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BRITISH MICROMOUNT

SOCIETY http://britishmicromountsociety.homestead.com/

NEWSLETTER No. 91 February 2014

This Roy Starkey photograph of Hawaii lava flows suggest he may be taking

collecting from new mineral locations to the ultimate level.

The Contented Editorial

Welcome to the first BMS Newsletter of 2014 and my apologies for any mistakes or

omissions in this issue – bear with me – it has been a gruelling learning curve.

Returning after a six week holiday in New Zealand to fall straight into editing the

Newsletter was not perfect timing. Firstly I have had to learn fairly advanced word

processing – the words are not so much a problem – it is the text boxes and

photographs that have caused howls of editorial anguish as they skitter about the page

every time I touch the keyboard. And then there is the joy of cajoling and sweet

talking with our correspondents so as to lure them into putting finger to keyboard.

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But it has all come together thanks to a wonderful bunch of BMS scribblers and many

hours of hoping somewhere … sometime Microsoft “Help” would live up to its name.

So what have we got for you in this issue? Sadly we start on a serious note with Don

Alderson’s Obituary and, as Phil Taylor observes, he will be sadly missed.

However this is balanced by a celebration of the 100th Birthday of Jamie Nelson

written in fine style by John Pearce. We then get down to the Mother Lode with

Quintin Wight who launches our international section in fine style with a thought

provoking article entitled In praise of giveaways and “generosity pays” is the

message evident from his subtitle “cast thy bread upon the waters”. We follow this

with a stonking article from our Australian foreign correspondent - Rum Jungle

under the microscope by Malcolm Southwood – but it is his knack of asking

questions about “the what and the why” of those little crystals that makes it such

fascinating reading. We then get into historical chemistry with David Green’s article

Minerals, chemicals and scandium. Now that David has dealt with ekaboron –

(scandium) - I am looking forward to future articles on ekasilicon (germanium) and

dvimanganese (I can’t divulge what that is as it will probably be included in a future

Binns Brain Buster quiz).

Steve Plant continues the chemical theme and his Phosgenite – a synthetic

approach must make the chemists (and cooks) amongst us feel nostalgia for our test

tubes. And thoughts of phosgenite obviously lead us to the South West and who

better to take us round than Rob Selley in Part 2 of his Cornwall Round Up. We

then have what I hope will be a regular series of articles grandly titled Executive

Profile and in this issue Martin Stolworthy talks about his life of micromounting

which he somehow fits in with being BMS Chairman. Because the “ordinary members”

are so important in the Society I felt we needed to balance this with a “Member

Profile” and John Vanston bravely consented to be the first victim. Another new

feature article is My Rock Room and Richard Bell gives the lowdown on his rock

storage issues. Be warned – the BMS roving reporter may well be e-mailing you

shortly for similar contributions for the May Newsletter.

Add to all that Christine Critchley’s response to the Critchley team’s receipt of the

Founder’s Cup and a first contribution from Sheila Harper -which I have entitled

Sheila’s Fizz - (this appears to be a Marxist memoir on collecting at Stowe’s Shaft -

although perhaps it is less Groucho and more Python). Wash that down with a more

stately Curator’s Corner from Trevor Devon and add another Trevor who

recounts close encounters with death and minerals in Early mineral specimens,

stir in your news from around the BMS in Branch Reports, season lightly with Roy

Starkey’s Mines Reborn and top up with a smattering of Rock Chippings and we

should have a tasty treat.

I hope you enjoy it! I certainly did!

David Roe

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Officer’s Contact Information

CHAIRMAN

Martin Stolworthy

01603 872420

Homeview, 1 Richmond Place,

Lyng, Norwich

Norfolk NR9 5RF

VICE CHAIRMAN

Richard Belson

01603 413003

11 Waldemar Avenue,

Hellesdon, Norwich

Norfolk NR6 6TB

SECRETARY

Phil Taylor

01476 632021

Dunvegan, 96 Kingsfield Road,

Kintore, Inverurie,

Aberdeen AB51 0UD

MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY

& TREASURER

David Binns

01424 752752

3 The Dene, Hastings,

East Sussex TN35 4PD

NEWSLETTER EDITOR

David Roe

01752 896432

20 Lutterburn Street, Ugborough,

Ivybridge, Devon PL21 0NG

[email protected]

SYMPOSIUM ORGANISER

Martin F Gale

01375 844955

2 Coles Cottages, Rectory Road,

West Tilbury, Essex. RM18 8UD

If you have a purple highlight on your Newsletter envelope label then your

annual subscription is now due and prompt payment would be much

appreciated. Please send a cheque payable to the British Micromount

Society for £10 (single) or £12 (family) to David Binns (3 The Dene,

Hastings TN35 4PD). If you have not paid by the next newsletter (May

2014) then we will assume you wish your membership to lapse.

Welcome to new members

John Armstrong 9 Naylor Crescent, Stapeley, Nantwich, Cheshire CW5 7GE

Robert Bucki 3 Montpellier Gardens, Dudley, W Mids DY1 2UQ

01384 829100 [email protected]

Einhard Kleist Mommenpesch 6, D-47839 Krefeld, Germany

00492151733698 0049 160 817 8733 (mob) [email protected]

Chris Marsh 25 Carrel Road, Beacon Park, Gorleston, Norfolk, NR31 7RF

01493 604778 [email protected]

Donna & Robert O'Meara

2a Avenue Road, Stoneygate, Leicester, LE2 3EA

07955310442 [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]




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Changes, additions and corrections to the 2013 Membership List

Shirley Adrian [email protected] 07901 841763

David Aubrey-Jones 07527 980307

Alan Barnes 1 Highfield Crescent, Widnes, Cheshire, WA8 7DN

David Clough 07518 858432

Mike Dannatt [email protected]

Michael Dunmore [email protected]

Stephen Dyson 9 Fairby Lane, Hartley, Longfield, Kent DA3 8DA 01474 700025

Kenneth Eggleston 5 Pasture Avenue, Burringham, Scunthorpe, DN17 3NF

Nigel Hoppe [email protected]

David & Yolande Ifold Danesmoor, Buckland Brewer, Bideford EX39 5NL

Mike Leppington [email protected]

Colleen Thomson 07970 937939

Steve & Christine Rust [email protected] 01935 579551 07771 810827

Rob Selley c/o Windy Ridge, Carn Marth Lane, Lanner, Redruth, Cornwall TR16 5TA

Want and Surplus to Requirements Adverts

(thought we might try this to see how it goes but no commercial ad’s please)

Wanted – advice on where to get around 50

glass or plastic vials for storage and display of panned gold, stream tin, garnets etc.

David Roe 01752 896432

Wanted – someone with diamond saw and time to

cut 4 brick size lumps of Harlech Dome manganese ore (see front cover of recent Russell

Society Journal) into 8 cut specimens. You will

have 4 specimens, plus all postage and other costs paid.

David Roe 01752 896432

In BMS Newsletter Roy Starkey enthused about Malcolm Southwood’s Newsletter

entitled “Mal’s Minerals” and encouraged members of the BMS to contact Malcolm to

get on his mailing list for regular updates. Apparently very few of us did (I was among

the foolish majority) and it was only when I was corresponding with Malcolm about his

“Rum Jungle under the microscope” that I had a chance to read them. For example the

May 2013 issue includes a write up on the Virtuous Lady Mine and is typical of the

series – they are as good a quality as the best minerals from that location. It really is

worth contacting Malcom on [email protected] to get his newsletters.



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DONALD M. ALDERSON (1942 – 2013)

Philip Taylor

Donald Michael Alderson, known to everyone as

“Don”, was born on 4th August 1942 in

Middlesbrough, England, the day on which

Middlesbrough Railway Station was bombed.

Don first met Paddy (his wife to be) at junior

school in Filey, then aged ten, but mutual

interest did not blossom until they joined their

local youth club. On leaving school Don studied

for four years at Scarborough School of Art and

Design, gaining a National Diploma in Pottery

and Painting. He then went on to the University

of Leeds where he was awarded the Art

Teacher’s Diploma (ATD). Don and Paddy

married in Filey Trinity Methodist Church in August 1964.

