AFMS Member
Associated with the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies
 
Mineral Section
 
Member of the South east Federation
Members of the Southeast Federation of Mineralogical Societies
 



We meet the 3rd Wednesday of every other month.  Dust off your mineral specimens and bring them along.  Also, don’t be afraid to volunteer for a talk: you are smarter than you think (or can get that way right quick).  All it takes is a little research, and most of us can do that online (except for Kim).

There may be a Meeting in January?

If you would like to host a meeting or volunteer as a speaker please contact: 
Anita Westlake
mineral@gamineral.org


Feel free to call or email Anita Westlake, Mineral Section Chair, for more information:
404-761-7849 or
anitawestlake@att.net

Thanks for your interest and support. Please call or email me if you can host or wish to speak on one of these topics.
 

Anita Westlake

minerals@gamineral.org
Mineral Section Chair



Friends of Mineralogy
Dedicated to the advancement of serious interest in minerals and related activities
http://www.friendsofmineralogy.org/
Dahlonega Gold Symposium
SE Chapter FM Meeting - 2001
[The Southeast chapter is no longer  . . . .]


WEINMAN / TELLUS SCIENCE MUSEUM
Mineral Section Meeting
PHOTO ALBUM
MINERAL LINKS
MINERAL CLEANING INSTRUCTIONS:
COPPER SPECIMEN CLEANING:
Cleaning Pyrites:
"Enhydros"
 Fluorescence
and Other Color Changes in Minerals:
 "Zoning in Minerals"
Fluorite (CaF2)
Care and Feeding of Crystals
Begins in the Field

[ Home ] [Mineral Section] [ Gem Section ][ Fossils Section ] [Micromount Section][Junior Section]

  
by Lisa Flam
1/5/2011

A gold nugget found in Northern California is going on the auction block in March -- and the rare find could fetch a high price.  The nugget, which weighs nearly 100 ounces, was found in February near the town of Washington.  The current price of gold would make that chunk worth about $135,000, but one expert, Fred Holabird, told The Sacramento Bee he thinks it's the largest remaining California nugget and could command $400,000.  The so-called Washington Nugget came from an old riverbed, where 150 years ago hydraulic miners took all the gold they could, he said.

"This ended up being a little piece that got missed," said Holabird, a mining geologist who will sell the nugget at his auction house. "This was a chance thing."  An unidentified property owner who found the nugget brought it to Holabird for an assessment.  "I tried to find out if any of the big ones still existed, and they don't," he said.  He believes nuggets of that size from California have all been melted into bullion or coins.  "It truly is not one in a million," Holabird said. "It's one in a billion."


At the current spot value for gold, the so-called Washington Nugget, above, is worth $135,000. But due to its size and origin, it's worth more than double that in the collectibles marketplace. One expert thinks it could command $400,000.

Large Calcite Formation Found in N.M. Cave

Snowy River Calcite formation

By SUE MAJOR HOLMES, Associated Press Writer
Tue May 31, 8:48 PM ET

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - A calcite formation named Snowy River could prove a gold mine for scientists.

Snowy River, believed to be the largest continuous calcite formation in the world, was discovered in September 2001 by a  Bureau of Land Management team led by veteran speleologist John McLean of Colorado.

The stark white passage, looking like a river of snow surrounded by walls of brown clay and black manganese dioxide deposits, stretches more than two miles from Fort Stanton Cave in sourthern New Mexico.

It's not a Carlsbad Caverns-type cave. Fort Stanton has few secondary formations such as stalactites; the one outstanding formation is Snowy River, expedition leader John Cocoran said Tuesday, the day the formation's discovery was formally announced.

Water originally carved a channel in the clay and gravel, then eventually filled it with brilliant white calcite.

It's not easy to explore. So as not to contaminate the formation, scientists who go into the passage change shoes — and in some cases, clothes — when moving from the clay edges to the Snowy River formation, Cocoran said. The round trip to the south end requires 16 changes of shoes, he said.

Scientists believe the new passage could yield information on everything from specialized bacteria to underground drainage, Cocoran said.

The original discovery drew a few local news reports, but scientists wanted to keep the passage's existence quiet until an environmental assessment could be done and arrangements could be made to protect it.

The emphasis for the future will be for scientific research and conservation — not recreation, Cocoran said.

"It's a really unique formation," he said. "Nothing of this size or quality is seen in any other caves."

Researchers would like to know how the passage formed and how old it is. Initial study indicates the last time calcite was deposited was about 150 years ago, but the formation could be much older, Cocoran said.

Penny Boston, director of the cave and karst studies program at New Mexico Tech in Socorro, has been studying the microbiology of the passage. She has found several types of bacteria that live in a lightless environment and are unknown anywhere else.

"The chemical byproducts of these bacteria may have pharmaceutical applications and there are other things biologists and biochemists can learn," Cocoran said.

Fort Stanton Cave itself, which was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1975, is open by permit only. It is not improved, and going into it requires hard hats and boots.



The Virtual Cave:

From the comfort of your keyboard, browse the wonders of the underground!

Underground wonders
They're dissolved out of limestone, formed from flowing lava, eroded in rocks by water and wind, carved by the power of oceans, and now uploaded on the Internet. Just say no to bat guano and explore these beautiful wonders from the critter-free comfort of your keyboard.

"Hardness made harder"
or 
and you thought I was a nerd?

The Moh's scale of hardness is familiar to all.  An interesting item by J. Alex Speer of the Mineralogical Society of America appeared on page 273 of the July/August 2003 issue of Rocks and Minerals magazine.  This technical note refines one of the standard points on the Moh's hardness scale.

Most mineral identification books list pennies as having a hardness of 3.  Alex reports that in 1983 the U.S. Mint switched to a softer copper-alloy.  After 1983, pennies were minted from copper-plated zinc.  During 1983 both copper and copper-alloy pennies were minted, so you cannot be certain of their composition.  Therefore, 1983 pennies may have a hardness of either 2 or 3.  Pennies with a 1984 or younger date have a hardness of 2!  In order to use pennies as a hardness 3 standard, they must bear a mint date of 1982 or older.  I guess you could have two pennies in your hardness kit to test, one for H = 2 and another for H = 3.

Thanks Alex.  This is why I invested in a set of hardness points.

Julian

Basic Crystallography
by Albert M. Hines



THE DIFFERING VIEWS OF GEORGIA



SATELLITE VIEW OF GEORGIA


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