Gem Crafters & Explorer's Club Bulletin, Las Cruces, NM

Affiliated with the AFMS and a member of the RMFMS

EL GAMBRISINO

February 2010 - Volume 52, Issue 2

Previous Meeting:

Jan. 15, 2010

President Dave Smith opened the meeting with the introduction of the new officers (or draftees as he put it). Our new Treasurer Cookie Saathoff is the only new officer this year, the others having stayed on for another term, so she got a deserving hand as did our outgoing Treasurer Lee Attaway. Dave then introduced our guests; former member Pat Grace, Tony Nunez and Scott and Sandy Smith who just happen to be Dave & Joan's son and daughter-in-law who were visiting from Houston. Pat and Tony became members so welcome them next time you see them. Don & Cookie Saathoff and Pat and Mitch Mauer were thanked for supplying the refreshments this month. Good job all. Dave reiterated that we do not need a "buffet" every month; cookies and a drink are just fine. If you want to bring more that's fine also but it is not expected of you. Cookie, our new Treasurer, gave her first Report and we are doing well with $1,355.59 in the checking account as of Dec. 31st. There was one bill reported of $60 for the Post Office Box. The dues, of which there were quite a few, collected at the meeting were not counted in this total. Eric Fuller gave a report on the Metal Detecting trip to Camp Cody in Deming. A number of shells and miscellaneous items were found but the highlight was Mitch Mauer's find of a 1913 Buffalo Nickel which turned out to be worth some money. Kathy also found a very nice military button. All found something to take home. The discussion of changes to our Articles of Organization and Operating Procedures, etc. was put on hold until next month. Neither Dave, nor any of the committee members received any input from any club members. He announced that there would be another committee meeting this month and the proposed changes decided upon will be written up and sent out to everyone. We will then discuss/debate them at the February meeting and vote on them in March.

Don Saathoff announced that there will be a Mineral Meeting at his place on Wednesday the 20th at 6:30 PM. The topic will be Oxides and he asked that everyone bring an "Oxide" specimen along.

Mineral Meeting Notes:

Jan. 20. 2010

Don Saathoff led another interesting and informative meeting for us mineral lovers, some thirteen of us which was one of the largest crowds yet. Four of our newest club members showed up with much enthusiasm and many questions. Before the "formal" meeting started there were minerals and rocks the members brought along for Don to identify and for just gabbing about minerals in general. We had been requested to bring an Oxide along which sent some of us to the books before hand. When we got there the long table was lined up with examples of Oxides. Everything from Amethyst and Casserite, Hematite to Magnetite, Beryl's and - well you get the picture. There are a lot of Oxide minerals in our world. The samples were passed around and Don gave us the formula and told us something about each one. It was way too soon time to leave but with another good meeting going in the record book. I can hardly wait until next months meeting.

IT IS TIME FOR DUES AGAIN. IF THEY ARE NOT PAID BY MARCH 1ST, YOU WILL BE DROPPED FROM THE ROLES & NEWSLETTER ROSTER.

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"EL Gambrisino"

Volume 52, Issue 2 February 2010

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Program Notes:

