Viewing Minerals at Yale University: 2015 and 2017

A lot has changed. At left are pictured  cabinets with most of the minerals on public display at Yale University prior to the  October, 2016, Grand Opening of the new David Friend Mineral Hall at Yale's Peabody Museum of Natural History at 170 Whitney Avenue in New Haven.

Despite being a rock rather than a mineral specimen or gem, the orgasmic sandstone concretion at right from Fontainbleu France is but one example of what is in the Museum's new home for visually and aesthetically over the top specimens. Quite appropriately, it is from the collection of David Friend,  mineral aficionado  and 1965 Yale graduate (BS in Engineering).  Mr. Friend's leadership, guidance, and philanthropy paved the way to establish the museum's grand new addition.

 Many of the largest and most eye-catching specimens here are  on loan from prominent collectors such as Dr. Rob Lavinsky, Jim and Gail Spann, or Gene and Rosalind Meiran.  Among them are pieces that could be the best of  their genre known to exist. It is only natural that those who visit will be interested in viewing such  "eye candy,"

The David Friend Hall is on the 3rd floor of the Peabody Museum in a renovated space that an auditorium once filled. To the right of the hallway leading to it are the foot by 18 inches pink calcite twin from Scott City Missouri  at left amd the.300 pound baryte specimen pictured directly beneath it from nearby Branchville, Connecticut. Yale owns both of these specimens.



In a room to the left of this hallway is the Treasures of the Mineral World  room.  Most if not all of the rocks and minerals therein along with some jewelry have been selected from Yale's collection of more than 40,000 specimens. The displays are didvided  into categories such as mineral specimens placed according to their nature of origin and locality, minerals that fluoresce, radioactive minerals, some jewelry, and a cabinet with large examples of of well known rocks. Of particular interest is an exhibit of minerals collected in Connecticut.  Almost for sure, it is the "best" Connecticut suite in existence. Quite remarkable is the magnificent sillimanite shown at left. Sillimanite is eponymous with Benjamin Silliman, the Yale Professor who in 1802 began assembling and for more than 50 years curated Yale's  mineral collection.

Regardless of  knowledge about or interest in minerals,  however, upon reaching  the David Friend Hall of Minerals, visitors are in for an experience that should blow their minds.  The theme is world class specimens enhanced by world class lighting. In number, there are more than enough to appreciate, but not so many as to overwhelm. Pictured below are just a few images of what is there.

                               Malachite, Azurite                                    

Liufengshan, Guichi District  

Anhui Province, China

 Stibnite

Wuning Mne

Jiangxi Province, China

Fluorite, 

Yaoganxian Mine

Hunan Province, China

Fluorite, Baryte

La Cabana

Asturias, Spain

   

                                                                                                                            

Aragonite

Yunnan Province

China

                

    

                                                                 

                                                                   

                                                                                                                                                                      

                                                                     

                                                                                                              

  

Rusty James on Purple Chalcedony, and Indonesian Relationships

Having been following his worldwide travels on Facebook, we asked Rusty James to be guest author for this post.  Rusty is a gem and mineral hunter who travels to the far reaches of the world to source quality mineral specimens and lapidary rough to cater to worldwide market demands.  He has been at it for 16 years, and operates under the business name Throwin’ Stones.  He sells in Tucson and Denver at various locations, does 4 shows a year in Japan, and exhibits at various other popular gem and mineral shows in the USA and abroad.  With a focus on ethics, fair trade and, sustainability for his suppliers and customers, he has developed strong relationships, partnerships, and supply lines on every continent.  Assisted by his wife Nicole and son Jasper,along with a passionate team of staff, he has built a robust online presence, and is currently in the process of launching a  wholesale company to offer his findings to re-sellers around the globe.  In  his very limited spare time, Rusty likes to share stories of his unique adventures and passion for sourcing gems and minerals.  

by Rusty James

Today I got to play celebrity (again).  I always forget how rare white people are in remote areas of Indonesia, and it takes a few moments of adjustment to put on my white guy fame hat.  A recent stop was particularly special.

We landed in a small village in central Sumatra where wild coffee, rubber trees, and chalcedony mining are essentially the only sustenance.  From there we hiked for about thirty minutes through the jungle to the back side of a nearby mountain where the villagers were mining. chalcedony.  There were many test holes in the area. We approached one that was being worked. A small fire was burning to keep the bees away and to boil "jungle coffee" as needed. 

Two miners were hard at work on a hole that was at least 5 meters deep (15 feet), which they had dug over a three day time span.  The dirt  was a red mud, soft and easy to work, but prone to collapse. I once saw this happen where a worker barely had time to jump out. There's a make shift pulley system crafted from rubber and a few buckets. A small man works down in the hole while another guy pulls the dirt up from the hole and dumps it on down the side of the mountain. Check out the video  of how this works. We watch the men work  for a while and ask lots of questions.  They haven't hit a good hole of AAA colored chalcedony in quite some time.  They tell us that this current hole produced about 15 kilograms of medium and low quality rock,  and I wonder whether it's really even worth their effort.  When they are hired to dig, they work for about $8/day.  Lately, they have been digging  for themselves, gambling with their lives in hopes of hitting the clear purple honey.