Later in that year Don moved to Lancashire and lectured at the Accrington School of

Art for a number of years, where he taught pottery, painting and design. Eventually

choosing to leave academia, he began his own pottery business, naming it Isis Pottery.

Having set-up a studio in the old Co-op stables next to the railway bridge in

Accrington, this was a place destined to become a favourite haunt of mineral

collectors in years to come. It was while running Isis Pottery that Don first became

aware of, and then interested in, minerals. He joined Bury and District Mineral and

Lapidary Society where he met Wally Hartshorne, a plant manager with ICI. Wally and

Don became firm friends and collecting partners, making frequent trips into

Derbyshire and the Northern Pennine Orefield and it was during this period that his

interest focused upon collecting baryte.

In the mid-1970’s, Don decided to make a business of mineral dealing, whereby Isis

Pottery evolved into Isis Minerals, while retaining the same premises with that now

familiar cobbled courtyard. Following Wally’s retirement from ICI in 1980, Don and

Wally went into partnership and this ran until about mid-1986. From then on the

business was run solely by Don, but with increasing input from Paddy.

In addition to dealing in mineral specimens, Isis Minerals always retained its original

values of good design, in that the shop had an enthralling array of mineral and mining

ephemera, often including framed antique geological maps, share certificates, old

mining postcards, mining tokens and mining-related ornaments. In 1994 the business

was relocated to the Watershed Mill on the outskirts of Settle, where it remained

until their retirement in September 2005. The shop was run jointly by Don and Paddy

where the name was changed to Aladdin’s Cave, based on an often heard exclamation

made by customers on entering. It was also during this period that Don converted one

of the rooms in their house at Whalley Road into “The Pink Room”, a Mecca for

connoisseurs of choice British and foreign mineral specimens and wonderful

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ephemera; I for one could have spent all my holidays there! In summer 2006 Don and

Paddy moved to the village of Clachan on the Kintyre Peninsula; what turned out to be

an idyllic retirement setting and where friends were always made so very welcome.

Almost everyone reading this will have many specimens in their collections bought

from Isis Minerals. I think that for many people Don’s table was a firm favourite at

mineral shows and on their “must visit” list. Specimens ranged from items priced to

encourage children to take up the hobby (although still of great quality) to those for

the seasoned specialist. Whatever the quality and rarity of specimen, the price was

always very fair and then a generous discount would be applied. I can remember on

many an occasion arguing that I was more than happy to pay the asking price but Don,

calling on his somewhat stubborn streak, would insist on reducing the price even

further! Consequently, this has allowed many a collector to build a serious specimen

suite on limited resources, I for one being indebted to him for this. He was also very

well known for his truly outstanding baryte collection, consisting of both British and

worldwide specimens. The collection was not only remarkable for the many forms of

baryte and its mineral associations, but it was rich in specimens with wonderful

provenance as well as top class self-collected material. Many of these specimens have

appeared in the mineralogical literature, a small sample of which is referenced later.

The first sign of something being wrong with Don came in late December 2012 when

he fell at home for no explainable reason. Throughout the first five months of 2013

various hospital visits were made, but with no satisfactory diagnosis. I last met Don

when I visited Clachan in July and although it was known something was not right, he

was still able to drive and pretty much enjoy life as normal. Not long after this his

speech suddenly became affected and he was found to have a brain tumour. Despite

knowing his condition and the ultimate outcome, he remained remarkably stoic and,

although only able to speak on the phone for a minute or two, was always keen and

determined to do so.

Don passed away peacefully at Campbeltown Hospital on the morning of Saturday 12th

October 2013, coincidentally the day of the Bakewell Show. The news broke at the

show around 11 am, where most fittingly and poignantly, many of Don’s mineral

friends were gathered. Don is survived by his wife Paddy, their children Ewan and

Frances, two grandchildren and brother David. Don was taken from us all far too early,

but I know he will be forever remembered with the greatest of affection and

admiration. Rest in peace Don and thank you for enriching all of our lives in so many

ways.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY ALDERSON, D.M. (2003). Pink Room Advertisements UK Journal of Mines & Minerals 23, 55.

GREEN, D.I. & TODD, J.G. (2001). Twenty Years in Minerals: Scotland. UK Journal of Mines & Minerals

21, 22.

FORD, T.D., SARJEANT, W.A.S. & SMITH, M.E. (1993). Minerals of the Peak District of Derbyshire.

UK Journal of Mines & Minerals 13 & Bulletin of the Peak District Mines Historical Society 12(1), 34 & 40.

SYMES, R.F. & YOUNG, B. (2008). Minerals of Northern England. NMS Enterprises Ltd., Edinburgh, in

association with the Natural History Museum, London, 132-133.

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JAMIE NELSON WAS 100 IN JUNE 2013

Many congratulations from your many friends in the British Micromount Society.

A tribute by John Pearce

On June 7th 2013 Dr James Nelson celebrated his 100th birthday and a lunch was given by his

long term McCrone Research colleagues and friends; Sara Mark and Jean Prentice. Jamie has

been a member of the BMS for many years and members may remember on at least two

occasions at BMS Symposia, Jamie speaking passionately about the Raman Spectra of

minerals. Jamie was a visionary and could foresee a time when you could point a Raman

Spectrometer at a mineral in the field and obtain an instant identification.

Jamie is an amazing inventor and problem

solver. When he comes across a problem, he

not only solves it but designs and produces a

piece of kit to measure it. In years gone by

Jamie spent some time at Cambridge University

alongside Sir William and Lawrence Bragg in the

Cavendish Laboratory at a time when X-Ray

crystallography was solving many fundamental

problems. Jamie is one of the elite few who

was awarded a doctorate without possessing a

first degree. He and his wife Doris were part of

the social group in Cambridge who at that time

attended sherry parties and to gain kudos you

had to down as much sherry as possible, yet still

be able to stand. Jamie, in typical problem-

solving mode, worked out that if you drank a

quantity of olive oil to line the stomach before a

party, then the sherry would dissolve in the

olive oil rather than enter your blood stream.

Pam and I got to know Jamie and Doris quite

well as they had a villa in Lanzarote which was

about 200 yards from the apartment we rented.

Jamie liked to go on walks in Lanzarote and the

more isolated, rugged and challenging the

landscape the better. So Jamie and I would set

out along the coastal path in Timanfaya National Park, down a barranco from Fermes to

Quemada or through the secret valley over the spine of the island from Mala. Typically Pam

and Doris would drop us off at the start of such walks and meet us about 3 or 4 hours later,

where there was always a good restaurant. We would eat, make merry and put the world to

rights for several happy hours.

We both had a great fondness for a certain volcano, Le Cuerva, on the edge of Le Geria

wine growing area. The side of the volcano has been breached allowing you to wander into

the volcano. Pam and I had discovered that the best olivine came from this volcano and

named it the Pearce Volcano, but Jamie and Doris had actually slept overnight in this volcano

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giving them squatters’ rights. After much heated discussion we compromised and referred

to it as the Pearce-Nelson volcano.

When we met up with Jamie in Lanzarote he was invariably writing a challenging article

usually for one of the gem orientated journals. His articles were usually somewhat

provocative, but he was always at the cutting edge of technology. He would ask me to read

and comment on his latest script, which was a fascinating experience! I sometimes suggested

that he could either retain his title and change the content or retain the content and change

the title.

In 2002 we arranged a two weeks geotourism trip for SMLS to Lanzarote and 90% of the

group were also BMS Members. During this time we invited Jamie and Doris to a pool side

barbecue and they in turn invited all 12 of us to the “underground palace” in their home for

a party. I can still remember Austin Woodbridge operating the fondue set and cooking us all

morsels of tender steak. The “underground palace” is an amazingly designed room

underneath their patio in a space created by the fall in the ground towards the sea. The

room has built-in bench seats all around and decorated with artefacts that Jamie and Doris

collected on their world-wide trips.

