THE 769th MEETING

OF

THE MINERALOGICAL SOCIETY
OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
7:30 p.m., Friday February 22, 2002
Building E, Room 220

Pasadena City College
Pasadena, California

Featuring a Talk by
Dr. George Rossman

ON

THE FASCINATING WORLD OF BIOMINERALS

FEBRUARY PROGRAM

Please note the changed date for the meeting.

Dr. George Rossman, a long time MSSC member, will present a talk on the Fascinating World of Biominerals.  Dr. Rossman is a professor at Caltech and was recently awarded the first Dana Award by the American Mineralogical Society for his work on the color of minerals.  The Dana Award was established to honor people who have made outstanding contributions to the science of mineralogy. 

FIELD TRIP

Carolyn Seitz will be hosting a field trip to the Blanchard mine in New Mexico again this year.  The trip is scheduled for Mother's day weekend, May  11-12.  Look for more information in future Bulletins. 

AN UNUSUAL ASSEMBLEDGE OF MINERALS

by Walt Margerum

Not all trips result in success.  Here is the story of one that is interesting if not successful, yet.

The article on datolite by Bob Housley published in the September 2001 MSSC Bulletin aroused my interest for the second time in the San Carlos area, and I arranged with Bob to take a trip to the area for further exploration.  I had visited the area briefly in 1996 with no success.  But before I recount the results of our trip, I will give you a little history of the area, and the mineralogy we were after.  In case you haven't noticed I like to do research on any area I intend to visit.

In the "Story of Inyo" Chalfant gives the following information on San Carlos.  On September 24, 1862 Henry G. Hanks, later to become the first California State Mineralogist,  left San Francisco as part of a party under the auspices of the San Carlos Mining and Exploration Company to investigate a gold find and specimen sent to them by a soldier.  They arrived on October 24 and the next day a rich galena vein, the Romelia, was discovered within a mile of the San Carlos camp.  By early 1863 a small town had developed, and a mill was erected near the Owens River in 1864.  San Carlos was intermittently involved in the Owens Valley Indian troubles, and the town was burnt by Indians in 1866 and abandoned.  It is not reported if any activity occurred at the town after that.

The following report by William A. Goodyear in the “Eighth Annual Report of the State Mineralogist (1888)” details his visit to the area in 1870.  The thirteenth day of May was spent in attempting, rather unsuccessfully, to see the San Carlos and adjacent mines.  Bend City and San Carlos were both of them at one time lively little villages, but now they are entirely deserted, and there is not a soul living there, nor a roof upon a house at either place .... But there does not seem to have ever been much mining done here.  Indeed, the only thing seen at this immediate locality, deserving the name even of an attempt at mining, was a single tunnel, probably the San Carlos tunnel, which judging from the size of the waste pile, is probably not more than two hundred or three hundred feet long.  This tunnel is in the limestone, and  in the dump fine specimens of garnets  may be found occurring in nodules and streaks in the limestone.  I saw nothing here  which looked like silver ore....

Murdoch and Webb in Bulletin 189 "Minerals of California" page 194 states: Fine large crystals of grossular occurred with massive white datolite and greenish-brown idocrase at the San Carlos mine, north of Mazourka canyon, on the west slope of the Inyo range.  

The reference for this was an 1874 report by John Lawrence Smith in the American Journal of Science.  In this reference Smith gives the following analysis.  Specimens of a rock were sent to me some time since .... which were found to be composed of four minerals associated together, viz: calcite, which represented the rock of the country from whence it came, and datolite, garnet and idocrase. The datolite is colorless and crystalline, without, however, presenting any crystals .... It is perfectly pure .... The association of this mineral with garnet and idocrase is, I believe, now mentioned for the first time.  The garnet is the variety cinnamon stone; the crystals are very large and perfect dodecahedrons, some of them being three or four centimeters across. They have a greenish color over the exterior, and are cinnamon-colored within or through  the mass of the crystals....The idocrase occurs in compact fibrous crystals of a green color, the crystals themselves not being sufficiently distinct to exhibit the true crystalline form. What is most singular, the idocrase penetrates and permeates the crystals of garnet, losing itself as it were in the garnet; passing off by such insensible shades, that it is impossible to say where the idocrase terminates and the garnet begins. A large crystal of garnet, when cut in two and polished, shows the idocrase penetrating it, like so many green streamlets through the interior. I know of no locality where the above minerals are associated in the manner described. The fact respecting the garnet and idocrase is especially interesting; for while we find these minerals frequently associated, we have nowhere else found the crystals of the two penetrating and interlacing each other, so as to form between them a uniform mass, yet each mineral retaining its identity.