It's nearly impossible to determine the quality of the stone as its mined. It is always caked in dirt and mud. The miners. break a small chip off  the side with a machete looking for color.  If it appears to have potential, they schlep it down the mountain for further cleaning.  

After going through today’s pile back at the village, it became yet more evident how difficult the rough is to clean and evaluate.  Chalcedony is a tricky lapidary rough.  Even if a piece looks great on the surface or when backlit, a final determination can be evasive until the stone is cut.  

When  I questioned the  efforts they had just gone through, they showed me some photos of  top grade stuff  the site  had produced in the past.  Holy crap! Though one of  numerous purple chalcedony deposits in Indonesia, this mountain had produced some of the finest purple rock I've ever seen, very possibly the best on earth. I now understood why they carry on despite the low percentage of high grade material. Several years have passed  since they uncovered the good stuff. Back then, as many as 200 people would go out every day working holes. It blew my mind that single cabs of top grade purple had sold for thousands of dollars in Indonesian markets where prices rarely achieve four figures for a single gem.  My understanding of the hunt, the risk, and the amount of effort involved,  became clearer.

There was more than just purple chalcedony that enriched this adventure.  First we endured six hours  pothole-mania and bobblehead bouncing on the grueling roads. Then I had thought we would simply go on a hike, check out some holes, meet a group of nice people, and maybe have another chance to buy some rock. But upon returning from the digs to the village, we began to have glimpses as to how special this trip really was. The miners told us that afternoon  that we were the first "tourists" to ever come to this 100 year old  village and the first white faces 99% of the villagers had ever seen. Knowing this led to a deep feeling of  gratitude and inspiration.

When the family we were staying with learned we would be leaving soon, all three generations dressed in their good clothes for a photo without telling us. They  showed us the place on the wall of their home where it would go next to images of the mine owner at an earlier Indonesian gem exhibition where  he had sold some of  best purple chalcedony cabs known to exist. There was also a proud photo of the miners standing with famous military generals they had met.

Neighbors started coming over.  One of the older men took the ring off his finger and gave it to me. I humbly attempted to decline. Ultimately I put it on to keep, responding with many bows and thank yous. Having recently been in Japan, I had started started bowing to just about everyone of late.

The photos were plentiful: first with the kids, then with the main family of the house where we stayed, and then with three generations. They were all dressed in their best clothes..This visit was clearly a great honor to them as it was to me. I'm still in awe of how special the moment was.

Tears were shed when it was time to depart.  Love was expressed in English, even though it was not the language of anyone in the family.  It tore me up, All we had really done was make the trip. We didn't spend much money, as there wasn't much good rock to buy.  But to these people, making the effort to come and visit them meant everything in the world.  They waved until we were out of sight. The children screamed goodbye until we couldn't hear anymore. 

For me, moments like this are a reminder.  I consider the rocks, the exhibitions, the physical labor, the struggle to sustain self-employment in times when markets are down, the haggling, the hellish drives, long flights, jet lag,  challenges of eating strange food,  sleeping in noisy environments where families stay up late for a second meal during a month of  Ramadan fasting, the bugs, the sweat, and unexpected risks inherent in bringing colorful stones to market: None one of it means as much as some of the relationships formed and time shared. The money, the flashy gems, the  notoriety for introducing  cool stones to places in the world that haven't seen them,  and  numerous passport stamps: It’s all secondary to the kind of  the relationships that that often go with it. 

Even if only for one day, I have found that  showing up with a smile on my face, eager to share time and experience across language barriers with those who cross my path  can mean so much to to so many people.  The choice to be happy can change lives and bring joy to places where hope is meager and survival paramount. Experiencing this means more to me even than the success I’ve been so fortunate to enjoy.

It's easy to forget that it could all be gone in an instant.  I drove away from the village knowing that I will probably never go back and that another 100 years could pass before another white face shows up in  that village. Despite the 6 hours of hell on wheels to get there, only to turn around 20 hours later and return through that same hell before starting that next part of this journey, I can safely say that the experience was entirely worth it.  It changed me. 

The various enterprises operated by Rusty  are at the following sites: 

www.throwinstones.com

stores.ebay.com/throwinstones
www.etsy.com/shop/throwinstones 

@throwin.stones  (instagram for product announcements) 

@throwin.stones.sales (instagram direct sales)
www.amazon.com/shops/throwinstonessales (coming soon)

Lawrence Davis: Self-Collector

Lawrence Davis, 36,  moved to Baltimore in 2006 from the mineralogy hub of Asheville, North Carolina. An accomplished collector since his early 20's, he soon found himself prospecting in the company of such prominent Maryland collectors as Fred Parker and Jeff Nagy.

