The Start

In 1935, a Depression-era government works program allowed the Milwaukee Public Museum (MPM) to continue operations and provide much-needed jobs to local unemployed workers. These new employees spent their days preparing the Museum’s Earth Sciences displays. In the evenings, they held meetings in their homes to learn more about the rocks, minerals, and fossils.

With the MPM offering use of its Trustee Room for meetings and the Milwaukee Journal providing publicity, the non-profit Wisconsin Geological Society was formed in early 1936.

Branching Out

The newly-found box revealed how active the WGS was in building a solid foundation for its club and also for clubs across the country to connect. For instance, in 1940, the WGS was one of three clubs involved in the creation of the Midwest Federation of Mineralogical and Geological Societies (MWF). In 1950, WGS members were among the eight delegates to the first American Federation of Mineralogical Societies (AFMS) meeting held in Salt Lake City.

In 1984, the Wisconsin Geological Society hosted a large joint rock and mineral show with the MWF at State Fair Park in West Allis that resulted in a 36-page document outlining all the activities including field trips. Joint shows were previously held in 1941, 1944, and 1954.

Blackjack Bonanza

Corn dogs, cotton candy, amusement rides, and a lead/zinc mine tour? Yes!

From 1963 to 1966, Blackjack Bonanza mine tours were a re-creation of a real lead/zinc mine at the Wisconsin State Fair. It was a 15,000-square-foot exhibit that sported a 65-foot headframe tower, an elevator shaft that shook to simulate the ride down into the mine tunnel, and a 30 by-45-foot processing room. A hidden 50-ton A/C unit cooled the mine tunnel making guests think they were far below ground. Mine tours cost fairgoers 75 cents per adult and 24 cents per child.

Like other fair attractions, the Blackjack Bonanza became a part of history as well as the role the WGS played in its existence.

The box revealed that in 1966, members of the WGS took over the 10-day, 12-hour per day, operation of the Blackjack Bonanza mine tours. Club members provided ticket sales, tour guides, and mine workers. They also provided mineral samples for a museum display as well as staff to operate the gift shop.

Naming the Wisconsin State Fossil

State fossils are nothing new. Lots of states have them. But through the box and personal interviews, WGS members found out that club members played a significant role in the process for their state. It took three attempts before the trilobite (Calymene celebra) was officially named Wisconsin’s State Fossil in 1986.

The first attempt was made in 1981 by a UWM geology student, Mark Shurilla, but he neglected to name a specific species of trilobite. The bill failed.

Wisconsin Geological Society members picked up the process in 1983, narrowing the field to the Calymene celebra, found primarily and prolifically in Wisconsin. Again, the bill was defeated.

In 1985, at the direction of the WGS Board of Directors, club president, and chief lobbyist for the bill, Margaret Pearson, made a final and successful attempt. This time, the bill was sponsored by State Assembly member, Jeannette Bell, daughter of WGS members Harold and Luella Jeske. Members of WGS were present at the bill signing on April 2, 1986, in Madison, Wisconsin, as Margaret presented Governor Anthony Earl with a trilobite specimen to mark the occasion.

More Fossils

The original Milwaukee Public Museum opened its doors to the public in 1898. It now houses the Milwaukee Public Library. The board room where the first official WGS meeting was held still exists and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

In 1975, the Museum moved to a new facility across the street but did not have enough room for all of the geology exhibits, including fossils that WGS members originally displayed in 1936.

Fundraising is underway for a new facility with a groundbreaking scheduled for late 2023. It should be open to the public sometime in 2026. It will be a representation of ancient sea stack formations present in Wisconsin’s Mill Bluff State Park. The rounded edges of that building will showcase the glacial weathering that formed Wisconsin and deposited those fossils. Inside, will be displayed those original WGS fossils from 1936.

Plan, Collect, Verify & Store

While the plastic box brought history to life for WGS members, they soon found out its information was incomplete and that members had bits and pieces of history in lots of places; old newsletters here, photo books there. Records ended up in various places as officers and leadership transitioned over time. The club historian, and volunteers, made a plan to gather all of the documents. Here is a to-do list for other club historians that may have the same circumstances.

• Scan and identify all photos and documents and create a digital file

• Contact club officers, new and old, for any information in their possession

• Contact outside sources to verify and provide additional information

• Create documents and a presentation to share with members

• Develop a storage plan to preserve past, current, and future records

After collecting information from members, the first critical step for the WGS was to scan and identify photos and documents and place them in a digital file, backed up on a memory stick.

Finding More Photos

Next, was to contact club officers and members to see if any files or pictures had been handed down to them. Also, an article was published in the club’s monthly newsletter, The Trilobite, asking members who are no longer able to attend meetings to offer any information or photos.

Early on, Wisconsin Geological Society members took field trips, attended study groups, participated in mineral shows, and enjoyed parties and picnics just like they do today. One of the early members must have been an avid photographer as many of these functions were captured with lovely photos. The documentation and preservation of those photos were poor. Names of members and photo locations were often missing or destroyed the photograph by writing or gluing a note directly on the photo.

An Interesting Photo

One of the most interesting photos in the collection was of young boys, wearing knickers, admiring the rocks and minerals in a Wisconsin Geological Society display case. The photo had a typewritten note paper-clipped to it, “Hobby Show November 24-27, 1950?” A scanned copy of this photo was emailed to the Milwaukee Public Library (MPL) archives department for verification. They were able to confirm that a hobby show was held from November 24 to 27 in 1949, however, they could not verify that this photo was taken at that show. According to historical fashion records, knickers for young men had gone out of fashion in the late 1930s.

Photo identification is important. Always record the following information:

• Event

• Place/location

• Date taken

• People, use an easy format of left to right (L to R) and rows top to bottom

• Photographer, if possible

Community Help

Research to fill in the missing information became the next priority. Organizations whose history crossed the club’s path came first. Historical societies and newspaper articles provided another great resource.

Some sources responded immediately, while others required a longer response time. The most successful recoveries of information resulted from telephone calls which produced a real person contact. Additional details continue to be added to the club’s historical records as a result of these contacts.

Long-Term Storage

After a huge effort to gather all of this history, it became important for the WGS to change how it gathers and stores its data in the future. The Milwaukee Public Library has worked with club members to develop a plan for the WGS to donate its current historical records and future yearly updates. Current and future WGS members will retain access to all of their records during normal library business hours.

This story about the Wisconsin Geological Society’s history appeared in Rock & Gem magazine. Click here to subscribe. Story by Sue Eyre.

The post Wisconsin Geological Society History first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.

A few prospectors did indeed make their fortunes. Still, most received their reward by participating in an adventure that thrilled the nation and introduced words and terms like “radioactivity,” “Geiger counter,” and “radiometric prospecting” into the general vocabulary.

Although finding a million-dollar uranium deposit today is unlikely, understanding radioactivity and knowing how to detect it can greatly enhance the mineral-collecting experience. Radioactivity is one of the fascinating physical properties of minerals. It is ionizing energy in the form of particles and rays produced by the spontaneous disintegration or “decay” of unstable atomic nuclei.

Understanding & Identifying Radioactivity

While this definition might seem a bit intimidating, getting a practical handle on radioactivity is not that difficult. Admittedly, the word is loaded with negative connotations linked to nuclear weapons, fallout, toxic waste disposal, reactor meltdowns, and the hazards of radon gas. Nevertheless, radioactivity is very much a part of the natural world, especially the world of mineralogy.

Minerals are described as radioactive when they emit energy in the forms of alpha, beta, or gamma radiation. “Radiation” is the catchall term for energy in the form of waves or particles. Gamma rays make up the extreme high-frequency, shortwave end of the electromagnetic spectrum, broadband of radiation energy that includes radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, and X-rays.

Alpha and beta particles are not forms of electromagnetic energy. Alpha radiation refers to positively charged, high-energy, low-mass particles that consist of two neutrons and two protons (the nuclei of helium atoms). Beta particles can be negative or positive; negatively charged beta particles are high-speed electrons, while positively charged beta particles are positrons (the “antimatter” counterparts of electrons).

Exploring Ionization

Alpha particles, beta particles, and gamma rays (along with X-rays) are classified as “ionizing” radiation, meaning that they have sufficient energy to ionize atoms in the materials they strike. Atoms become ionized when they lose electrons and assume a net positive charge. Because it disrupts normal biochemical functions on the molecular and atomic levels, ionizing radiation can be harmful to living tissue. Ionizing radiation is produced by nuclear fusion, nuclear fission, and atomic decay, the latter being the natural disintegration of the nuclei of unstable, heavy elements or isotopes (elements with different numbers of neutrons).

Ionizing radiation can be cosmic, man-made, or geophysical in origin. The sun, a giant nuclear fusion furnace that emits intense gamma radiation, provides most of our cosmic radiation. Fortunately, very little reaches the Earth’s surface because of its distance from the sun and atmospheric absorption. During the past 80 years, the Earth’s cumulative environmental radiation load has increased significantly due to uranium mining and processing, nuclear weapons manufacture and resting, nuclear power and X-ray generation, accidental radiation releases, production of radioactive isotopes for medical and industrial uses, and radioactive waste disposal.

Geophysical Radiation

Mineral collectors, rockhounds, and prospectors are most interested in geophysical radiation, which is emitted by natural radioactive elements that are present in minerals as essential or accessory components. Most geophysical radiation is produced by uranium and thorium, which occur in trace amounts in many igneous rocks, especially granite. The effects of geophysical radiation go far beyond surface radioactivity. An estimated 80 percent of the Earth’s internal heat is produced by the atomic disintegration of uranium, thorium, and the elements and isotopes in their atomic-decay chains.

Of the 92 naturally occurring elements, 11 are radioactive. Of these, only uranium and thorium are relatively abundant. Uranium was identified as an element in 1789; it was isolated in 1841 as a very dense, silvery-white metal that oxidizes rapidly in air. Ranking 51st in crustal abundance, uranium is about as common as tin.

Thorium, discovered in 1828, is similar in appearance to uranium but is half as dense and much more common. Until the discovery of radioactivity, uranium and thorium were little more than laboratory curiosities. Small quantities of uranium oxides were used to color glass yellow, while thorium compounds that incandesce (emit visible light) when heated were employed in gas-lantern mantles.

Driven by Discoveries

The discovery of radioactivity followed investigations into the mysterious, penetrating “invisible energy” that was produced by passing an electrical current through vacuum-discharge tubes. In 1895, the German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (1845-1923) named this energy “X-rays” to signify its unknown nature. Radioactivity was accidentally discovered in 1896 when French physicist Antoine-Henri Becquerel (1852-1908) studied the effects of X-rays and sunlight on potassium uranyl sulfate, a compound that fluoresced in direct sunlight. Becquerel placed this compound atop photographic plates wrapped in lightproof black paper, then exposed it to sunlight.

