Bulletin of the Mineralogical Society 
of Southern California

Volume 74  Number 11                                             November 2004

The 801st Meeting of The Mineralogical Society 
of Southern California

"Romancing the Stone:
 Adventures in Brazil"

by Dr. Anthony Kampf

Friday, November 12 at 7:30 p.m.
Geology Department, E-Building, Room 220
Pasadena City College
1570 E. Colorado Blvd.
Pasadena

Inside this bulletin

November 12th meeting
Show Report: Thank you!
Kid Rock Report
Minutes of the October Meeting
Report from the Nominating Committee
Successful October Field Trip to Arizona
Mineral Notes from Italy: The Praborna Mine
Calendar of Events             
November 12th Meeting.....

November 12th Meeting

Dr. Tony Kampf will present "Romancing the Stone: Adventures in Brazil" at our November 12, 2004 meeting.  If you think you've heard this talk, think again.  Tony has led 11 tours to the gem and mineral deposits of Minas Gerais, Brazil, and always has something new up his sleve.  We will be treated to the latest news out of the Brazilian gem mines by a foremost expert on gem-bearing pegmatite deposits.  For those who want to see lots of Brazil, Tony will also show a video of his 1987 tour to Brazil after his talk.

Dr. Kampf recieved a Ph.D. in mineralogy from the University of Chicago in 1976 and joined the staff of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles Co. in 1977.  He is now the museum's curator and department head of Mineral Sciences and is responsible for the Hall of Gems and Minerals, which is regarded as one of the finest of its kind in the world.  Tony is also an active researcher, having published more than 130 scientific and popular papers and articles, including the descriptions of 21 new minerals.

Report on the Southern California Gem and Mineral Show

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!

by Justin Butt, Show Chair

The transition from the museum to the new venue in Long Beach was certainly a daunting task, but with the support from several MSSC members we have certainly taken a great big step in the right direction.  As an overview goes, a vast majority of the dealers from this year are eagerly anticipating next year's show and everyone was happy with the new venue.  The people that came to the show left with smiles on their faces, and the kids left with big bags full of rocks from the kids' activity section.  It can be said with certainty that the majority of the people involved with the show had a great time and are looking forward to next year. 

To have a great show, it takes more than people standing around looking at the display cases.  To put on a show you need hours of untold effort put in by many different people in varying amounts.  The work doesn’t begin and end with the things that you can see at the show…the tables in the proper place, the exhibit cases put together, or the name tags hanging off everyone’s neck…it is a year round task. 

This year we had a great group of people that put in hundreds of hours to ensure that we would have an excellent show.  They worked without complaint and made sure that the show got put together and taken down with ease.  Those who lugged all the display cases out, put them together, skirted the tables, and then took it all down need to be thanked.  They include James Imai, Ed Imlay,Warren Haby, Jim Kusley, Fred Elsnou, Ken Raabe, Walt Margerum, John Moore, Pat Stevens, Tony Kampf, Dorothy Ettensohn, Geoff Caplette, and Janet and Paul Gordon.  Other members staffed the entrance and MSSC booth.  Thanks to Bill and Elizabeth Moller, Carolyn Seitz, Steve Knox, Ann Meister, Toni Calliway, Frances and Charlie Crutchfield, Roy Foerster, Warren Haby, Mary Johnson, Jim Kusley, Paul Malone, Jennifer Rohl, Walt Margerum, Jim and Sally Parrish, Herman Ruvalcaba, Cece and Charley Schoettlin, Dave and Spencer Smith, Richard Stamberg, and John Woodward.  Year after year these people pitch in to make sure that the show gets done, and all they get for their efforts is me thanking them in this bulletin.  If you care about the future of our society and the show that we put on, I would suggest you let them know how much we all appreciate their hard work. 

Beyond the work of getting the actual show put together there were many people involved with the event months and months before the show.  People like Bob Griffins, who took the time out to rework our dealer contracts, or Jim Kusley, who without a doubt was an amazing help with the show.  Jim put in hours and hours of his own time fixing the trailer (which was long overdue), got all of those dealer signs taken care of, and did many other important tasks.  Without Jim, I would have run myself ragged and mad taking care of all the errands that he did without complaint.  Everyone owes Jim a great big thank you.  Thanks also to Carl Acosta, who contacted many owners of fine mineral collections and persuaded them to exhibit at the show.  And thanks to all of you who displayed! 