Lawrence's collecting style  is unique to the point that he eschews  the label of "field collector"in favor of "self collector." Much of the mineral bounty he has accumulated is still packed away in boxes within the recently purchased historic yellow farmhouse on Falls Road near Shawan where he lives with his wife and young daughter. For our recent visit he had laid out a few recently collected  large specimens on the back porch.  Inside, he had put aside a few smaller specimens. Quoting Fred Parker, he said: "It doesn't matter how large or small. It's  how perfect they are."

In truth, significance or distinction could be just as important to  Lawrence Davis. Proudly, he picks up a rather large chunk of trap rock with a  nondescript  looking vug. Difficult to distinguish therein is a dull cream colored apatite crystal that to classify as perfect would be an extreme stretch. He shows it because he believes it to be the largest known apatite crystal to have been collected at the popular Vulcan Quarry at Havre de Grace in Harford County.

He is particularly keen on unusual combinations. The tiny specimen at right features crystals of tourmaline (var.) schorl on a matrix of iridescent ilmenite. It is the kind of oddity that few would notice when prospecting. Lawrence picked it from a beach in Howard County.

One of the larger rocks on the porch is the  goethite specimen pictured at right. He collected it in 2009 at Maryland's Point of Rocks Goethite Locality, once known as the Washington Junction Ore Banks. Over the past three decades the site has eroded and become overgrown to the point that collectors have written it off as extinct. Since Lawrence was there,  a nature path has been constructed through the area, and collecting forbidden.   Lawrence is comfortable speculating that it could be the largest Point of Rocks  goethite specimen known to exist. Should there be any any that are larger, it is most  likely they were collected many decades ago and just as likely have become lost.

At left is a crystal of beryl (var.) aquamarine that revealed itself with the strike of a crack hammer to the face of a cliff near Henryton in Carroll County. It shows amazing clarity as well as color for a Maryland-collected piece and provided the faceted gem pictured below it. Unfazed by minor biotite mica inclusions, Lawrence takes great pride in having collected the crystal and now owning the first and only (known)  aquamarine gemstone cut from Maryland material.

When questioned regarding collecting technique, Lawrence simply advises: "Always keep your eyes on the ground."  An environmental consultant by profession, he spends a significant amount of time outdoors, having plenty of opportunity to do so.

A recent find  was the discovery of  a remarkable pegmatitic quartz crystal deposit. Most of the crystals from this find are considerably larger than the specimen pictured at right, which.uniquely features an unusual combination of clear quartz crystals growing on feldspar.

 Even when pressed repeatedly, Lawrence will not reveal where he found the  crystals except  "somewhere in the Marriottsville area." Though an avowed "self-collector,"he is not selfish. His reasoning relates to principal and preservation. Such previously unknown localities are fun to discover, but typically offer limited bounty that may soon disappear when word gets out.

Jim Wilkinson: Columbia Maryland's Premier Stream Bed Collector

Jim Wilkinson of Columbia, Maryland, is a special breed of mineral collector. Most of his collecting is within an hour's drive of his house. He lives in a vast and heavily suburbanized area between Baltimore and Washington, D.C.  Sprawl, no trespassing signs, and strictly enforced laws against collecting in state parks rule out the vast majority of known localities in the region.  As a  retired natural resources planner for the Maryland Department of the Environment, Jim is keenly aware of these obstacles. Notwithstanding, he finds productive places to collect at will. His niche is stream beds. Access to them is easier and more available.

Several years ago, Mineral Bliss featured some of the amazing finds by Alana Benkowski in Baltimore City's Herring Run. Identifying them was often difficult. It was obvious that many of the specimens did  not flow directly from any logical point of origin in the Piedmont to her collecting mecca. She favored the alluvial deposits where Maryland's Coastal Plain begins at the eastern fringe of Baltimore City. The streams that Jim Wilkinson works are farther west in Baltimore, Howard, Carroll, Montgomery, and Frederick Counties. These streams have accumulated far less extraneous material. They flow directly through Piedmont areas where the mineralogy is specific.What he finds is easier to predict and identify. 

He photographs the specimens he collects  and posts their images to his home page on Mindat. The page currently boasts 121 photos. While few of them portray "eye-candy," they document species and locality pursuant to the town, village, or hamlet closest to the stream where he found them. Mining sites, quarries,and other more specifically placed localities within these jurisdictions appear separately as "sub-localities," naming the species attributed to them. Exclusive of the sub-localities and species, Jim is the sole source for Atholton, Simpsoniville, Scaggsville, Henryton, and Daniels.  