He noted that the photographic plates became exposed and attributed this to some type of penetrating energy related to fluorescence.

When cloudy weather delayed his experiments, Becquerel stored both the uranium compound and the unexposed, wrapped photographic plates together inside a dark desk drawer. Later, out of curiosity, he developed the plates and found they had already been exposed. This exposure meant that the uranium compound—without any induced fluorescence—continuously emitted invisible, penetrating rays. Becquerel then demonstrated uranium itself, not its compounds, was continuously emitting these rays, which became known as “uranium rays” or “Becquerel rays.”

Marie Curie & Ernest Rutherford

Among the first to investigate these rays was Marie Curie (1867-1934), the Polish-born French chemist and physicist who coined the term “radioactivity.” In 1898, after extracting uranium and thorium from uraninite (uranium oxide), Curie was surprised to find that the uraninite was still highly radioactive. Concluding that it must contain additional sources of radioactivity, she extracted two previously undiscovered radioactive elements—polonium and radium. The radium was particularly interesting because of its extraordinarily intense radioactivity.

In 1902, British physicist Ernest Rutherford (1871-1937) proposed that radioactivity consists of what we now know as alpha and beta particles, and gamma rays. He found that alpha and beta particles lose their energy relatively quickly as they pass through materials, while gamma rays have a far greater penetrating power. Until the discovery of radioactivity, most scientists believed that the smallest particle of matter was the atom, which was indivisible and unchangeable. But Rutherford challenged the idea of atomic indivisibility by proposing that alpha and beta particles were subatomic components of disintegrating atoms. This concept opened the door to modern particle physics and an entirely new understanding of the nature of matter and energy.

Early 20th Century Proves Progress

The early 1900s saw many exciting discoveries about radioactivity. While working with thorium, Rutherford had detected radioactivity throughout his laboratory—even after the thorium had been removed. He deduced that this radioactivity came not from the thorium itself, but from a gaseous product of thorium’s atomic disintegration. This realization led to the discovery of another radioactive element—radon.

Rutherford then postulated that radioactive elements spontaneously and continuously disintegrate to release radiation and produce a decay chain of other radioactive elements and isotopes. He also learned that radon’s intense radioactivity decreased by half every few days. His term “half-life” is now used to describe the speed at which unstable atoms undergo atomic disintegration.

Rutherford observed that an inverse relationship existed between half-life and the intensity of radioactivity. Uranium, with its low level of radioactivity, has a very long half-life of more than four billion years. But extremely radioactive elements such as radium and radon have very short half-lives. Unfortunately, the effects of ionizing radiation on living tissue were not understood. While exposure to radioactivity seemed to halt the growth of certain cancers, it also caused burns and open lesions on the skin of many researchers. Nevertheless, hopes that radiation would cure cancer and boost general well-being created a huge demand for radium, some for research purposes, but mostly to be used in patent medicines and bizarre therapeutic devices.

Mining Uranium Ore

The aspect of research triggered the first significant mining of uranium ore—not for uranium, but the ore’s tiny traces of radium. The important radium sources were uraninite from the historic Joachimsthal mines in what is now the Czech Republic and the carnotite (hydrous potassium uranium vanadate) ores of western Colorado. By 1912, radium was the most valuable commodity in existence and cost $100,000 per gram—nearly $2.5 million in today’s currency.

Initially, radioactivity could only be detected with photographic plates and fluorescent screens; it could be crudely measured with gold-leaf electroscopes and complex, piezoelectric-quartz devices. Then in 1908, German physicist Hans Geiger (1882-1945) constructed a sealed, thin metal cylinder with a wire extending down its center. After filling the tube with inert gas, he applied an electrical voltage almost strong enough to pass between the electrodes, in this case, the wire and the tube walls. When exposed to radioactivity, the gas ionized to become conductive, completing the circuit and producing an audible click. These electrical discharges instantly returned the gas ions to their normal energy level, making it possible to continuously and immediately detect additional radioactivity and measure its intensity by “counting.”

Although the first “Geiger counters” were ponderous instruments sensitive only to alpha particles, they were vital to the early studies of radioactivity. In 1928, Geiger and his colleague Walther Müller designed a new tube. Now known as the Geiger-Müller counter, it is sensitive to all forms of radioactivity and is still used today.

Greater Understanding and More Utilization

The uses, perception, and importance of radioactive minerals changed radically during World War II when uranium became the source of its fissionable U-235 isotope needed for the first atomic bombs. Following the war, the United States government subsidized the “Great Uranium Rush,” in which improved, lightweight, shoe-box-sized Geiger-Müller counters were the key tools for the thousands of radiometric prospectors who searched for “hot rocks,” mainly uraninite and carnotite. The radioactivity emitted by uranium and thorium has several effects on minerals, one of which is color alteration.

Long-term exposure to low-level radioactivity can disrupt normal electron positions in the crystal lattices of certain minerals. This activity creates electron traps, called “color centers,” that alter the mineral’s color-absorption-reflection properties. The colors of smoky quartz, blue and purple fluorite and halite, brown topaz, and yellow and brown calcite are often caused by exposure to geophysical radiation.

Metamictization

Another interesting effect is metamictization, which occurs in some minerals that contain accessory amounts of uranium or thorium. In metamictization, geophysical radiation displaces electrons to slowly degrade the host mineral’s crystal structure. Metamictization is usually apparent in crystals as rounded, indistinct edges, curving faces, and decreased hardness and density. Metamictization can sometimes completely degrade crystals into amorphous masses.

Metamictization is common in the rare-earth minerals gadolinite (rare-earth iron beryllium oxysilicate) and monazite (rare-earth phosphate). Because of their similar atomic radii, uranium and thorium often substitute for rare-earth elements to make their minerals radioactive. California’s huge Mountain Pass rare-earth-mineral deposit was actually discovered by a uranium prospector equipped with a Geiger-Müller counter.

Zirconium Silicate

Zircon, or zirconium silicate, another mineral subject to metamictization, has an additional connection to radioactivity and is employed in radiometric dating, which uses known rates of atomic decay to determine the age of ancient rocks. Because of similar atomic radii, uranium substitutes readily for zirconium in zircon. The uranium-238 isotope has an extremely long half-life of 4,468 billion years. The inert, extremely durable zircon “protects” the traces of uranium—an ideal combination for the radiometric dating of ancient rocks.

When igneous rocks solidify from magma, their contained traces of uranium have not yet begun to decay. By measuring the extent of atomic decay, geophysicists can determine when the sample crystallized. The oldest known rocks are found in Australia. Based on partially decayed traces of uranium-238 contained in tiny zircon crystals, these rocks have been dated at 4,374 billion years—only a few hundred million years after the formation of the Earth itself.

Detecting Radioactivity

Today, mineral collectors have access to a wide range of radioactivity-sensing instruments, including dosimeters that measure cumulative radiation exposure, miniaturized Geiger-Müller counters, and scintillators that quantitatively measure geophysical radioactivity, and radiation monitors that measure relative overall radioactivity. Prices for basic instruments begin at about $40, while top-of-the-line, quantitative instruments can cost thousands of dollars.

Choosing the Radiation Monitor For You

For general mineral-collecting and amateur radiometric-prospecting uses, radiation monitors, which cost from $200 to $700, will suffice. I’m familiar with the Radalert™ radiation monitor manufactured by International Medcom of Sebastopol, California. It weighs 10 ounces and contains a miniaturized Geiger-Müller tube. Alpha and beta particles, gamma rays, and X-rays ionize the tube’s gas atoms, causing the tube to discharge with tiny electrical pulses. Integrated circuits convert these pulses to liquid-crystal displays, flash light-emitting diodes, and generate audible clicks.

This instrument detects total ionizing radiation (a mix of geophysical,

cosmic, and man-made radiation) and provides relative, rather than absolute or quantitative, radioactivity measurements. It is ready for use after quickly determining the local background radiation “load,” which varies with geology, solar-flare activity, and elevation.

At sea level, the normal background radiation might be roughly 13 counts per minute. But at a mountain elevation of 7,000 feet where there is less atmospheric shielding of cosmic radiation, the background level might be 30 counts per minute. Radiation monitors can even detect temporarily elevated levels of cosmic radiation due to increased sunspot activity.

Background Radiation

Background radiation also varies with local geology. Radiation levels near granite outcrops are usually higher than in other areas because of traces of uranium within the granite. Radiation monitors can serve as a safety tool to detect elevated levels of radioactivity from potentially hazardous accumulations of radon gas in living spaces. They can also detect the very low levels of alpha radiation emitted by household smoke detectors.

Smoky quartz sometimes has detectable traces of radioactivity, while gadolinite, monazite, and other rare-earth minerals have levels that are easily detectable. When used with such uranium-bearing minerals as canary-yellow carnotite and tyuyamunite, yellowish-green-to-green autunite, and green torbernite, radiation monitors “sound off” with hundreds or thousands of counts per minute.

Among the interesting radioactive collectibles is yellow “uranium glass,” which was popular in the early 1900s and still emits detectable levels of radioactivity. Another is greenish trinitite, quartz sand that was fused together by the world’s first atomic detonation on July 16, 1945, at New Mexico’s Trinity Site. Trinitite specimens, which are still sold today, have low but easily detectable levels of radioactivity.

Proper Handling

Collecting radioactive minerals is not dangerous when precautions are followed. One rule is to collect small specimens. Cumulative radiation and the amount of radon gas emitted by radioactive specimens are directly proportional to specimen size. There is no need to collect cabinet-sized specimens of carnotite, even though they are easily found on mine dumps.

Handle radioactive specimens minimally and always wash hands thoroughly afterward. Never eat, drink, sleep or, smoke around radioactive specimens, and always keep them out of the reach of children. Also, radioactive specimens should be clearly labeled as such and stored in well-ventilated spaces away from living areas.

Radiation monitors can add a new dimension to many field-collecting trips. And they are an absolute necessity when exploring the thousands of uranium mine dumps scattered across the Four Corners regions of Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico. Radiation monitors make the difference between finding nice specimens of brightly colored, oxidized uranium minerals and finding nothing at all.

Collectors should never enter an abandoned mine, but abandoned uranium mines are particularly hazardous. These unventilated mines have accumulated extremely high concentrations of intensely radioactive radon gas.

Anyone interested in the history of radioactivity will enjoy visiting these two New Mexico museums: The Bradbury Science Museum at Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, and the National Nuclear Museum of Science and History in Albuquerque. Both contain a wealth of exhibits and information on radioactivity—one of the fascinating physical properties of minerals.

This story about radioactive rocks previously appeared in Rock & Gem magazine. Click here to subscribe. Story & photos by Steve Voynick unless otherwise indicated. 

The post Radioactive Rocks: A Rockhound’s Guide first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.