Jan. 15, 2010

use high-tech GPS equipment, 3D laser scanning systems, robotic total stations, and intricate GIS hardware and software making measurements rarely being off by even a half inch. In 1821 New Mexico became independent of Mexico. There were huge land grants involved. When NM was surveyed these were given senor status and were surveyed around. The initial point and beginning of the system here in NM is NE of Socorro. The whole Southwest is cut up by that marker - New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and most of Texas. The marker or monument is still there but is on private land and is very difficult to get permission to access. The Gadsden Purchase in which NM acquired a large chunk of land from Mexico was made in 1853. It was basically made in order to supply land for the railroad to enable them to have a route to the Pacific. The original boundary marker between Mexico and NM is located north of Mesilla on Shalem County road. It seems that El Paso was incorrectly laid out but the monument being sacred it hasn't been corrected. The boundary between Texas and NM was surveyed between 1912/1913 and 105 monuments were set. Recently a search in which he took part was made for them and only 35 were to be found, some of them had been moved but again the monuments are sacred thus the ongoing disputes between Texas and NM. At present there is a boundary dispute between Dona Ana County and El Paso. Diagrams were shown of how the state of NM was laid out ie: townships, ranges and sections. There are 36 sections in each township and 640 acres per section. Another diagram of how each section is laid out was explained. The legal record has to match the actual. This is just a bare outline of the material covered in this talk. Surveying is quite an art and I have much more respect for the surveyors after listening to Mr. Burkholder. Some highly recommended reading: 1. "The Mapmaker's Wife" by Robert Whitaker A Historical novel based on a true story. 2. "Measure of All Things" by Ian Whitelaw 3. "Descartes Secret Notebook" by Amir D. Aczel

Earl F. Burkholder, PS, PE NMSU Surveying Engineering Program

It was a very interesting and lively talk on the history of land surveying. One of the first things he did was giving us an example of how not to do a PP presentation. It was a YouTube video called Chicken, Chicken, Chicken. Maybe you've seen it, pretty funny. Now I'll attempt to give you a short review of what he told us. Mr. Burkholder brought along a couple of visual aids one of which was a Plum Bob which he told us is the most important tool a surveyor carries. Everyone knows that the earth is flat and he proceeded to prove it with his Plum Bob. It wasn't until about 1700 that the Britain Newton proved the earth was flat using the Plum Bob method ie; a level surface is always perpendicular to the Plum Bob and so the earth has to be flat and then the Frenchman Descartes in trying to prove Newton wrong proved him correct instead. The Greek mathematician Eratosthenes figured out the size of the earth way back in about 200 BC. Thomas Jefferson is responsible for the US Survey System. In 1803 the Louisiana Purchase was made and a uniform system of land measuring was needed. He set the initial point on the north bank of the Ohio River and west of the Pennsylvania boundary. It was a huge system and all US land was measured from this spot. It is the system that we still use today. At that time land was measured by the chain system: the chain being 66 feet in length, 100 links per chain and 80 chains to a mile. Once the initial point is set and accepted a monument is set. The monument is sacred - even if later found incorrect. There were many different methods to survey land, often using trees, rocks or rivers to stake out corners resulting in inaccuracies. More permanent means of securing points was needed. Today, survey engineers

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Gemcrafters and Explorers Club

"EL Gambrisino"

Volume 52, Issue 2 February 2010

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Reminders & General Info:

The next meeting will be, as usual, the third Friday of the month, February 19th, Room 189. Breland Hall on the NMSU campus at 6:30 for social and 7 PM for the meeting. Refreshments will be hosted by Faith Hutson and Maxine Wyman. Our speaker for the evening will be our own LeRoy Unglaub who will present a Power Point show titled "Where Am I? An Introduction to Maps, Coordinates, Datum's and GPS" The proposed changes to both the Articles of Organization and Operating Procedures will be discussed. By this time you have received the proposed changes via e-mail and have read them. Please be at the meeting so that we can get your input and ideas. These will be rewritten in a final version and then voted on at the March meeting. Susan Banning has asked President Dave Smith to be relieved of her duties as secretary. Somehow or other in a "senor" moment I offered to fill the vacancy until the end of the year. If there is someone out there willing to take over please contact Dave or I and we will be happy to fill you in on the duties, etc As announced in last issue our annual fund raising raffle has been delayed until March. The good thing is that gives everyone more time to go thru and find their "valuable" but unused items to raffle off. More on this in the next issue. Trip Leader Eric Fuller has announced a field trip for January 30th. It will be to Foster's Hole, a historic watering hole used and mapped by the Mormon Battalion when they marched thru the area in 1846. It's located south of Lake Valley where we will leave the pavement and travel ranch roads for a few miles. Editors Note: This was cancelled due to muddy roads and instead he will lead a trip to Palm Park and Hine's Claim east of Hatch. An email was sent out. For all you would be miners and mineral hunters the latest issue of Rock & Gem (January) www.rockngem.com has a great article on the BLM GeoCommunicator which is a tool for identifying mining claims from your computer. This article, which was written by Robert Beard, goes into great detail on how to use it for locating claims. It looks like a great land status tool. This site is sponsored by the BLM and the USFS and is the publication site for the BLM's National Integrated Land System (NILS). The claims identification is only one aspect of all the information that this huge site covers. www.geocommunicator.gov You all might want to check this one out. This month I am forwarding the RMFMS Newsletter to all members of our club. It's full of

