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Strata Gem December 2002
President’s Message
Another month is just about over. The holidays are here and as usual I'm not ready for them. I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. Some of our members will be enjoying not only Thanksgiving but also the warm weather of Arizona.
Our Christmas party is going to be here soon so don't forget to make your reservation. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone there.
I would like to thank everyone for there help and support over the years. I know everyone will support our new President Ruth Smith and her officers, we have a great club and members.
Whatever else changes through the years, the glory of the holidays remains to brighten all hearts with radiant beauty. May the light shine upon your pathway and bless you with joy and happiness throughout the New Year. Always enjoy life's journey.
Donna M. Chavez President
Members News & Minutes
2 Sick 2 Tired 2 Late. I will try & do better next month. Dennis Chapman
Legislative Report At 2:25 am in the morning on November 15, 2002, the House of Representatives without debate unanimously approved a $261 million per year for five years legislative grab bag of goodies, and sent it back to the Senate for final approval. The measure is called The American Wildlife Enhancement Act, S 990.
The congressman responsible for its passage was Rep. James Hansen, R-Utah. Although Hansen headed the House Resources Committee to which the bill was assigned after it passed the Senate in December, 2001, he held no hearings on it. Instead, he kept it on a back shelf until 2:22 a.m. Friday, when he asked that the Resources Committee be discharged from further consideration of the bill and that it be placed on the calendar for a vote. Three minutes later - with some funding amendments, S 990 was on its way back to the Senate. An all out effort is being made to pass this bill through the Senate during the 'lame duck' session.
Lobbyist Mike Hardiman, who represents the American Land Rights Association (not to be confused with the American Lands Access Association or ALAA) says the most egregious section in S 990 is the one amending the Endangered Species Act. Specifically, S 990 creates a category called "species at risk,” defined as any species identified by the Secretaries of Interior and Commerce to be a "candidate species" for listing as endangered or threatened. Some $150 million a year would be allocated to enforce this new provision, mainly through land purchases by state government agencies and non-profit groups. Another $50 million a year will go for "shrub land and grassland” conservation (that is, acquisition)."Even worse," he adds, "grass and shrubs are defined as, well, grass and shrubs - and - areas 'historically dominated’ by grass and shrubs - and - areas that 'if restored to natural grassland or shrub land, would have the potential to serve as habitat for endangered species, threatened species, or species at risk." In other words," he quips, "Just about every inch of America outside the Mojave Desert." WorldNetDaily, November 19, 2002, and ALAA reports.
Rep. Scott McInnis, R-Colorado, introduced a bill in the closing days of the 107th Congress to set aside more than 58,000 acres of federal land as wilderness. The bill would establish nearly 50,000 new acres in Eagle County as the Red Table Mountain Wilderness. The bill would also expand three existing wilderness areas, Ptarmigan Peak, Raggeds, and Hunter-Fryingpan by about 8000 acres. Rocky Mountain News, November 19, 2002.
The once prolific Grace Mine north of Empire, Colorado is gearing up for another production effort. A partnership of some 100 investors under the names Transcontinental Minerals, Inc., and Consolidated Empire Mines, Ltd., and MR3, a California metals processing firm, plan the venture. Ray Heon of Evergreen, partnership spokesman, said some permits are yet to be acquired. The surface mine will employ 25 to 35 workers. Denver Post, October 31, 2002.
Kalispell, Montana- The U.S. Forest Service is asking that the sale of 14 million board feet of usable timber scorched during the 2001 fire season be exempted from legal appeal. Officials warn that bark beetles will infest the forest if the sale is delayed by lawsuits. USA Today, October 28, 2002. And in Vancouver, Washington, Forest officials withdrew a proposed timber sale in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest after biologists raised concerns about the Larch Mountain salamander, a sensitive species found in the area. USA Today November 15, 2002.
