1,051st Meeting of

The Mineralogical Society

of

Southern California  

 

 

 

The Jones Collection of Arizona Minerals –

A Few Personal Favorites and Some Recent Acquisitions

Presented by Evan Jones

via ZOOM

Friday June 12, 2026 at 7:30 pm

See program notes below

Visitors are always welcome

About us…

The MSSC is a member of the California Federation of Mineralogical Societies and is dedicated to the dissemination of general knowledge of the mineralogical and related earth sciences through the study of mineral specimens.  We are a scientific non-profit organization that actively supports those endeavors through public outreach, field study and related programs.

For more information info@mineralsocal.org


Program Notes: Friday, June 12, 2026  at 7:30, join us for Evan Jones presenting The Jones Collection of Arizona Minerals – A Few Personal Favorites and Some Recent Acquisitions

The story of the Jones Collection starts in the late 1940’s in Connecticut when Bob Jones began to get serious about collecting minerals. Like many collections, it underwent a few transformations over the years and changes of focus in the ensuing decades. By the late 1980’s Bob’s son Evan assumed curation, ultimately transforming it into an all-Arizona locality collection. In this presentation, Evan shares the stories behind some of his favorite pieces, plus a few recent additions to the collection. 
 
Longtime mineral collector and dealer Evan Jones, son of well-known author Bob Jones, started collecting minerals at age 9 and with his father visited museums, attended mineral shows, went on collecting trips and visited mineral dealers from an early age. A graduate of the geology program at ASU in Tempe, Arizona, Evan has been a full time mineral dealer since 1986 and is currently co-owner of the fine mineral dealership Unique Minerals, Inc. Evan has attended every Tucson Gem & Mineral Show since 1981 and won several awards including Walt Lidstrom, Miguel Romero and Dick Bideaux trophies. He has written articles for Mineralogical Record, Rocks & Minerals, LAPIS, Mineralien-Welt magazines and given talks around the country on the subject of Arizona and Mexican minerals, mines and history and recently was awarded the Best Article of 2021 in Mineralogical Record magazine by Friends of Mineralogy for his article on the Milpillas Mine in Mexico. His collection of Arizona minerals is considered one of the finest in the world.

SPECIAL ZOOM MEETING NOTICE

MSSC members will automatically be on the invite list each month.

Non Members, you must request to attend the MSSC zoom meeting every month Email our Speakers chair, Carolyn Seitz at speakers@mineralsocal.org  no later than the Thursday before the scheduled meeting   Please include “ZOOM Meeting” in the subject line of your response. We will send you the meeting link.


Upcoming Events

all events, except field trips are via  ZOOM

  • July 2026: TBD
  • Board Meeting, Sunday August  2, 2026 at 1:00 pm, all are welcome to attend
  • Annual Picnic & Silent Auction: August 29, 2026 12-4PM

The MSSC is pleased to offer the updated 2025 edition of Bob Pedersen’s X- Dana 

X-Dana Mineral Spreadsheet