody Museum. As mineral collectors, I’m sure readers realize that minerals can have a profound effect on curious young people, as they did on me in 1936. This is important to comment on here, because one goal of the new David Friend Hall is to capture the imagination of young visitors. What I recognize is that youngsters today are technically literate, and the exhibits are designed with that in mind!

This fine sand calcite from Fontainbleu, France, is a classic mineral displayed at Yale’s Peabody Museum.

To my surprise, when I was invited to be an advisor to the David Friend Hall project in 2015, I found myself in the very same 3,500-square-foot exhibit hall in which I had seen my first minerals in 1936. The hall does not seem as large as I remembered, but it is more than adequate to feature new exhibits and new specimens on Oct. 23. Readers are well aware of my desire to promote the science and hobby of mineral collecting. That is why I’m particularly excited about the new David Friend Hall. David and the Yale staff have set some wonderful goals to accomplish with this new Hall. David has said, “My hope is that this new space inspires visitors to ponder how these materials are formed, where they come from and their composition.” The Peabody staff has set forth its plans, as well. The new hall is designed to complement all the exhibits in the museum and the adjacent Hall of Minerals, Earth and

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This amazing, 4,000-plus carat gem tanzanite from the Merelani Hills of northern Tanzania will be on loan to the new hall from Rob Lavinsky, of The Arkenstone.

Space. The entire complex will advance the museum’s mission to communicate an understanding of Earth’s history to the public. As Friend says, “By using aweinspiring mineral specimens, [the Hall] will possess the visual power to inspire among visitors a new level of interest in earth science.” A visit to this spectacular new David Friend Hall, which opens to the public on Oct. 23, should be No. 1 on your mineralthemed visitation list. It will be an eyepleasing and educational experience you will never forget!

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rock science by STEVE VOYNICK

Lapis Lazuli: A “Blood” Gemstone?

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rency in international trade. Miners would ship the lapis to the capital city of Kabul to be worked into gems and decorative items or sold as rough. The 1979 Soviet invasion, however, disrupted this traditional trade.

STEVE VOYNICK

n 2013, Afghanistan’s central government announced that controlled mining of lapis lazuli would become part of its new economic-development program. But that plan was thwarted when armed militias took over the Afghan lapis mines. The situation has since deteriorated to the point that, in June 2016, Global Witness, a non-governmental organization based in London and Washington, D.C., that exposes the corrupt exploitation of natural resources, proposed adding Afghan lapis to the list of “blood” minerals. “Blood, or “conflict” minerals, are those that are mined illegally in a manner that perpetuates conflict, poverty, corruption, and/or human-rights abuse. The list currently includes the “blood diamonds”, cassiterite (tin oxide), wolframite (a series of iron and manganese tungstates), “coltan” (the columbite-tantalite minerals that yield tantalum), and gold that are mined in certain western African nations. Known as Afghanistan’s “blue treasure”, lapis lazuli is a metamorphic rock consisting of lazurite, calcite, sodalite, pyrite, augite, nosean, and other minerals. Lazurite, a basic sodium calcium aluminum sulfate chlorosilicate, is the primary mineral in lapis and the cause of its striking blue color. Lazurite constitutes from 20% to 40% of lapis, with the higher percentages producing the most intensely colored and most valuable stones. Since antiquity, the historic Sar-e-Sang mines, in the northeastern province of Badakhshân, have produced the world’s finest lapis. These remote mines are situated at an elevation of 10,000 feet in the rugged mountains of the Hindu Kush range. The uplifting of the Hindu Kush some 30 million years ago created Sar-e-Sang’s lapis deposits when limestone basement rock was fractured and intruded by granitic magma. Subsequent high-grade, contact metamorphism altered the limestone into marble containing veins and pods of lapis lazuli. Until the 1970s, lapis from Sar-e-Sang’s underground mines was one of the few exports that brought Afghanistan hard cur-

Afghan lapis lazuli typically shows intense blue coloration with streaks of white marble and bits of glittering pyrite.

JOE BUDD/IROCKS.COM

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Lazurite crystals from Sar-e-Sang, Afghanistan. Lazurite is the cause of the blue color in lapis lazuli.

