The Tidewater Prospector

Transcription

1 The Tidewater Prospector Newsletter for the Tidewater Gem and Mineral Society, November 2017, Virginia Beach, VA PRESIDENT Robin Stoughton (757) st VICE PRESIDENT (Membership) Mike Jackson (757) nd VICE PRESIDENT (Program/Entertainment) Vacant TREASURER (Finance) Lloyd Schiffelbian (757) SECRETARY (History/Library) Cheri Jackson (757) WORKSHOPS Bill Stoughton (757) SHOWS Vacant NEWSLETTER Brooks Britt (757) FIELD TRIPS Al Dehart (757) WAYS & MEANS Roger Tiangco (757) HOSPITALITY Robin Stoughton (757) PRESIDENT EMERITUS John Mac Davis Notes from the President by Robin Stoughton Happy Birthday to all members who have one this month! Hope everyone has a Wonderful Thanksgiving!!! I would like to say THANK YOU to all members who ran the last show and our meeting as I was out of town for both of them!! Really appreciate everyone who helped out!!!! Heard we sold a lot of our new grab bags so that was awesome! We will have a drawing for all members who signed up for volunteering at the last show. Our annual elections are this month so come on out to our new meeting place (Memorial United Methodist Church at 804 Gammon Rd, Va. Beach) and vote. Positions that are up are President (Robin Stoughton), Secretary Cheri Jackson) and 2nd Vice President ( currently vacant). We also need to fill the positions of Librarian, and Show Chairman. Brooks Britt will soon be stepping down as our incredible newsletter editor of 16 years! Hopefully, Judy Hyszczak, may be taking over as our new editor. Our annual Christmas Party/ Pollyanna will be on Friday, December 15th at 6:00 pm! PLEASE note the TIME change. The club will provide the meat, cheese, veggie and fruit trays. We ask that all members that are coming to the party bring a side dish or dessert to share. Dinner will be served at 6:30pm. If members plan on participating in the Pollyanna, each member must bring a gift wrapped, LAPIDARY RELATED ITEM!! No jokes or gag gifts! Brooks Britt will be doing this month's program on his new collection! Thanks to all members who helped with last month's program. Any member can do a program or we can have several members do something. We are in serious need of programs, so please think about doing something in the upcoming months. Members may also bring in their rocks/ gems/jewelry to sell at our meetings. Our club has acquired a year old collection donated by Debra Gorden. It belonged to her father. There are 5 boxes of specimens, fossils and much more. We will get it all organized sometime in January/ February and have it ready for our club auction in March. Workshop: We will try and have a cabbing workshop on Sunday, Nov. 19th from 11:00-4:00. That is the only time we have available. If members would like to come by during the week, just call Bill and set up a time. Call his There is a $5.00 fee and you must be current on your dues. Hospitality: Thanks to everyone who brought snacks last month. Anyone is welcome to bring snacks to any of our meetings. Our annual Christmas party/pollyanna is coming up in Dec. Our party will be on Friday, Dec.15th at 6:00pm Please bring a side dish or dessert to share. See everyone at the meeting, Robin!

2 Treasurer s Two Cents Nominating Committee Report BIG EVENT IS COMING! TGMS ELECTION DAY: November by Roger Tiangco Open positions and running candidates are as follows: President 2 nd Vice President - Secretary Robin Stoughton Cheri Jackson To date, we have not gotten any other challenging candidates. However, floor nominees can be done also before the Club meeting starts. Thank you, NOMINATING COMMITTEE by Lloyd Schiffelbian October was a busy month for the club's treasury with the last Treasurer's of the Earth Show for the year, followed by our monthly meeting. I want to thank Emory Dixon, Gene Jennings, Larry McCoy, Martin Salyers, and Bill Stoughton for helping with either the set-up or pack-up for the show. The club raised a total of $1, at the show, including $ from grab bags and sales, $139 from the amethyst raffle, $60 for 4 new members, $45 from T-shirt sales, and $29 from the Silent Auction. Please welcome the following new members to the club: Gerry ALBURO, Susan FYFE, Vanessa McCALEB, and Carolyn MILLER! That brings total club membership to 98 adults and 7 children. At the club's October meeting at our new church location, the club raised $70 from a spirited raffle and $20 for 2 adult grab bags. Other expenses were routine and the treasury balance is about $3,526. Roger Tiangco (Chair), Roger Blackman, Dianne Hinshaw, Roseanne Hinshaw Brad s Bench Tips for November by Brad Smith MANDRELS Straight rod mandrels have a multitude of uses in helping to bend sheet and wire, and frequently we need a round rod for winding jump rings. Common sources for different sized rods are knitting needles, wooden dowels and clothes hangers. Metal rods can also be found in hardware stores and hobby shops. But to get the right "look" in chain maile designs, you must have exactly the right size mandrel, and often those are not easy to find. Jewelry catalogs sell selections of straight rod mandrels for $50 or more, but my choice is a set of transfer punches used in woodworking. The set has 28 sizes, from 3/32 inch to 1/2 inch, and is only about $12. In the US it is available from Harbor Freight as item number #3577, and in Europe, it's available from MZS in the Netherlands as item number JUST SAY NO TO OPTIVISORS I was having my annual vision-check and the lightbulb went on: why not have my reading glasses made with bifocals that would magnify the same as the Optivisors? So I asked the ophthalmologist if he could add around diopters into bifocals. He checked with his supervisor and came back all excited. They all agreed that was a great idea and even gave him a special device to measure how far I hold a jewelry piece from my eye, so they could get the focal distance exactly right. So if all goes well, no more sweaty bulky Optivisors! (Thanks to Gary Strickland) Page 2 Learn New Jewelry Skills With Brad's How-To-Do-It Books Amazon.com/author/bradfordsmith

