Updated September 26th, 2005

This page will carry the entire series of  updates for the 2005 Denver Show.

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Specimens from this show will be shipped after September 26th.
 

Thanks for your interest!

 
 

Fluorite	September 26th New Find - Fluorite from Ontario -  Tyson's Minerals of Edmonton Canada had a new find of light amber colored fluorite from the Flamborough Quarry near Dundas, Ontario, Canada.  These crystals have exceptional glassy luster and are zoned with a phantom that is light to moderately deep colored amber.  Under SW UV light the crystals fluoresce yellowish white and phosphoresce for several seconds afterward.  The fluorescence is due to petroleum inclusions.
Menezesite	September 26th New Find - Menezesite from Brazil -  It is always exciting when there is a new mineral to talk about and this time in Denver there is a new species from Brazil named after one of the more endearing souls in the business - menezesite - named after Brazilian dealer Luiz Menezes.  The mineral is from the Jacupiranga mine, Cajati, Sao Paulo, Brazil.  Its chemical formula is:  Ba2MgZr4(BaNb12O42)-12H2O.   Luiz told me that he'd actually had this material for some time (about 20 years) and had assumed the small reddish brown crystals to be smaller clinohumite crystals which are found at this locality but then detected an isometric crystal form on the small crystals.  He took the steps to have it probed and analyzed and voila - menezesite.  Luiz says there are only 50 or so specimens of this rare mineral in existence.  He had a line of people after him for a specimen and limited folks to five specimens.  I was very pleased to be able to get five of them.  Luiz was also gracious enough to prepare a hand written label for each specimen along with his signature on the back of it.  True class!  Everyone is genuinely pleased to see a mineral named after him.  Each specimen will be shipped with a copy of the just completed official description of the mineral also.
Fettelite & Proustite	September 26th New Find - Pentagonite - Superb Minerals had one of the largest arrays of fine pentagonite from the Wagholi Quarry ever seen.  These first made their way to Tucson in 2001 and up till now I have resisted getting any of these specimens but the quality and pricing were at that the threshold that said don't be a dummy to me.  So, I picked up a group of choice matrix specimens of this rare polymorph of cavansite.  You'll not find them at a cheaper price anywhere on the web!
Fettelite & Proustite	September 26th New Find - Fettelite with Proustite -  I had an opportunity to visit with Marcus Origlieri - you may know him from his website mineralzone.com - who had news of a new find of fettelite from the Imiter mine in Morocco.  This mine has produced a number of interesting silver minerals in recent times.  He showed me a large specimen rich in proustite and pointed out several areas where small crystal groups of fettelite were found on the rock. I convinced him to break the specimen in half and then went on the hunt for additional specimens of this rare silver and mercury sulfosalt. In the tent area I scanned over 200 specimens but found only one more.  The Moroccan material has provided the best crystalline examples of this rare species to date.
Powellite-India Francevillite-Gabon Tourmaline-Pala, California	September 26th Minerals from the Denver Show -  This is random group of 25 specimens from the Denver Show.
Grossular	September 26th New Find - Yellow Grossular from Nevada -  Nevada dealer Jack Crowley made a remarkable rediscovery of a lost find made back in the 1950's.  Jack manages the Crystal Mine website and is recently retired from the US Geological Survey.  He had a small group of gemmy yellow grossular specimens from a very small deposit located in Paymaster Canyon of the Gillis Range in Mineral County, Nevada.  He told me that Al McGuinness heard of some gem yellow grossulars from this canyon having come out in the 1950's.  Al searched in vain for the outcrop which was said to be in a limestone formation "next to the dirt road".  Well sometime in the 1980s there was a flash flood which lowered the canyon and eroded much of "the dirt road" surface.   Jack, after spending three years hunting for this deposit found it about 15 feet up the slope with just a trace of the old road left.  It was a small 1/2 meter pod of skarn with these yellow grossulars.  Jack collected it all and found that most of the matrix was so lousy that he was left with single crystals - virtually all fractured to some extent due to tectonic shearing.  At the show he did have five matrix specimens available and I purchased them all.  This is not one the great mineral discoveries of the year but I find these sorts of items appealing by virtue of the stories behind them.  This is also a rare find with very limited specimens to be had. Thanks Jack!