If you saw Janet Gordon at the show you would have realized that she was a great big driving force behind many aspects of the show, including organizing volunteers and managing the kids’ activity section.  Janet must have spent way too many nights chopping out swatches of paper with rocks glued on them for the kid rock program, printing up name tags and organizing the volunteers.  She was the person I had to turn to when I needed help, and she was always there to provide it.  I can’t quite express in words how grateful I am for someone as dependable as Janet to back me up, and I only wish that everyone appreciates her efforts as much as I do. 

Jim Kusley also spearheaded the video advertising campaign. The commercial that was filmed brought in many new people through the door this year, and we expect that it will do the same for years and years to come. 

Of course, all the people that helped glue rocks to cardstock for the kid rock activities and helped put stamps and address labels on all those postcards, many thanks to you as well. 

One man needs special thanks, Mr. Rock Currier.  Rock provides storage space for the kid rock material and with his support, allowed me to work on the show from the comfort of my desk here at the Jewel Tunnel, where I write this note.  He was a great man to run ideas by for the show, and his input and help with the show is greatly appreciated, not only by me, but everyone else in the club.  Thank you Mr. Currier.  You are truly an inspiration. 

With that said, thanks again to everyone who helped out with the show.  There were so many of you that, it is probably inevitable that someone's name has been omitted.  So please forgive me if I missed you.  Just remember, it couldn’t have been done without all of you! 

Kid Rock Report

by Janet Gordon

Thanks to all who contributed so much to the Kid Rock effort throughout this year.  By all accounts this aspect of the show was a resounding success.  At least 600 smiling kids filled bags with free mineral samples.  More than 50 teachers signed in and thanked us for the free minerals, posters, and crystal model patterns specially set aside for them.  In addition to the faithful MSSC members who staffed the area, we had student volunteers from UCLA, UC Irvine, University of Southern California, Pasadena City College, Moorpark College, Long Beach City College, Mt. San Antonio College, and Clairbourn School.  And we thank them all!

The kids' activities are an important part of the show.  They not only encourage the mineral collectors of the future and provide a link with educators, but they also help distinguish our show from commercial shows.  If you have suggestions about improving this activity, they are most welcome.

Minutes of the October Meeting

The 800th meeting of the Mineralogical Society of Southern California was held on Friday, October 8th in the Geology department at Pasadena City College.  President Jo Anna Ritchey brought the meeting to order at 7:30pm.

October’s speaker was Mike Havstad.  Mike gave a delightful visual presentation on fluorite and its diverse crystal forms and colors.  The pictures were incredible, showing the cleavage planes on various crystal faces as well as unique specimens.   Mike also discussed how he got interested in the field of minerals and how he obtained his bachelors in geology.  This was a very entertaining evening, where everyone was left laughing and rolling in their chairs from this hilarious speaker.  After the talk the members enjoyed the close examination of gorgeous fluorite specimens brought by Mr. Havstad.

During the meeting the new slate of officers for 2005 were decided as follows; Bill Besse as President, James Kusely as Vice President, Ilia Lyles as Secretary and Walter Margerum as Treasurer.  Congratulations to Ilia Lyles for winning the October door prize.  The meeting was brought to a close at 8:45pm.

Respectfully submitted by Ilia Lyles, Secretary

Report from the Nominating Committee

The nominating committee has proposed the following slate of officers for 2005:

President - Bill Besse

Vice President - Jim Kusely

Secretary-  Ilia Lyles

Treasurer- Walter Margerum

Federation Director- JoAnna Ritchey.

2005-2006 Directors- James Imai, Rock Currier, Dave Smith, and Steve Knox.

Note:  Ken Raabe has been appointed to fill the remainder of the 2004-2005 Director position vacated by the resignation of Larry Bruce.

Successful Arizona Field Trip

 by Steve Knox

Arizona is known for being hot and dry, but a recent storm left the desert green, and its normally dry washes full of water.  Luckily for the group, Oct. 24 and 24 was between storms and we had perfect weather over the weekend.  A good turnout met in Wickenburg and then proceeded up Constellation Road to a roadside hill known for small geodes.  Geodes littered the ground, and although only a few were hollow, everyone had their fill in a short time.  Next we drove to Amethyst Hill.  This area is known for its quartz and what we were told was recently confirmed to be chlorargyrite.  Small seams of fluorite crossed the bottom of the hill.  They contained small, sharp green and purple octahedrons.