information on what is happening in our federation. If I receive favorable comments it will be continued on a regular basis. RMFMS Member Club newsletters can also be found on their website at http://www.rmfmg.org/club-newsletters . It's a good chance to check out what other clubs are doing. The DAAS meeting will be 7 PM Tuesday, Feb. 9 at the Good Sam Auditorium. The speaker will be Wayne Lee who will give an illustrated presentation titled "Tinian: from a prehistoric fishing village to the Atomic Bomb". For Info call 575-524-9497.

Rock Candy
From http://rockhoundingar.com/pebblepups/growcryst.html

Via Backbenders Gazette, July 2007

Dissolve 1 cups sugar in cup boiling water. This is thick, hot syrup. It will burn you and keep on burning your skin because it is sticky, so be VERY careful not to spill it on yourself! We put our solution in a 1-inch deep tray and suspended crochet twine from chopsticks for the crystals to grow onto. These crystals grew for about two and a half weeks before we couldnt stand it anymore and took them out.

. NOTE: If desired, you can add a few drops of flavoring or food coloring when dissolving the sugar. Use a natural string or thread for this, not nylon. One week is usually long enough, although the longer you wait, the larger the crystals will grow. This should be a fun experiment for those of you with young children or grandchildren. Let's hear the results from you experimenters.

The only reason I would take up walking is so that I could hear heavy breathing again.

Gemcrafters and Explorers Club

"EL Gambrisino"

Volume 52, Issue 2 February 2010

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Field Trips: CAMP CODY - JAN. 9, 2010

Fourteen people in seven vehicles took off from Love's Truck Stop in anticipation of doing some metal detecting and for some of us learning to use our new Christmas toys. It was pretty cold early on but by the time we arrived at Camp Cody it was already starting to warm up, still jacket weather however. Camp Cody is located in Deming and was a huge WW-1 army training camp that housed some 38,000 troops. Their bakery baked 10,000 loaves of bread a day to feed these men. There are few buildings left standing today and just traces of the once great camp that it was. Its location is now a combination of Deming and privately owned land. North and west of the camp were the artillery and target practice ranges which is where we headed. Trip leader Eric Fuller brought along samples of the type of things that we could expect to find which was pretty interesting in itself. After that he brought out different coins and jewelry that he had attached to long belting and showed us amateurs how the detectors reacted to the different materials, this along with instructions on how to properly use our detectors. We played with them for awhile and then took off on our treasure hunt.

Over the radio Mitch Mauer announced that he had found a 1915 Buffalo Nickel and then Kathy said that she had found a really neat military button. By mid afternoon several vehicles had left but most were still searching for "treasure". It had warmed up enough for the coats to come off by then. Late afternoon we all gathered back at the vehicles for the all important "show and tell". There was a variety of finds but Mitch's Buffalo Nickel and Kathy Fuller's button were the most admired.