When the war ended, mines powered down, leaving countless miners jobless, miners who knew the underground workings and minerals without an opportunity to use their skills. Surplus war materials like Jeeps were sold and military veterans, among others, combined the availability of four-wheel-drive vehicles with the opening of more federal lands and headed into the great outdoors, and the mineral collecting hobby grew rapidly. This rapid growth created a ready market for minerals, which prompted Mexican miners to go back to work, with some even forming mineral collecting consortiums.

Mexican Rocks & Minerals in High Demand

Instead of mining metal ores, the miners mined mineral specimens of every variety. Mineral dealers located close to the border became a ready market for access to minerals from Mexico. As miners realized they could make a living underground, the flow of minerals from Mexico’s mines became a flood by the early 1950s.

The volume of minerals coming out of Mexico was so great that some dealers became wholesale marketers operating in or near border towns like El Paso and Tucson. This interest provided Mexican miners a ready outlet for their efforts. In a short time, dealers and collectors began driving to Mexican mining towns to buy directly.

Wholesale dealers like Tucson’s Susie Davis sold minerals by the flat and never lacked good stock. Miners catered to visitors but always kept the better specimens under the bed. People who visited the Tucson Show by 1960, especially show dealers, planned ahead and drove to Mexico after the show to restock.

Today, with the growth in illegal activities and a slowdown in mining, the halcyon days of rockhounding in Mexico are more past than the present. Solo trips are less encouraged than in years past.

Mina Ojuela

In spite of some difficulties collecting in Mexico today, there are still plenty of fine Mexican minerals available, which is a testament to the huge quantity of specimens that poured forth in the last half of the 20th century. Miners are still working underground, and once in a while, a big hit happens.

Among the most active mines during the heyday was Mina Ojuela, Mapimí, Durango. It is credited with producing some of the world’s finest examples of species like adamite, legrandite, and koettigite. It soon became the darling of Mexico’s mineral business 50 years ago, along with Santa Eulalia, Zacatecas, and San Luis Potosi. There are several mines around Mapimi, but Ojuela was the first in the Durango area. Over time, underground tunnels eventually interconnected the mines, so a miner might be digging in one mine but credit his find to Ojuela often to keep secret where he actually found the minerals.

Mina Ojuela’s Specimens

Mina Ojuela was discovered in 1598 by Spaniards looking for riches. The ore vein they spotted was high on the wall of a limestone canyon, which created a problem. Reaching the ore was tough enough, but to actually mine the ore presented a major elevation challenge and an amazing feat of effort.

Mina Ojuela’s reputation as a specimen producer is due to the number of species it produced. The variety of species reads like the index of a mineral book. Until Mina Ojuela, adamite was a non-descript hydroxide zinc arsenate of modest color and crystal size.

The type locality was Chañarcillo, Chile. The ancient silver at Lavrion, Greece, produced decent adamite as well, but it was not until the brilliant green crystal sprays of adamite from Mina Ojuela came out in huge quantities that adamite was a must-have mineral. Its crystals are in a fan-like shape or fat ball-like crystal clusters, single crystals and sprays all on a contrasting dark brown iron oxide matrix. The quantity found here was astounding.

Another mineral found at Mapimí is olivenite, hydrate copper arsenate. The only difference between olivenite and adamite is the metal within; in one, it’s copper, and the other, zinc, which are compatible and can easily replace each other. Adamite is green thanks to a trace of copper in it. When copper replaces even more zinc, it is cuproadamite. Russian scientists went further in 2006 and found that if enough copper replaces zinc in some cuproadamite, it forms a new species, zincolivenite. Is your cuproadamite really zincolivenite? Ask Mother Nature.

Mexican Rocks & Minerals

The specimen-producing mines of Mexico are all known. The Spaniards started them out as silver mines and some produced wonderful silver sulfosalt minerals like acanthite, polybasite, tetrahedrite, tennantite and bournonite, all collector minerals. These same mines did not gain a reputation for producing native silver specimens except for Batopilas mine, Sonora. The vast majority of the silver mines had the metal argentiferous galena, sulfosalts, and other collector minerals in the deposits. These old Spanish silver mines became major sources of fine collector minerals for decades in the 20th century as local miners became skilled mineral specimen miners.

The Batopilas mine, Chihuahua, produced fine native silver specimens in some quantity when opened in 1632 by the Spaniards, who found the local native people working it. Even today, this mine is known among collectors for its fine twisted wires and crystals of silver. Spaniards were only interested in mining the silver, so other minerals were bypassed, leaving them for collectors who followed.

Sonora & Chihuahua

Each of Mexico’s states is known for a particular mineral species. Sonora is famous among the lapidary crowd for agate. Among collectors, wulfenite from Sonora and nearby Chihuahua is well known. Chihuahua was made famous by National Geographic in 1921 when it featured the giant selenite crystals in the Cave of Crystals/Cave of Swords. It revisited the site again in the 1990s. This second visit was broadcast on television as the selenite cave had the world’s largest selenite crystals — 40 feet long!

Zacatecas & San Luis Potosi

The state of Zacatecas has certainly produced superb collector minerals including azurite, galena, sphalerite, chalcopyrite and other metal ores. And, of course, silver species and gold have also come from here.

San Luis Potosi is very well known among collectors due to the superb poker chip calcite specimens it yielded in recent years. These specimens rival the historically important calcites from Germany. Quantities of large and sometimes colorful danburite crystals still come from here now and then as well.

Sinaloa

In recent years, Sinaloa really caused a stir among collectors when the mine at Choix produced large quantities of colorful botryoidal smithsonite. Specimens up to a foot across were mined, and the color range seemed endless, from white to pink to yellow, blue, and green in various tints. Many of the Chiox smithsonite was easily mistaken for the famous blue specimens from Kelly Mine, New Mexico.

The range of collector minerals from Mexico in the last 75 years is simply amazing. From gorgeous Las Vigas amethyst crystal groups to recent Milpillas mine azurites to rare silver sulfosalts and everything in between, these finds enhance mineral collections worldwide.

The millions of mineral specimens brought to grass in Mexico have played a huge role in the growth of this hobby throughout the world in these last decades, and there is no end in sight.

This story about Mexican rocks and minerals previously appeared in Rock & Gem magazine. Click here to subscribe. Story by Bob Jones.

The post Mexican Rocks & Minerals Collecting first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.

Having caught the gemstone-hunting bug early in my life chasing sapphires at the Anakie gem fields (Central Queensland, Australia in the early 1970s), I have always loved the thrill of the hunt for shiny things. They don’t have to be valuable shiny things, just a tiny piece of God’s creation that nobody had ever seen before I laid my hand on it.

Learning Specking

As kids, we weren’t much into the hard yakka (labor) of digging and sieving, but soon learned the fine art of ‘specking’, which is walking around with eyes glued to the ground in front of us, picking up the bits left behind by more ambitious, or perhaps more discerning, fossickers (searcher for rocks and minerals).

A few of these finds were jewelry-quality though most were not, but that didn’t devalue them in our eyes or make the process of looking for them any less enjoyable. Dirt, sunshine, and freedom to explore the pristine bushland that we camped in with no amenities whatsoever, but when you are a ten-year-old, who needs showers?

Family Move Leads to More Gem Locations

The family moved to Cairns when I started secondary school, and it took us a few years to discover that there were gemstones to be found in North Queensland also, and where they could be lawfully found.

We started making family trips to the Mt. Gibson topaz fields in the early 1980s, by which time I had found a good man to marry, and he caught the gem-hunting bug on his very first trip despite none of us having much idea of what we were looking for.

We had a couple of elderly long-wheelbase Land Rovers that carried us and all the camping gear. The vehicles steadfastly chugged their way up the mountain, albeit with no air-conditioning and springs (shocks) that were built for durability, not for comfort. That was all we needed for a promising long weekend!

Fast forward some 30 years, and in the company of our adult children and their significant others, we were still eager to find more lovely topaz and headed to another fossicking area called O’Brien’s Creek, 37km (22 miles) north of Mt. Surprise and just over 400km (248 miles) from Cairns.

The Atherton Tablelands

After leaving tropical Cairns on the coast, two routes lead to the Atherton Tablelands. This area is known for beef/dairy farms and fields of sugarcane, maize, potatoes, peanuts, fruit, and vegetables of all kinds.

Travelers are advised to follow the signs that point toward Herberton/Ravenshoe and enjoy the sight of the majestic wind turbine farm and the dairying district of Ravenshoe. A must-remember destination on the path to the dig site on the return trip is the hot thermal springs at Innot Hot Springs – heavenly for a good long soak after a day’s digging.

The route takes travelers through the tin mining area of Mt. Garnet. This distance of 192km (119 miles) takes about 2.5 hours to travel from Cairns. The next leg of the journey involves another 62km (38 miles) southwards through the quaint town of Mt. Garnet, along the Kennedy Development Road through the 40-Mile Scrub with its unusual Queensland Bottle Trees. Then it’s westward to Mt. Surprise township. This road is all-weather bitumen (asphalt) and the journey takes travelers another 73km (45 miles). The final turn off the main highway brings rockhounds toward the O’Brien’s Creek fossicking area, which is well-identified at the western end of the town, just opposite the local police station.

Accommodations

The town of Mt. Surprise has several motels and good caravan parks. However, the O’Brien’s Creek camping area (which is situated squarely on the banks of Elisabeth Creek) with its hot showers and toilets, and large campsites on the banks of the beautiful creek abounding with birdlife, is undoubtedly a choice location. Camping is not permitted within the boundaries of the designated fossicking area.

The camp area is amazingly pleasant, with Elizabeth Creek flowing most of the year, an unusual occurrence in the harsh environment of this country. During school holidays, families set up camp, relax and paddle canoes along the creek.

Twitchers (birdwatchers) and wildlife enthusiasts make the journey to camp here specifically to watch the apostle birds, bower birds, and blue-aced honey-eaters. They make themselves at home around your campsite, with kookaburras and butcherbirds waiting for, or stealing, a snack from unguarded plates. Mother galahs feed their babies while crimson-wing and rosella parrots feed on grass seeds almost at your feet. Big flocks of black cockatoos land for a late afternoon drink on the sandy river banks.

Digging for Topaz

Gem-quality stones were plentiful and were measured by the dinner plate full in the early days of the fossicking field, but constant picking over has reduced the finds considerably. This area was extensively mined for tin in the late 1800s, using only hand tools, with little mechanical assistance and often little or no water.

These dedicated miners found tin, but they saw no value in the shiny chunks of topaz they turned over in the process, so they left them behind in the tailings and mullock heaps. These are what fossickers chase today. There are still active mining leases in the area, of which few are worked consistently, but they remain out of bounds to fossickers.

If you are traveling in a conventional vehicle, fields of the Designated Fossicking Area (DFA) signposted ‘Tourmaline Gully’ and ‘Crystal Gully’ are generally easily accessed and the first places to visit. The access road runs along the western side of O’Brien’s Creek, and numerous tracks are leading into the sandy creek beds where fossickers have been at work.