Over the years I would donate various olivine and zeolite specimens, also some ropey lava to

Jamie for his rock garden and during our SMLS visit to Lanzarote, Jean Terry found a very

large piece of basalt riddled with vesicles which when struck made a beautiful sound. The

heavy rock could just about be lifted and scrambled into the front seat of one of our hired

cars. We donated the rock to Jamie and dropped it into his front garden requesting that he

might like to explain the mysteries of this Singing Rock to us.

Jamie we salute you as we remember so many good times we shared with you.

Report on Public Perception of Museums

You may be interested in looking at a recent report “Public perceptions

of – and attitudes to - the purposes of museums in society” - available for

download from

http://www.museumsassociation.org/download?id=954534

Given various recent “disasters” and “disappointments” with

refurbishment of both local and national museums, there are some

potentially worrying underlying themes, and there is a lot of fairly

“fluffy” social science type content in the report. Nonetheless, the

value of conserving objects and collections shines through, and

education is clearly seen as a key role of museums. Whether or not

any meaningful account of what the public and the museum visitor

actually thinks will be taken by those responsible for exhibition design

and interpretation remains to be seen.. Contributor – Roy Starkey

Rock

Chip

pin

gs

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In Praise of Giveaways

(or “Cast Thy Bread upon the Waters…”)

Quintin Wight

At the Rochester Mineralogical Symposium in Rochester, NY, last April, I gave a talk

entitled The Pleasures of Micromounting, part of which I spent elucidating the way in

which micromount symposia are structured in North America and Europe. Although

we are all interested in the same things, our approaches to what one might call the

“social” structure of the individual meetings vary considerably. For example, some

symposia allow sales of specimens, while others ban sales and allow swapping only.

Some feature competitions, and others don’t. Some allow commercial dealers, and

others shun them. In short, each symposium is a unique creation designed to fit the

needs and attitudes of its creators.

To my mind, one thing stands out as a defining difference between the micromount

symposia of Europe, and those of North

America: every micromount symposium

I’ve attended in North America has a

giveaway table, but none of those in

Europe (with the exception of the BMS)

seem to carry out this practice. That

brings up the questions: “Why is there a

difference between the continents, what does it mean, and what is the idea of a

giveaway table anyway?”

To start with the last question first. A giveaway table is simply a table to which field

collectors, or perhaps those who have bought large collections and have duplicates,

bring their excess material and set it out to be taken by anyone who wants it. There

are no restrictions, and the material laid out may be in the form of “rough from the

field”, trimmed specimens ready for mounting, mounted specimens, empty boxes, or

general implements of use in micromounting. It is all fair game.

To my mind this means that Europeans are missing out on one of the real pleasures of

micromounting. It is one thing to buy or swap a nicely mounted specimen, but it’s

another to dive into a box or bag on a table and have a little treasure hunt to see what

may be there. It takes one back to fairground grab bags or opening presents.

Furthermore, for the micromounter who has limited means, or is city bound and

unable to collect personally, rough material gives the thrill of being closer to the

specimen locality. Additionally, there is always the chance that one might come across

a fabulous crystal that the original provider has missed - a second pair of eyes

sometimes works wonders! To be blunt about it - it’s good, plain fun. Besides, there is

reciprocal benefit for the person who put the material out. It gives great satisfaction to

see one’s colleagues appreciate and help themselves to the bounty you have provided.

Finally, as to the question of why there is such a difference between the continents? In

Our North American correspondent

casts an eye over the “Giveaway” tables

across the world and ponders the

different philosophies on opposite shores

of the Atlantic

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my experience I doubt that Europeans are any less generous than North American

ones. I have always been inundated with gift specimens at any European symposium

I’ve attended, and Europeans who have come to North America have always brought

quantities of material that they gave away. More likely is the fact that Europeans have

not realised that the giveaway table is a key attraction in the organisation of a

symposium. Another possibility is that those who sell, and those who swap, may fear

that a plethora of free material will detract from their sales or swapping activity. More

than fifty years of experience in North America proves that those considerations are

false. Sales and swaps work perfectly well at all the venues - and they all have giveaway

tables.

To illustrate the point, when the

“Micromounters’ Playroom” was opened at the

Rochester Mineralogical Symposium fourteen

years ago, one micromount dealer complained

that he thought he’d lose sales. Within a year or

two, the dealers themselves (even those

offering large specimens) were bringing surplus

material from the main symposium to the

Playroom and piling the table high. The

Playroom is small - only 22 spaces - and we

were swamped with giveaways. The dealers got

great advertising, and we got great specimens!

I said at the beginning that there is a “social” structure in micromount symposia. There

is, and it is reinforced greatly by giveaway tables. Rubbing elbows with colleagues while

searching among the freebies is a congenial occupation. Besides, they attract more

people to the symposium. Giveaway tables don’t detract from anything; they are the

icing on the cake. “Cast thy bread upon the waters” - there will be great return!

Minerals, chemistry and scandium

David Green

The nineteenth century was the golden age of chemical discovery. At the beginning of

the century chemistry was little more than alchemy: a collection of seemingly random

facts and processes which almost entirely lacked unifying principles. By the end of the

century the Periodic Table had been

discovered and most of the chemical

elements put in their place. This table

provided the unifying principle that

chemistry lacked and enabled the

properties of undiscovered elements to

be predicted.

Minerals provided the feedstock for early chemical research (and a disproportionate

number of them were from countries in modern-day Scandinavia). This geographical

Giveaways create a buzz at

Baltimore

David Green laments our treatment of

relics from the history of science and makes

a plea for anyone with a scandium mineral

in their collection to get in touch

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accident is recorded in the names of elements, many of which reflect their

Scandinavian origins (in the same way that the names of geological periods have

disproportionate associations with the British Isles). One such is scandium.

Sir William Crookes was one of the key figures in late nineteenth century chemistry.

He is credited with the discovery of the element thallium (the compounds of which

are uniformly poisonous) using spectroscopic techniques. The thallium mineral

crookesite is named in his honour. In common with most of the chemists of his

generation Crookes spent a lot of time analysing minerals. The great explosion in

interest in what would become organic chemistry lay in the future, and it was mineral

specimens that provided the raw material for chemical research.

One of the elements predicted by Mendeleev’s periodic table was scandium (gaps in

the table were provisionally named after related lighter elements and until its

discovery scandium was described by the delightful name ekaboron). In 1879 ekaboron

was isolated by Lars Fredrik Nilson in the mineral euxenite, from Jolster, Arendal,

Norway and named scandium. Euxenite had been reported 40 years earlier by

Theodor Scheerer, who analysed a tiny sample and found it to contain large number of

rare constituents. Nilson had 10 kg of euxenite available and was able to make a much

more detailed analysis, but even so he was only able to prepare 2 g of scandium oxide.

Indeed, until the end of the nineteenth century scandium was believed to be one of

the rarest of the chemical elements and it was very difficult for chemists to obtain

more than a minute sample. The challenge was taken up by Sir William Crookes, who

found scandium to be widely distributed in very small amounts and published an

extensive paper “On Scandium” describing his research.

I recently sorted through a chemical collection, mostly on

behalf of BMS member Tim Neall, whose interest in

chemistry will be well known to readers of this

newsletter, but also with the intention of keeping a few

useful reagents for simple chemical tests. The collection

contained more than 1000 compounds. Most were in the

glass or plastic reagent jars and bottles, which are typical

of the 1950s onward, but one was in an elegant turned

wooden case which when opened revealed a stoppered

glass phial containing a small amount (about one gramme)

of white powder. It was clearly part of one of the

systematic collections of chemicals that university

chemistry departments were at one time so proud of. An

enquiry to the previous owner suggested it may have come from Sheffield University

in a collection assembled in the early twentieth century. A faded label read:

“Scandium Potassium Sulphate. By Sir W. Crookes. 1077. Pure”

Amazing! A direct connection to the golden age of chemistry. The amount of time and

effort represented by that small amount of powder is considerable, Crookes spent

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several years of his life in his researches on scandium and reported it as a minor

constituent of a significant number of minerals. The turned and polished wood

container shows that at one time it was considered to be something quite special.