Kathy Fuller's military button

(Dave Shogren photo)

The testing of detectors on Eric's samples. (Dave Smith photo). Eric took us to an area that had many shells and round ammo balls both on top of and under the ground so there was a lot of beeping going on. The balls were from the canisters that the French 75mm Canon fired. It had a range of three miles and they must have fired a lot of them from the amount strew around. He spent time making sure everyone was doing okay and helping out those who weren't. They say practice makes perfect and I sure need a lot of practice but did find a number of different caliber shells and many of those little round balls. Everyone did well at that site. This artillery range covers a huge area and we were soon pretty well spread out. The more experienced detectors had headed off while Eric was showing the rest of us the basics and so we headed off in their direction as we listened to their radio chatter about their finds. They also saw a herd of at least twenty antelope to their north. Unfortunately by the time I got over there they were long gone, both the antelope and the detectors but I got a lot of practice and found a few interesting items on the way to say nothing of the needed hiking experience.

Mitch Mauer's Buffalo Nickel

(Dave Shogren photos)

Another great trip led by our Fearless Leader Eric Fuller and we all thank him for his patience with us trainees and for his leadership in the field. Editor's Note: That Buffalo nickel that Mitch found turned out to be a 1913D.

Gemcrafters and Explorers Club

"EL Gambrisino"

Volume 52, Issue 2 February 2010

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FIELD TRIP TO PALM PARK-JAN. 30, 2010

Was that a beautiful day or not? It might have started out cold but warmed up quickly and there was plenty of that good old New Mexico sunshine for us to enjoy. We met at Ashley's, some ten vehicles and 23 people all told plus two vehicles with 5 more people who met us on site later in the morning. Oops, forgot to mention the three dogs along for the outing. This is one of the largest groups that I can remember for a loooooong time. We caravanned up to the Hatch exit and headed out east from there. On the dirt road we fell in behind a red jeep and followed him in - no, he wasn't one of us but only the first of a number of other vehicles we met. Who would guess that Palm Park would be so popular a place as I've never seen more than one or two others a trip before. There was one group of three vehicles from TorC and several other Jeeps out also. Anyway we stopped and Trip Leader Eric Fuller filled everyone in on what was to be seen and found in the area. A number of people opted to hike to the Petroglyph area, some wanted to head over to the Jasper area, some wanted to check out mine dumps and some wanted to head for the Barite quarry. We were soon spread out all doing our own thing.

to the next meeting so we can see what they look like all cleaned up. Nancy wanted to look for fossils so we headed back down the hill and parked at a level spot. One area had a lot of yellow limestone rock that was full of Fusulinids (see following article) plus some Brachiopods, etc. so we spent some time there with everyone taking a few specimens for their collections. This is where we met the TorC group who wanted to know what we were looking for. They had come after Barite and didn't know about the fossils. They also didn't attempt to drive the hill but walked it and carried down some very heavy pieces. The group that went looking for the petroglyphs found them. They are still there but suffering from the exfoliation of time that happens to that type of volcanic rock. Some of the group went on a several mile hike down canyon and back up the ridge line. They raved about the views, especially with the snow dusting on the mountains.

Palm Park Arrow - Eric Fuller Photo Eric and what was left of the group stopped and asked if we wanted to go to Bob Cat Springs with them. I said sure but then got outvoted by my riders and so we headed home. On top of the ridge was another strange vehicle whose people were looking at the ground awfully hard - ummm must have lost something? The Group briefing - Dave Smith photo My riders wanted to head for the quarry first so off we went. Al Spencer was already up the hill so I drove up to where he was parked - the road was a mess, a 4 wheel drive experience. I had picked up another two riders who had split with their driver at the briefing and one of them was pretty scared and got out. She also walked back down the hill. Me, I love 4 Wheeling and would have liked to have gone up a little further but not all are as adventurous as I found out. We finagled around the tight spot and parked by Al and then headed further up the hill to the Barite/Quartz site where we all found our quota of Barite, Quartz and beautiful Rhyolite. Nancy Galloway teaches a mineral class at one of the local schools and so she was looking for small specimens of Barite and Quartz for her young students and I helped out there. She said she had enough to last a couple of years. Al was working a large pocket and he was pulling many Quartz crystals out of the mud. Hopefully he will bring some of them Eric reported to me that they found some nice pieces of petrified wood at Bob Cat Springs. A lot of the wood found there is opalized, white with black and very pretty. By this time the shadows were getting longer and darkness was near so they headed for Hatch and a meal at Sparky's where the atmosphere is fun and the food is good. Beautiful day, great finds, good friends - what more can one ask for? Once again thanks to our leader Eric Fuller for another memorable trip.