Dry sieving in the creek can produce lovely topaz, quartz crystals, tin crystals (cassiterite), and the rarer aquamarine, especially after the wet-season rain scours the creek banks. Rockhounds do have to expend considerable effort removing large rocks, tree roots, and other obstacles to process new ground.

Geology Contributes to Rock Shape

These finds are generally more waterworn and rounded than stones found in the higher areas, which are sharper-edged and more crystalline in appearance. Evidence of digging in the river bank is visible everywhere, so visitors are advised to choose an appealing place and heft the shovel. As the DFA is part of a working cattle station, fossickers need to be aware of wandering stock, and the fertilizer they leave in their wake.

Since 1968, the Australian Government has set aside ‘Designated Fossicking Areas’ throughout Australia that permit people to fossick for gemstones and gold. Most of these areas are on private land, and landholders allow people to hunt gems in these areas providing they do not interfere with farming activities. A fossickers license is required in Queensland whether the fossicker is using private land or digging in a designated fossicking area. These licenses can be bought online at the ‘Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy’ for around $75 AU (around $50 U.S.) for a year.

Visitors to the area will see the proof of many eager people having worked the top of the hill. This area produces lovely smoky quartz crystals, and the locals swear they have found
tourmaline here also.

If you have a 4WD and are not afraid to get it slightly battered, then the Blue Hills and McDonald Creek fields are the place to go. Being less accessible, not so much fossicking activity has taken place here as in other sites. The road was initially built for use by tin miners and kept in good condition. However, once
the tin mining declined, the constant use, no maintenance, and numerous wet seasons have made the road pretty rough – especially on the two jump-ups (short, steep rises).

These fields are where quality blue topaz can be found in the dry creek beds and by digging at the top of hills. Topaz crystals are also collected along the track toward the Six-Mile Creek area. Just walking over the ground that looks undisturbed is worthwhile for specking glints of topaz sitting on the soil surface, exposed by the elements.

The locals advise that moving a boulder and digging a little on the uphill side may bag you a gem, as topaz is weightier than the average creek gravel and tends to get lodged in back-wash crevices during flood events. A member of our family found a perfect aquamarine crystal here. It was sitting on the surface of the soil, catching her eye This crystal was since valued at between $1,200 and $1,800 as a rough specimen, all in a good day’s work!

The Difference Between Topaz & Diamonds

I mentioned to a Cairns geologist with whom I had previously worked that I was going fossicking at O’Brien’s Creek. He said, “Keep your eyes open for diamonds while you are there.” I asked, “How would you tell the difference between a diamond and a topaz?” His reply was, “You will certainly know the difference when you see it.”

That conversation reminded me of an incident that occurred when I worked as a GIS Officer (mapping) for an exploration company in Ravenshoe, North Queensland. A ‘tin scratcher’ came to the office to ask the geologists if a stone he had found might be a diamond?

Of course, everyone’s eyes lit up as we all gathered around the weather-beaten hand that held the find. Yes, though small, it was confirmed to be a diamond. The was suitably vague about where he had found it and replied, “out near Mt. Surprise.” That was in the late 1980s, and his words remained in the back of my mind since.

In 2016, while researching the history of tin miners who worked along Elizabeth and O’Brien’s Creeks, and Angor, a tin mining shantytown of the 1880s in the Mt. Surprise area, I came across a public company report that summarized all previous reports written for this region. It immediately caught my interest, and I admit to doing a little chicken dance around my office when the summary included reports of companies specifically looking for diamonds. The summary report was written in December 1993 by a consulting geologist for Northern Diamonds Pty Ltd. His report stated that up until 1993, 53 diamonds had been reportedly found in colors ranging from white to yellow. The sizes ranged from 0.3 carats to 5 carats, the latter being the largest noted.

During the 1980s, another geologist had contacted the people who had found the first 26 diamonds. He sent some of these to South Africa to be tested to determine their quality. The results were that they were certainly diamonds but not of top gem quality.

This was enough encouragement for exploration companies to continue to search the area of Elizabeth and O’Brien’s creeks until the late 1990s. Currently, diamond exploration is still relatively active in northern Queensland, especially in the Cape York goldfields region.

Discussing Origins of Diamonds

I questioned each geologist or miner I have spoken to about the area about where they thought the diamonds originate.

Confusingly, each geologist has a slightly different theory. The Cairns geologist said the Elizabeth Creek diamonds were formed as far away as the Palmer River in the Cape York area and migrated along the waterways. The consulting geologist who wrote the 1993 report speculated that they were local and traveled the Red River lineament. He stated that in his opinion, all the diamonds found up to that date ‘were associated with a 50km long relict Cretaceous placer, which parallels Elizabeth Creek’. He goes on to say, ‘The placer is characterized by well-rounded quartz pebbles known locally as ‘pigeon egg wash.’ We did find some of these ‘pigeon eggs’ on the top of a hill in the fossicking area, which may have journeyed along ancient paleochannels (riverbeds), and this speaks of significant geological upheaval activity.

The areas of Elizabeth and O’Brien’s Creeks are identified as being one of several relict Cretaceous mineralized river systems. The systems contain cassiterite, ilmenite, zircon, monazite, garnet, and gold. The Elizabeth Creek system is the only one to date known to potentially contain diamonds. Early mining reports reveal that before the1930’s, this area produced 376 tons of cassiterite from alluvium in creeks and gullies, and mining remained spasmodic until 1985 when the price of tin crashed.

The Elizabeth Creek system occurs as a semi-discontinuous group of sand ridges north of and parallels to the present Elizabeth Creek. The major alluvial workings in the area have been for cassiterite in the streams draining the sand ridges over its entire exposed length. The extensive basalt flows from the Undarra Cone to the east have touched this area on its southern boundary.

A word of warning here before venturing on a diamond-only search. Since 1976, only 53 diamonds have been reported as being found, though it is likely that some were not reported, or not immediately identified as being diamonds. The majority were sourced west of the fossicking area, but some came from O’Brien’s Creek within the DFA.

The diamonds in the fossicking area were found in the river bed of O’Brien’s Creek by tin miners and local people living in the area, who honestly believe there is the potential for more to be found. One local who has a Mineral Lease (ML) just outside the DFA, said that he found a diamond while working for a tin mining company in the 1980s.

Each trip to O’Brien’s Creek sees us bring home loads of unknown stones in the event they may be diamonds, as finding one, according to the locals, is entirely possible.

Most of our ‘treasures’ turn out to be chuckers (chuck them away) or leaverites (leave them right there), but it always surprises us when we wash these stones, and a considerable amount proves to be lovely topaz, sometimes blue. On the last trip, along with our aquamarine crystal, we found a small aquamarine chip by specking.

As our research suggests, diamonds have been found in ‘them thar hills’ and your chance of finding one is as good as the next person’s. As an added incentive for the relic-hunting readers, I found some R. Bell & Co match tins in the ruins of a tin mining camp in this area.

The harsh, hot climate makes short work of the temporary, low-cost living quarters the mining camps provided back in the mining heyday. Finding such a site, searching, and waving a metal detector proves there are interesting treasures to be found in the most unexpected places, and it is sad to see little bits of our history is being lost to the elements.

This story about hunting for Topaz and Diamonds appeared in a previous issue of Rock & Gem magazine. Click here to subscribe! Story and Photos by Jenni Clark & Leigh Twine.

The post Topaz & Diamond Hunting in Australia first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.

Where to Find Fossil Fish – Dig Sites

Two sites outside the small town of Kemmerer, Wyoming, offer pay-to-dig. Just make an appointment or register, show up and they will take great care of you, showing you how to fish… with a hammer and chisel.

One site is the Warfield Quarry, also known online as Fossil Safari, and the other is the American Quarry.

While visiting the pay-to-dig sites in Kemmerer, it is a must to travel a short distance away to the Fossil Butte National Monument. Sorry no collecting here, but the museum boasts a tremendous variety of animals and plants from the Green River Formation. Cut unobtrusively into the hillside, the visitor center is filled with wonderous fossils, a great compilation of the ecosystem 50 million years ago.

The Green River Formation

Pay-to-dig sites are part of the Green River Formation where there are hundreds, no, thousands of fish trapped in rock that was once a series of fairly shallow lakes. Streams and rivers drained the surrounding mountains enabling the formation of this special fossil location.

The Green River Formation is known as a lagerstatte, which loosely translated from German means “storage place.” The area butts up against the limestone of the Wasatch, Unita, Wind River and other mountain ranges. It is an area where fabulous and spectacularly preserved fossils including plants and animals represent a snapshot of life living within that ecosystem.

When & How was this Site Made?

The Eocene period, about 53 to 48 million years ago, was a transition from a warm and moist environment to one that was hotter and drier. This is evidenced by some of the fossil finds in the area. Palm fronds, crocodile and sycamore leaf remains point to a warm moist environment and deciduous tree leaves point to a drier climate. The mountains were partially made up of limestone. During heavy rains, water would run down into the streams and rivers bringing with it sand, mud and silt sediments filled with dissolved minerals such as calcium oxides, inorganic elements and calcium components.

This would wash into the lakes fouling the water, making it turbid and in some cases changing the pH levels. At times the change in the chemical composition of the water was detrimental to the life forms in it.

Fish would die along with many of the other creatures and become buried in the silty sediments. Paleontologists can tell by looking at the various layers, which were deposited during times of drought and which were deposited in times of flood. It is also possible by studying the cross-section of the quarry where the best location is to find fossil fish.

The spectacular fossilization and completeness of the fossil fish is because they were buried quickly. Even the bottomfeeding scavengers were not quick enough or did not survive to disarticulate the bodies of the dead fish. The sediments filtered down to the bottom of the lake and covered the creatures with thin layers. It is within these layers that spectacular fish specimens may be found.

Where to Find Fossil Fish – Digging

In specific horizons, one of which is called the split fish layer, a finely laminated limestone is present that entombed many fish. This is easy to split and if the rock contains a fossil, it splits so that you can easily see it in both a positive fish fossil and also a negative impression. The fish are beautifully preserved with bones, gill covers, ribs and even scales intact. In some cases, a bit of matrix, the limestone that clings to the fish skeleton, is still present. It is quite easy to remove. In many instances, all that is needed is a dental pick, or a pin vise to gently remove excess rock matrix. You must be very careful not to go too deep into the limestone so it’s best to attack it at an acute angle.

This limestone is so fine-grained that many plants and insects that fell into the water or were washed in from rivers and streams are also seen in spectacular detail.

In some areas birds, reptiles, turtles and even crocodiles may be found all preserved in exquisite detail.

This story about where to find fossil fish previously appeared in Rock & Gem magazine. Click here to subscribe! Story and photos by Joseph “PaleoJoe” Kchodl.

The post Where to Find Fossil Fish first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.