Apparently the sample was one of many (the highest sample number I found was over

1400) which were at Sheffield University. They were being thrown away in the 1990's,

but a few were rescued by Alan Barnes, who was working in the department at the

time. It's a real shame such wonderful things are not valued! As it was they were

almost lost if it had not been for a chance rescue .... a sad situation for such a valuable

piece of chemical and mineralogical history.

Scandium minerals are very rare in the British Isles (are there any BMS members with

a British scandium mineral in their collection? Please let me know). For now I have put

the phial with the box that contains the only scandium mineral I have ever collected:

minute pale blue acicular crystals of an as yet unidentified scandium silicate from

Cwmorthin Quarry in north Wales. These occur in a fracture in rhyolitic tuff with

anatase, brookite, quartz, synchysite and xenotime. Until a better home can be found

perhaps Crookes would feel that to be appropriate?

Phosgenite-a synthetic approach

Steve Plant

Phosgenite, a lead chloro-carbonate, Pb2CO3Cl2, is a comparatively rare secondary

mineral formed by the alteration of galena in the presence of carbonate-containing

saline solutions. There are a few noteworthy localities worldwide where the mineral

occurs including the lead mines at Monteponi and Montevecchio near Iglesias, Sardinia,

Tsumeb, South West Africa and the old smelting slags at Laurium, Greece. In Britain

the classic phosgenite (and matlockite) locality is the Bage Mine, Cromford in

Derbyshire.

Synthetic studies are few and far between

but they certainly go back a long way. For

the first man-made phosgenites one has to

go back from between 2000 and 1200 BC,

during the time of the earliest periods of

Egyptian history. Recent chemical analysis

of samples found in Egyptian tombs and

interpretation of ancient recipes as

reported by Greco-Roman authors have

shown that phosgenite and laurionite were

made artificially.

According to ancient Egyptian manuscripts synthetic phosgenite/laurionite were used

as remedies for treating eye illness and skin ailments. Walter has discounted a natural

source of the mineral, or the fact that it formed during storage over the millennia

(Walter et al., 1999). He proposes a man-made route, as confirmed by classical

Wearied from battering coastal outcrops

in search of phosgenite, Steve Plant

describes another of his forays into

advanced kitchen sink chemistry

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authors, in which lead oxide (derived from smelting operations) was crushed and

mixed in water with rock salt and natron (sodium carbonate) and then filtered. The

process was repeated many times to produce a white compound containing

phosgenite. The Egyptians used many other lead compounds including galena for their

cosmetic and medicinal applications.

Synthetic methods carried out from the late nineteenth century invariably involved the

use of sealed glass tubes under high temperatures and pressures. Heating a solution of

lead chloride, lead carbonate and water at 180 degrees centigrade in a sealed glass

tube afforded phosgenite. Schulten made phosgenite by the action of carbon dioxide

gas on lead hydroxy chloride (laurionite) and also by allowing carbon dioxide to pass

over a filtered solution of lead chloride.

A more risky approach was to seal phosgene gas (later used during the First World

War as poison gas) in a glass tube with lead hydroxide and heat to 175 degrees

centigrade; the crystals were “small” and yellow (Hamor et al., 1919). More recently,

Pina et al., (1996) have grown phosgenite by the slow diffusion of sodium carbonate

and lead chloride down the limbs of a glass u-tube containing silica hydrogel. The

crystals were allowed to grow for eight months. The early stages of the growth

process led to crystalline dendritic growth patterns followed by a polyhedral habit.

The size of the crystals was up to 0.5 mm.

My own work has recently produced synthetic phosgenite crystals to similar

dimensions within 24 hours. The reaction of lead chloride in the presence of excess

chloride ions and urea in aqueous solution followed by heating to 90 degrees

centigrade for 24 hours resulted in an almost quantitative yield of euhedral phosgenite

crystals. The resulting crystals are readily washed, filtered and dried to yield almost

exclusively tabular euhedral crystals of phosgenite. Some acicular crystals were also

present which is probably laurionite. The largest tabular crystal attained a dimension of

0.4 mm on edge.

An aggregate of phosgenite crystals,

the scale bar is 100 microns, 0.1 mm.

Interlocking tabular phosgenites,

the scale bar is 100 microns, 0.1 mm

14

The function of the urea is to hydrolyse and yield carbonate ions for the formation of

phosgenite. A large excess of urea resulted in the formation of cerussite, whereas a

limited amount of urea produced laurionite as the primary product.

A by-product of the synthesis,

probably blades of laurionite, with a

few tablets of phosgenite.

the scale bar is 200 microns, 0.2 mm

Wheal Penrose phosgenites

David Green photograph

Experimental procedure: Lead nitrate (1.32 g) and urea (8.0 g) were dissolved in

approximately 40 ml of de-ionised water in a 120 ml Pyrex glass bottle. Sodium

chloride (2.4 g) was dissolved in 20 ml de-ionised water which was then added with

swirling to the lead nitrate/urea solution. 32 ml of 2 molar hydrochloric acid was then

added. A white precipitate was produced. The bottle was then fitted with a cover or

loosely fitting lid (not sealed, so as to avoid any pressure build up) and placed in a

constant-temperature oven set at 90 centigrade. After 3 or 4 hours the initial white

precipitate had dissolved leaving a clear solution. The mixture was maintained at 90

centigrade for a total of 20 hours. On cooling, a mass of crystalline material had

separated out. The pH of the supernatant liquid was 7.8. The crystals were washed

several times with de-ionised water and dried at 90 C for 2-3 hours. The identity of

the product was confirmed by infra-red spectrophotometry and XRD analysis.

For a summary of reported syntheses of phosgenite see Mellor (1970).

Acknowledgements: Peter Fisher for the scanning electron micrographs performed at the

department of earth sciences and oceanography University College Cardiff and Carole Alloway-

Martin for providing financial support for the S.E.M. work.

References.

Hamor, W.A., Gill, H.E. (1919). A new synthesis of phosgenite. American Journal of Science,

4th series, 47,430.

Mellor, J.W. (1970). A comprehensive treaty on inorganic and theoretical chemistry.

Longmans, London, 7, 852.

Pina, C.M., Fernandez-Diaz, L., Prieto, M. (1996). Topotaxy relationships in the transformation

phosgenite-cerussite. Journal of Crystal Growth, 158,340-345.

Walter, P., Martinetto, P. et al. (1999). Making make-up in ancient Egypt. Nature, 397,

11 February, 483-484.

15

Rum Jungle under the Microscope

Malcolm Southwood

Many British collectors will be familiar with the fine specimens of malachite and

pyromorphite that have emerged from “Rum Jungle”, in Australia’s Northern

Territory, over the past three or four years. Specimens were available at Tucson in

2011, and again, in smaller quantities in 2012 and 2013. In fact, “Rum Jungle” is a long-

established specimen locality, which produced large quantities of malachite,

pyromorphite and cerussite specimens in the late 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, but the

more recent finds have been sufficiently spectacular to rejuvenate the interest of the

international mineral community.

Before we look at the minerals, we

need to be clear about the locality.

The specimens come from a base

metals deposit called Brown’s

Prospect, or Brown’s Deposit, which

is part of the Rum Jungle mineral field

(McCready, 2004), and which just

happens to be very close to the

disused and somewhat controversial Rum Jungle uranium mining and processing

complex, and the nearby town of Batchelor. Brown’s Deposit has been explored and

evaluated for base metals – Cu, Pb, Zn, Ni, and Co – NOT for uranium, but if you

Google “Rum Jungle” you’ll see all sorts of information about the pollution legacy and

deplorable working conditions of a mine which provided more than 3500 tonnes of

yellowcake between 1954 and 1971, initially for weapons programmes in the USA and

UK. The Rum Jungle uranium operations comprised a number of deposits including:

White’s (U-Cu-Pb); Intermediate (Cu-U); Dyson’s (U); Rum Jungle Creek South (U),

and Mt Burton (U-Cu). Brown’s Deposit (Cu-Pb-Zn-Ni-Co) is quite separate from

these old workings, and contains essentially no uranium. Uranium mining at “Rum

Jungle” ceased in 1963, but uranium production from stockpiled ore continued for a

further 11 years, and perhaps fair to say that the disposal of process waste at that time

failed to meet modern standards!