Our primary destination, the Purple Passion mine was recently excavated by backhoe for our group, and freshly exposed yellow wulfenite was waiting.  Justin Butt found the first good yellow wulfenites after considerable pounding on a seam.  Janet Gordon found a small but clean cerussite "V" twin, and everyone found small wulfenite.  The main show began at night when the hillside and dump lit up in neon red/orange, green, and purple under powerful shortwave UV-lights provided by our hosts. Pieces of the ugly gangue no one would touch quickly became prized possessions.

On Sunday, most of us went to the Spectrum claim.  Newly exposed areas showed signs of aqua blue fluorite.  Most of the fluorite of it was massive, but Walt Margerum succeeded in extracting a good-sized teal-colored octahedron.  In the afternoon, some of the group dug small orange wulfenites nearby. 

Mineral Notes from Italy: The Praborna Mine

by Janet Gordon

Preface

Last August, I had the privilege of attending the 32nd International Geological Congress in Florence, Italy, accompanied by my husband, Paul.  We went on five field trips associated with the congress, and although these trips focused on local geology, archeology, and tectonics, there were sites and events of special interest to mineral enthusiasts.  This note initiates a series of short reports about the mineralogical aspects of our adventures in Italy.  It begins with one of the sites we visited in the western Italian Alps on a trip that focused on the very high pressure metamorphic rocks produced during the Alpine orogeny.

The Praborna Mine

The western Italian Alps are bisected by the picturesque, mostly east-west trending Aosta Valley.  The side canyons entering this valley provide access to small alpine towns and spectacular peaks.  The Praborna mine is located in the side canyon cut by the Saint-Marcel River, which enters the Aosta Valley from the south. It is at N 45°40.774', E 7° 26.968' and an elevation of 1894 m.  The mine can be reached via four-wheel drive dirt roads and a bit of hiking.  We were hosted by dignitaries from the town of Saint Marcel who expressed a desire to preserve their historic site from the ravages of mineral collectors!

The Praborna mine is one of the world's most famous localities for manganese minerals, and it has a long and distinguished history.  The field guide provided to trip participants (referenced below and available on the web) is the source of much of the information that follows. Records of the mine go back to 1415, and it was intensively exploited during the 17th and 18th centuries for braunite (Mn2+Mn63+SiO12).  The glassmakers of Murano (near Venice) used braunite to produce colorless clear glass, making use of the Mn3+ to transform the Fe2+, which imparted a green color to the glass to Fe3+, which left the glass colorless. 

In the 18th and 19th centuries the mine became famous for its diversity of manganese minerals, and it is the type locality for braunite; violan, a semiprecious violet-blue clinopyroxene; piemontite, a Mn-epidote; alurgite, the pink Mn-bearing variety of muscovite, and romeite, a complex oxide of Sb, Mn, and Fe that occurs as reddish octahedrons.  All of these were described before 1900 by mineralogists such as Breithaupt, Descloizeaux, and Penfield. Strontiomelane, was added to the Praborna mine type locality list in 1999.  Many other manganese minerals have also been found at the mine including spessartine, unusual tan-colored Mn-rich augite, Mn-jadeite, rhodonite, K-F-MN-richterite, thulite (a Mn2+ epidote), hollandite, and rhodochrosite.

The ore at Praborna is hosted in manganese-rich quartzite and includes a 4 to 8 m thick deformed layer rich in braunite and piemontite.  The ore is strongly layered on large and small scales.  The rock units above and below the quartzite are interpreted as remnants of seafloor rocks that have been metamorphosed at very high pressure (eclogite facies), and the ore is thought to be the product of metamorphosed manganese nodules, such as those found on some portions of today's seafloor.

So what's it like to collect at Praborna?  Picture this: 25 geologists with about 4 hammers among them sitting on the mine dump at the base of the cliff in the light rain.  It was our only time for lunch, but we were surrounded by chunks of quartzite with layers of vivid pink alurgite flakes and red-brown piemontite chunks were abundant. Many of us abandoned our rolls and cheese to search for the best piemontite specimens, which included sprays of cm-scale crystals set off in a background of white quartz.  The piemontite was also attractively layered with braunite.  It would have been great to spend the whole afternoon there with a larger hammer going through the dump, as I suspected many collectors had done before, but lunch quickly ended with an invitation to climb up into the mine workings for a quick look before going on to our next stop.