Often quite different from their more familiar North American counterparts, including the list of state dinosaurs, and adorned with bizarre frills, bumps, dorsal sails, and crests, these new southern “terrible lizards” are changing many of our perceptions about dinosaurs.

As an example, consider the now-diminished status of the iconic Tyrannosaurus rex, the fiercest North American predator. The most widely recognized of all dinosaurs, T. rex had long been considered the biggest, baddest carnivore ever to walk the Earth. But now it seems that T. rex, whose name loosely means “king of the tyrant lizards,” is not really the king after all. It has recently been surpassed in both size and probable ferocity by Giganotosaurus from South America and Spinosaurus from Africa.

Dynamic Dinosaur Discoveries

Digging for dinosaurs in the Southern hemisphere is the latest chapter in dinosaur paleontology, a discipline that began in the late 1800s when dinosaur fossils were discovered in the American West, including the La Brea Tar Pits. At that time, the United States, as a rapidly developing nation, was ready and eager to fully exploit its dinosaur-fossil resources. It had paleontologists available to excavate the bones, museums, and universities to display them, and newspapers and magazines to publicize them.

Attracting worldwide attention, these fossil recoveries established the United States as the center of dinosaur excavation and research. During the following decades, many Americans grew up believing that such familiar North American dinosaurs as Tyrannosaurus, the long-necked sauropod Brontosaurus (now Apatosaurus), and the duck-billed hadrosaurs were representative of dinosaurs worldwide. But now, the plethora of recent southern-dinosaur discoveries are revealing that dinosaur diversity is far greater than previously realized.

Tectonic Plates

When the first dinosaurs appeared during the early Triassic Period some 240 million years ago, the Earth’s continental geography was radically different. Each a large, solid tectonic plate, the continents were grouped together into a supercontinent called Pangaea. Dinosaurs roamed freely across this vast landmass, shared many of the sames genes, and exhibited relatively little diversity.

But after dinosaurs had become well-established, Pangaea’s tectonic plates began to separate. By the dawn of the Cretaceous Period 145 million years ago, Pangaea had broken apart into two large landmasses: Laurasia to the north, consisting of the still-grouped, future continents of North America, Europe, and Asia; and Gondwana to the south, which included the future continents of Africa, South America, Australia, and Antarctica.

Shifting Continents Open Door of Fossils

The breakup of Pangaea into Laurasia and Gondwana, and the subsequent separation into the individual continents we know today, divided dinosaur communities into groups isolated by oceans. With gene-sharing no longer possible, these dinosaur groups began to evolve independently, developing features and traits suited to their specific environments.

Although the idea that continents could shift geographically had been suggested as early as 1600, it was not considered seriously until 1910 when German geophysicist Alfred Wegener observed that the coastal outlines of western Africa and eastern South America fit together as if they had once been joined. Citing similarities in particular African and South American plant and animal fossils, Wegener concluded that these two continents had once formed a single landmass, and, prior to this, all the continents had been consolidated into a single “supercontinent.” Wegener named this supercontinent “Pangaea” from the Greek words for “all earth.”

But because geologists could not yet explain the mechanics of continental movement, Wegener’s idea remained controversial. Finally, a half-century later, geologists realized that slowly circulating currents within the Earth’s semisolid mantle did indeed move the continents. This discovery of currents validated Wegener’s theory and led to the now-accepted principle of continental drift.

Perhaps the best-known South American dinosaur that developed through continental drift and subsequent isolated evolution is the carnivore Giganotosaurus (jig-a-NOT-a-SOR-us), a name meaning “giant southern lizard.” An amateur fossil hunter discovered Giganotosaurus’s bones in 1993 in the badlands of southern Argentina’s Neuquén Province.

Dino Relations

Despite their similar appearance, Giganotosaurus and T. Rex are not closely related. These two predators arose independently after the breakup of Pangaea. Giganotosaurus lived about 98 million years ago in South America, while T. rex existed some 30 million years later in North America.

Weighing 12 tons and stretching 45 feet from head to tail, Giganotosaurus, living in a prey-rich environment ideal for predators, was larger than T. rex. Unlike the conical teeth that T. rex used for crushing, Giganotosaurus had blade-shaped teeth better suited for slashing and slicing. It had stronger arms and claws, a longer skull, and prominent bony ridges above the eyes that may have been brightly colored to attract a mate. Argentina’s fossil-rich Neuquén Province also yielded the bones of the massive, long-necked sauropod Argentinosaurus (“Argentina lizard”). The rancher who found its bones in 1987 initially mistook them for huge pieces of petrified wood. But closer inspection showed them to be a massive leg bone and a six-foot-long vertebra of a previously unknown dinosaur.

Arguably the largest-known dinosaur, Argentinosaurus, which lived 95 million years ago, reached a length of 105 feet and weighed 90 tons. Thriving in lush forests, its extraordinary growth rate enabled 8-pound hatchlings to develop into 180,000-pound adults in just 15 years.

Another large, Cretaceous sauropod from Neuquén Province is Futalognkosaurus, a name meaning “giant chief lizard” in a regional, indigenous dialect. Discovered in 2002, this 100-foot-long sauropod had a prominent dorsal row of tall, shark-fin-shaped spines from its neck to its tail.

Argentinian Jurassic Icons

A smaller sauropod from Argentina, Amargasaurus, attained a length of 30 feet and weighed three tons. It lived 120 million years ago and also had a row of dagger-like, dorsal spines on its neck and back. Much taller than the spines of any other known sauropod, these may have served combined purposes of display, combat, and defense.

Dromaeosaurs, small, bipedal dinosaurs like the velociraptors that appeared in all three Jurassic Park movies, were known only in northern continents until the 2005 discovery of Buitreraptor (bwee-tre-RAP-tor) in Argentina. This small, five-foot-long, six-pound, bird-like dromaeosaur lived 95 million years ago and had a longer, flatter skull and more backward-curving teeth than its northern cousins. Like all velociraptors, it sported sharp, sickle-like claws on its big toes.

Although completely feathered, Buitreraptor (“vulture raider”) was flightless. But because its close relatives could fly, paleontologists believe that the ability to fly evolved twice, once among Gondwana dromaeosaurs and later among birds. Some paleontologists also believe that dromaeosaurs may actually have migrated by flight from Laurasia to Gondwana.

African Dinos

One of the first dinosaurs discovered in Africa was the huge theropod Spinosaurus (“spined lizard”). German paleontologists unearthed the first Spinosaurus skeleton in Egypt in 1912; although incomplete, its extremely large size attracted much attention. Unfortunately, these bones were later destroyed in the bombing of Germany during World War II.

Details about Spinosaurus remained a mystery until paleontologists excavated two nearly complete skeletons in Morocco in 1995. These bones showed that Spinosaurus, which lived 110 million years ago, was a ferocious, 13-ton carnivore and possibly the largest of all theropods. Its dorsal spines were ten times the length of the vertebrae. When connected with flesh and skin, these spines supported a large, dorsal “sail,” which likely served the multiple purposes of heat regulation, intimidation of other dinosaurs, and display during courtship.

Like modern crocodiles, Spinosaurus was at home on land and in water and hunted both terrestrial and aquatic prey. It was an excellent swimmer, and its sail may also have had a hydrodynamic function. Because of its size and bizarre appearance, Spinosaurus was chosen to “star” in Jurassic Park III, replacing Tyrannosaurus rex as
the film’s main antagonist.

Another Moroccan dinosaur is Carcharosaurus (“shark-toothed lizard”), a big theropod closely related to South America’s Giganotosaurus. It is named for teeth that closely resemble those of Carcharodon, the modern great white shark.

Modern Paleontological Hot Spot

The central-African nation of Niger has recently become another paleontological hot spot. Its northern Gadoufaoua Region in the Sahara now ranks as Africa’s most prolific source of late-Cretaceous dinosaur fossils. Recoveries include the bones of the five-ton sauropod Malawisaurus (“Malawi lizard”), named for the African nation where it was first found. Another is Ouranosaurus (“brave lizard,” after a nomadic term for “brave”), a slightly smaller sauropod with a massive dorsal “sail” that may have had a fat-storage function.
Some Niger dinosaurs have distinct crocodilian features, like Suchomimus (“crocodile mimic”), a 30-foot-long, three-ton theropod that lived 120 million years ago when the Sahara was covered with swamps and dense vegetation. Suchomimus had a long crocodilian skull; its jaws and teeth, like those of modern crocodiles, were adapted for grasping, rather than tearing the prey, which was mainly fish.

Another unusual Niger dinosaur is Nigersaurus (“Niger lizard”), a mid-Cretaceous, 30-foot-long sauropod with a short neck, long tail, and a unique head. Its wide, flat mouth was shaped like a vacuum-cleaner nozzle, with all the teeth at the front of its jaws. Both jaws had 50 tooth positions, each packed with nine replacement teeth so that when one tooth wore out, another immediately took its place. Paleontologists believe that Nigersaurus replaced about 100 teeth per month.

Madagascar Dinosaurs

Many strange dinosaurs also lived on what is now Madagascar. Located off Africa’s east coast in the Indian Ocean, the world’s fourth-largest island has been a separate landmass for 88 million years and provides many ancient and modern examples of isolated evolution.

One ancient example is the late-Cretaceous Rapetosaurus, a medium-sized, long-necked sauropod named for Rapeto, a mischievous giant of Malagasy folk legend. Rapetosaurus is known for the football-sized, bony deposits called osteoderms under the skin along its spine. These are thought to be survival features that stored calcium for use in times of stress or during periods of dietary deficiency to assure continued bone growth and eggshells’ development.

Madagascar’s smallest dinosaur is the two-foot-long, feathered Rahonavis (“cloud bird”), closely related to Buitreraptor and other Gondwana dromaeosaurs. Although no preserved feathers have yet been found, the arm bones of Rahonavis have small bumps called “quill knobs,” which are indicators of feathers on modern birds. Because of quill knobs and its wing-like arm shape, paleontologists believe that Rahonavis could indeed fly.

Also from Madagascar is Simosuchus (“pug-nosed crocodile”), which is not a dinosaur, but a rare, herbivorous crocodilian. It had a short, deep snout and jaws lined with leaf-shaped teeth similar to modern iguanas and adapted for eating plants. Simosuchus lived 65 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous Period; it was a poor swimmer that probably lived on land.

Impacts of Climate Change & Continental Drift

Dr. Joe Sertich, the curator of dinosaurs at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, studies the impacts of climate change and continental drift on Jurassic and Cretaceous dinosaurs’ evolution and crocodiles. His work often takes him to Madagascar, where he recently excavated a nearly complete skeleton of Majungasaurus (“Majunga lizard,” after the region where it was found).