Although the Soviets took over Kabul, mujahideen nationalist guerrillas retained control of Sar-e-Sang, and began selling their lapis in Pakistan. When the Taliban, the Islamic fundamentalist group that is waging a civil war against the United States-supported Afghan government, occupied Kabul in the 1990s, the mujahideen retained control of Badakhshân and used lapis profits to fund its guerrilla activities. In 2013, the Afghan government, which

had since regained control of Kabul, announced its intent to “take back” the Sar-e-sang mines and awarded a long-term mining contract to a legitimate, Afghanowned mining company. But shortly thereafter, an independent, armed militia took over the mines. The following year, a competing militia group commandeered the mines, this time with the help of corrupt Kabul politicians. And now that the Taliban has recently established a strong presence in Badakhshân, the militia has been forced to pay half of its lapis-mining profits—more than $6 million per year—to the Taliban. Very little lapis now reaches Kabul. Most is smuggled into Pakistan, then passed along to China to be worked and exported, primarily to the United States and Europe. Declaring Afghan lapis a blood mineral, as suggested, would impose certain international trade restrictions. From a moral standpoint, it might discourage some consumers from purchasing Afghan lapis because it would help fund the Taliban, but it is unlikely to significantly curtail the ongoing illegal mining. Few other sources in the world supply lapis lazuli, and none of it compares with the quality of Afghan material. Sar-e-Sang has large lapis reserves, but who will mine them and claim the profits is anyone’s guess. All that is certain is that a weak central government, independent militias, Taliban militants, corrupt politicians, and international watchdog groups will all play roles in the still-unfolding saga of Afghanistan’s 6,000-year-old history of mining lapis lazuli. Steve Voynick is a science writer, mineral collector, and former hardrock miner, and the author of guidebooks like Colorado Rockhounding and New Mexico Rockhounding.

Rock & Gem

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with glue Faceting and Cabbing

Avoiding the Disadvantages of Dop Wax

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by Steve Kreis

o put it mildly, I have always disliked dop wax. I realize that some people are skilled with it, and this article may not be for them. However, here are some of the disadvantages I have found with dop wax. First, not only must you melt the wax, but you must heat the stone, as well. Wax freezes quickly, leaving you very little time to orient the stone and center it as perfectly as possible, let alone align it to remove flaws. Both of these situations can cost you carat weight, as well as quality, especially when faceting. Secondly, wax can’t be trusted to work properly once it gets old, and if you sneeze and drop the faceting arm, the stone will fly off, causing you to lose valuable time, stone alignment, and carat weight. Glues have disadvantages, as well. For example, the stone and the dop must be squeaky clean. I use acetone to clean the dop and stone. Epoxy glues do not harden quickly, and will run down the dop, making it difficult to install in the quill. Also, due to the hardness and strength of epoxy, removing the stone or dop when transferring or finishing requires special treatment.

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Use a cotton swab soaked in acetone to clean the dop.

Use a Graves transfer jig with two dops to glue up.

Use the same cotton swab to clean the stone’s surface.

Place the glue on the pavilion side of the glue and dop and watch the glue fan out on the stone’s surface for a good bond. Do not let the glue run onto the crown to be faceted.

October 2016

Invert the jig so the glue will run down the dop. Put a small amount of glue with a swab stick about a ½ inch down from the stone to hold the cotton.

Wrap a small piece of cotton around the trace of glue to stop runs down the dop. This is not necessary if you’re using ultravioletactivated glue.

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Faceting and Cabbing with Glue For the past 30 years, I have preferred using Epoxy 330 from 3M. This glue can be purchased from a jewelry catalog. I have used others, but always go back to 330 because, in an oven at 170°F, it gets very hard in about an hour, and it dissolves in acetone. To solve the problem of running glue, I put a trace of glue about ½ inch below the stone and wrap a small piece of cotton there to absorb the glue as it runs down the dop. The old gem cutter who taught me to facet taught me the removal technique you are now wondering about. If you hold the brass dop you want to remove under the flame of an alcohol lamp, the glue between the brass and the stone will fail in seconds. I keep my fingers on the stone to reassure myself that the stone is not getting hot; it never does. I position the flame about 1 inch from the stone. With just a light sideward pressure on the dop or stone, the brass will fall right off. The stone may get a little warm, but not nearly as hot as it would if you heated it on a dop melting pot. The glue actually insulates the stone from the dop. This process also works well with the new ultraviolet glue. When you are done cutting, you will have a small blob of glue on your stone. Just drop the stone in a small container of acetone, and in a few minutes to an hour, the glue will feel like

a rubber band and slide right off. I glue up cabs the same way. I threw all my old wooden sticks away. If you are cabbing with porous stone like turquoise, especially treated stone, the acetone may dissolve the treatment. When working with such stones, I scrape the glue off or even grind it off. My wife, knowing I am nuts for glues, recently brought home the new ultraviolet glue advertised on TV from Walgreens. I now am in love with this glue for faceting. The glue does not set up until you apply the light, but after 15 seconds of light exposure, it is totally hard. A great advantage is that if you are not satisfied with the amount of glue or its location, you can add another layer, then harden it until you are convinced you have plenty of glue to support the stone. There are also no runs, as you harden it before it has time to run. It develops a very strong bond between the stone and the dop. Holding the brass dop under the alcohol lamp also works with ultraviolet glue for the separation of the stone and the dop. Acetone will remove this glue from the stone, as well. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected] if you have questions on this technique, and I will tell you about my experiences.

