KOFA  National Wildlife Refuge - February 2009 - photo by John Veevaert
John Veevaert    PO BOX 2182   Weaverville, California  96093  USA  (888) 689-8402



 

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Show Reports
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The theme this year at the Main show was fluorite.  Though chemically boring it is anything but that in the myriad colors and crystal forms it can assume.  I will move on that later in this final report but first a few words on some interesting things I saw and picked up here in the final days of the show.  First you never know who you will run into at the convention center and saw Mark Feinglos on the third day. He mentioned that he'd picked up several specimens of a very rare mineral called brendelite.  Brendelite has interesting chemical formula and has only been found as micro crystals on the dumps of the Guldener Falk mine near Schneeberg in Germany.  Its formula is:    (Bi,Pb)2Fe(PO4)(O,OH).  Crystals rarely exceed 0.3 mm. I picked out three specimens in all from Mark.


0.2 mm crystals of brendelite on quartz matrix.

 

Jordi Fabre had specimens of a new find of jacobsite from the N'Chwaninig III mine.  Jacobsite is a member of the spinel group and though this is not the first occurrence of this manganese bearing specimens from the Kalahari Manganese fields, these are certainly the best.  See Jordi's website for specimens if you are interested.


A 6 cm specimen with scores of lustrous jacobsite crystals. 

On the last day of the Inn Suites show I got a note from Paul Cory asking if I had seen any of the new specimens of crystallized turquoise from an active mine near Kingman, Mohave County, Arizona.  Crystallized turquoise is quite rare from anywhere and most people associate the famous Bishop mine near Lynch Station in Virginia as the source for good crystals, though small, of turquoise.  The new find was restricted to a small lens in an active prospect being worked for commercial lapidary grade material.  The crystallized specimens are found in an agglomerate of small "berry" shaped spheres.  The crystals are micro typically in the 0.1 to 0.3 mm size range.  Paul and Kelley Cory of Iteco are the sole source of this material.  For further info or interest you can find them through their website - Iteco


An exceptional specimen from the new find of crystallized turquoise.

 

Lastly, Scott Werschky of Miners Lunchbox, had one of the finest specimens of primary acanthite I can ever rall seeing from anywhere.  It is from the Hongda mine, Datong Pref., Shanxi Province in China. Scott had a price tag of $50,000 on it.  That's beyond my means.. dang it.


A 10 + cm specimen of primary acanthite from the Hongda Mine in China.


Ok on to the displays here at the main show.  Before I launch into the fluorite displays I would like to share some images of two cases presented by Dona and Wayne Leicht.  One was dedicated to native elements and the other was an assemblage of exceptional world wide specimens.


The native elements display.


The famous Tree Root specimen.  I have actually held this thing in my hands before.....


Some of the golds.  Note that cubic formed specimen in the center. That is another that has spent time in my grubby hands....


Just a few more pieces of element # 79...

 


A few silver specimens.  I have seen a few of these in their ads in the past.

 


The adjacent case was stuffed with eye candy.   

 


Two superb proustites from Chanarcillo. These are worth a fortune!


The famous quartz pedestal with rhodochrosite from Peru.

 


A couple of "trinkets" from North Carolina...


A hoard of wulfenite specimens. The two from the Red Cloud mine were collected by Ed Over in the late 1930s.

 


A 6 cm doubly terminated Neptunite from my future burial spot.

 

On to the fluorites.  The first case I visited was put together by Joan Kureczka and Jesse Fisher of San Francisco.  They have a remarkable collection of pegmatitic specimens and fluorites from all over.  This year their case featured English specimens. 


Joan and Jesse in front of their case.


Two incredible specimens.  That Hilton piece is probably in the top 3 or 4 known.


Probably one of the finest Rogerley mine specimens that exists. Green glass! 



The largest plate of fluorite ever recovered from England.  This beast is slated for the operation table to be turned into three specimens...No kidding. 

 


The Houston, Texas Mineral Society's case of fluorite specimens.


A case presented by Joe Kilbaso.


Etched corners and an elongated crystal from Elmwood.


The picture says it all.


A couple of chunks of southern Illinois.


A killer zone fluorite from the Erongo Mts in Namibia.


A case presented by Peter Megaw of Mexican fluorite specimens.


That Naica twin in the center is spell binding.


A couple of other smokers.


This is one of the best Mexican fluorite specimens I have ever seen.


Alain Martaud presented a case of gorgeous French Fluorite specimens.


This is what electric neon blue looks like.   

 


The place that never disappoints....


Seeing these makes me wonder if France looks blue from the International Space Station. Hmm?   


Next up a case of fluorite from Arizona Mineral Collectors.


This thing from China caught me eye.


As did this thing from Illinois.


An interesting case of specimens - some of which have graced magazine covers.