This 30-foot-long, bipedal predator was one of the few dinosaurs with a direct link to cannibalism. Majungasaurus appeared in the first episode of Jurassic Fight Club, a made-for-television, paleontological documentary that focused on its cannibalistic traits.
Sertich describes his Majungasaurus excavation as “easy,” because of the softness of the host sandstone. But while soft rock facilitates the excavation of Madagascar dinosaur fossils, it also presents a problem.

“Slash-and-burn agriculture has destroyed much of Madagascar’s rain forest,” Sertich explains. “This has caused extreme soil erosion that exposes dinosaur fossils at a rate faster than we can excavate them. If these fossils are not recovered immediately, erosion destroys them in less than a year.”

Sertich is often asked why paleontologists are suddenly discovering so many southern dinosaurs.

Evolution of Global Dinosaur Discoveries

“The overall state of dinosaur paleontology today in South America, Africa, and Madagascar is similar to what it was in the United States more than a century ago,” he explains. “These rapidly developing regions are rich in dinosaur fossils. They have growing numbers of paleontologists, and many of their most remote regions are just now being geologically surveyed. Because of all these factors, the rate of dinosaur-fossil discoveries is increasing dramatically.

“These discoveries will continue into the future,” adds Sertich, “and will greatly increase our knowledge of dinosaurs and their origins relative to continental drift and evolutionary isolation. This all adds up to a very exciting time in dinosaur paleontology.”

While dinosaur fossils are being excavated in the Sahara, the hottest, driest place on Earth, they are also being found in Antarctica, the coldest and windiest place. The presence of dinosaurs in Antarctica provides further confirmation of continental drift. Eons ago, when Antarctica was part of Gondwana and located nearer to the equator, it had a warm, moist climate, dense forests, and a sizeable dinosaur population.

Antarctic Fossils

Extreme cold and remoteness make excavating dinosaur fossils on Antarctica exceedingly difficult. Fossils can be found only in the relatively few areas not covered by snow and ice. And when fossils become exposed, the extreme temperatures and the expansion and contraction associated with repetitive freezing and thawing quickly destroy them.

Nevertheless, Antarctica has already yielded the fossilized remains of both Jurassic and Cretaceous dinosaurs. Among the Cretaceous dinosaurs excavated from the sandstone of James Ross Island near the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula is Antarcticopelta (“Antarctica shield”), a 20-foot-long, heavily armored ankylosaur and the first Antarctica dinosaur ever discovered. Along with heavy, spiked armor, Antarcticopelta had large, bony growths on the end of its massive tail that it could swing with great force as a defensive weapon.

Another Cretaceous dinosaur from Antarctica is Trinisaurus, a six-foot-long, beaked, herbaceous dinosaur that lived 75 million years ago. Trinisaurus is named for Trinidad “Trini” Diaz, the Argentinean geologist who discovered its bones in 2005.

Mount Kirkpatrick’s Dinosaurs

Antarctica’s Jurassic dinosaur fossils are found just below the summit of 14,856-foot-high Mount Kirkpatrick, one of the continent’s highest peaks. These Jurassic sediments, which were deposited when Antarctica was near sea level, were uplifted to their current 13,000-foot elevation 65 million years ago. Although Mount Kirkpatrick is only 400 miles from the geographic South Pole, high winds keep much of the mountain free of snow.

Among Mount Kirkpatrick’s dinosaurs is Cryolophosaurus (“cold crest lizard”), which lived 190 million years ago. About 20 feet long, it was the largest of the early Jurassic theropods. Unlike many theropods that had double crests along their skulls and necks, Cryolophosaurus had a single crest oriented forward toward the forehead, a “pompadour” look that has earned it the tongue-in-cheek name “Elvisaurus.”

Another dinosaur found high on Mount Kirkpatrick is the Jurassic herbivore Glacialisaurus (“icy lizard”), a long-necked, 25-foot-long, bipedal forerunner of the later, much larger, Cretaceous sauropods. When Antarctica was part of Gondwana about 100 million years ago, it was the land bridge over which giant South American sauropods migrated to Australia. The fossils of giant sauropods have already been found in Australia, and paleontologists expect to soon find similar fossils in Antarctica.

Joe Sertich and his colleagues are confident that they will discover many more southern dinosaurs. The study of their bones will continue to rewrite the books on how continental drift and isolated evolution impacted their development.

This story about types of dinosaurs previously appeared in Rock & Gem magazine. Click here to subscribe. Story by Steve Voynick.

The post New Types of Dinosaurs Discovered first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.

However, most of the apatite in the Earth’s crust occurs not as macrocrystals, but in microscopic form within a coarse-grained, buff-to-brown, sedimentary rock called phosphate rock. The extraordinary industrial and agricultural importance of phosphate rock drives a multi-billion-dollar mining industry.

Apatite is a group name that refers to 17 related minerals. In collectors’ usage, the name refers to any of three minerals: fluorapatite [calcium fluorophosphate, Ca₅(PO₄)3F, formerly apatite-(CaF)]; chlorapatite [calcium chlorophosphate, Ca₅(PO₄)3Cl, formerly apatite-(CaCl)]; and hydroxylapatite [basic calcium phosphate, Ca₅(PO₄)3(OH), formerly apatite-(CaOH)].

Similar, But Different Minerals

Because the fluorine, chlorine, and hydroxyl ions in these three minerals have similar electrical charges and ionic radii, they substitute readily for each other in a partial, three-ended, solid-solution series. All occur in close association, share similar properties, and require laboratory analysis for differentiation.

Apatite is critical both to our physical well-being and our global food supply. In the form of apatite, phosphorus is essential to plant life for growth and photosynthesis, and to animal life as a vital component of genes, teeth, bones, and muscles.

Fluorapatite, the hardest, most durable and abundant, of the three apatite minerals, is the primary component of vertebrate bones and teeth. When fluoride compounds are added to drinking water and toothpaste, fluorine ions displace chlorine and hydroxyl ions to convert chlorapatite and hydroxylapatite to fluorapatite, thus improving the decay-resistance of teeth.

Although collectible apatite crystals occur in hydrothermal deposits and granite pegmatites, most apatite exists in the form of collophane. This microcrystalline or massive form of apatite is a major component of marine sedimentary rocks deposited by ancient seas. The collophone supported large populations of plankton and other tiny, invertebrate organisms—the phosphorus-rich remains of these organisms mixed with sea-bottom sediments eventually lithified into phosphate rock.

High-grade phosphate rock, the only commercial source of phosphorus, contains at least 10 percent elemental phosphorus in the form of apatite. As the base of the 25-billion-dollar-per-year global mining industry, more than 255 million tonnes of phosphate rock are mined annually from open pits. After concentration, an acid treatment converts the apatite into a hydrated calcium phosphate called “superphosphate.”

Superphosphate Uses

Most superphosphate is used to formulate nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium (N-P-K) agricultural fertilizers. The remainder is processed into elemental phosphorus and phosphoric acid, the feedstock materials for the manufacture of insecticides, herbicides, matches, pyrotechnics, nutritional supplements, and a host of other products.

As demand for phosphorus-based chemicals increases, high-grade phosphate rock now sells for about $100 per tonne. China accounts for half the annual global production; Morocco and the United States together account for about one-quarter of production.

But many mines are rapidly depleting, and Morocco alone controls 90 percent of the world’s phosphate-rock reserves. In 1974, Morocco increased its reserves by unilaterally annexing the adjacent, former Spanish territory of Western Sahara with its massive Bou Craa phosphate-rock mine. Today, Western Sahara, a Wyoming-sized expanse of desert, is a disputed territory claimed by Morocco and the Polisario Front, the political-military organization of the indigenous Sahwari people.

Bou Craa’s phosphate-rock reserves—about four billion tonnes—are the world’s largest. The Bou Craa open-pit mine is an example of the extraordinary steps that nations will take to obtain phosphate rock. A 60-mile-long conveyer belt, the world’s longest, transports Bou Craa’s newly mined phosphate rock to the Atlantic coast, while the “Moroccan Wall,” a 1,700-mile-long, 12-foot-high, military-patrolled, human-made sand escarpment protects the mine and Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara from Polisario guerilla attacks. The mine, its conveyor belt, and the Moroccan Wall are all visible from space.

Apatite minerals will always be in demand by collectors for those beautiful, transparent, yellow-to-greenish-yellow crystals and, much more importantly, by industrial factions for phosphate rock which, while not visually appealing, is vital to global food production.

This story about apatite previously appeared in Rock & Gem magazine. Click here to subscribe. Story by Steve Voynick.

The post Apatite from Crystals to Phosphate Rock first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.

Quartz has long been the cornerstone of the gem and lapidary industry, especially as druzy gemstones. It is also popular in the collecting hobby. We would be hard-pressed to find many people who don’t have some variety of it in their collections.

Knowing how to identify quartz is important. This mineral has a relatively simple chemical structure. It is made of an atom of silicon (one of Earth’s most common elements) and two of oxygen (its most common element). Together, they form molecules that take the shape of a tetrahedron, rather like a pyramid with one corner pulled out to distort the whole. These, in turn, attach in a spiral fashion, forming beautiful hexagonal crystals that usually have pyramidal, or pointed, terminations.

Quartz Formation

If the quartz approaches pure silicon dioxide, it is clear and colorless, with air bubbles and miscellaneous impurities accounting for the milky hue often seen in quartz. Types of inclusions in quartz — other metal ions such as iron or aluminum — can become part of the internal arrangement, giving the potential for color.

When atoms combine to form molecules, they usually do so by sharing electrons, bonding them together. If everything balances electrically, the atom is stable and neutral. But when aluminum is present in quartz, it replaces some of the silicon atoms, and they differ in their electron balance. Silicon shares four of its electrons with two oxygen atoms in rock crystal. Aluminum, taking the place of silicon, has only three electrons it can share with two oxygen atoms. This electron difference makes the quartz susceptible to outside energies. Introduce a bit of radioactivity, and the quartz containing aluminum becomes a smoky color — one of the most popular varieties of quartz. We can make smoky quartz by bombarding clear quartz with radiation, something often done with Arkansas quartz.

Iron is another metallic element that can get into the atomic structure of quartz and affect the color. Iron is unusual because it can have four electrons to share, like silicon, or it can have only two or three, like aluminum. If it shares three electrons, the quartz can take on a yellow color. We call that citrine. If the iron has four electrons to share due to an unusual case of radiation, it will take on an amethyst (purple) color. We can change amethyst to citrine by heat-treating the quartz to disturb the electron arrangement.

The final color we see in crystallized quartz — the least common of the group — is rose. Various research has shown that the reason for the lovely, limpid pink color may have to do with the presence of titanium. Additionally, the Gemological Institute of America reports, “Research has shown that rose quartz owes its delicate pink color to microscopic inclusions of aligned silicate mineral fibers.” Again, the interaction of electrons produces the color emissions we see.

As you know, there are other colors of crystallized quartzes: green and blue, among others. These colors are largely due to inclusions, though citrine and amethyst quartz, as I mentioned, can be changed to green by heat-treating the stone.

