Mineral Zone will exhibit at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Society Show at the Tucson Convention Center from February 11-14.

On January 31 and February 6, Mineral Zone will participate in an open house private show with John Veevaert, Steve Perry, and Pat Haynes.  This event is located in Starr Pass, and begins at 10 AM each day.  For more information, please visit http://www.mineralshows.com/.

Somewhat reminiscent of classic specimens from Cornwall, England, this new quartz cast of a cube measures 13 by 12 by 8 cm and the whole specimen measures 17 cm across, 16 cm tall, and 10 cm deep.  This specimen is a recent discovery from the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco.

From December 11-14, Mineral Show participated in the 17th annual Tokyo Mineral Show.  These are a couple of pictures from the show.

Please visit us at the 42nd annual Denver Gem and Mineral Show at the Merchandise Mart, Denver from September 18 to 20, 2009. Mineral Zone will occupy glass showroom J48 (click here for map). We have new rosasite, aurichalcite, calcite specimens from Mexico; fine red wulfenite from China; new plumbogummite specimens from China; selections from the Jack Zektzer (Seattle, Washington) collection and more…

Please visit our subsidiary company, mineralspecies.com, to see our A through Z gallery of 26 mineral species: arsendescloizite, babingtonite, chambersite, diaspore, euclase, fluellite, gaudefroyite, haiweeite, inesite, jamesonite, kolwezite, libethenite, montebrasite, nifontovite, olivenite, plancheite, quartz, roscherite, strengite, tetrahedrite, uranophane, veszelyite, woodhouseite, xonotlite, yoshimuraite, and zektzerite.

The Houston Fine Mineral Show was an exciting show, with good attendance and an overall optimistic feeling. Mineral Zone shared room 206 with Evan A. Jones. Here is a photograph of the Mineral Zone display:

Four fine specimens set off the case: a veszelyite on hemimorphite from Yunnan Province, China; a San Francisco mine, Mexico, wulfenite with mimetite from the 1972 find; a spectacular amethyst cast of a calcite crystal from Artigas, Uruguay; and an unusual plumose vanadinite from Mibladen, Morocco.

Come visit Mineral Zone, sharing a room with Evan A. Jones at the 2009 Houston Fine Mineral Show, May 1-3, 2009.

Having visited China, I have a certain fondness for Chinese minerals. While scouring the remote satellite shows of the 2008 Tucson Gem and Mineral Show, I located a Chinese dealer with one curious specimen among the typical fare. This particular piece looked like a solidified mud ball, a dirt clod really, measuring about a foot across, brown and quite dull. This specimen was actually a hollow gossan shell, lined with metallic pyrite and inky scorodite crystals. Initially, the Chinese dealer did not know the identity of the blue mineral, but a friendly passerby alerted the dealer to the possibility of scorodite. The price of the specimen soared as the mineral show wound down. I made a healthy offer on the specimen through a competent translator, but I could not reach an agreement; ultimately the piece did not sell. A few months later, this specimen appeared on the eBay web site, available for purchase.

So the matter remained; China now produces quality scorodite specimens. In April, a friend living in China spotted scorodite specimens for sale. Apparently, certain Chinese dealers thought the crystals might be vivianite. When I first learned of the crystal size, an immediate phone call ensued with China, indeed confirming the crystal size: 2.5 cm. I needed to possess these specimens. My friend made the long journey to the United States, only seven days before the Dallas Show. We trimmed large matrix pieces and cleaned the specimens using water guns and ultrasonic cleaners. Although we worked together for four full days, we had not yet fully prepared the specimens. Independently, and concurrently, mineral dealer Rob Lavinsky was receiving specimens at his Dallas warehouse. My friend and I had a few suspicious matrix scorodite specimens, which required disassembly. Reporters at the Mineralogical Record picked up on the find, bringing some news to light. Knowing that the find would appear in the July-August issue, I elected to diligently prepare the specimens and offer them in July on this web site.

As with many finds in China, locals keep exact localities secret. In some instances, especially at the more prolific producers, intrepid mineral collectors seek out the localities and take pictures for evidence. In November 2003, Martin Jensen had obtained about 30 specimens of scorodite at the Guilin market. John Veevaert of Trinity Mineral Company obtained some of the specimens, and sold them quickly. In a show report, Mr. Veevaert reported some curious associated species. I purchased one of these 2003 specimens previously in the Martin Zinn collection, because of unusual minerals in association, which I have not yet identified. The reported locality is the same mine (Pingtouling mine, Liannan, Guangdong Province) which produced the fabulous orange mimetite in 2003. I met the collector of these mimetite crystals, and after some discussion, he could not confirm the occurrence of scorodite at the mine. Initially, dealers put the locality designation as the Pingtouling mine for this 2008 find. Another dealer is reporting the locality as Damaishan, Zhaigang, Niannan, Guangdong Province. The actual locality lies in the adjacent Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, but not far from these places in Guangdong Province. My Chinese contact gives the locality as Baishichong village, 40 km south of Hezhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Other mines near Hezhou also produce adamite specimens (see here), but locals have maintained their confidence regarding locality specifics.

Another aspect of Chinese mineral dealing is quality uncertainty inherent in each purchase. Did I obtain the best specimens? How many more exist? Well, a few months have passed since the original importation, and no more material has come to market. Rumors from China state the locality actually produced pyrite ore for iron; however, an environmental agency closed the mine because of the arsenic content of the ore.

Please visit us on July 25 (Friday) to view a selection of Chinese scorodite specimens and a brief story of their discovery.  Please fill out the following form if you would like notification of our posting of scorodite specimens.

Mineral Zone shared room 303 with Evan A. Jones.  Highlights of the display include several large matrix specimens of scorodite from China, featuring dark inky blue (or almost purple) crystals to 2.5 cm. 
 

These are the main display cases exhibited by Mineral Zone during the Tucson 2008 mineral shows.