There is friction between the Bush Administration's political appointees heading up the land agencies and experienced senior land agency employees who are being who are being reassigned and/or forced to retire. BLM state directors posts are now vacant in at least 5 states, after 11 of 12 State Directors were replaced in the early days of the Clinton Administration and after more recent changes. About a dozen Forest Service regional foresters have been moved around. And Park Service Director Fran Mainella is overbearing and distrustful, say Jerry Belson, a Regional Director, and David Mihalic, Yosemite National Park Superintendent. An anonymous memo seeking an investigation into the personnel practices is being ignored by Interior Secretary Gale Norton. Denver Post, November 6, 2002.
To follow any House or Senate Bill on the Internet bring up the following web site: http://thomas.loc.gov
Gem Show Calendar
If you know of any events coming up, PLEASE let me know as soon as possible. If anything is wrong PLEASE let me know as soon as possible.
Feb 22-23 Idaho Gem Club Show, Western Idaho Fairgrounds, Glenwood & State Street, Boise, ID.
Mar 1-2 Owyhee Gem & Mineral Society Show, O'Connor Fieldhouse, 2200 Blaine, Caldwell, ID.
Mar 7-9 Golden Spike Club Show, Union Station, 25th and Wall, Ogden, UT.
May 10-11 Santa Cruz Mineral & Gem Society Show, Corner of Center and Church Streets, Reno, NV.
July 11-13 RMFMS Show and Convention, hosted by the Natrona County Rockhounds Club, Parkway Plaza Hotel and Convention Center, Casper, WY.
Aug 8-10 Annual Contin-tail Rock Swap and Show, Rodeo Grounds, Buena Vista, CO.
Glass – Colorful And Colorless by Shiny Case Chips k Chatter
Do you have a few old bottles or jars gathering dust in your basement? How many different insulators do you have? Is your mother’s cut glass dish in a safe place? Glass in some form is considered a collectible item in almost every household. Some of these items are treasures, some are not, but all of them seem to hold our interest.
Glassmakers have been working for perfection in their product for 4,000 years. Basically, the recipe has stayed the same; sand, soda, and lime. The soda originally came from wood ashes and the lime from crushed limestone. Later, potash was used for soda. (The Owens-Illinois bottle plant in New Orleans used sand, soda ash and crushed oyster shells).
Almost all sand contains certain amounts of iron. Even a trace of iron will color glass - usually making it aqua or green. The early Venetians obtained clear glass by using crushed quartz instead of sand. in the mid 1600’s the English used ‘flint glass’. About 1674 the English began to use lead to make brilliant clear glass. Twenty five percent of the mixture of ingredients had to be lead. It’s understandable why grandmother’s cut glass bowl is so heavy.
Fine glass pieces were made with leaded glass but it was too expensive for most things. Common glass items continued to aqua, green or brown colors for another two centuries. About 1880 it was discovered that manganese would bleach out the natural color in glass. The manganese came from the mineral, pyrolusite, and was imported to the U.S. from Germany. Clear was then economically available for all purposes.
An interesting chemical reaction occurs in glass containing manganese. Ultraviolet rays of the sun make the glass take on a rich purple color. This glass is often called “desert glass” or ‘‘sun— colored amethyst’’.
Some insulators take on this lovely hue while in use on telephone poles. Streetlights in older sections of cities often have pale amethyst glass. Bottles gathered from long time resting places outside are often purple. This phenomenon occurs in glass made between 1880 and 1914. World War I cut off the supply of manganese from Germany and selenium from ‘Canada came into use in making colorless glass. Manganese was never used widely for this purpose again. Modern technology finds acid washing effective to remove iron on sand. Today’s transportation also allows manufacturers to obtain the purest sand.
Minerals are now commonly used for artificial coloring in glass. The addition of gold, ground into powder, makes a glass mix bright red. Copper produces light blue and cobalt produces dark blue glass. Yellow glass may be a result of the addition of silver. Manganese, previously used to make colorless glass, is used in heavier proportions to make pale pink, purple and black glass.
