CATEGORIES

HUNTING FOR THUNDEREGGS

Uncovering A “Ghost” Volcano’s Treasures

CERUSSITE

GALENA’S GIFT OF A STUNNING SECONDARY MINERAL

Anxiously Awaiting a New Museum Opening

With the year 2021 upon us, Arizona collectors are certainly excited about the pending May opening of the University of Arizona Alfie Norville Gem & Mineral Museum in downtown Tucson. Of course, the excitement extends beyond the border of Arizona and to far reaching locales around the globe.

Filling an Empty Space and Enhancing a Cabochon

I often look for a special feature within a slab when choosing the shape to cut into a cab.

Pterodactyls No Longer Birds of a Feather?

For a couple of decades now, feathered dinosaurs have been all the rage.

The Saga of COLORADO GOLD - 53 Million Troy Ounces and Counting

Colorado has been mining gold even before the region became a territory and is still mining it today.

SPECTACULAR NATIVE SILVER - Rarer Than Gold in Specimen Form

When it comes to naturally occurring precious metal specimens on Earth, finding native silver is not as easy as finding native gold.

PEARL OF THE PACIFIC - San Diego's Pacific Rim Park

Did you know, the Pearl of the Pacific was created in 1998 as a symbol of friendship and unity between the United States, Mexico, China and Russia?

POPULAR PSEUDOMORPHS - More Common Varieties Enhance Any Collection

In part one of this two-part series, which appeared in the December 2020 issue of Rock & Gem, we explained pseudomorphs as minerals whose normal form has changed, so they may look like the original but are now another mineral.

New Era Gems - CARVING A PATH AND CREATING A LEGACY

Think back to your 20th birthday; what were you doing? How did you celebrate?

DIAMONDS - A Luxury Gem Steeped in Fact & Fable

The diamond is one fabled gemstone! For example, google “Hope Diamond” to see all the legends associated with just this one stone said to bring misfortune to its owners.

Cleaning Without Chemicals

Do you have specimens like desert roses, quartz crystal clusters, or geode halves that sat for eons in the open before being collected?

Black Ilmenite and “Titanium White”

The bright-white color that we see in everything from highway lines, donut icing, and tooth-paste to paint, paper, plastics, and ceramics comes mostly from titanium dioxide, the world’s most widely used pigment.

POPULAR PSEUDOMORPH MINERALS

More Than They Seem

Prehistoric Birds Take Flight and Pique Public Interest

Birds have really taken flight these past two decades—ancient birds, that is! A flurry of new research has led to a flurry of books with titles like Dinosaurs of the Air, The Mistaken Extinction: Dinosaur Evolution and the Origin of Birds, Mesozoic Birds: Above the Heads of Dinosaurs, and The Rise of Birds, among others.

Uncommon Dinosaurs

Southern Continents Reveal Uncommon Giants

ZOISITE

A Massive Mineral Marked by Christmas- Like Color and Appeal

Odie House

A good friend, and wonderful artisan both lapidary and silversmith h, Odie is always fun to chat with. There is always something beautiful to see when Odie is in the “house.”

PLEASING PYROPE

Italy’s Uniquely Valuable Variety of Garne

Joplin

Field Trip Findings: Gaining More Than Mineral Specimens

GEOLOGY 101 Columnar Basalt

A distinctive volcanic structure found throughout the world has been given fanciful names: “Organ Pipes” in Namibia and Victoria, Australia; “Kilt Rock” and “Samson’s Ribs” in Scotland; “Giant’s Causeway” in Northern Ireland; “Thunderstruck Rocks” in Romania; “Devils Tower” in Wyoming and “Paul Bunyan’s Woodpile” in Utah, USA; the “Baigong Pipes” in China; and the “Cliff of Stone Plates” in Vietnam. High-resolution satellite images have even shown similar as-yet-unnamed structures on Mars.

“Finger Printing” Turquoise

Answering the Question of Provenance

10 Fascinating Facts About Opal

The name “opal” is the subject of long-standing debate. Some accounts cite the origin of the name to be the Latin word opalus, while other reports state it hails from the Greek word opallios.

Sanding and Polishing Thundereggs

Two basic lapidary machines can be used to sand and polish thunderegg halves quickly. Both involve sanding the pieces dry.

Studying Nature's Impact on Ancient Civilization and Tuning In Online to Make Sense of Meteorites

Okmok. In remote Alaska. A strange name and a strange place for what some scientists and historians now say caused the downfall of the Roman Republic and the Egyptian Ptolemaic Kingdom shortly after the demise of Julius Caesar.

San Diego Mineral & Gem Society & Museum

CELEBRATING, SHOWCASING, AND PRESERVING NATURAL AND COMMUNITY HISTORY

THE SAN DIEGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM Hot Pink Tourmalines, Kunzites & Fossils

At the famous Balboa Park in San Diego, just south of the San Diego Mineral and Gem Society & Museum, is the San Diego Natural History Museum (SDNHM) — or the Nat as the locals call it. SNDNHM is one of the most significant natural history museums in the country.

PATRIOTIC PRIDE

Exploring Jerry Muchna’s Salute to America in Faceted Quartz

Marvelous Micromounts

TURNING TO “MICROS” FOR A UNIQUE EXPLORATION AND APPRECIATION OF ABUNDANT MINERALS IN FRANKLIN, NEW JERSEY

JOHN SINKANKAS

Award-Winning Mineralogist, Gemologist, Mentor, and Military Veteran