Most Australian collectors label their specimens as coming from “Brown’s Deposit;

Rum Jungle; Northern Territory; Australia” but, not surprisingly, simply “Rum Jungle”

– a much more imaginative and evocative name, seems to be the accepted assignation

internationally. In my view, these specimens are already modern classics, but clearly

they’re not everybody’s cup of tea. One critic (on the Mindat forum) likened the Rum

Jungle specimens to Abba music; you buy them now, but a few years later you’ll

wonder why on earth you bothered! I think that seems unnecessarily harsh – to Abba,

as well as to the minerals!

A couple of specimens from the recent discoveries are shown in Figures 1 and 2, and I

have to say that I find the colours, the colour contrasts, and the morphology of these

Malcolm Southwood takes us on a

fascinating excursion into the darkest heart

of Rum Jungle’s malachite and

pyromorphite to discover hidden treasures

of paragenisis

16

pieces very attractive, and I’m delighted to have been able to acquire a small suite of

them for my collection, largely courtesy of my good friend Paul Melville, a Darwin-

based geologist and collector, who has been involved with the recent (2010-2012)

specimen recovery efforts throughout. Examining some of these specimens under the

microscope turned out to be a real delight, revealing some quite complex relationships

between the malachite and the pyromorphite, and one or two other surprises.

The specimen in Figure 1 turns out to be a multilayered assemblage, with at least three

generations of pyromorphite. The first generation of brownish-cream crystals is not

visible in the photograph, but the second generation is represented by the bright

yellow crystals in the cavity, just below and to the left of centre in the photograph.

These were overgrown by dark green malachite, which is itself multi-layered, and

which was in turn supplanted by the third generation of pyromorphite which occurs as

sharp, lime-green, hexagonal prisms to 0.3 mm, protruding slightly from the very

obvious botryoids on the specimen surface. It looks to me as though all of this was

subsequently covered with another generation of malachite, part of which has since

re-dissolved, leaving the second generation pyromorphites partly exposed.

Fig.1: Pyromorphite with malachite. This multi-

layered specimen shows at least three

generations of pyromorphite and two (or

three?) of malachite. Specimen MS2011.046,

measures 72 mm across.

Fig. 2: Malachite, with a sprinkling of

yellow-green pyromorphite crystals, (best

seen in the right-hand half of the

photograph). Specimen MS2011.045

measures 76 mm across.

The evidence for the re-dissolving of malachite is much clearer on the specimen in

Figure 2. At first sight this is a malachite specimen, but the tiny yellow flecks that are

clearly visible in the right-hand half of the photo are, in fact, isolated pyromorphite

crystals which seem to stand proud of the malachite surface. Under the microscope,

these are seen to be sitting like little hats, capping pedestals of fibrous malachite; the

“hats”, clearly, have shielded the malachite immediately underneath them during the

17

dissolution process, leaving these forests of pedestals as the surrounding, unprotected

malachite was removed.

Fig. 3: Yellow-green pyromorphite crystals

protecting tiny pedestals of malachite. Specimen MS2011.045; FOV is 20 mm.

Fig. 4: Twinned cerussite crystals, resting on dark green malachite. Specimen

MS2011.210; FOV is 9 mm.

My microphotography leaves much

to be desired I’m afraid, but Figure 3

shows a close-up of one of these

“forests” of malachite stalks, capped

by yellow-green pyromorphite

crystals.

The older finds from Brown’s

Deposit included quite abundant

cerussite, making some attractive

combinations with the malachite and

pyromorphite. Cerussite is much

scarcer in the recently recovered

material, and the main difference

seems to be that the older

specimens were collected from

above the water table, while the new

material is from just below. One of

my specimens has a sprinkling of tiny

cream-coloured cerussites, typically

as 2-3 mm crystals, resting on very

dark green – almost black –

malachite. An example of a small

twinned aggregate of cerussite is

shown in Figure 4.

And then things get really interesting.

I have a specimen from the material

recovered in 2010 that has hollowed

remnants of cerussite crystals, and

the inside of one of these cerussite

shells is lined with tiny pyromorphite

crystals, the inevitable malachite, and

a beautifully formed tabular crystal of yellow-orange wulfenite (Figs. 5 and 6).

Wulfenite crystals to 3 mm were reported as a rare accessory mineral in the material

recovered in the 1970s (McColl, 1979) but, according to Paul Melville (pers. comm.

2012), wulfenite crystals were very few and far between in the 2010 material.

18

Fig. 5: Pyromorphite, and malachite mineralization lining the interiors of two hollow cerussite crystals.

The structure to the upper right of the photograph

also hosts a tabular blade of yellow-orange

wulfenite. Specimen MS2011.235; FOV is 12 mm.

Fig. 6: Another view of specimen MS2011.235 showing the wulfenite crystal, with attendant

malachite and pyromorphite, inside a hollow

cerussite crystal. FOV is 9 mm.

For now, at least, I’m going to resist the temptation to say much about the paragenesis.

It is notable, however, that the material recovered in the 1970s was discovered very

close to surface and above the water table; the recent discoveries were made only a

few metres deeper but, critically, from below the water table. McColl (1979) noted

that malachite is forming rapidly and continuously at Brown’s Deposit, but it appears

to me from studying these specimens that malachite also re-dissolves under certain

conditions. Multiple generations of both pyromorphite and malachite appear to be

present and a reasonable hypothesis might be that fluctuations in the water table have

had a significant role in the development of this assemblage and the observed

relationships.

References

McCready, A.J. et al. (2004) Polymetallic Mineralisation at the Brown’s Deposit, Rum Jungle

Mineral Field, Northern Territory, Australia, Econ. Geol. 99. pp 257-277.

McColl, D.H. (1989) Malachite – cerussite – pyromorphite mineralisation from Brown’s Deposit,

Northern Territory, Australia, Australian Mineralogy 19 pp 89-93.

19

My Rock Room

Richard Bell

Where do you keep your collection? The collection is supposed to be kept in a

dedicated Mineral (Rock) room, but in reality they are everywhere (like the Tribbles

on Star Trek). They can be found in the lounge, hallway, landing, front and back

bedrooms, the loft and even the toilet and bathroom on occasion, and of course the

Mineral Room. The photo shows the room - believe it or not, it is quite tidy.

Can you describe its lay out? The

Mineral Room is a 6 ft x 8 ft. (I still

prefer "old money") box room with a

south facing window, so plenty of

natural light, There are cabinets,

shelving and a bookcase on one wall

and a workbench and display cabinets on the other.

What are you using to crack the rocks? I have two rock crackers. No 1 is a Peter

Braithwaite Mark 1 rock trimmer which I have had for at least 25 years. It has been

modified a couple of times due to my ability to bend the uprights. A tip is not to try to

crack small triangular pieces of rock – they

break rock trimmers! No 2 is a beach

cobble from Thurstaston Beach (again I

have had this for 25 years or more) and a

4 lb lump hammer. I have spent many

hours sat at the bottom of the garden

cracking up a pile of rocks much to the

amusement/incredulity of my parents

depending on how cold the weather was.

Many a time the window was thrown open

and I would hear "Come in you silly

b*****, you'll catch your death of cold"

Your microscope(s) and lights? Microscope is a Leica M8 with a Meiji fibre-optic

light source and a ring light. I also have a Euromex microscope which I take to the

Symposium and club meetings

What do you use - Blue tack or black box and stick? I use black based 1 inch

cube micro boxes where the lids fit over the base, not inside. They are not the

cheapest but there are very rarely any issues with the lids not fitting properly, and you

get a good discount if you buy a case of them. I also use the high dome Jousi type

boxes. I am a confirmed (as dear old Peter Braithwaite would say) "Putty Sticker".

I don't think I would live long enough to be able to mount everything (17,500

specimens) properly.

