CATEGORIES
Pink Opal
For many years, the only deposit of pink opal was found in Peru. Then in 2011, Glenn Archer of Australian Outback Mining discovered a new find in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia, just east of the coastal town of Carnarvon.
The Rumbling, Bone-Tumbling
"Coo" of T. Rex
Top 10 Magenta Rocks
Lapidary Materials to Celebrate the Pantone Color of the Year
SERENDIPITY EQUALS A MONTANA AGATE
Serendipity is having an apparent aptitude for making discoveries accidentally.
The LA BREA TAR PITS: A Journey to the Ice Age
Los Angeles is the land of palm trees, movie stars, Malibu and the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
"Lucky 13"-A New Find of Purple Apatite at Maine's Pulsifer Quarry
A patite is a favorite collector's mineral with a dizzying array of beautiful colors and interesting crystal habits.
Gold & the Hard Rock Summit Show
The Hard Rock Summit Show has become the top fall mineral show in Denver around which other shows have clustered.
ICELAND SPAR: THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS
In Through the Looking-Glass, the sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, author Lewis Carroll used the title phrase as a metaphor for peering into a world where nothing was quite what it seemed. When it came to understanding the mysterious nature of light, the \"looking glass\" for early scientists was optical calcite or Iceland spar.
Raised in a ROCK SHOP
The Influence of Rock Collecting & Lapidary While Growing Up
EXPLORING Fantastic Cavems, Drive-Through Cave
Plus a Bucket List of Caves for the Physically Challenged
Bye-Bye, Glaciers?
Concerns about the loss of glacial ice vary. Downstream from the Himalayas, one billion people depend on run-off from existing glaciers to fill their rivers and meet their water supplies.
To Find the Beginnings of Complex Life on Earth
Search Life Living Today!
Dinosaur Mummies
Perhaps More Common Than Imagined?
A New Tale for the Ankylosaur Tail Club
They weren't just for clobbering T. rex, after all!
Filling Earth's Oceans with Water
One Meteorite at a Time, Per One Smoking Gun
Ichthyosaur Birthing Resembled that of Gray Whales
Prepare for a New Era of Boots-on-the-Ground Exploration
The Magnetic Field of Mars
Life Would Have Depended on It
Geoengineering Earth's Oceans
From Science Fiction to Science Fact
Leaving Earth Behind
A Record Number of Rockets Take off from Earth in 2022
Concrete for the Ages
What the Romans Knew that We Might Learn
THE CURIOUS LORE OF George Frederick Kunz
America's First Gemologist
Volcanoes and Emeralds
I've had the privilege to give lectures worldwide at shows, club meetings and retreats. I've also done videos and DVDs including Russian Gem Treasures, shot in Russia and another associated with the Smithsonian about American gem mines.
THE MAGIC OF MARBLE
Sculptors and architects have an abundance of natural stone materials to choose from alabaster, travertine, granite, limestone and soapstone to name a few. But one medium has always stood out - marble. For the last 2,500 years, marble has been chosen for many of the greatest works of sculpture and architecture, from the Parthenon of Classical Greece to Michelangelo's Pietà and Washington D.C.'s Lincoln Memorial.
COLOR-THERAPY Gemstones
Designing Jewelry Based on the Healing Properties of Colors
The Silver of POTOSI
Triumph, Tragedy & El Tío
CURVED RIDGES SHAPED TIPS
Complex carving with curved ridges and shaped tips can be daunting.
NIPOMO MARCASITE
Many of the digging locations for this marcasite are on private property. It was allowed at one point to collect with the owner's permission, but a few rockhounds ruined it for the rest by trespassing, trampling newly-grown crops, and opening and closing gates not allowing cattle to get to their water sources. As a result, this material hasn’t been dug for a few decades.”
PAIL Treasures!
From Gems to Fossils, Dig Them at Home
RV Rockhounding
ON THE ROAD WITH THAT CAMPING COUPLE
The Pleasures and Perils of Competitive Exhibiting
Competitive exhibiting offers lots of opportunities to earn awards through venues like club shows, county fairs, trade shows and Federation shows. Since 1995, I've been involved in competitive exhibiting from three perspectives: administering, judging and exhibiting. Here are my suggestions for best practices.