"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read!! Groucho Marx

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Volume 52, Issue 2 February 2010

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Happy Birthday to all you February people & A HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY TO ALL

February Birthstone: Amethyst

Compiled by Roger K. Pabian, Research Geologist, Emeritus, School of Natural Resources, UNL

Amethyst usually is a transparent variety of quartz that comes in shades of purple. Some translucent to opaque amethyst is also found and the purplish zones alternate with white or grayish areas. Color zonation can be very intense in transparent, translucent and opaque varieties. Amethyst is the traditional birth stone for the month of February.
Quartz in all varieties is Silicon Dioxide, SiO2, it crystallizes in the hexagonal system, it has a specific gravity of 2.66, and it defines 7 on Mohs hardness scale. it has refractive indexes ranging from 1.544 to 1.553, it is uniaxial, positive, and may be strongly dichroic in several colored varieties. Most of the amethyst that is used in the gem trade now comes from Brazil. Historically, the Ural Mountains in Russia produced many fine amethysts and thousands were acquired by Catherine the Great. The most desired hues ranged from deep purplish-red to purple-red and these stones were called Uralian or Siberian Amethyst, terms that are now color grades rather than source areas. Amethysts from Brazil are mostly extracted from large geodes that are found in basalts of either Triassic or Jurassic age that crop out in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, in the southeastern corner of the country. Many of these geodes were commonly seen for sale in gem shows in the late 1980's and early 1990's, but fewer of them have been seen in the late 1990's. Many of the geodes with transparent amethyst were broken down to small crystals for the gem trade and this kind of geode is now fairly scarce intact. Some very attractive amethyst has been produced in Mexico but most of it that has been of desirable gem shades formed in crystals that were quite small and many of the larger crystals were not sufficiently toned to produce fine faceted gems. The amethyst from Mexico has produced many fine, large cabinet specimens that appear in both private and museum collections. When I first took up lapidary in 1961, there were some amethyst tips from Mexico that were nicely colored and produced fine cabochons but they were all nearly opaque. Some of the Mexico specimens had nice small phantom crystals of amethyst in a colorless body of rock crystal. In North America a great deal of amethyst is extracted from mines in the Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, area. There are several commercial mines and several fee localities where one can pay to collect. The status of the mines and fee localities varies from year to year so it is best for one to write or call ahead before planning trips to these areas. Most of the amethyst from Thunder Bay is strongly color zoned and these zonations appear as chevrons if the cut is diagonal to the c-axis of the crystal or sometimes as six triangles of alternating purple and colorless or white areas if the cut is made perpendicular to the c-axis of the crystal. The latter have been called Port Arthur Amethyst. Port Arthur was the