The 11.5 cm. x 5.5 cm. stream worn quartz (var.) rock crystal pictured at right is one of his more remarkable finds. He collected it along the Patuxent River in the heart of Columbia. With over 100,000 inhabitants, including himself, Columbia is larger than a village, town, or hamlet.  Mindat names the closest town of Simpsonville as the locality for this crystal. Even though "Columbia Area" is named as a locality, it only receives credit for species collected "from construction and excavations in the area." This makes sense. The geology of this region suggests that wherever it originated, such a crystal could just have likely found its way in the Patuxent to Columbia as to Scaggsville. Naming the heart of the neatly planned city of Columbia as an active collecting locality would be a stretch.  

Though he focuses on streams, Jim is keenly aware of and interested in looking for  species  reported from nearby quarries, mining sites, or other localities.  Though so many such spots are posted, built over,  cleaned out, or otherwise inaccessible, it is logical that some of the species they produced could show up in rocks in nearby streams. Beryl was once somewhat common in many of the numerous mostly off-limits pegmatites gracing the Patapsco and Patuxent River valleys. Jim collected the  7 centimeter beryl crystal at left in a stream near Marriottsville. It could be worthy of consideration as one of the more extraordinary finds of beryl in recent years anywhere in Maryland.

Jim drove to Frederick County after reading  our post about the magnificent suite of minerals that Dr. Jim Cordua collected in the 1960's at the Farmers Cooperative Limestone Quarry.  Although we had emphasized the no trespassing signs, the prohibitive overgrowth and no evidence of dumps, Jim found a small stream not far away that was accessible. The sphalerite he retrieved  hardly matched the glorious crystals that Dr. Cordua collected  half a century ago shortly after workers informed him of recent blasts. But one can feel assured that to find sphalerite or any other notable species from this locality today by any other means would be futile.

A 20 Pound Vivianite Concretion from Anne Arundel County, MD

It is certainly reasonable to assume that  nature offers few greater pleasures to mineral collectors living in temperate climates than those few unseasonably warm days that  occasionally come once or twice in late February and early March.  Aside from pleasant temperatures, the amount of live vegetation obscuring surface rocks is minimal, while the mosquitoes, ticks, and copperheads remain dormant. Such a day was February 24, 2017, at least in the vicinity of Baltimore, Maryland. 

So for this writer, it was off to search for vivianite in Maryland's Anne Arundel County  along the banks of Harman's Branch. By virtue of a find 77 years ago,  Mindat names the spot as Vivianite Concretion Locality, Riva, Anne Arundel County, Maryland, USA . The information provided, however, proved confusing for pinpointing the specific location. Credit Robert Beard for persistence in finding it to include on page 156 in his Falcon Guide Rockhounding Delaware, Maryland, and the Washington, DC Area © 2015, Rowman & Littlefield.

Notwithstanding,  Tarnan's Branch and its banks are all but devoid of rocks as this muddy rill heads upstream  from Rutland Road along the route taken by Beard. Otherwise, the surrounding wooded landscape lies under several inches of fallen leaves.  Only after about a quarter of a mile where Tarnan's Branch flows into a tunnel beneath a road does one encounter many rocks. Most of them are quartzite  with  no hints of  likely concretions in their midst.  My hour spent here could not have been more in vain. 

With head down, more in discouragement than with the expectation of  uncovering  the likes of a vivianite concretion, I trudged back toward my car parked along Rutland Road. Amidst the leaves, loam, and moss, nothing at my feet hinted at the likeness of  a concretion beyond an occasional dirty hickory shell. So it was until what first looked  like the nub from a tree root protruded from the soil. It was bigger than to be expected from the trees nearby, brown, muddy, and partially covered with dead moss. Upon tapping it with the chisel on my hammer, a half inch piece of shell broke off that appeared black but with a bluish cast. It had to be a concretion. Once unearthed, a hefty whack with my mini sledge halved it to reveal an interior of colors  ranging from  black and, gray, to a paler and more aesthetically pleasing blue. Clearly, this was the same kind of material as pictured on 156 and 157 in Beard's book, 

Never was my knapsack heavier than during that hundred or so yard walk back to the car. On the scale at home, the two halves along with a few loose chips weighed just over 20 pounds. This writer considers himself the beneficiary of sheer luck and has no plans to return to what was  a difficult to navigate locality. One twenty pound vivianite concretion is plenty for my Maryland suite where it will rest in a spot where light, which causes  vivianite to eventually turn black, is minimal. 

First Weekend at Tucson, 2017

The title picture shows Tucson City Center Hotel, often still referred to as the Inn Suites. The date is Friday, Jan. 27, 2017, one day before its scheduled opening. This is the prime destination of mineral aficionados for 12 days leading up to the big show at Tucson's Convention Center, Feb. 12-15. Although the event did not officially open until Saturday, Jan. 28, more than a third of  several hundred dealers were selling a day early, as more than another third were busy setting up, Only a few dealer suites had yet to be occupied. Postcard weather prevailed with 60ish temperatures and a steady breeze. As happens every year prices seemed a bit higher and were all over the map.  Specimens ranged in price from a couple dollars up to amounts approaching six figures. With the exception of the one day Westward Look Show taking place the following Saturday, Feb. 4, more world class specimens are at the Inn Suites than anywhere else in town until the Big Show.