3 What Kind of a Rockhound Are You? The Fortune Hunter - this rockhound sees potential wealth in every pebble. You recognize him by his clutch on a new find. He has a greedy glitter in his eye as be asks, What is this worth? The beauty of the stone means nothing to him. First and foremost is the monetary value. The Optimist - Called the Happy Hunter, this one is characterized by a cheerful disposition. Any colorful rock excites him. At once he sees in any rock, large or small, a gem of rare beauty. This type of rockhound is fun on a rock hunt. A drenching rain only means that the rocks will show up better. Even when he finds nothing, he has relentless enthusiasm. The Road Runner - No mountain trail or river bed for this roadside seeker. He operates with the rule - never look further than 12 feet from the car. Road runner depends on low cunning for his supply of rocks. By wearing flimsy shoes, he avoids sloshing along stream beds or climbing hills. By forgetting equipment, he plays on the sympathy of others who offer him part of their finds. The Smasher and Basher - this one is recognized by the trail of rubble he makes with his sledge hammer. As he goes into rock areas, he smashes and bashes at everything in sight. By the time he is done, there is nothing but worthless chips. This convinces him that the rock must have been originally unsound, anyway. October Meeting Minutes by Cheri Jackson The meeting was called to order at 7:30pm by Vice President Mike Jackson. The minutes were dispensed as written in the newsletter. Visitors, guests, and new members were welcomed. October birthdays were recognized. Lloyd gave the Treasurer's report. Roger went over the upcoming elections and the positions open. We will be holding elections for Secretary (currently held by Cheri Jackson) and President (held by Robin Stoughton). They would like to go on in these positions but if there are any other recommendations they will be added to the ballots. We are also looking to fill the positions of Second Vice President, Show Chairman, Newsletter Editor, and Librarian. Wesley nominated himself for the Librarian position which we will also be voting on. We then had our drawings for door prizes and raffle. The meeting was then turned over to Emory Dixon who did a talk on his recent trip to the William Holland School. It was very interesting and he made it sound like a lot of fun. He also told us bout a program he would be doing for the women's group of the church on stones of the Bible as club outreach. The floor was then turned over to the membership who brought is specimens that had special meaning to them. The meeting was adjourned at 9pm. Scribe via Ft Lewis Rock Club News 6/01 via Golden Spike News 6/01 Page 3

4 Ways and Means by Roger Tiangco AWESOME! AWESOME! AWESOME! - Our October 20 th meeting was another fun-filled evening. Camaraderie reign supreme! Yes, we did have that feeling of belonging and playful spirit, when it comes to gems and minerals appreciation. The Paid Raffles was very well supported by the Club. TGMS, I d say Your generosity showed very well! Herein below, were the gems and minerals that we have enjoyed: TOPAZ: A gem mineral of granites and other igneous rocks, it is an alum i n o - f l u o r o - silicate, meaning, it contain fluorine and hydroxyl in its lattices. The lady winner can t hide her excitement when she realized that the winning ticket number was in her stash. She won this oval faceted cut gem of slightly yellowish color. It measured at 17 mm x 14 mm x 14 mm, and weighs over 4 carats. Topaz formed under pneumatolytic hydrothermal formation and is therefore found in dykes and contact aureoles around granitic intrusions, occurring with albite, tourmaline and quartz. Some colorless variety can be found in alluvial deposits. Topaz has a hardness of 8 in Mohs scale, with excellent cleavage across the crystal. A word of caution: this cleavage makes Topaz rather brittle, hence it should be protected against sharp blows. As we have known already the appealing name Topazion, mentioned in Greek antiquity, meant sought and found. Topaz, which symbolizes friendship, was bestowed as November-born birthstone. Most European Topazes of the rich-and-famous, were from Scheckenstein in the Erzgebirge mountain range of Saxony and Bohemia, and the Ural mountains of the USSR. Not all Topazes are golden yellow we have a variety of white Topaz, which rival the beryl Goshenite, blue Topaz which rival the blue Sapphire and the rarest Pink Topaz. Topaz is the State rock of Texas and Utah. Other best collecting areas: California, Colorado and New Hampshire. SILVER: A white ductile metallic element, used for making coins for currency standard, jewelries and ornaments, as photographic chemicals, also as electrical conductors. The lady-winner, will now provide a new tender-loving-care to this prized ornate silver pendant. It measured at 45 mm x 32 mm. with imbedded polished heart-shaped translucent agate this silver pendant, weighs over an ounce. As we are already aware of, Silver is mostly associated with Copper and Argentite. Other silver bearing minerals includes: Bideauxite, Fizelyite, Freibergite, Frieslebenite - that s to name a few, talking about Silver. There s a chemical substance resembling Silver, which is called electrum an ambered colored alloy, which is 50% copper,30% nickel and 20% zinc. Many silver deposits are found in the Continental USA. The copper-miners of long ago, have encountered crystallized silver specimens, located in the Keeweenaw Peninsula, Michigan. Silver are often found in the mines, where silver crystals growing directly on masses of copper - a very interesting specimen - Silver and Copper intetlocking in a pretty swirling pattern. Most Silver specimens were found as massive or crystallized form. Silver is the State mineral of Nevada and Texas. Other best collecting areas: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Michigan and Montana. CALCITE: It is the most commonest of all carbonate minerals and develops in many kinds of environment. It can occur with Apatite and Fluorite in nepheline syenite pegmatites, with Barite, Albite and Scapolite in carbonates. It also can occur with Zeolite and Phrenite in basalt of volcanic rocks, with Gypsum in limestone of chemical sedimentary rocks. The lady winner of the Cobalto-Calcite rock specimen, will now provide a new home to this Carbonate mineral. It measured at 100 mm x 70 mm and with the height of 81 mm. It weighs 570 grams! It is white in color, with sprinkle of minute pink Page 4