Richard Bell invites us into his Rock Room

and bares his soul to the BMS on living with

a house full of rocks that all want to be

friends with him

20

Where you keep your minerals - before and after! Specimens post-collecting

and pre-processing are kept in one of two sheds and the garage. After processing,

micros are kept in Bisley 24 or 15 drawer cabinets, variously scattered round the

house, and hand specimens are kept in Really Useful Boxes, again scattered around the

house.

Your favourite part of micromounting – collecting, cleaning, cracking,

mounting, labelling, putting them in cabinet or showing them? Collecting is

definitely my favourite part of micromounting, it gets me out of the house and I get to

see my mineral friends and acquaintances. Least favourite? I hate labelling and can't

abide cataloging, but I do it because it has to be done – properly.

How much time a month? Probably between 60 to 80 hours a month, more if you

include looking at/researching minerals on the Internet. Do you listen to

radio/music? Always music, anything from classical to folk to pop to heavy metal, but

not jazz or opera. Ugh!!

Where is your computer - in same room? I would love to have my computer in

the mineral room but there is no room for it, so I have to use it wherever I can find a

space for it.

What are you looking at now, recently cracked, recently boxed? I am

currently ploughing through a large quantity of micro specimens from around the

world which I acquired last year for my website, the main problem is that it is such

nice material that I am keeping about 30% of it for my own collection, which is

growing fast. I have recently "cracked" some Meadowfoot Smelter material collected in

the early 80s when a lot of the really good stuff came out, found lots of good

specimens, yet more to add to the collection.

Herodsfoot Mine in the News (again!)

Roy Starkey

Following an enquiry received by e-mail I was

able to put some visiting collectors in touch

with Richard Humphrey at Herodsfoot. They

have published a short account of their visit in

the Australia and New Zealand Micromineral

News. You can download a copy here: -

www.crocoite.com/amn/amn-07.pdf

As noted in Newsletter 89, Richard‘s excellent

website / blog is well-worth keeping an eye on

for the latest news of his on-going explorations

at the mine. He recently un-earthed this fine specimen measuring 4.5cm x 3.0cm of

quartz pseudomorphous after baryte, with bournonite crystals.

21

Cornwall Round-Up

Rob Selley

Mounts Bay Consols

In February 2008 my friend Nick Pettett had to do a mine search at Marazion in a

small field beside the road. He had to dig a trench across the top of a lode on Mounts

Bay Consols where the lode came nearly to surface - but unfortunately there wasn’t

much mineralization. I managed to get one lump of killas with some vughy chlorite.

There were some nice anatase crystals in this, although a lot was iron-stained, and we

also got some platy crystals of monazite and two sparable tin crystals.

Wheal Vreah

On a trip to Wheal Vreah (which is part of the Wheal Vor set at Breage) in January

2008, we found that a few of the big dumps were completely gone. A lot of the site

was being turned into a campsite so the dumps had been made into big banks

surrounding several plots. Unfortunately most of it had all been top soiled over.

However there was one quite big plot that still had a stone base so we had a look.

As with many dumps there was plenty of killas but I did find one small piece of

cassiterite with small pale brown crystals on one side. I also got a few pieces with

siderite crystals, and one piece which has got a couple of anatase crystals with the

siderite. Otherwise, there was a little bit of galena showing, but nothing else.

Wheal Speed

On a recent trip to Prussia Cove I spent a few hours looking on the dumps of Wheal

Speed. There is a lot of killas showing, along with some vughy quartz. Some of the

quartz has weathered pyrite and siderite crystals, but in the main, it was barren. I did

eventually find a small lump of quartz / killas with a few anatase plates lying flat in a

joint and one free-standing anatase in a small cavity, along with a very small patch of

micro cassiterite crystals in the quartz. It was certainly hard going to find anything, but

a very pleasant place to be.

West Great Work

In January 2007 Nick and I were driving around the lanes near Godolphin on the way

home from Perranuthnoe. Having gone through Trescowe village heading towards

West Godolphin engine house we passed a field on the left with a recently moved

dump in it. Needless to say, we stopped for a look. The farmer had taken away the

centre of the dump which was about half of it. Everything was very dirty but I did

manage to pick up a large rock with a couple of cassiterite veins running through it,

one of which had a couple of vughs showing. One vugh opened up and had a fair

coverage of sparable tin crystals to 5 mm on quartz. The other was barren. That was

it for the day.

Being Part 2 of Rob’s article of what we probably all hope will become a regular

series of “Letters from the Duchy”.

22

I had a look on the maps when I got home and found out that we were on West

Great Work set. According to Dines, six lodes were worked and the mine produced

462 tons of tin, and 177 tons of copper, between 1863 & 1876. We returned a few

times but nothing more had been taken away. We did find some more big rocks, some

of them quite vughy, and containing sparable tin, the largest crystals being about 15

mm. On our last visit I found some nice siderite and one piece of killas with some

micro galena cubes in a small cavity. This is another place that is hard going, but worth

it if you find anything.

We have been unable to find out who owns the field so we always parked out on the

road in the hope that someone would see the car and come up, but no one has done

so, up to now. During the subsequent trips we have found quite a bit of cassiterite,

mainly as sparable crystals. I went down recently and the farmer has now started to fill

in the hole in the dump with soil and rocks.

Dolcoath

During recent excavations for a new road at the top of Tuckingmill Valley they cut

into the side of a small dump at the tail end of Dolcoath. There was a lot of quartz

/chlorite and some arsenopyrite showing, which yielded a few specimens with a good

coverage of small cassiterite crystals. There were also a few pieces containing some

nice apatite crystals.

Wheal Penrose

In November 2012 Nick had done a mine search on the site of a big bungalow at

Porthleven which has the main lode running up alongside the house. A hole about 10

feet square and deep was dug on the corner of the house right on top of the lode. We

went down at the weekend for a look. The lode was exposed in the hole, and there

was crusty pyromorphite showing everywhere, especially on the joints in the killas, but

not worth picking up. However Porthleven is a very pleasant place to be.

{This site was christened “Wheal Bungalow” by David

Roe who brought quite a lot of pyromorphite from the

site to the 2013 Symposium “Grab Table”. The photo

shows the collapsed stope after it had been filled in and

the foundations of the front of the house rebuilt.

One oddity is that if you zoom into the site on Google

Earth and then “walk round the corner” at the highest

magnification you can actually see someone sitting in

the sun in the bungalow garden just where the later

collapse occurred – presumably Google photographed

the site a few months before the stope fell in. Editor}

23

Lushington

In April 2011 Nick and I were the first to get to a small cliff fall at Lushington, near

Porth Towan. Since then it has produced a fair suite of minerals, namely: erythrite,

cobaltite, arsenopyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, pyrite, native silver, carminite,

scorodite, pharmocosiderite, olivenite/libethenite, pyromorphite/mimetite,

chalcophyllite, bayldonite, langite, connellite, lavendulan, anatase, malachite, cerussite,

beudantite and brochantite.

All of these have only been visually

identified. This list is far from

complete as there are a lot of

material whose identity I don’t know.

{Rob is being a little self-effacing here

when he says it is “a fair suite of

minerals”! Those of us who have

seen his Lushington material at the

Symposium or elsewhere know that

they are pretty stunning! Editor}

I am currently negotiating with a well-known BMS member for articles

which would explain phase diagrams to the Newsletter readers. I also

know that a number of BMS members have a weakness for crystalline

carbon. No doubt their pulses quickened with the recent news that

the atmospheric depths of Jupiter and Saturn may contain chunks of

diamond floating in liquid hydrogen-helium.

Apparently planetary scientists Mona Delitsky and Kevin Baines have

compiled recent data about the phase diagram of carbon and

combined them with newly published adiabats (pressure-temperature

diagrams) for Jupiter and Saturn and it turns out that that diamond will

be stable in their deep interiors. Rather more dramatically they

calculate that at certain altitudes (or depths depending on your point

of view) the pressures and temperatures will be high enough to melt

the diamonds, creating, in effect, diamond rain.

Those of us with fond memories of the golden age of Sci-Fi may

remember a (not very good) short story by Tom Godwin in 1953

called “Mother of invention” which started with the premise of a

crash landing on a diamond planet – I can only remember that the

dust storms were painful to man and machine – but Tom did get the

idea without these high fallutting phase diagrams.