A few blocks north on Oracle, the much smaller Mineral and Fossil Marketplace was also up and running by Friday. Particularly worthy of mention here is a tent with three dealers: Rock Deco, JaM Rocks, and Malcolm Alter. All three  specialize in specimens from such classic Arizona localities as  the Mammoth St Anthony Mine in Tiger, the Rowley Mine, and the 79 Mine. There were  even a lot of  red wulfenite specimens from the Red Cloud Mine.  Nowhere else in Tucson did we see anywhere near  as many affordable specimens available for sale from these  great localities.

Immediately south of Mineral and Fossil Marketplace, in the direction of Inn Suites, the Moroccan tents were in full swing. Prices  on ubiquitous vanadinites, red quartz crystals, azurites, and so forth were unmarked and left to the buyers' ability to negotiate. With no deceit intended--- dealers readily admitted when asked about crystals that were treated---the Moroccans were selling some very colorful geodes as pictured at left. Both halves of one geode could be had for as little as $10. Therein were originally whitish quartz crystals,varied in color, some mimicking the deepest magenta high end cobaltoan calcites of the region. A few years ago, Moroccan quartz geodes were circulating with galena crystals glued inside them. Best avoided here or elsewhere  are Moroccan geodes filled with anything other than plain quartz crystals.

Other venues offering some minerals were also in full operation by Friday. Along the I-10 East Freeway, the Pueblo Gem and Mineral Show at the Riverpark Inn was going strong. The usual Uruguayan Amethyst, pyrite from Peru, as well as typical Moroccan, Chinese, and quartz selections filled a big tent. Operating out of adjacent motel rooms in "The International Fine Mineral Building" were a couple dozen dealers, a few with unreasonably pricey collector mineral specimens. Heading down the Freeway from the Riverpark, the outdoor area at most  hotels consisted of shows that were  filled with tents and tables full of crystals, cabs, and rough material.
 
On the other side of the I-10 Freeway, the 22nd Street Show opened on Thursday, Jan. 26. Enclosed within a tent and easier to navigate than the Pueblo Show, it offered a mix of wares including some minerals. Most remarkable was a table offering native copper specimens, many with crystals, from Pine Mountain in Adams County, Pennsylvania. Hardly anywhere else in Tucson is one likely to encounter very many East Coast specimens. A better place to acquire them is the East Coast Gem Mineral, and Fossil Show at West Springfield, Massachusetts in August.

Several miles beyond the activity clustered along the Freeway, the Kino Gem and Mineral Show at Kino Sports Complex  was much like a combination of the aforementioned shows on steroids. Mostly jewelry and beads filled a huge tent. Outside were smaller tents, a few featuring minerals.  In addition to thousands---yes thousands---of tons of amethyst from Uruguay, Peruvian pyrite, the Moroccan tent, and an Indian tent was this show's  annual Geminex tent. Inside were thousands of mineral flats, all bearing low quality specimens at ridiculously high prices from the famous Ojuela Mine in Mapimi, Durango, Mexico.  Interestingly, and perhaps because the Big show in two weeks will feature minerals from the American Midwest, there was a dealer  whose entire stock was calcite crystals from the Elmwood Mine in Lincoln County, Tennessee. Such crystals seemed to be everywhere in Tucson this year, all priced about the same.

Not scheduled to start until Tuesday, Jan. 31, was a relatively small new show to feature mineral specimens mostly from Arizona dealers, at 1055 Grant Road.. We were sorry this was after we had to head back to Baltimore. Regretfully, we also missed a couple other  smaller shows  and managed to  briefly check out a couple that were marginally worthy of mention.

The scene in Tucson  is pretty much the same each year, always overwhelming.  For sale around town are millions of rocks, enough that it's difficult to imagine how more than a very meager fraction of a per cent could possibly sell. We question the economics of it,  but what fun.

Disappointment at the California Academy of Sciences

The Gems and Minerals Unearthed  exhibit at the California Academy of Sciences opened to the public on September 30, 2016. Just over six years earlier, we had quoted San Francisco's world class collector Jack Halpern when he lamented  that this renowned museum's wonderful mineral collection was not on display.  Upon questioning the museum by telephone, a spokesperson had informed me coldly that environmentally controlled cases would have to be constructed before any minerals were shown.  Having just viewed Jack's amazing collection, we predicted in our  post  of  Sept. 19, 2010, 
the likelihood that any future mineral display at this institution would prove to be anticlimactic. 

A recent visit on September 14, 2016, showed our prognostication from  six years ago to have been prophetic. We admit to having learned upon paying the $35.00 price of admission that for an extra $15, the museum sometimes offered a special behind the scenes tour providing an opportunity to see "some of the museum's most valuable minerals."  Despite a limited window of time during an all too quick trip west to visit family, we nevertheless expected this major public exhibit to feature a multitude of great mineral specimens.  