H. Earl Pemberton  in a 1966 "Mineral Information Service" article adds several  pertinent pieces of information.  First he stated that he had found this assemblage of minerals,  showed a picture of the specimen, a picture of the mine where he obtained the specimen, and provided a map to the town.  

On September 18, 2001 at about 4:00PM Bob Housley arrived at my not too primitive campsite.  I was camping at the Boulder Creek RV park in my 30 foot motorhome.  We decided to make a quick trip to the area.  Although we did not find much before the sun set we decided to return the next day and explore further.  The next day was sunny and warm, about 90.  We started by looking at the first obvious mine tunnel, located less than a quarter of a mile from the townsite.  This is the mine that Pemberton said he found his specimen.  When we had no luck at this area the decision was made to explore some diggings higher up the hill.  Again no luck.  Bob then decided to head up over the ridge.  I decided to take an easier route and explore lower down looking for float, and contacts.  In this case easier is a relative term, as in many places I had to assume the five point contact position, two feet, two hands, and one butt, to continue.  Again no luck. 

By no luck I don't mean that we didn't find anything, but that we did not find the unusual assemblage of minerals we were after.   What we did find was massive galena, epidote, small andradite crystals, chrysocolla on albite, purple axinite, massive wollastonite, and some vesuvianite that has the fibrous structure listed.  Most were micro's.  If anyone has more information on the area, or the unusual assemblage please let me know.  I am more than willing to let Bob climb to the top of the Inyo's if necessary to find them.

DUES ARE NOW OVERDUE

If you have not paid your dues they are now overdue.  If you wish to continue receiving the Bulletin, and participating in the Society please remit your check made out to MSSC or Mineralogical Society of Southern California to:

             Treasurer
              MSSC
              P.O. Box 41027
              Pasadena, CA 91114-8027

MINUTES OF THE JANUARY MEETING

The annual banquet meeting on January 19, 2002, at the Oak Tree Room of Coco's Restaurant was called to order by treasurer Janet Gordon at 7:30.  Janet delivered a message from president Dave Smith who was unable to attend.  Past AFMS, CFMS, and MSSC presidents were recognized.  Jim Schlegel and Walt Margerum were thanked for their service to the Society in the past year as show chairperson and bulletin editor, respectively.  Carolyn Seitz was introduced as the new show chairperson.  Gus Meister declined his traditional role of installing the officers, and Janet Gordon declared them duly installed.  Appreciation was expressed for Cathy Casey's care in arranging for the banquet.

Presentation of the 2001 show  exhibit trophies  was conducted by Ron Thacker and Bill Besse.  Wayne Leicht presented the Kristalle Trophy and cash award to Erik Rose for the best junior display.  Bob Weaver received the Stan Hill Trophy took the opportunity to thank several of his mineral mentors.  Bill Moller accepted the Gus  Meister Trophy on behalf of Jim and Dawn Minette who were unable to be present.  Members were invited to sign a card to send to Jim Minette.

Carolyn Seitz reported on the activities of the show committee and announced that the 2002 MSSC show will be held at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County in cooperation with it's Gem and Mineral Council on December 8 and 9.

Rock Currier introduced the speaker, Bob Jones who gave an excellent talk on Kartchner Caverns.  From Bob's excellent slides, it was obvious that this cave is a "must see" and the currently available special tours sponsored by the Friends of Kartchner Caverns State Park are an exceptional opportunity.

Respectfully submitted by Janet Gordon, for the secretary

MINUTES OF THE JANUARY BOARD MEETING

Our January Board meeting was called to order at 2:35 on Sunday, January 13th at Janet Gordon's home by president Dave Smith.  It was preceded by a short meeting of the 2002 Show Committee, which had convened at 1:00 pm.

Board Members present in addition to Dave and Janet were Robert Housley, Charlie Crutchfield, Rock Currier, Bill Besse, Ron Thacker, and Jim Schlegel.  Guests present were Carolyn Seitz, Larry Bruce, and Paul Gordon.