Contributor – David Roe

View from Lushington site Photo David Roe

Roc

k

Chip

pin

gs

24

Executive Profile

What do the officers of the British Micromount Society get up

to in their spare time?

Our Chairman, Martin Stolworthy, answers a few personal

questions about life, the universe and micromounting.

How long have you been collecting - and how long have you been

micromounting? My first specimen was collected in 1973. During 1974 this

increased to 36 specimens which I acquired by buying and collecting. I caught the

micromounting bug around 1976 – and have never looked back!

Where do you stand on the great Blu Tack debate? Are you a black box

and stick micromounter? To be honest I now use mainly mineral tack. In my early

years it was a matter of using anything to make it stay in the box. I suppose I have

over 100 specimens permanently fixed inside black painted boxes.

What started your interest in minerals … and micromounts? I used to collect

amber from the beaches in Norfolk and then I got interested in the other stones and

pebbles and it went from there. I bought my microscope after taking some of them to

be identified at Norwich Museum – that’s when I first realized what could be seen

with a microscope.

Is there anything in your work experience that gave you the interest?

I’m not sure that being in the milk delivery business gives an insight into mineralogy!

Do you specialise in specific locations such as Cornwall or are you happy

with minerals from anywhere? I’m from Norfolk so I will collect anything mineral

from anywhere!

Would you describe yourself as a species collector or do you go for

aesthetics? I am not fussy and will collect anything from anywhere. But if I am

buying then I prefer specimens from the rutile group and I have a serious weakness for

pyromorphite and wulfenite

Have you a favorite part of micromounting – collecting, cleaning, cracking,

mounting, labelling, putting them in cabinet or showing them? I am happy

doing anyone of those jobs but I do especially enjoy the curation and cataloging

aspects of the hobby. At the moment I am really getting into photography so I am

going through my collection now.

25

Let’s get a feel for how serious you are – how many mineral specimens do

you have in your collection? I have just looked that up on the computer and it is

13,082 to date - all fully indexed. They are housed in 275 trays – and the trays are all

stored in cabinets. Specimen No.1was from the Hilton Mine and 13,082 is descloizite

from the States.

That’s impressive! Micromounters seem to have a garage full of tomato

boxes filled with rocks – how many do you have? My spare material is kept in

250 mushroom / tomato boxes – and they are all labelled.

How much time do you spend on it a month? I try to do a bit everyday – and

when I really get enthusiastic after a collecting trip I can spend up to eight hours a day.

So what are your top three favorite minerals? I guess I would choose

pyromorphite, wulfenite and I’ll cheat with my third choice and say the rutile group –

anatase, brookite and rutile. And your least favorite mineral? Not really got any.

How long have you been Chairman of the BMS? Over eight years now.

And if the grateful members of the BMS had a whip round where would

you go for your all expenses paid mineral collecting trip to anywhere in the

world? I’d love to go to New Zealand.

Gold in them there Eucalyptus Trees

A study by Mel Lintern and colleagues at the Australian science agency

has come up with the suprising finding that the analysis of leaves and

bark of eucalyptus trees could be a guide to the presence of gold

deposits up to 40 metres below the surface. Gold is thought to be

transported as ions from the deposits through the extensive tree

roots. It is toxic to the tree which defends itself by trapping the gold

as nano particles in calcium oxalate crystals where it can cause no

further damage to the plant – and can then be excreted by shedding

bark or leaves.

The concentration of gold is up to 100 parts per billion – or 0.1 ppm

which is not too far from being a workable reserve. It is suggested

that this could be a useful way of identifying deposits of gold in rugged

terrain – and may give a boost to the Australian mining industry

where gold finds are substantially down in recent years.

See http://www.nature.com/ncomms

Contributor – David Roe

Rock

Chip

pin

gs

26

Member Profile

BMS North West Branch member, John Vanston, is cross

examined on his enthusiasm for minerals and micromounting

How long have you been collecting - and how long have you been

micromounting? I started collecting in a “picking up stones” way back in 1982. I

soon found the Bramhall Lapidary and Mineral Society and then met people like Harry

Critchley and Beryl Taylor in the Warrington Club – and I think they probably

introduced me to micromounting around 1985.

Where do you stand on the great Blu Tack debate? Are you a black box

and stick micromounter? I have several hundred “proper” micromounts but I

usually artistically arrange my specimens on top of some mineral tack.

What started your interest in minerals? I picked up a superb crystal on a school

trip to the Carrock Mine many years before and that tickled my fancy – I was

entranced by the shape and symmetry. But I am not even sure what the mineral was

now.

Is there anything in your work experience that gave you the interest?

Well, the Carrock Mine experience probably influenced me to take a Geology degree.

My career went another way into training and I currently do Physiotherapy - not much

of a connection with minerals there!

Do you specialise in specific locations such as Cornwall or are you happy

with minerals from anywhere? I’m quite happy to collect minerals from anywhere.

Would you describe yourself as a species collector or do you go for

aesthetics? I must admit I have a soft spot for a nicely composed group of crystals –

that’s what switches me on.

Have you a favorite part of micromounting. I really enjoy the discovery part of

it – digging around on a tip or cracking open a rock and discovering a crystal lined

vugh inside. I don’t do it yet, but I want to put aside some time soon to teach myself

mineral photography.

How many mineral specimens do you have in your collection? It is around

2000 – and don’t bother to nag me – not all of them are properly labelled – That’s

current work in progress.

27

Micromounters seem to have a garage full of tomato boxes filled with rocks

– how many do you have? I have around sixty boxes out in the garage – there is

some serious work to do!

How much time do you spend on it a month? It is very much fits and spurts but

probably 5 sessions a month of a couple of hours each. I must say I do find it a

wonderfully relaxing hobby – it’s a great stress reliever.

So what are your favorite minerals? I would choose Australian pyromorphite,

blue fluorite on hematite from the Florence Mine and vanadanite. Except I get guilty

about vanadanite – I once won a club competition for my vanadanite entry It was only

when they presented me with the cup I realized the competition was for self-collected

specimens and mine was self-bought. I have lived with the guilt ever since – but it was

a lovely vanadanite.

Where would you go if you won an all-expenses paid mineral collecting trip

to anywhere in the world? I’d love to go to Sicily – I just love those sulphur crystals

from Mount Etna.

Free Zeolite Datasheets

Take a look at The Commission on Natural Zeolites website

http://www.iza-online.org/natural/default.htm , which has an

excellent set of datasheets for every natural zeolite. If there are any

of the following about which you’d like to know more, or simply do

not recognise – give it a try.

Alflarsenite; Amicite; Ammonioleucite; Barrerite; Bellbergite;

Bikitaite; Boggsite; Brewsterite; Chabazite; Chiavennite;

Clinoptilolite; Cowlesite; Dachiardite; Direnzoite; Edingtonite;

Epistilbite; Faujasite; Ferrierite; Florkeite; Garronite; Gaultite;

Gismondine; Gmelinite; Gobbinsite; Gonnardite; Goosecreekite;

Gottardiite; Hsianghualite; Kalborsite; Kirchhoffite; Laumontite;

Leucite; Levyne; Lovdarite; Maricopaite; Mazzite; Montesommaite;

Mordenite; Mutinaite; Nabesite; Natrolite; Offretite; Pahasapaite;

Partheite; Paulingite; Perlialite; Phillipsite; Pollucite; Roggianite;

Stellerite; Terranovaite; Thomsonite; Tschernichite; Tschortnerite;

Tvedalite; Wairakite; Weinebeneite; Willhendersonite;

Yugawaralite.

Each datasheet includes information on Morphology, Physical

Properties, Optical Properties, Crystallography, Name, Crystal

Structure, Chemical composition, Occurrences and a selection of

Literature References.

{There will be a test later! Editor} Contributor – Roy Starkey

Rock

Chip

pin

gs

http://www.iza-online.org/natural/default.htm

28

Early Mineral Specimens

Trevor Bridges

I collected my first three specimens long before I became interested in minerals and

what is more they are all foreign and as most of you know I do not collect foreign

rubbish specimens.