After a short scramble we were in the portal of the mine, surronded by reddish walls of mostly piemontite punctuated with large lenses of massive tan spessartine and bands black braunite.  These were veined with low pressure manganese-rich minerals that formed later during retrograde metamorphism.  From a petrologist's point of view, it was spectacular, but it would be great to search for minerals in the mine sometime.

If you type "Praborna" into Google, it's obvious that the locality is well-known, especially to European collectors.  Octahedra of romeite, gemmy crystals violan, sparkly alurgite, and sprays of piemontite are all for sale on the web.   So one suspects there is much more to collect than we could manage to find during our half-hour lunch.

Reference

Martin, S., Godard, G., and G. Rebay, 2004, The subducted Tethys in the Aosta Valley (Italian Western Alps): 32nd International Geological Congress, published by APAT

(Italian Agency for the Environmental Protection and Technical Services), Rome, 48 p.

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2004 Calendar of Events

Nov. 6-7, Oxnard, Oxnard Gem & Mineral Society, Performing Arts Center, 800 Hobson Way, Hours: Sat 9-5 Sun 9-4, Norb Kinsler (805) 644-6450.

Nov. 6-7, Ridgecrest, Indian Wells Gem & Mineral Society, Desert Empire Fairgrounds, Mesquite Hall, 520 S. Richmond Road, Hours: 9-5 both days, John De Rosa (760) 375-7905.

Nov. 12-14, Sacramento, Sacramento Mineral Society, Scottish Rite Center, 6151 H Street, Hours: Fri. 9-5; Sat. 10-6; Sun. 10-4, Boyd Lasater (916) 455-7075, Email: fosback@aol.com.

November 12-14, West Coast Gem and Mineral Show, Costa Mesa Holiday Inn, 3131 S. Bristol St., Hours Fri. & Sat. 10-6, Sun. 10-5. mz0955@aol.com, www.mzexpos.com.

Nov. 13 & 14, 25th Annual New Mexico Mineral Symposium, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, New Mexico; a 2-day symposium of mineral talks and more.  For details call Virgil Lueth (505) 835-5140 or see:

        http://geoinfo.nmt.edu/education/museum/minsymp/home.html

Nov. 6-7, Anaheim, American Opal Society, Anaheim Clarion Hotel, 616 W. Convention Way, Hours: 10-5 both days,Fran Todd (310) 721-5614 / Toddle@aol.com.

 Nov. 13-14, Palmdale, Palmdale Gem & Mineral Club, Palmdale Elks Lodge, 2705 East Ave.Q, Hours: Sat. 9 – 5; Sun. 9 – 4, Gail Becker (661) 285-3958.

Nov. 20-21, Livermore, Livermore Valley Lithophiles, The Barn - (next to Civic Center), Pacific Ave. at So. Livermore Ave., Hours: Sat. 10 - 5; Sun.: 10 - 4, Joyce Friesen (925) 447-8223.

Nov. 20-21, Victorville, Victor Valley Gem and Mineral Club, San Bernardino County Fairgrounds, 14800 Seventh St., Victorville, Hours: Sat. 9 - 5; Sun.: 9 - 4, Mavis Mushaney (760) 241-8282.

Nov. 24-28, CFMS field trip to Wiley Well area led by Bob Fitzpatrick, CFMS Field Trip Leader South, 951-845-3051 or RUROCKY2@aol.com.  See also www.cfmsinc.org for details.

Nov. 27-28, Barstow, Mojave Desert Gem & Mineral Society, Barstow Community Center, 841 South Barstow Road, Hours: 10 - 5 both days, Bob Depue (760) 255-1030

Dec. 4-5, Orangevale, American River Gem & Mineral Society, Orangvale Grange Hall, 5807 Walnut Ave., Hours: 10 - 5 both days, Evelyn Tipton Email: e.k.tipton@wordnet.att.net

Dec. 4-5, San Bernardino, Orange Belt Mineralogical Society, 58th annual Rocks Galore in 2004, San Bernadino Woman’s Club, 503 W 31st Street; 31 st. & E Streets, Hours: 10-5 both days, Pat Wind (909) 381-0089 or (909) 792-0668