Family Structure

The other quartz family of minerals falls under the heading cryptocrystalline quartz, a name that simply means it forms in crystals too small to see without magnification. That definition is a bit of an oversimplification, given that the submicroscopic crystals are fiber-like in most cases.

This variety’s main form is chalcedony, followed by agate, jasper, carnelian, sard, heliotrope, and onyx, among others. Within this grouping, there is a division. The agates are fibrous in structure, while jasper and flint are grainy quartzes.

Chalcedony is a particularly appealing gem material, as it is hard and easy to work and can come in a rainbow of colors, depending on impurities. The forms of iron in chalcedony color it red, yellow, orange, or brown. Copper minerals impart a blue shade, while nickel makes it green. Its formation mode can produce lovely alternating layers of colors that can be wildly patterned in bands, swirls, dots, and eyes. It is this multicolored, patterned chalcedony that is most popular with the lapidary.

Agates’ Quartz Foundation

The history of agate as a gemstone is longer than almost any other gem. It was gathered from streams in ancient times and used for jewelry. By the time the Romans controlled the world, the first great agate beds were being exploited around Idar and Oberstein, Germany. A huge agate gem business evolved there, outlasting the Roman and succeeding empires until the local supply dried up. At that point, German emigrants went searching for new supplies, and the great agate fields of South America opened.

For the most part, the Brazilian agate fields produce gems that lack bright colors. But agate is porous enough to be treated with heat or dyes to produce lovely, banded material; since each layer of chalcedony agate varies slightly in porosity, the dyes are selectively absorbed.

In the 1940s, one of the great sources of agates, naturally colored in a riot of hues, was opened up in northern Mexico. This material ranks as some of the better agate ever found. The source was volcanic formations, primarily in the state of Chihuahua. The agates here are so beautiful that they require special attention in an article such as this. The only problem today is availability.

Seventy years ago, Mexican fortification agates were readily available and possible to collect for the adventuresome. By 2001, the large beds of Mexican agate were nearly played out or closed to collecting. Where agates may still be found, they must be hard-won from the enclosing volcanic rock and can be hunted only with permission.

There are several agate beds in Mexico. The agates are often named for the source of locality, with Laguna, Coyamito, Gallego, Sueco, Apache, and Apache Flame agates among the best known. There are countless other sources of agate in Mexico, but these areas are the most notable. Gem material from each of these areas is distinctively colored and stunning.

What I like most about Mexican agates are the internal patterns they contain. Each stone is unique. Some are strictly fortification agates, with a series of concentric bands of varying width and color, yet with a pattern uniformity. Others have concentric rings of color with a point in the center, which is why this variety of agate is called “eye agates.” These eyes develop when internal, stalactitic growths in the agate are cut across the grain. If cut along their vertical axes, the pattern consists of two parallel bands of matching colors, slowly tapering to a rounded point. Some of the eyes have a small, hollow tube in the center where solutions may have entered or where some slender, needle-like crystal, now gone, gave rise to the stalactite form.

Scattered within many agates are color dots and streaks. Some are large enough to be seen with the unaided eye. Most are best seen under 10x magnification as bright dots or spots or colors that give the band’s overall color shade. These small concentrations of color have been shown to be largely iron compounds, with some manganese compounds as a second color source. In a few cases, snow-white dots are seen, which are usually bits of colorless quartz.

The fascinating feature of many agates is the “escape tube.” This is a bulbous shape that starts within the banding and extends toward and sometimes to the agate’s rim. These tubes are sometimes narrow in the center with a bulging tip. If they touch the rim of the agate, they spread out in a funnel-like form.

For a long time, these escape tubes were thought to be the avenue through which the silica solutions entered the hollow geode or gas pocket in lava. These solutions were credited with creating the banding for which these agates are prized. However, modern studies have shown that the reverse is actually true.

The elongated structures actually are escape tubes. As the agate formed from a silica gel material, increasing pressure caused the remaining solutions to probe and penetrate the agate layers that had already formed at their weakest point. This movement to reach the rim of the agate so as to relieve the building pressure caused the existing, fresh layers to be dragged toward the flow of the escape. So, when you look carefully at an agate with an escape tube, you can readily see the distorting effect this movement has created. The regular fortification pattern is pulled like taffy into unusual and irregular forms. All of this adds to the internal beauty of that agate. Couple that with a nice quartz crystal lining in the center of the agate and you have something quite attractive.

One of the most beautiful quartz forms used in jewelry is quite valuable, even though the quartz is an ordinary milky white. Of course, the fact that it has stringers and veins of gold running through it may account for its higher-than-usual value. Called “gold in quartz,” this lovely material is contrasting snow-white and rich, buttery yellow. It can be slabbed and polished, then used as cabochons, for beads, or as an inlay gem material, among other uses. Set in rings and brooches, it is an instant conversation piece, and when used to make jewelry boxes and ornamental objects of art, it is quite elegant. Much of the “gold in quartz” comes from California’s mines, though it may be expected any place gold occurs in white quartz veins.

As long as people collect gems and minerals, there is going to be an attraction to quartz. Many collect only that singular species, which is understandable, given that there are myriad sources the world over. It comes in a great variety of wonderfully showy crystallized forms and in several attractive colors. The massive varieties can be riotously colored and patterned agates or richly colored solid gems suitable for jewelry making. No wonder quartz is and always will be one of the most popular minerals.

This story about the quartz mineral group previously appeared in Rock & Gem magazine. Click here to subscribe! Story by Bob Jones.

The post Meet the Quartz Mineral Group first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.

As part of Russia’s Ministry of Finance, the Diamond Fund was established more than 300 years ago during the reign of Peter the Great. Today, it maintains one of the world’s great gem collections. Its story is an epic of gemological triumph, personal tragedy, political upheaval and, ultimately, preservation and renewed growth.

After imperial Russia ended abruptly with the 1917 Russian Revolutions, the Diamond Fund endured two decades of chaos, theft, mismanagement, and liquidation. But the Fund’s fortunes have since improved markedly; its collection now includes many of Russia’s original crown jewels and coronation regalia, some of the world’s most historic gems, elaborate Romanov jewelry, and spectacular diamonds from modern Russia’s mines.

The Diamond Fund – Humble Beginnings

The concept of crown jewels—gemstone studded crowns, scepters, and orbs—as symbols of royal wealth, power, and authority had become well-established among western European royalty by 1000 CE. But the first Russian royal regalia— simple golden caps and broad neckpieces called barmas—didn’t appear until the 1200s.

Russia’s first crown was Monomakh’s Cap, also known as the “Golden Cap.” This gold-filigree skullcap was sparsely adorned with rubies, emeralds, pearls, and topped by a golden cross. Enclosed in a circlet of sable, it clearly has a Central-Asian style.

By the time of Mikhail Romanov (Michael I, reigned 1613-1645), the first tsar of the long-lived Romanov Dynasty, Russian regalia had become increasingly elaborate with greater emphasis on gemstones, especially diamonds. The silk barma of Alexei Michailovich (Alexis of Russia, reigned 1645-1676) featured seven enameled medallions, 249 diamonds, and 255 colored gems; his orb glittered with 179 diamonds and 340 colored stones, his scepter with 268 diamonds and 360 colored stones.

Russia’s early tsars also amassed family gem collections. Alexei’s personal, six-foot-long staff was set with 178 diamonds, 259 emeralds, 3 large pearls, and 369 pink tourmalines; his personal throne, fashioned of ivory, was studded with 876 diamonds and 1,223 colored stones.

Peter the Great (Peter I, reigned 1682-1725) expanded the Russian empire and developed it into a major power. In 1719, Peter ordered the Romanov jewels to be kept separate from the state jewels, and that the latter be secured in a repository that became known as the “Diamond Room”—the forerunner of today’s Diamond Fund. He also mandated that the state jewels never be sold and that future tsars and tsarinas would contribute a portion of their personal gem collections to the Diamond Room collection.

A Change in Style

The style of Russian crowns changed in the 1700s, when design and manufacture shifted from jewelers in Constantinople (today’s Istanbul) to those in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Unlike the earlier golden skullcaps, the crown of Catherine I (reigned 1725-1727), set with 2,000 diamonds and a large pink tourmaline, copied the arched style of western European crowns.

The crown of Anna Ioannovna (Anna of Russia, reigned 1730-1740) featured two open-work hemispheres divided by an arc and topped by a cross; it was set with 2,536 diamonds, 28 colored gems, and 500-carat, a red, Chinese tourmaline.

Catherine II (Catherine the Great, reigned 1762- 1796) ruled during Russia’s Golden Age when art, music, theatre, and literature flourished. Catherine II’s fondness for gems is reflected in the Great Imperial Crown made for her coronation and now the centerpiece of the Diamond Fund’s public exhibit.

At the time, this crown’s 398.6-carat spinel, an irregular, partially faceted stone, was thought to be a ruby. It is similar in shape to, but much larger than, the well-known “Black Prince’s Ruby” (a 170-carat red spinel) in the British Crown Jewels collection. The confusion between red gems was largely resolved in 1783 when mineralogists learned to differentiate between true ruby (corundum, aluminum oxide) and spinel (magnesium aluminum oxide).

Catherine the Great also loved amethyst, which was then much more valuable than it is today. She ordered prospectors into the Ural Mountains to search for amethyst sources, which they discovered, but only after Catherine’s death in 1796. Prospectors in the Urals later found deposits of emeralds, demantoid (garnet, the green gem variety of almandine), and alexandrite. The latter, the color-change variety of chrysoberyl (beryllium aluminum oxide) was named for Tsar Alexander II (reigned 1818-1881).

By the 1800s, the state’s crown jewels included many large stones of great historical significance; the Romanov collection of gems and jewelry featured huge numbers of high-quality diamonds that came mostly from the historic mines near Golconda, India, with smaller amounts from Brazil. Although South African diamonds became available in the late 1800s, they seemed to attract little Romanov attention.

A Revolution

The final chapter of the Romanov Dynasty was written under the rule of Nikolay Aleksandrovich Romanov (Nicholas II, reigned 1894-1917), a politically inept leader who presided over a difficult period of political and social unrest. Only after World War I had pushed Russia to its social, fiscal, military, and political limits, and tore the nation apart, did the world learn the extent of the gemological treasures that the state and the Romanovs had acquired over the previous two centuries.

After the February Revolution of 1917 deposed Nicholas II, a provisional government placed the Romanovs—Nicholas, his wife Empress Alexandra, and their five children—under house arrest ostensibly for its safety, the family was exiled to Tobolsk in the Urals. The Romanovs took with them personal belongings that included a fortune in gems and jewelry.