Wulfenite	September 26th New Find - Ecuadorian Gold -  Chris Tucker had a new find of wulfenite from the James R. Lee mine in Broadwater County, Montana. New wulfenite finds are always well received and Chris found his supply of specimens dwindle rapidly after he opened his door.  The crystals have much the same color as wulfenite from the Red Cloud mine!
Gold	September 26th New Find - Ecuadorian Gold -  Kendall Minerals of Littleton, Colorado had 9-10 matrix specimens of gold from the El Oro Province of Ecuador.  Specimens of any sort are rarely seen from Ecuador let alone gold!   He also had a couple of pyromorphite specimens from El Oro Province in Ecuador.  I picked out several specimens of gold and also one geode-like specimen of quartz with myriad small crystals of green pyromorphite. He would not give better locality information other than El Oro Province in Ecuador for either specimen as he was afraid of someone high grading his source for this scarce material.  Portovelo and Zaruma are two small towns in the coastal province that are known gold mining areas in the province which translated means the Gold Province.  But I can not confirm this as the locality - only El Oro Province.
Fluorite	September 26th New Find - Fluorite from Arizona -  John Seibel of Tehachapi, California had a new find of fluorite from Oatman, Mohave County, Arizona.  John, you may recall, had some light green fluorite specimens last year from this general area.  This past summer he went prospecting and found an outcrop which produced these deep violet crystals with octahedral habit.
Mimetite Smithsonite	September 10th Minerals from the Joe Polityka Collection -  I was contacted by Joe Polityka this past summer about the possibility of offering some specimens from his colletion.  You may not be aware that Joe is a regular contributor to the Mineralogical Record's What's New in Minerals where he covers what is new at the East Coast Show. Joe has been collecting minerals for close to 40 years.  This initial offering of specimens is an interesting mix from various global localities. Here's a shot of Joe next to his 1932 Ford.
Rhodochrosite	September 9th Rhodochrosite from the Sweet Home Mine -  This is another locality that has gone the way of the dinosaurs.  The Sweet Home mine was closed for good this past year and the supply of specimens is now finite.  This is a small group of specimens obtained this past summer from this classic Colorado locale.  It would not be a Denver Show without a few of these in the mix.
Benitoite Jonesite	September 9th Benitoite Mine -  I have been busy the past few months cleaning specimens and rounding new ones up.  Special in this new lot are 6 specimens of the exceptionally rare mineral JONESITE! There are also a number of fine benitoite and neptunite specimens to consider in this group. Yet another locality that has been closed for good...
Vanadinite	September 9th Arizona Vanadinite -  Collector's Edge has produced some exceptional vanadinite specimens a couple years ago from the Geronimo Mine in La Paz County, Arizona.  I picked up this group over the summer.  This mine is on the same vein system as the Red Cloud mine noted for its wulfenite production.
Ferroaxinite	September 9th Ferroaxinite -  The New Melones Dam has been known for several years as a premier California locality for ferroaxinite specimens.  I recently picked up a small hoard of these specimens and now that it is impossible to collect at the site further these are bound to become American classics.  Some nice quartz and epidote associations with some of these.
Wulfenite	September 9th Wulfenite - Red Cloud Mine -  This is a last hoorah for this classic American locality. This past summer I picked up a small group of choice specimens from the Red Cloud.  This mine is now closed and forever just a memory.
Gold!	September 9th Gold - Nevada -  This is a lot of specimens from Round Mountain in Nevada that continues to produce exceptional gold specimens.  Cubes, octahedra and bright leaves.