Kentucky Agate. 1/92; The Glacial Drifter & Flint Chips. Slabs & Cabs. 12/92 and taken from Sep. 02 Snoopy Gems.
Via Gravel Gazette September 2002
Enhanced, Treated, Heated, Dyed, Stabilized, Created, Irradiated - FAKE? by Deborah Pfianz
Gemstones and semi-precious stones have been fiddled with for centuries to make them ‘more’: colorful, more eye-catching, and easier to work. This does not make them ‘fake’, however one should know what some of those terms and treatments mean.
Heat Treated this is the most common treatment and is as old as fire. Humans heated agate and jasper so as to be able to knap the stones for tools. Humans also heat gem materials to enhance, clarify or create color in a stone. Amethyst is heated for citrine and ametrine. Zircon is heated to clarify the stone to clear white. Sapphires are heated to get the most amazing pinks and blues. Tigereye is turned blue or red. Carnelian turns orange-red. Aquamarine may go from green-blue to blue. Rubies may lose a purplish tint. Iolite may be turned a deep blue. It is also used to enhance the ‘color change’ gems such as tanzanite.
Dyed this is also a very common practice. Agate is dyed to get fancy pinks, purples, orange and blues - eye catching and very saleable. Chalcendony is often dyed; black is sold as onyx and green is sold as chrysoprase. Howlite is often dyed to look like turquoise, lapis, sodalite and charite. Turquoise and jadeite are often dyed to enhance the natural color. Alabaster, coral, banded calcite, and marble are dyed to enhance their color or to imitate other semiprecious stones.
Irradiation - while topaz is currently the most commonly irradiated gemstone (to get various shades and tones of blue) this is also how one gets those fabulously colored diamonds. In fact diamond was the first gemstone color treated with radiation.
Stabilized - Opals are often stabilized - either by filling such as with Opticon resin (or similar agent) or by capping either as a doublet or triplet.
Emerald has a long history of fracture filling due to its popularity and its tendency to be highly included and fractured. While natural oils have traditionally been used for fillings and stabilization, modern synthetic resins are now being used, such as Opticon, which are more permanent than the natural oils were. Turquoise and coral are also stabilized in such a manner so as to make them a bit more durable.
Created - this is a touchy subject for some folks. Much like farmed pearls are real with a center of plastic or mother of pearl rather than sand. Still real, still a pearl just helped to grow by a human. Laboratory grown crystals of ruby, sapphire, diamond, emerald, and star sapphire are real semiprecious stones. They just weren’t grown in the earth.
So what is the answer: Real or Fake? This ‘real vs fake’ can be argued with all sides being technically correct. That is not the most important information one can have. The really important bit about this from a lapidary or jeweler’s point of view is disclosure. Does one know up front that the stone you are getting has been ‘helped along’ by the human touch? Do you as a lapidary artist, gemsmith, jeweler or craftsperson know what you are using?
The beauty and art that we create with these stones is being helped along by our touch, much as it was to first get our attention.
There is beauty in the knowing - be sure to share that with those around you.
Rock Chipper 6/01 via Golden Spike News 7/01
The Rockhounds’ Lament
In all this world it must be true.... And possibly in Heaven too.... There ‘s not a soul in God’s great flocks Quite like us nuts who hunt for rocks.
We’ve scoured the land throughout the years And strove with constant toil and tears To find that rock, that magic stone Which would for all our woes atone.
Day in and out we’ve traipsed the fields, Returning home with worthless yields To face a spouse with pointed gun Because we left the chores undone.
It is a curious state of mind We’re never glad with what we find We seek the stone with vivid hues; The rest we never try to use.
But it seldom happens any more That precious stones are found galore; More than likely schist or shale Bear witness to our Holy Grail.
It’s not a plain unvarnished lie That we cannot identify An emerald or a tiger eye Unless we have a book nearby.