name of a port in the Kwantung Province of Manchuria; this area was an historic producer of very fine amethyst. Port Arthur was also the former name of Thunder Bay, Ontario. Which of the Port Arthurs yielded its name to that color zonation of amethyst is currently unknown to me. Some very fine examples of color zoned amethyst similar to the Port Arthur Amethyst appeared in gem shows in the early 1980's; this material was from India. The strong color zonations of the Port Arthur Amethyst is probably produced by numerous twinned crystals and twinning planes within the crystal. When observing a section of the India material under polarized light and with a condensing lens, very strong interference patterns are readily observed and the normally fine interference figure seen in most quartz appears to be a garbled set of figure superimposed over figure. Nebraska is not without its amethyst. Some examples have been collected from small geodes that formed in the Grant Shale of Permian age that is exposed in several areas near Krider and Odell in Gage counties. The amethyst is nearly opaque to be sure and it will fade after exposure to light for a few days. If the amethyst is returned to a dark box, it will regain the purple color in a few days. It may be that the light energy displaces electrons in the chromatophores that color the amethyst. I have also observed examples of Lake Superior agates with amethyst centers that were collected from the glacial tills in southeastern Nebraska. Ametrine is an unusual form of amethyst that was not wellknown in the gem trade until about the early 1970's. Ametrine has the same kind of color zonation as Port Arthur Amethyst but the zones are purple and yellow (citrine). The first ametrine was actually produced in the laboratory by treatment of heat and irradiation. In the late 1970's or early 1980's, large amounts of this gem came onto the market from Bolivia. Much of it was sold under the trade name Bolivianite. It was later learned that these stones were natural stones and came from near Anahi in extreme eastern Bolivia and in neighboring Brazil. Because of legal restrictions on mining in that area, the earlier material was said to have been found in Paraguay, Uruguay, or Matto Grosso do Sul in Brazil. Natural ametrine actually consists of zones of citrine intergrown between zones of amethyst. In this sense, it differs from the laboratory produced material that was derived from color zoned Brazilian amethyst. That is to say, the trace element contents in the chromatophores that produce citrine and amethyst are significantly different in the yellow and purple portions of the ametrine crystal. Hence, ametrine should be probably considered a separate variety of transparent quartz at least in the gem trade. If you are fashioning amethyst for gem purposes, it can be a bit tricky to polish. The problems usually begin at about the time of the 600 grit sand if you are using carbide. It is much easier to sand and polish with diamond compounds. A smooth but matte' surface can be obtained by the time you get to the 14,000 grit. You may lose the polish if you try to bring up the polish with tin oxide on leather. There tends to be a lot of undercutting on the twinning planes. This problem can often be alleviated by putting a few drops of vinegar or oxalic acid in the water used for polishing. It seems to work if you can get the pH (concentration of Hydrogen [H+] ions in the water) on the weakly acidic side. Polish can be improved with the 50,000 diamond too. Some pieces can be finished with tin oxide and water on a hard leather pad.

Gemcrafters and Explorers Club

"EL Gambrisino"

Volume 52, Issue 2 February 2010

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Fusulinds became extinct at the end of the Permian Period. There are many different varieties and sizes, from pinhead to two inches, which is extremely large for single celled creatures. Because of the great variety, the presence of certain types is often correlated between different rock layers and used to attribute a common date to those rocks. They were exclusively marine, living in clear offshore water . Along the side of the specimens may be seen a prominent line called an antetheca (see drawing below). This was the growing surface, and as the

Amethysts

Tumble Polished Amethyst, Brazil. Images courtesy of Brian Isfeld.

For Further Reading

Hurlbut, C., 1963. Dana's Manual of Mineralogy, 17th Ed., John Wiley & sons, New York, 609 p. Schumann, W., 1977. Gemstones of the World. NAG Press, Ipswich, 256 p. Vasconcelos, P.M., Wenk, H.-R., and Rossman, G. R., 1994. The Anahi Ametrine Mine, Bolivia. Gems and Gemology, v. 30, no. 1, p. 4-23. Zeitner, J. C., 1996. Gem and Lapidary Materials. Geoscience Press, Inc., Tucson, Arizona, 347 p.

animal grew, adding chambers along the long axis, the antetheca extended forward Starting as a small spherical shell, the animal added material, elongating the shell, and developing longer and longer chambers, one at a time. As each chamber was added, a groove called a furrow was left on the outside leaving a trace of the previous antetheca. Many fusulinids resemble each other externally, and in order to properly identify them they must be cut and studied internally.