Transfer the stone in order to cut the bottom or pavilion by applying glue, as before.

If you hold the brass dop you want to remove under the flame of an alcohol lamp, the glue between the brass and the stone will fail in seconds.

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The transfer jig is now inverted, and a trace of glue and cotton are applied again to stop runs.

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An Ode to

AGATES The 2016 Agate Expo in Pictures

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Story and Photos by Lynn Varon hose who missed the July 2016 Agate Expo, held in Cedarburg, Wisconsin, and put on by Agate Expos LLC, missed a rare treat: thousands of agate specimens from all over the world assembled under one roof. Aficionados gathered to buy, sell, and gaze upon agates, attend an agate symposium, and enjoy lectures given by 10 expert speakers. The three-day event fulfilled the organizer’s goal of “bring[ing] together geologists, collectors, authors, and rock enthusiasts from around the world”. But the real eye candy was in the exhibit room: more than 100 cases full of prime agate specimens from every inhabited continent. Agates from the famed localities in the American states of Texas, California, New Mexico, Kentucky, Idaho, Nevada, Alabama, Tennessee, South Dakota, Florida, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Montana, Oregon, Arizona and Iowa were present in full force. Latin and South America also boast prolific sources of agate. Visitors saw Laguna, Coyamito, Agua Nueva, Candy Dish, and other varieties from Mexico. Displays of South American specimens included Black River and Condor agate from Argentina and banded agate and polyhedroids from Brazil. The African continent was represented by finely banded Botswana agates, Malawi fortification agates, many-patterned agates from Morocco, Swazi agate from Mozambique, and Madagascar agate with bands and eyes. Continental Europe contributed specimens like vein and scolezite agate (Germany), pas-

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tel fortification agates (Poland), and Orpheus and moss agate (Bulgaria). Agate sources in Asia included dendritic agate from India, chromium agate from Turkey, Adrasman agate from Tajikistan, and varieties from China, Kazakhstan, Armenia, East Timor, and Sumatra. Specimens from Agate Creek, Queensland, represented Australia. Displays of the quartz/chalcedony stone jasper included Morrisonite, Carrasite, Willow Creek, Royal Imperial, Bruneau, Ocean, Poppy, Owyhee, picture and other varieties.

Black River agate weathers out of basalt formations in the Mesopotamia region of Argentina. (Ana de los Santos collection)

Agate Creek, in Queensland, Australia, is worldrenowned for agates of superb colors and patterns. (Dannes Holzman collection)

Thunder eggs from around the world, petrified wood and agatized dinosaur bone were also exhibited. The thrill of seeing so many quality agates in one place is difficult to describe. As the saying goes, “You had to be there.”

Coyamito (Mexico) agate has colroful pseudomorphs after aragonite. (Eugene Mueller collection)

Condor agate is one of the more prolific and flashy types mined in Argentina. (Uwe Reier collection)

Rock & Gem

Linda Marie Plume agate, from a claim in the Owyhee Desert, Oregon, predominantly has plumes of forest green, yellow, red and white. (Philip Stephenson collection)

Specimens in this collection of Lake Superior agates exhibit bands and eyes. (Brian Costigan collection)

An assortment of colorful agates from China shows solid and crystalfilled centers. (Joshua Ritter collection)

Graveyard Point Plume is a well-known seam agate found in far-eastern Oregon, two miles from the border with Idaho. (Brent Stewart collection)

This Agua Nueva agate from northern Mexico is from a vein formation. (Mike Ignatowski collection)

This collection of agates from Poland shows lovely, pastel fortification banding. (Dietrich Mayer collection)

October 2016

Paint Rock agate is typically red and yellow and is usually found in the Paint Rock Valley of Alabama and an adjacent portion of Tennessee. (Owner: Anonymous)

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MISSISSIPPI GULF COAST GEM & MINERAL SOCIETY presents

27th Annual MAGNOLIA STATE GEM & MINERAL SHOW Nov. 11th, 12th & 13th, 2016 Jackson County Fairgrounds Pascagoula,MS

admission $3.00 or $5.00 for three day pass children free with adult.

25 Dealers! NATURAL & EDUCATIONAL Gold, Silver, Copper and multi-mineral displays. MANY Educational demonstrators to show you how to Gold pan & Flint Nap, and many more. Several great casino’s nearby. For information contact show chairman Bill LaRue [email protected]; 228-229-8781

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