They look so much bigger in the picture.


Another group of chunks of Illinois.


A rather pretty piece of Illinois.

 


A case stratifying fluorite by locale.


Hmm... California and Indiana next to each other. Green and gold. I am good with it.


Some mineralogical treasures from the Empire State.


I tell you what Spain has cranked out some incredible specimens of fluorite!

 


A nice hoard of fluorite from Pakistan.


A pile of fluorite from the Rogerley mine. 


These specimen of fluorite with blue apatite were a one shot deal about 15 years ago. 


Probably the best of this rare find in existence.

 

Ok Tucson 2013 has come to an end.  It is Tuesday after the show and several good friends left Tucson here today.  I will be here for 7 more days getting orders packed and shipped from here and then will start my journey home to Weaverville.  I left home January 22nd and have been gone for 28 days already.  The glamorous life of a mineral dealer...  I had a blast here in Tucson with the scores of friends I have made in this business and there is absolutely no where else on Earth I would rather be than Tucson during this time. 

As I said the next 4 days will be all about packing up orders. 

So Tucson 2013 - what do I think about it? For me the best part of this show is the people who come here. There are so many people from so many different walks of life but it makes no difference here at a large show like Tucson.  Whether you collect garbage, design rockets, drill teeth, perform life saving surgeries or sell insurance minerals bind us all together as a peer group.  I have probably said it before but these rocks that bind this community together will outlast us all for centuries if not millennia to come.  We are merely the caretakers of these things we are absorbed by.  The people that come after us will connect to us who are alive now by seeing our labels or marks we leave on our curated specimens.  This to me has always been the best and most special way to connect to those who came before us and those we will never know.  To have a specimen with a label from the 1800s or earlier is simply awe inspiring.  Too often, though, dealers discard old labels and by doing that extract an important part of a specimen's history with that act.  Again, we don't own these rocks we love, we are just taking care of them for the next person who will one day own them.

Mineral prices are all over the place as usual but with the growing number of collectors who like "mineral art" they are likely to find new realms in the upper stratosphere. After spending a lot of time thinking about where this is all trending it is apparent to me that, like the times of Robert Ferguson (1780-1810),  it will be only the aristocracy that is capable of owning the best specimens of our time.  We're seeing that now as the average collector can only glimpse at a specimen priced at $50,000.  And I am more or less convinced that the trend is up for a while yet to come.  Like any collectable there will come a day when things change but for the immediate future there appears to be no limit to what people are asking and getting for their specimens.  

As for new stuff it is slim pickings these days but the recycling of old collections is where the action is.  There is no shortage of demand for the classics.  But what I will leave you with is this. If you educate yourself on mineralogy, associations, chemistry and such and develop a focus for your collection you will typically derive a lot more satisfaction out of this hobby than merely buying all the stuff you think is pretty.   For me, personally, my focus for my collection is benitoite from any global locality and minerals from the Benitoite Gem Mine. Everything else gets sent to the website eventually.  I am sure that I have the most comprehensive collection of this sort in the world. I think more people will derive more satisfaction from this hobby if they can find a focus for it.  Examples - collect only from one locality, collect minerals that have a specific element in their molecule, collect minerals from different environments such as pegmatites, collect minerals that have unusual habits such as "balls" or are only hexagonal. There is no limit to what focus you can develop for your collection but by doing that you will come to enjoy the hobby even more as prices continue their trek up the escalator.

I can't thank Marty Zinn enough and his staff for making shows available to attend.  Also the Tucson Gem and Mineral Society for their Herculean efforts to get the roads in shape (dealing with the Tucson Road Department) in time for the show. And the people who were here that I interacted with that make this one of the best times of the year for me.  Thank you all! We'll do it again next year. Till then.....

Keep it mineralogical!

 


 
 

Past Shows & Reports
PLEASE NOTE: The minerals that were offered on these pages are all sold
1999
Munich Show
2000
Sainte Marie Show
Munich Show
2001
Sainte Marie Show
Munich Show
2002
Tucson Show
Sainte Marie Show
Denver Show
Munich Show
2003
Tucson Show
Sainte Marie Show
East Coast Show
Denver Show
Munich Show
2004
Tucson Show
West Coast Show
East Coast Show
Denver Show
Munich Show
2005
Tucson Show
West Coast Show
East Coast Show
Denver Show
Munich Show
2006
Tucson Show
Bologna Show
Sainte Marie Show
East Coast Show
Munich Show
2007
Tucson Show
Dallas Show
East Coast Show
Denver Show
Munich Show
2008
Tucson Show
West Coast Show
East Coast Show
Denver Show
Munich Show
2009
Tucson Show
West Coast Show
East Coast Show
Denver Show
Munich Show

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  

 

 
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