THE FUSULINID
The fusulinids are an extinct group of marine foraminiferan protozoa. They produced calcareous shells, which are of fine calcite granules packed closely together; this distinguishes them from other calcareous forams, where the test is usually hyaline. Their fossils are so abundant that they have formed entire limestone formations. The fusulinid Cottonwood Limestone formation in Kansas is an example of this. Fusulinids are important guide fossils. Fusulinids appeared late in the Mississippian subperiod. They were a part of the Carboniferous and Permian marine communities. They are excellent guide fossils for Pennsylvanian and Permian rocks. However,

The particular fusulinids in the photograph are Triticites, named from the Latin word for wheat. (Beil Limestone, Upper Pennsylvanian) Sources:
http://www.kgs.ku.edu/Publications/ancient/f06_fusulin.html

www.wikipedia.org/wki/Fusulinid

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Upcoming Show Dates:

MAR 6-7--BIG SPRING, TEXAS: 41st annual show; Big Spring Prospectors Club; Howard County Fair Barn; Sat. 9-5, Sun. 10-5; dealers, demonstrators; contact Jerald Wilson, 707 Tulane, Big Spring, TX 79720, (432) 263-4662 or (432) 263-3340 **MAR 11-14--DEMING, NEW MEXICO: 45th annual show, "Rockhound Roundup Gem & Mineral Show"; Deming Gem & Mineral Society; SWNM Fairgrounds, Raymond Reed Blvd.; Thu. 9-5, Fri. 9-5, Sat. 9-5, Sun. 9-5; free admission; more than 100 dealers, demonstrations, displays, field trips, jewelry, rocks, drawings, cash raffle, silent auction Fri., live auction Sat.; contact Jerry & Carolyn Abbey, P.O. Box 1459, Deming, NM 88030, (575) 543-8916; e-mail: the DGMS@gmail.com ; Web site: www.dgms.bravehost.com MAR. 19-21--ROME, GEORGIA: Show, "Valley and Ridge Gem & Mineral Show"; Rome Georgia Mineral Society; The Forum, 2 Government Plaza; Fri. 10-6, Sat. 10-6, Sun. 11-5; free admission; minerals, gems, fossils, jewelry, crystals, demonstrations, exhibits, lectures, door prizes; contact Tim Biggart, (706) 232-7143; e-mail: tbiggart@berry.edu MAR. 18-21--SAN BERNARDINO, CALIFORNIA: Tailgate show; Orange Belt Mineralogical Society; Western Regional Little League Ball Park, 6707 Little League Dr.; Thu. 2-8, Fri. 8-8, Sat. 8-8, Sun. 9-7; free admission; silent auction, bulk rough, raffle, dealers, lapidary-related items, jewelry; contact Shane Ripley, 31975 Yucaipa Blvd. #1, Yucaipa, CA 92399, (909) 557-3605; e-mail: OBMS_PR@yahoo.com ; Web site: www.meetup.com/Jewlery-Makingfor-Fun-and-Profit/ **APR. 9-11--ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO: 41st annual show, "Treasures of the Earth"; Albuquerque Gem & Mineral Club; Creative Arts Center, New Mexico State Fairgrounds (Expo NM), San Pedro entrance, across the street from the Lujan Bldg.; Fri. 10-6, Sat. 10-6, Sun. 10-5; adults $1 Fri., $3 Sat. and Sun., children under 13 free; more than 40 dealers, displays, door prizes, kids' booth, silent auctions, faceting demonstrations, gold panning, gem setting, free mineral/gem identification; contact Paul Hlava, (505) 255-5478; e-mail: hpf5@qwest.net APR. 6-18--ALPINE, TEXAS: Show, "Wonders from our desert and beyond"; Chihuahuan Desert Gem & Mineral Club; Kokernot Lodge, Rte. 223 bypass; Fri. 9-6, Sat. 9-6, Sun. 11-5; free admission; Kids' Corner, door prize, dealer demonstrations, video "What's Hot in Tucson"; contact Mary Brogan, P.O. Box 1111, Alpine, TX 79831, (432) 8373824; e-mail: marybrogan@rocketmail.com; Web site: www.agates123.com/cdgmc/ APR. 23-25--DENVER, COLORADO: Spring show, "Colorado Mineral & Fossil Show"; Martin Zinn Expositions LLC; Holiday Inn Denver Central, 4849 Bannock St.; free admission; 80 wholesale and retail dealers, minerals, fossils, gems, jewelry; Fri. 10-6, Sat. 10-6, Sun. 10-5; contact Martin Zinn Expositions, P.O. Box 665, Bernalillo, NM 870040665, fax (303) 223-3478; e-mail: mzexpos@aol.com ; Web site: www.mzexpos.com For further information or shows please go to www.rockngem.com and check out their complete listings. You just might find a good show in the area of your travels.