So rocks are sought by fools like us Who never even raise a fuss To have our utmost secret told: We took the rocks and left the gold!
-Anonymous Submitted by Dick Doud Via Gneiss Times 10/02
Three Wise Women
We Gals Do It Right the First Time Do you know what would have happened if it had been Three Wise Women instead of Three Wise Men? They would have asked directions, arrived on time, helped deliver the baby, cleaned the stable, made a casserole, brought practical gifts, and there would be Peace On Earth.
The Agatizer 12/01 (Katherine Poihlmann) Via Golden Spike News 2/02
“Unceremoniously Dumped” by R.J. Harris, CPRMC
Unceremoniously dumped is usually a thought associated with the end of a love relationship or perhaps the way that employment is ended. I think of rocks Yes, rocks!
Over the past few years I’ve hear story after story of collections ending up on a heap or in a creek. There’s the one about the rockhound’s family who dumped his collection in the “Yellow Breeches” creek. Where? I need to know! Or, the thousands of pounds that nearly ended up in the woods after clubs, museums, and individuals refused to even give them a look. (This club rescued, and auctioned that collection.) Many have heard of the alleged donation of nice geologic material from a college to a PennDOT road project as “fill.” What a sin! Finally, there is the former WHP engineer who told me of seeing a glimmer one day at the WHP transmitter. Upon further inspection he noticed that it was a discarded rock collection. Knowing they were special, he rescued them. What a fate for earth’s art, particularly after the work that went into gathering them.
To us, rocks are special. I have material in my collection from quite a few club members. These and my field trip finds are truly special to me. I think of Erston Barnhart when I look at the specimens that came from him I know that while my fluorescents came from Bob Derk, Jim & Maxine Nicholas originally owned some of them. Each specimen holds a little human history along with its geologic pedigree. People who didn’t even know George Molnar, certainly know of him from the “bagged” collections that he spread throughout the hobby.
One of the biggest concerns we often hear about our hobby, like many hobbies, is the aging group of participants. Interest in rocks often starts as a kid. I couldn’t wait to go to the Reading Museum as a youngster. Easter and Mother’s Day at the museum was a family tradition. For me, it also meant getting a new rock from the gift shop. I was in heaven! At our annual show in 2001, we mused about a kindergartner who picked up 35 pounds of rocks at his first day of school. He was picking up rocks while the others played at recess. So many, that the five year old was dragging his backpack on the ground when he got off his school bus. Our kind of kid!
So what will happen to your rocks? Particularly what will happen to the numerous flats of material that you’ve collected on countless digs over the years? Why not give them to a kid now? Imagine our attendance if kids were to get a pocket full of rocks at every meeting! We could come up with a dozen different programs for them, but none would be as effective as giving them a lot of rocks, along with stories that go with them. Giving up your excess now accomplishes a few things - you motivate and make kids happy, while making room at home as well. Everybody wins! Including the rocks, saved from life on an anonymous pile in the woods unceremoniously dumped!
Donate what you can to our youth. Your legacy will follow these gifts home. Even if they don’t remember you name, they will remember your face - and that YOU are a part of the collection that they got from the Central Pennsylvania Rock & Mineral Club.