The Board was fully supportive of the 2002 Show Committee's efforts to organize the 2002 Show.  The first item of business was the transfer of signature authority on our Show account.  It was moved by Janet Gordon and seconded by Charlie Crutchfield that Janet Gordon and Carolyn Seitz be the ones authorized to have signature authority this year.  This motion passed unanimously.

Janet gave a Treasurers report which confirmed that we have adequate

operating funds and presented a budget for the coming year, based either on last years actual expenses or last years budget, whichever seemed most realistic.  Bill Besse suggested that since we did come out ahead on the 2001 Show we could now include additional donations in the budget.  After some discussion the budget was amended to include $500 donations each to the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History and the California State Mining Museum.  It then passed unanimously.

Then Jim Schlegel gave a wrap up report on the 2001 Show.  Everything apparently went quite smoothly.  Reports from dealers, exhibitors, and the public were generally quite positive.  We even came out with a net profit.

Arrangements were made to transfer Show Committee materials currently stored at Jim Schlegel's house to Rock Currier's garage.  Educational material and funds stored with the Show Committee material were turned over to Janet Gordon.  A set of walkie/talkies bought for use with the Show were turned over to Robert Housley for use on field trips.

It was brought up that our trailer registration is expired and Ron Thacker agreed to take care of straightening that out.  It was also mentioned that some repairs are necessary on our cases and Rock Currier offered to let us have a work party at his place during the summer.

The Board formally approved the expenditure previously made to provide Jim Schlegel a gift in appreciation for the outstanding job he did as Chair of the Show Committee for a number of years.

The dates and locations of Board meeting for the rest of the year were agreed as follows:

            April 14, 2 pm at Rock Currier's
            July 14, 2 pm at Bill Besse's
            October 6, 2 pm at Dave Smith's
            January 26, 2 pm at Janet Gordon's.

Respectfully submitted by Bob Housley,  Secretary

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

FEBRUARY

1, 2, 3  Redlands,  37th Annual Pacific Micromount Conf. 
Southern California Micro-Mineralogists
San Bernardino County Museum ; 2024 Orange Tree Lane
Beverly Moreau (714) 577-8038 
E-mail: bcmoreau@4dnet.com
Web Site: http://www.mineralsocal.org/micro/ 

14-17  Tucson,  48th Annual Tucson Gem and Mineral Show
The Tucson Gem and Mineral Society
Tucson Convention Center
Hours: 10-6 Thu. - Sat. ; 10-5 Sun.; Contact TGMS (520) 322-5773
email tgms@tgms.org;  Web Site www.tgms.org

15-24   Indio,  San Gorgonio Mineral & Gem Society 
Riverside County Fair & National Date Festival;
Gem & Mineral Bldg; 46-350 Arabia Street
Hours: 10-10 ; contact Don Grisham (909) 795-7289

MARCH

1-10   El Centro,  Imperial Valley Gem & Mineral Society 
Imperial Valley Expo & Fair
Hours: Mon. through Thurs. 4-10; Fri. through Sun. 10-10

2-3   Arcadia, Monrovia Rockhounds, Inc.
The Arboretum of Los Angeles County, Ayres Hall
301 N. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia, CA 91007
Hours: 9-4:30 both days
Show Chairman: Jo Anna Ritchey (636) 359-1624 / j.ritchey@verizon.net 

2-3   Ventura,  Ventura Gem and Mineral Society 
Seaside Park (Ventura Co. Fairgrounds)
10 West Harbor Blvd. ; Hours: Sat 9-5 Sun 9-4
Jim Brace-Thompson (805) 659-3577/ jbraceth@juno.com   
Web Site: http://www.vgms.org/ 

16-17    Hawthrone,  Northrop Grumman Gem & Mineral Club 
12329 Crenshaw Blvd. (Gate 16)
Hours: Sat 10-6 Sun 10-5; contact Jimmy Lapham
E-mail: Lapham@earthlink.net   

23-24   Boron,  Mojave Mineralogical Society, Inc. 
Boron High School Multipurpose Room, Prospect Street
Hours: Sat 9-5 Sun 9-4 ; contact David Eyre (760) 762-6575