Thought for the Day: Classifieds:

Does pushing the elevator button more than once make it arrive faster?

**A friend of one of our members is looking for a used Rock Tumbler, no size or type specified. If you have one you're not using or know of someone who has; please give Bill Austad a call at 649-1281. **Nancy Galloway has numerous books on Rocks, Minerals, Fossils & Artifacts plus some mineral specimens that she would like to sell. They are all reasonably priced. Please call Nancy at 575-532-0592 for information on titles, prices, etc.

Some Interesting Web Sites for you to check out:

Members occasionally send me web sites to check out and pass on plus the ones that I run across. any of your favorites that you think our members might be interested in. INDEX U.S. Code collection with links to all the Codes Please send me

Cornell University LII / Legal Information Institute Web Site (1-2010) www.4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/ This is the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) which is different from the US Code above: http://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/ Gemcrafters and Explorers Club "EL Gambrisino" Volume 52, Issue 2 February 2010 -8-

Gemcrafters & Explorers Club, P.O. Box 3091, Las Cruces, NM 88003
Member of: American Federation of Mineralogical Societies Rocky Mountain Federation of Mineralogical Societies Blue Ribbon Coalition www.amfed.org www.rmfms.org www.sharetrails.org

2009 OFFICERS & volunteers:

President Vice President Treasurer Secretary Refreshments Historian Programs Director Newsletter EditorDave Smith Kathy Fuller Cookie Saathoff Maxine Wyman Pat Mauer Don Saathoff Eric Fuller Maxine Wyman 521-3103 524-0204 382-3464 649-4900 526-4939 382-3464 524-0204 649-4900 joandaves@msn.com truthfinderpoly@gmail.com imaginethattoo@comcast.net max46820@fastwave.biz mpmauer@comcast.net auagte2@comcast.net ghosthiker@gmail.com max4680@fastwave.biz

We meet on the third Friday of the month at Breland Hall, Room 189, NMSU campus at 6:30 pm for social and 7 pm for the meeting. There are no meetings in July and December. Dues are $10 per person per year and each additional family member is $2 per year. They are due Jan. 1st of each year. A membership form will be emailed or mailed to you in December to be filled out and returned with your check BY MAIL to the treasurer. NEW: Any address or email changes must be sent to me at: max4680@fastwave.biz

Our purpose shall be to gather knowledge and provide educational benefits to members on geological, archaeological, lapidary, and mineralogical topics of interest, to include assistance to members in all lapidary problems, the study and identification of minerals and gem stones in the rough, the field study of geological formations which produce minerals and gem stones, the collection of minerals and gemstones, and the exploration of any geological or archaeological topic or area which may be of interest to the membership.

NOTE: All articles and photographs are by the Editor Maxine Wyman unless otherwise noted.

Info for the Newsletter:

If you have information, articles, pictures or a website related to gem crafting, rock collecting or exploring and would like to share please give me a call at 649-4900 or email me at max4680@fastwave.biz. If you have a good idea or story to tell I will be more than happy to help you write it up. Also if you have minerals, outdoor or camping equipment, etc. that you would like to sell please let me know for our free "Classifieds." Maxine Wyman, Editor

Gemcrafters and Explorers Club

"EL Gambrisino"

Volume 52, Issue 2 February 2010

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