This last installment will cover the days of the Main Show. 

There was one "incident" that occurred on the first day of the show and that was the case of the exploding aquamarines.  Herb and Monica Obodda were startled to hear a bang and then smash.  It turns out that one of their new aquamarine specimens (heavily included with gas and liquid phases under pressure) literally blew up and sent the top half of the crystal into the glass shelf immediately above the exploding beryl.  The net result was a resounding crash of glass and minerals.  Fortunately only two adjacent minerals suffered in the calamity along with the beryl specimen.  Then Monica noted an odd site in another case with another of these loaded beryl specimens having blown up also.  In this situation only the beryl suffered with a blown top and there was no collateral damage.

At Casey's booth I saw (after a tip from Utah species collector Brent Thorne) that there were some specimens of new copper and lead based minerals available from Chile. The two new species are currently being worked ups and should be approved soon by the IMA. The minerals were identified and brought to the show by German mineralogist Georg Gebhard. Georg is best known for his work on minerals from Tsumeb and is the author of one of the definitive works on that important locale.
 
 

While in Frank and Wendy Melanson's booth (Hawthorneden) I saw more of those deeply colored fluorite specimens from Ontario.  Frank and George Thompson dug these new specimens.  Frank had some pictures of the site along the road which are quite informative and display the lengths mineral dealers will go to to protect their sites. Thanks to Frank and George for the use of the photos!

While in Frank's booth editor Louis-Dominique Bayle, editor of the French mineral magazine Le Regne Mineral, mentioned to me his surprise at seeing a flat of barite specimens from France.  He said he'd not seen so many specimens of the scepter barites from Puy de Dome in some time.  These came out about 30 years ago and Frank said that he'd found these recently in his inventory.  So, that was enough for me to grab a selection and make them available.

Here are some specimens from the collection of Jerry Rosenthal of Santa Cruz, California that were on display.

This year the theme of the show was Minerals from Canada.  There were quite a few displays and more than would be possible to post to this page.  But I did snap a number of images of some exceptional specimens that were here in Tucson.

Rod and Helen Tyson had a marvelous display of Canadian minerals.  Easily one of the finest private collections of Canadian minerals anywhere.
 
 

The next three images are from the Royal Canadian Museum

There was, of course, a lot more on display at the show worthy of a photo but you can't get them all.

Final thoughts on the show:
I had numerous discussions with dealers and collectors here at the show and the general feeling is that the Tucson show is getting close to being unmanageable.  The geography of the venues and length of time we all spend here wears on you.  I drove an average of 75 city miles (100+ KM) every day while here.  Many dealers spend over three weeks here and the cost of that related to room and board is not insignificant.  Also, a very substantial portion of the population of both dealers and collectors who were in Tucson were gone long before the Main Show was even set up.  The basic reason is that it is too long and expensive to hang around.

Though there was precious little in the way of new finds here there were a tremendous number of great mineral specimens here in Tucson. Opportunities for resale were limited however as pricing seems to have taken on a new level with many dealers.  It seems somewhat precarious and reminiscent of past collectibles that experienced rapid rises and subsequent dramatic falls.  The prices being asked for common mineral species such as fluorite are hard to imagine as being supportable.  However, the prices for quality specimens from defunct and classic localities like Tsumeb and Cornwall will always be high.  I suspect that the free market forces will likely move in at some point and be the driver for changes that will make for a better Tucson experience in the future.  Time will tell of course. 

China, southeast Asia and the Afhanistan/Pakistan regions are where most of the new material is coming from.  It seems though that the suppliers have a lot to learn on how the marketing of minerals is accomplished.  Tourmalines and other items from Afghanistan and Pakistan had astronomical prices as compared to the recent past (2-3 years ago).  A lot of this is due to suppliers asking prices that one would expect to see at a high end Tucson dealer's showroom. Dudley Blauwet, who frequently travels to Pakistan, said that there are scores of middle men running around the region buying and selling to each other with price rises after every transaction.  When people like Dudley finally get the items laid before them for their consideration they have changed hands numerous times and experienced exponential price increases.  Something will give I think as people can't make anything edible out of a 20 cm tourmaline....

Just about everyone I spoke with praised the Munich Show experience as being the ideal.  A short time frame, a vast number of dealers and minerals, and pricing levels that offer opportunities for dealers and collectors alike.  I expect that there will be more people in Munich this November than ever before. 

Well, this will do it for the 2006 Tucson Show.  Depsite the rumbling and grumbling it was a very good show and attendance seemed up for the three weeks.  The market appears quite strong with most dealers reporting brisk sales.  The next several days for me will be one of preparation for packing and shipping of specimens from this show that sold during the past three weeks.  Colleen and I will then be headed for home after a 4 day camping trip in the Sonoran Desert.  From there we'll be headed for Italy and the Bologna Show.  I will be generating a show report on that experience in mid March.

The theme for next year's Tucson Show will be Australian Minerals. 

See you on these pages again in January 2007!

2010
Tucson Show
San Francisco Show
East Coast Show
Denver Show
Munich Show

2011
Tucson Show
San Francisco Show
East Coast Show
Denver Show
Munich Show

2012
Tucson Show
West Coast Show
East Coast Show
Denver Show 
Munich Show

2013
Tucson Show
Sainte Marie Show
Crystal Days (Poland)
Munich Show