Gems and Minerals Unearthed consists of about a dozen cases of various minerals and some gems. They are at the end of a wide hallway on the museum's third floor. Each case has a given theme. One theme is to establish that certain mineral species are rare, and that others are common. The blue and white specimen shown at left features several balls of blue cavansite on white stilbite collected in India. Is this the best the museum could do to showcase as a rarity this wildly popular and showy combination of species?  And couldn't the curators have come up with a more attention-grabbing orthoclase specimen than the small crystal just below the cavansite to exemplify one of the more common species? The magnificent and enormous South African sugilite crystal to the left of the cavansite is more in line with what we had expected to see.  But why distract from its amazing purple color with that deep blue background?

The theme in one of the other cases related to colorful minerals displayed with numbers corresponding to written identifications explaining  their color. Once again, few of the specimens boasted the level of aesthetic qualities to be expected at a well-known museum like the California Academy of Sciences. In this case, we even noticed  two similar specimens of dull massive orpiment with identical explanations of "color due to energy gaps in
molecules."  How much thought went into this display?

While the mineral collections in other top tier museums aspire to dazzle the sensibilities of mineral aficionados, it is clear that most of the specimens in this exhibit bespeak no such intention. Clearly, the purpose is to educate the unknowing about a few very basic tenets of mineralogy.

Aside from teaching, the displays could surely do more to generate the interest of  the viewers they seek to educate. To the contrary, some themes seemingly sought  to discourage viewers from the most obvious means of putting their newly acquired knowledge to use. That means, of course, would be to take up collecting minerals as a hobby. The theme in one case deliberately points out the environmental hazards of mining. In another of the cases, it is noted how certain species that collectors prize, linarite for example, are actually poisonous.

Had timing allowed for a behind the scenes visit, the tone of this post almost certainly would be more positive.  Those who visit the California Academy of Sciences  for the primary purpose of seeing minerals will obviously wish to view  the best the museum has. In our opinion, they should be able to do so without having to pay an extra $15.

The 2016 Desautels Micromount Symposium

On the weekend of October 14-16, 2016, the Baltimore Mineral Society celebrated the 60th Anniversary of its annual Desautels International Micromount Symposium. For the past several years, the event has occurred at Friends School on North Charles Street. The symposium derived its name to honor the  late Paul Desautels (1920-1991), who founded the Baltimore Mineral Society in 1951, and later in 1956, its micromount  symposium, the first of its kind in the world, Soon thereafter, he left  Baltimore to become Curator-in -Charge of of gems and minerals at the Smithsonian. The Desautels Symposium  has always attracted many of America's ---and some the world's---most knowledgeable, prolific, and best known micromounters. Enhancing the event's continuity  has been the induction each year of new members into the Micromounter's Hall of Fame, launched in 1981.

Mike Seeds,  a past president of the Baltimore Mineral Society, who lives in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, has chaired the event for a number of years.  Actively assisting him are Micromounter's Hall of Fame members Steve and Carolyn Weinberger, who last year were inducted as a couple.

This year's symposium featured two inductees. Pictured at left is new Hall of Famer Bob Rothenberg, seen at left with wife Monet holding his plaque. Over several decades, by virtue of  knowledge, skill, and service to the micromounting community, Bob has established himself as one of the world's great micromounters. The current focus of his work relates to the eastern part of North America. On Saturday afternoon, he gave a presentation about the discovery of an extensive array of rare microminerals recently identified in syenite along a small stream in Augusta County, Virginia.

Also elected, albeit post-mortem,  was the late Baltimore lawyer and philanthropist Randall Rothschild, who died at 93 in 2003. In addition to launching the International Directory of Micromounters,  Mr. Rothschild is remembered for having provided  much of the funding that enabled  John S. White, a Baltimore Mineral Society founding member (who succeeded Mr. Desautels as the Smithsonian's  Curator-in-Charge of Minerals) to found Mineralogical Record in 1970. Before ultimately donating his world class micromount collection to the Smithsonian, Mr. Rothschild circulated numerous mounts at the Desautels Symposium, where at least a couple turn up each year at auction. His mounts are much celebrated not only for their often surreal beauty, but for the unique and intricate skill with which Mr. Rothschild mounted them, as well as the intricate handwritten style he used to label them.

Needless to say, each year's symposium attracts its share of Micromounter's Hall of Famers. Pictured in the image at right  (l to r) are Steve Weinberger (inducted 2015); Carolyn Weinberger (inducted 2015); Lou D'Alonzo (inducted 2015; John Ebner (inducted 1997); new inductee Bob Rothenberg; and Col. Quintin Wight (inducted 1990). Col, White, of Ottawa, Ontario, is arguably the world's best known living micromounter and author of The Complete Book of Micromounting, He serves as master of ceremonies of each year's Micromounter's Hall of Fame induction.