5 crystals imbedded to it - hence the term Cobalto- Calcite. This particular mineral fluoresces deep red under the UV light. The name Calcite, is from Greek word Chalx, meaning lime. Calcite is a must component in the manufacture of steel, cement, and glass. Calcite bubbles in hydrochloric acid! Large flat calcite crystals were found notably in Durango and Sonora, Mexico. Locally, best collecting areas: California, Kansas, Michigan and Missouri. GYPS UM/ D E S E R T ROSE: Hydrated calcium sulfate mineral, occurring in crystals and in masses at times showing pearly lustre, It is a very common sulfate mineral and develop principally in sedimentary rocks of chemical origin. It can also occur associated with Dolomite and Barite in hydrothermal replacement deposits. Another lady-winner was so perplexed about the conjoined bouquet-shape of this Gypsum mineral. It measured at 95 mm x 70 mm x 62 mm and weighs 362 grams. The name gypsos is of Greek origin for Gypsum or Plaster. Industrially speaking, Gypsum is still the most important composite for Plaster and Cement. The dense granular form of Gypsum are called Alabaster and find its use in art rock sculpture. Some very rare circumstance, when miners unearthed gem-quality Gypsum that exhibits opalescense and translucency, they are called Selenites or Moonstones. Best collecting areas: Ohio, Oklahoma, New York, Utah & Virginia. SOAPSTONE: Basic magnesium silicate. This mineral is also called Steatite, a variety of Talc, with soapy feel. Soapstone is mostly used as carved ornaments. The lady-winner, will now provide a new home to this beautiful and delicate plate carving. It measured at 90 mm around and weighed 70 grams. The central focus was the plate center, which was embedded with 10- petal shaped mother of pearl. As we already know Soapstone is frequently foliated (sheet-like) and at times granular. This foliated mineral has good basalt cleavage and brakes somewhat like Mica. Soapstone is mostly opaque, the color varies from white to greenish yellow, or peach pink. Some Soapstones fluoresces yellow, It may form in the manganese-rich rocks when altered especially by heated water. It occurs as secondary mineral with Serpentine, Chlorite schist and Dolomite. It is found in irregular deposits in metamorphic rocks. Besides its ornamental use, it can be used as carved pots, lamps, carved mounds. It can be used also in cosmetics (as in talcum powder), filler in paints, insecticides, paper, lubricants, insulation in electrical equipments. Soapstone is the State mineral of Vermont. Other best collecting areas: Connecticut, Montana, New York and Pennsylvania. FREE RAFFLES: The winners of the following gems, will now provide a new home to the following gems: Agate, Amethyst, Epidote, Snow-flake obsidian & Tiger Eye. Welcome New Members!!! Gerry ALBURO Susan FYFE Vanessa McCALEB Carolyn MILLER! Page 5

6 Tidewater Gem & Mineral Society P.O. Box Virginia Beach, Va About This Publication The Tidewater Prospector is the monthly newsletter of the Tidewater Gem and Mineral Society, Virginia Beach, Virginia, associated with the Eastern Federation of Mineralogical Societies, Inc. and the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies. Permission to copy freely granted when proper credit given to both the publication and the author. Our meeting in November is on Friday the 17th at 7:30 pm at Memorial United Methodist Church, 804 Gammon Road, Virginia Beach, VA. The Tidewater Gem and Mineral Society is a non-profit organization devoted to the collecting and study of minerals, gemstones, geology, paleontology and the lapidary arts as well as the love and deep appreciation of the great outdoors. Meetings are the third Friday of each month at 7:30 PM at St. Luke s United Methodist Church, 3396 Stoneshore Rd., Virginia Beach, VA. Our monthly meetings are open to everyone, no admission is charged. Website