(From Rock Busier News 7/02) via T-Town Rockhounds 8/02
Something to Consider and Keep in Mind By Homer Whitlock Member of the Wasatch Gem Society
Solder, any of several metallic alloys that melt at comparatively low temperatures and are used for the patching or joining of metals. Solders are commonly classified as soft and hard solders, depending upon their melting points and strengths. Soft solders are alloys of lead and tin, sometimes with the addition of bismuth; hard solders are alloys of silver, copper, and zinc (brazing spelter). In joining two pieces of metal with solder, the joining surfaces are first cleaned and then coated with a flux, usually of rosin or borax, that cleans them chemically and assists the solder in the making a bond. The surfaces are then heated, either with a hot metal tool called a soldering iron or soldering copper or with some form of alcohol or gas blowtorch. When the surfaces are heated to the melting point of the solder, the solder is applied and runs freely, solidifying as the surfaces cool. In the form of soldering known as sweating, the two pieces to be joined are first coated individually with solder and then clamed together and heated to form the finished joint. Soldering is not significantly different from brazing and welding, except that soldering metals and alloys used for joining have less physical strength and lower boiling points. There are many different ways to do this. You should not try and solder in a closed room but have plenty of ventilation as the fumes are very deadly and once you are poisoned you cannot reverse it. One of the best ways is to get with someone that is skilled at it and can give you some good pointers. Silver work is a lot of fun you can get started without going in to much money. It is very easy to make a mistake and ruin a piece. That in the learning process we have many excellent people in the club that can give you a good start.
Homer Whitlock
Learning more about the metals we use and work with to make Jewelry etcBy Homer Whitlock Member of the Wasatch Gem Society
The use of silver in jewelry, tableware (see Flatware; Metalwork), and as coinage is well known. The metal is usually alloyed with small amounts of other metals to make it harder and more durable. In the United States, coin silver was an alloy of 90 percent silver and 10 percent copper until 1965, when the silver content was reduced to 40 percent for half dollars; silver was eliminated from dimes and quarters after 1964. In 1970 the U. S. government sold the last of its marketable silver, which in earlier periods of U. S. economic history had been used to support a monetary system of bimetallism (see Money). Sterling silver for tableware and other solid-silver objects are 92.5 percent silver and 7.5 percent copper. Silver is used to coat smooth glass surfaces for mirrors by vaporization of the metal or by precipitation from a solution; however, aluminum has largely replaced silver in this application. Silver is also widely used in the circuitry of electrical and electronic components. Colloidal silver, dilut solutions of silver nitrate (AgNO3), and some insoluble compounds, such as potassium, are used in medicine as antiseptics and pactericides. Argyrol, a silver-protein compound, is a local antiseptic for the eyes, ears, nose, and throat.
The silver-halide salts-silver bromide, silver chloride, and silver iodide which darken on exposure to light, are used in emulsions for photographic plates, film, and paper. The salts are soluble in sodium thiosulfate, which is the compound used in the photographic fixing process (see Photography).
This article was taken from one of my books on metals and I thought it might be interesting for people to know about it..
News And Views 11/01
Funny...
Scientists at NASA built a gun specifically to launch dead chickens at the windshields of airliners, military jets and the space shuttle, all traveling a maximum velocity. The idea Is to simulate the frequent incidents of collisions with airborne fowl to test the strength of the windshields.
British engineers heard about the gun and were eager to test it on the windshields of their new high speed trains. Arrangements were made, and the gun was sent to the British engineers.
When the gun was fired, the engineers stood shocked as the chicken hurled out of the barrel, crashed into the shatterproof shield, smashed it to smithereens, blasted through the control console, snapped the engineer’s backrest in two and embedded itself in the back wall of the cabin, like an arrow shot from a bow.
The horrified Brits sent NASA the disastrous results of the experiment, along with the designs of the windshield and begged the US scientists for suggestions.
NASA responded with a one-line memo; Defrost the chicken.
Via The Rock Bag 9/02
Opal Mosaic Triplets
If you have some small opal chips with nice fire, too small to make a cab, make them into opal mosaic triplicates.
Grind the opal chips about 1/16-inch thick. Trim and smooth the edges, making sure to remove all the matrix. The backing may be obsidian or any dark material. ** Prepare the background by sanding flat on one side. DO NOT POLISH. Do the same with a piece of clear quartz 3/32-inch thick.
On the sticky side of a piece of masking tape, mark the size and pattern you want to make. Then place the opal chips, best side down, so they will stick and cover the design, leaving a fine space between each piece. Let the edges of the opal chips overlay the design where necessary.