In addition to the Hall of Fame inductions, the Desautels Symposium features speakers, dealers, plenty of trading, and a seemingly endless giveaway table. One of the highlights on this year's table was a small box of tiny white pebbles contributed by Col.  Wight, Gracing some of them were extremely unsual combinations of very dark green to black spinel morphing into corundum in association with the quite rare and complex species högbomite. They were from a find near Bathurst in Ottawa that Quintin described in the first presentation delivered at this year's event.

Among particularly intriguing  offerings from  the ever present dealers was a selection of several

dozen  mounts, each bearing numerous---in some instances scores---of submillimeter crystals mounted on 8 millimeter disks affixed to a cork pedestal.  Indeed various micromounters over the years have used such disks to display one or several crystals usually of particularly rare species. However, to see such a large number of crystals to appear so neatly and well-arranged on a disk this tiny was a mind-boggling experience for many who were present. The example pictured at left features minute yet well formed crystals of tourmaline (var.) dravite from the Coatesville Adit in Chester County, Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania dealer Don Smoley was offering them. He noted that Joe Borowick was the name of the micromounter who created them.

A huge cake was served after lunch on Satruday to celebrate the event's 60th anniversary, Counting the number of symposia that have taken place, this was actually the 61st Desautels International Micromount Symposium. The 62nd will happen on a yet to be determined weekend toward the middle of October, 2017. Once again, one of the features will be the induction of two new Micromount Hall of Famers: Betsy Martin of Richmond, Virginia, and postmortem, the late Dr. Henry "Bumpi" Barwood, who passed away on September 9, 2016,

Baltimore County's Historic Milford Trap Quarry

In northwestern Baltimore County, the  Milford Trap Quarry's historic legacy has continued to evolve for the better part of a century since the last of its mineralogical bouny was taken. Those familiar with the site along Milford Mill Road near the Baltimore City line will recall the fire that destroyed a mosque built there  two years after the site sold at auction in 2013. At times between 1950 and then, the old quarry was the focal point of a swimming club along with a teen center and bandstand. The Buddy Deane Show happened there at least once, and scenes from from John Waters' Crybaby and Barry Levinson's Liberty Heights were filmed there.  

Less remembered is the wide range of collectible minerals that the Milford Trap Quarry produced. The Natural History Society of Maryland's long out of print yet still penultimate  guide to Maryland minerals, Minerals of Maryland mentions  "minerals to be found" there in the present tense, suggesting that collecting was still taking place upon its publicaton in 1940. With the exception of Hunting Hill in Montgomery County, which had yet to be "discovered," few if any Maryland localities produced as many different species. Rarely do specimens from the Milford Trap Quarry grace collections or displays. 

The good news is that the Natural History Society of Maryland  has saved and thus preserved what surely must be the premier assortment of Milford specimens as described in Minerals of Maryland. Many appear to be original reference specimens upon which the publication depended.  Early in 2016, the Natural History Society allowed access to many of these long stored away specimens. Among them were many that were particularly notable. 

CHLORITE IN ROSETTED CRYSTALS

As ubiquitous as chlorite is at numerous Maryland localities, this one stands out in itsw habit.

PYRRHOTITE

This pyrrhotite specimen is notably rich compared to other specimens that have been uncovered in Maryland.  Most Maryland pyrrhotite occurs in a matrix of limestone. Here, it is seen gracing gabbro.

LAUMONTITE

After it had been stored away for many decades, we uncovered this  specimen of the zeolite group mineral laumontite. It is paricularly important for having been the specimen photographed for the inside cover of Minerals of Maryland. 

SCOLECITE

At the time Minerals of Maryland was published, the Milford Quarry was the only locality in Maryland to have reported scoleite, another zeolite mineral, The species was later uncovered at Hunting Hill in Montgomery County, which is now off limits. The crystals from Hunting Hill, however, were smaller and less showy. We have every reason to believe that this is the finest scolecite specimen ever uncovered in Maryland.
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PREHNITE

Prehnite is no a zeolite mineral, but typically associated with zeolites and erroneously thought by many to be one. The Milford Quarry was prehnite's only known Maryland locality for nearly a half century. 

KAOLINITE

Though a common species found at numerous localities, the occurrence of this particularly rich specimen at the Milford Quarry is notable.

SPHENE

Minerals of Maryland notes sphene at the Milford Quarry in "green and brown crystals." Pictured above is a specimen of sphene in green and brown crystals in a matrix of feldspar and metagabbro. 

CLINOZOISITE

Clinozoisite as shown above was known to have been abundant at the Milford Quarry and thought to be zoisite. The visual distinction when in this habit is difficcult to make.   