In the October Revolution of 1917, the Bolsheviks ousted the provisional government and triggered a civil war. The following April the Bolsheviks confiscated the Romanovs’ belongings and moved the family to Yekaterinburg. Before leaving Tobolsk, the Romanovs hid their bulky diamond jewelry in a convent. For their financial security in hoped-for foreign exile, they sewed a fortune in loose diamonds into their daughters’ corsets and other clothing.

As an anti-Bolshevik militia neared Yekaterinburg on July 16, 1918, the Bolsheviks shot the entire Romanov family in a brutal, clumsy execution. When the daughters’ diamond-filled corsets deflected bullets, the execution was completed with bayonets. While disposing of the bodies, the Bolsheviks found 41,000 carats (18 pounds) of diamonds in the garments of the victims.

Protecting the Past

Bolshevik leaders then began debating the fate of what was collectively called the “Russian treasure”—the state’s crown jewels and regalia, along with the seized gems of the Romanovs, their extended family, and former aristocrats. The Bolshevik’s choices were either to sell the treasure abroad for desperately needed hard currency or to preserve at least part of it for its historical value.

But with no inventory and poor security, the jewels quickly began disappearing. In 1919, American customs agents in New York City detained several Russians surreptitiously carrying, and admittedly intending to sell, part of the Russian treasure.

In 1920, Bolshevik leaders established the Diamond Fund, which was similar to the original Diamond Room, as a secure repository for the jewels. The following year, they appointed a 63-member committee to inventory and appraise the treasure. But when theft was suspected, the entire committee was brought before tribunals; 23 members were executed and many others were sent to labor camps.

Taking Inventory

Just before the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was founded in 1922, the People’s Commissariat of Finance appointed another appraisal committee, this one headed by the respected mineralogist and geochemist Alexandr Evgenevich Fersman. Fersman’s inventory listed 25,300 carats of diamonds, many in gems of five or more carats. Notable stones included a 46-carat blue diamond in an imperial orb; the 189.6-carat, slightly greenish Orlov Diamond in a scepter; and the historic, 88.6 carat Shah Diamond that dated to the 1500s.

Among the 3,200 carats of emeralds, most from Colombia, were many “large and very rare” gems like the spectacular, 136-carat Sinople Queen Emerald. Half the 2,600 carats of Kashmir, Siam, and Ceylon sapphires were “gems of great historical and scientific value.” Half the 1,300 carats of red spinel were stones of 50 or more carats. Other gems included “topazes, alexandrites, aquamarines, beryls, chrysolites, large turquoises, chrysoprases, smoked-topazes, fine amethysts and agates, Bohemian grenats [garnet, pyrope, garnet], labradores [labradorite], and almandines [garnet, almandine].”

The Diamond Fund – Jeweled Surprises

Surprisingly, the inventory listed a mere 200 carats of ruby. Fersman suspected that the tsars, while certainly capable of acquiring fine rubies, had a superstitious aversion to their blood-red color.

Fersman’s examination also revealed that the 398.6 carat “ruby” in Catherine II’s Great Imperial Crown was actually a spinel. This stone, acquired in China by a Russian envoy in the late 1600s, turned out to be the world’s second-largest gem spinel.

Another surprise concerned the historic “Caesar’s Ruby.” This 255.6-carat, raspberry-shaped “ruby,” a gift from Sweden to Catherine II in 1777, proved to be rubellite, the red variety of the tourmaline-group mineral elbaite.

The inventory listed very few amethysts, alexandrites, and Russian emeralds, which was surprising since these stones were regularly mined in the Urals. Fersman believed that the Romanovs had simply preferred foreign gems and had lavishly gifted most of the Russian stones to foreign dignitaries.

Precious Eggs

The inventory also included the jeweled eggs of Peter Carl Fabergé’s House of Fabergé, the jeweler to the crown. Between 1885 and 1916, Fabergé had made 51 jeweled, “imperial eggs” for the Romanovs. Among them was the “Lilies of the Valley,” an especially elaborate egg with enameled portraits of three Romanov family members. Made of pink enamel, gold, diamonds, and pearls, it had been a gift from Nicholas II to his wife Alexandra in 1898.

In 1922, the value of the Russian treasure was estimated at four million rubles (more than $1 billion in 2021 dollars). The intent to convert at least some of the treasure into hard currency was apparent in the appraisal committee’s final report, Russia’s Treasure of Diamonds and Precious Stones. Published in 1925 in catalog form in German, French, and English, it was clearly a prospectus aimed at enticing foreign gem buyers.

Up for Sale

In 1927, the Soviets approved a major sale of the Russian treasure—154 lots of gems, jewelry, and regalia that were sold at a London auction. These items included some of Catherine the Great’s jewelry; an 1884 diadem with 1,375 diamonds, including a rare, 13-carat pink stone; and the 1840 Russian Nuptial Crown set with 1,535 diamonds. The Soviets justified the sale by deeming these objects to be of “little historical importance.”

But even as some jewels were being sold, others were turning up. In 1933, Soviet investigators tracked down the Romanov jewelry that had been hidden in the Tobolsk convent in 1918. Among the 150 individual pieces recovered were two brooches, each set with more than 100 carats of diamonds.

The Soviet government continued to quietly sell the Russian treasure to private buyers until 1936. By then, more than half the original inventory of 1922 had been sold, misplaced, or stolen. But, fortunately, the remaining items included most of the historic Russian regalia, some of which dated to the 1300s.

Of the Romanovs’ 51 Fabergé imperial eggs, 41 were either lost or sold into private ownership; only 10 remain in the Diamond Fund today. The value of these imperial eggs became clear in 2004, when the “Lilies of the Valley” egg sold for $12 million to a private Russian museum. That same year, a Russian billionaire paid more than $100 million to acquire nine Fabergé imperial eggs from an American collector.

Although the state and the Romanovs had amassed huge numbers of diamonds, Russia itself had never been a diamond producer. But during the industrialization that followed World War II, the Soviets needed, but would ill afford, a steady supply of industrial diamonds. In 1946, confident that diamonds existed somewhere in Siberia, the Soviets launched an intensive exploration program.

Eight years later, Russian geologists discovered the Zarnitsa and Mir diamond-bearing kimberlite pipes. By the 1960s, the Mir open pit was producing 10 million carats of diamonds per year—a remarkably high 20 percent of which were gem quality. Over its 40-year life, the Mir pit yielded more than 100 million carats of diamonds and contributed $25 billion to the Soviet economy. Today, as the world’s leading diamond producer, Russia mines six kimberlite pipes and recovers 43 million carats per year.

The Diamond Fund – Growing the Collection

Since Russia began mining its own diamonds, the Diamond Fund collection has grown substantially. Under state policy, the Fund acquires all Russian-mined raw diamonds larger than 50 carats and all faceted diamonds larger than 20 carats. Recent acquisitions include a 342.5-carat diamond from the Mir pit that was named, in inimitable Soviet-style, The 26th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Diamond; the 320.7-carat Alexander Pushkin Diamond, named for the celebrated Russian novelist and poet of the early 1800s; and the 298.48-carat Creator Diamond.

The Diamond Fund collection also includes Russian gold nuggets, among them a 36.2-kilogram (80-pound) specimen found in 1840 and a 33-kilogram (73-pound) nugget mined in 2003, both from the Urals.

Showing Off

The Diamond Fund collection had remained securely locked out of sight in the Kremlin Armory until a temporary public exhibition was held in 1967 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Russian Revolution. Because of great public interest, the exhibit became permanent the following year. The value of Diamond Fund’s collection was then estimated at more than $7 billion. In 2012, to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Great Imperial Crown, the Diamond Fund fashioned a modern replica. Made of white gold at a cost of $15.5 million, this replica glitters with 11,426 diamonds, 74 large natural pearls, and a 398-carat, purplish-red, irregular red tourmaline.

With the irreplaceable, original Great Imperial Crown too valuable to leave the Kremlin, its replica is part of traveling exhibits inside and outside of Russia. Also, because mounted gems are worth much more than loose stones, the value of the thousands of diamonds in the replica has substantially increased. And that’s important, because the Diamond Fund collection, currently valued in excess of $50 billion, partially backs the Russian ruble.

The Russian Diamond Fund story is one of gemological triumph in amassing world-class collections, tragedy in their seizure and sell-off, and triumph again in their partial preservation and renewed growth.

For fascinating reading, Aleksandr Evgenevich Fersman’s 1925 committee report on Russia’s Treasure of Diamonds and Precious Stones is accessible in its entirety online.

This story about the Russian Diamond Fund previously appeared in Rock & Gem magazine. Click here to subscribe. Story by Steve Voynick.

The post The Diamond Fund: Exploring Russia’s Jeweled Past first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.

Since this material is full of color blends and patterns, it creates a natural canvas to use in designing cabochons. My son Ben, for example, likes to utilize the color blends to combine hearts into one cab as if the hearts are blending into one.

Buying Orbicular Bloodstone Jasper

Finding this material is relatively easy. There are several sellers on Facebook — in the Slab Depot group, and on eBay.

When buying rough, you can usually see all the colors from the outside, which helps in deciding whether it has the sought-after colors. One thing to note, this material is a rather hard jasper and tends to have a few fractures. Usually, when I know rough may contain fractures, I tend to buy smaller-sized chunks instead of large pieces. I do this just in case the section I purchase contains many hidden fractures that I’ll have to work around during the cabbing process.

This variation of bloodstone might be a material that is best to purchase in pre-cut slabs so that you can see the full pattern and color array immediately.

How to Slab Orbicular Bloodstone Jasper

When slabbing this material, there is no right or wrong way to load the vice. One method is to study the color patterns and try and cut in the direction you feel will best yield the desired patterns. If the piece is large enough, another option is to cut down the center and evaluate the pattern and then load the halves into the saw again, in a different direction. Either way, your study of the patterns and colors will help you bring out the best in each piece.

Another helpful technique when working with bloodstone is to bench test each piece by tapping slightly on a table or workbench and listening for fractures. If it’s solid, draw up templates and trim them out.

As you move into the next phase of cabbing, you’ll find the material is standard to most jaspers. However, because of the hardness and highly silicated composition, it is a jasper that tends to chip easily, especially on the bottom edge of the courser grit wheels. It’s best to trim out preforms just a little larger and then grind away excess on a smoother grit wheel, to avoid chipping.

Finishing Up

As they say, patience is a virtue, and you’ll need a lot of it as you work with this material, because it can be incredibly challenging to remove all of the scratches by the 280 grit stage.

At the point where there are no scratches left, or there is no way they will be removed with the remaining wheels, proceed with your routine and polishing stages. By the time you reach the 14k grit wheel, it should have a fantastic mirror polish. To enhance the shine, you can use either cerium oxide on a leather buff or buff with a small amount of Zam compound.

This story about orbicular bloodstone jasper previously appeared in Rock & Gem magazine. Click here to subscribe. Story by Russ Kaniuth.

The post Orbicular Bloodstone Jasper first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.