Next, mix epoxy cement with a little lamp black and rub it on the opal and between the spaces with a toothpick. Rub additional epoxy on the backing piece, press the two together, and leave overnight.
After the piece has set, peel off the tape and sand the surface lightly. Wash both opal surface and quartz surface to be bonded with alcohol. Mix clear epoxy and rub it on both the opal and quartz in a thin film. Press together. Let set for 24 hours. Shape and cab the piece, making sure when you cut your cab that the bezel will cover the edges of the opal.
** Ed. Note: Old broken 78 phonograph records are good because they are grooved and the epoxy will stick well to them.
From The Agatizer 8/89 Via Beehive Buzzer 9/02 & others
A Simple Grain of Sand
ROGER VAN CLEEF–Sand is composed of loose, finely grained minerals that are the product of chemical and mechanical decomposition of rocks over long periods of time. These minerals include quartz [the most common mineral] often with traces of mica, feldspar, and magnetite. Most sand is made up of quartz because other common minerals weather away to sizes smaller than sand, and quartz does not. Particles of sand range in size from 2 to .02 mm in diameter. Fine sand is defined as particles between 0.02 mm and 0.2 mm and course sand as those between 0.2 mm and 2.0 mm.1
The sand found at the bottom of tide pools of Okinawa, Japan is light brown on the top, but just a few inches beneath the floor the sand is black, due to anaerobic decomposition. Anaerobic decomposition is the breakdown of plant and animal life without the presence of oxygen [beneath the surface of the sand]. If you take a closer look at the sand from Taketomi Island, Japan, you will find that some of the sand is star-shaped. The star shaped sand is actually made up of foraminiferans, single celled protozoans. Because their shell is composed largely of calcium carbonate, they blend in very well with the calcium-carbonate sand around them.2
Desert sands tend to have a wider assortment of grain sizes and dull, opaque surfaces due to erosion from high speed winds. The sand of Hawaii's black beaches is obsidian [volcanic glass created by magma that flowed to the sea and then cooled rapidly]. It was eventually reduced to bits of fine black sand by water and waves. Remains of tiny sea animals called crinoids [sea lilies] make up part of the sand in the Tonga area of the South Pacific. These stony disks which are calcified, wheel-like plates, fall in large numbers to the bottom of the ocean.3
Take a look at a few grains of sand under a microscope and see what you find.
Works Cited: 1. Glenn Elert, Editor; The Physics Factbook; “Diameter of a Grain of Sand”; www.hypertextbook.com; October 18, 2002
2. “The Tidepools of Okinawa”; www.Japanupdate.com; October 18, 2002
3. “Sands of the World”; www.ed.uri.edu/homepage/projects/ocean/Sampler.htm; October 18, 2002 [images above are courtesy of “Sands of the World”
From MAGS Rockhound News, 11/02 Via THE RockCollector 11/02
Largest Diamond Saw?...
What may be the world’s largest diamond saw is a circular saw used in the granite quarries of Scotland. The saw is about 11.5 feet in diameter and 1 inch thick. The diamond charge costs thousands of dollars. The diamonds are set in 300 rectangular pockets on the circumference of the saw. Many of the diamonds average about one carat each. The saw is operated at 10,000 feet per minute around the periphery. The diamond saw leaves a smoother surface than the old wire rope and abrasive method
From the Petrified Digest 9/00 via Rock Rollers and swiped from Ore-Bits 1/02 Via Hy Grader 2/02
Kids Corner Gem & Mineral Quiz
Most of our gems are varieties of more or less common minerals. Column 1 is a list of gems; column 2 is a list of minerals. See how many gems you can match up with the mineral of which the gem is a variety. (No peeking at the answers under the credits)
____ Ruby
____ A. Tourmaline
From Sooner Rockologist 11/88 via TI-LIE GLACIAL DRIFTER 5/95 Via T-Town Rockhound 6/ 02 ANSWERS TO QUIZ: E, H, A, F, J, C, I, B, G, D
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