Minerals of Maryland mentions other species known to have been collected  the Milford Trap Quarry  as follows:

Platy ilmenite; pyrite in masses and in crystals; stilbite, natrolite; calcite crystals and cleavages; flattened garnets; black tourmaline crystals; albite; quartz crystals up to five inches long; marcasite crystals and stalactic forms in cavitites; magnetite massive and in brilliant octahedral crystals 1/4 inch across; rutile crystals; horneblende crystals in quartz three inches long; chalcopyrite; radiated actinolite; pyroxene; prochlorite (chromian clinochlore); analcime crystals; laumontite pseudomorph after analcime; epidote in long bladed single crystals and crystalline masses; mizzonite (scapolite); molybdenite; andesine crystals; radiated phillipsite; talc pseudomorph after actinolite; and muscovite.

A New Updated Maryland Minerals Website

For the past month, much of our time has been devoted to working on the Maryland Minerals website, from which the all-important slide show went missing sometime in early September. 

The reason was that Google closed down its Picasa program, which the site had depended upon for our slide show of Maryland -collected minerals. We have since updated the site, replacing the previous Picasa slide show with a more user friendly slide show program that we know our viewers will prefer. 

No longer is the Maryland Minerals slideshow a separate journey through nearly 200 mineral specimens with their labels. That vast series of images now consists of links to separate smaller slide shows, each featuring minerals from different Maryland counties shown in alphabetical order.  The localities within each county also appear in alphabetical order, as well as the specimens that are pictured for each locality. The new slide show will enable viewers to access the images they seek more quickly and efficiently. 

In addition to the list of articles pertinent to Maryland minerals, we have inserted a separate menu that provides a link to the site of this our Mineral Bliss blog.  Other additions include a menu item listing shows in the general region where minerals are displayed and sold as well as a new template for users of the site to contact us. The next change will be to the header image shown at the top of this post, soon to be replaced with one where the rock hammer is surrounded with Maryland minerals. 

We hope you like the new site

New Finds: Falls Road Corridor near Baltimore City Line

Stuart Herring

There is not a field collector anywhere who has introduced this writer to more localities in our native Maryland than Stuart Herring of  Baltimore. For the past two years, his passion has been seeking out unexpected or long forgotten localities by studying old maps. He particularly enjoys exploring unheralded spots  along the Falls Road corridor near the Baltimore City Line just a few minutes from his home. 

On a recent hot August Thursday morning, we visited a talc deposit at the southeastern fringe of the Bare Hills Serpentine Barrens near the contact point between  serpentinite country rock and quartz, schist, or pegmatite, depending upon immediate  direction,  The locality also offers small quantities of  attractive micaceous green chlorite as pictured at right and a few traces of magnetite (rather than the expected chromite). More abundant than the chlorite or magnetite is what appears to be anthophyllite.

Demonstrating a particularly interesting manifestation of the apparent anthophyllite presence is the specimen pictured at left. It bears a stunning visual resemblance to a genre known as Hermanov spheres, eponymous with the locality at Heřmanov, Velké Meziříčí, Vysočina Region, Moravia, Czech Republic.These spheres consist of a phlogopite core surrounded by anthophyllite crystals. In our specimen, the core is actually talc. The crystals surrounding it are talc pseudomorph after anthophyllite. This is the first and only anthophyllite occurrence of which we are aware at the Bare Hills Serpentine Barrens and the chrome pits dotting it. Interestingly, anthophyllite was once quite common in a different geological environment less than two miles away. The locality was the historic Bare Hills Copper Mine located just past the opposite end of the serpentine barrens. At this point, the  serpentinite  has given way to gabbro with hornblende schist and  amphibolite. For the last 55 years, the Bonnie Ridge Apartments has stood where its dumps were previously accessible. 

From the talc locality, we drove to a spot in the Mount Washington neighborhood at a point on Western Run  (not to be confused with Western Run in northern Baltimore County). The location is about 100 yards above where it flows into Jones Falls beneath the Kelly Avenue Bridge. Days before, the area had had endured a flash flood severe enough to extirpate and dislodge many hundreds of previously unrevealed rocks and cobbles.  After parking on Forge Avenue, we walked to the stream. Its banks were strewn mostly with water-polished cobbles of the same gabbro and amphibolite 

that once hosted the Bare Hills Copper Mine.  Another hundred yards above us, a little creek leading  from the site of the former copper mine dumps empties into Western Run. Thus, we kept our eyes peeled for sulfides and malachite patinas, but observed no traces. Of more interest was the occasional epidote group material gracing some of the cobbles. It showed a visual resemblance to  zoisite or clinozoisite. Analysis would be necessary to make the determination. It could also be epidote, which was known to have occurred in similar material less than a mile away at the copper mine.

Another  interesting spot to explore newly uncovered rocks could be farther south along the Falls Road Corridor, especially near Woodberry where Jones Falls flows through the well mineralized Baltimore Gneiss. The same could be said for the Patapsco and the Patuxent Rivers, especially near pegmatite areas.