In September 1959 I joined a group led by two guides in the Venediger area of the

Austrian Alps. On one of the days we climbed a mountain called Schlieferspitze, but

part of the way up we diverted to a cavity and the guides proceeded to rake around in

it with ice axes. They pulled out a number

of quartz crystals and I got the two in the

photo (the scale rod is 5 cm). I remember

there being a lot of green powder in the

cavity. I now know this was an Alpine

Fissure Vein cavity and that the green

powder would have been a member of the

chlorite family.

The third specimen shown in Figure 2 has

the distinction, as far as I remember, of

being the only mineral specimen that came

really close to killing me! In August 1961, I

was roping up with a friend at the foot of

the North Wall of the 2nd Sella Tower, near

Canazei, in the Italian Dolomites when

there was a loud crash about 2 m away. A

football sized block had fallen off the face

and smashed to bits. Our helmets would

have given us no protection at all if it had

hit us. I noticed the crystals of dolomite on

one of the fragments and put it in my rucksack and carried it all the way up the 800 ft

of the climb and have kept it as a souvenir.

This climb is indelibly imprinted in my memory for another reason. About two thirds

of the way up we reached a somewhat larger ledge than usual for the climb, about the

size of a dining room table. ‘Oh good!’ says my friend and to my horror got down on

his knees, got out a handkerchief and proceeded to remove a pair of very early hard

contact lenses from his eyes. This was my first experience with contact lenses and I

wondered if we would be able to finish the climb! Fortunately, with ordinary glasses he

had no difficulties.

I have got rid of most of my foreign material, but these three specimens will be kept

for sentimental reasons as much as anything.

29

Curator’s Corner

Trevor Devon

I have agreed with the new Editor to attempt a regular feature in the Newsletter that

relates to the BMS Mineral Collection. As many of you know, a decision was made at

the 2012 AGM to dispose of the BMS Foreign Collection, and that was duly completed

at the AGM this year. So now we can focus on the British Isles Collection!

I thought it might generate interest (and possibly some new specimens!) if I explore

various aspects of the Collection with you, starting with a look at minerals in the

Collection from some sites in Devon. The list below shows which minerals have so far

been deposited in our Collection as reference specimens for each site. It may be that

members reading this will notice that they have specimens that could supplement our

Collection?

Bampfylde Mine: digenite; hematite; libethenite; malachite & siderite

Brookwood Mine: erythrite; fluorite; muscovite; sphalerite & tyrolite

Fullabrook Mine: pyrolusite

Haytor Iron Mine: hastingsite & magnetite

Virtuous Lady Mine: anatase; siderite

East Wheal Russell: chalcoalumite; childrenite & cyanotrichite

Merrivale Quarry: autunite; phurcalite

Red-a-Ven Mine: pyrrhotite; malayaite

Wheal Exmouth: cerussite; sphalerite

Another theme that we can look at is the minerals present in the Collection from only

one location in the British Isles. Do you have any of these minerals from other

locations that you could perhaps contribute?

Aikinite Carrock Mine, Cumbria

Arseniosiderite Needle’s Eye, Solway

Bavenite Shap, Cumbria

Bottinoite Hendre Felen, Wales

Conichalcite Cornwall

Clinozoisite Loanhead Quarry, Scotland

Cornubite Bedford United Mine, Cornwall

Cosalite Carrock Mine, Cumbria

If you think you can contribute some new specimens based on the above, do let me

know, by email if possible at [email protected], or by telephone on 01424

870402.

Finally, do remember that the BMS Collection is a reference collection for use by

members and that if you wish to do a bit of research, let me know your interest and

where convenient you can come and explore the Collection in Sussex or I can post

specimens to you. The collection is listed on the BMS website as an Excel spreadsheet

that can be readily sorted by location or mineral species.

30

The Founder’s Cup

Christine Critchley

The Founder’s Cup - for us! Wow, what a delightful honour. But we are still

wondering why us? Anyway, as soon as I got home and after finding a spot for the cup

and arranging for a name plate to be made, I found myself transported, in true

Hogwarts ‘port key’ style, back in time to the foundation of the BMS and of the cup.

First I looked at micromounting. I thought that true micromounts were specimens,

fixed to ‘sticks’ in little black based boxes, which showed glorious crystal displays but

only under the microscope. Apparently this might be wrong. In the first British Directory

of Micromounters Newsletter June 1981 it suggested ’we all know that micromounting is

the preservation of small geological specimens in boxes and viewing them with the aid

of magnification’. The writer went on to express the true and friendly nature of

micromounters and that, however defined, ‘micromounting is an interesting and

enjoyable way of collecting and preserving minerals’.

Having sorted that out, (or not as the case may be), I investigated the background of

the BMS itself. This proved interesting since the first ‘meeting of minds’ was actually as

a result of a suggestion in the June 1981 Directory that like-minded people might get-

together - and they did. The first British Micromount Newsletter, (actually called

‘Newsletter No. 2’) was published in November 1981. In this it was reported that ‘the

name 'British Micromount Society' had been adopted for the national organization.

The society ‘workload’ was ‘within the capability of one person’. Who was he? – step

forward one Mr R E Starkey. The BMS inaugural meeting, Leicester Show March 1982,

was reported in ‘British Micromount Society Newsletter Number 4’! 25 members and

several interested observers heard Roy Starkey give an explanation of the origin and

aims of the Society. By June 1982 the membership stood at 55 with the subscription

being just £1.

The first annual field meeting was in the mid-Wales, August 1982 with visits to

Eaglebrook Mine (Nantycagel) and Glogfawr Mine. The suggested campsite (those

were the days) was Erwbarfe Farm, near Devil's Bridge, though B&Bs were suggested,

and attendees were given directions to the area. Oh, the days before Google Maps

and Sat Nav!

The first Weekend Symposium ‘where members could set up microscopes, study and

exchange micromounts’ was in 1982, in the Pump Room of the Mining Museum,

Matlock Bath. The symposium included a general workshop/forum for discussion, a

beginners table, a 'grab table’ for free surplus material, and a short field trip.

Registration, £2, covered ‘room hire, information sheets, correspondence, and

refreshments’. Presentations covered Micromounts of Millclose, the Caldbeck Mines, and

the Island of Skye plus Gold in Britain, Mines and Minerals of Eire, Minerals of Zambia,

Simple Mineral Optics and a Workshop on Mounting Techniques.

31

The first Branch, BMS South East Branch, was proposed in September 1983, with a

meeting on 26th November. A ‘feature of every meeting would be the swapping and

sale of micros’ but the first meeting was also ‘devoted to Photography through the

Microscope’. Members were asked to bring film (Agfa 12 exp. film being

recommended!). Branch events were published in the newsletter and the ‘editor’

would be ‘pleased to receive reports of meetings’. Just as David Roe is requesting at

present!

Then came the ‘National Micromount Reference Collection’, by the members for the

members. Yet, as early as 1987, the ‘Curator of the Collection’ reported ‘the

Collection was not being used by members’ with only two loan requests received

during the past year’. Some things do not change. A more recent development is the

web site, a valuable source of information, from where I obtained most of the

information in this article!

What made the BMS different? ‘One of the hallmarks of the BMS, which has made it

unique, is the total openness and friendliness of members, particularly as displayed in

the trust and honesty at the Symposium. This 'special relationship' is precious and

must be jealously ‘guarded’ to preserve the way that members are pleased to offer

help and advice and to assist in any way possible.

At the AGM in 1987, the retiring Chairman Roy Starkey presented a large Silver Cup

to the BMS, to be presented to ‘the member giving outstanding service to the Society

and its aims during the year or for contributions to mineralogy in general’. The first

recipient was Max Wirth for all his hard work on the Society's Collection. Since then

the Cup has been awarded to Mike Rothwell, Elsie Hansford, Mick Cooper, Roy

Starkey, Kemp Miekle, Michael Wolfe, Peter Braithwaite, Neil Hubbard, Ken Luff,

David Green, John Pearce, Steve Rust, Harry Day, Sid and Pearl Freeman, Harry Foy,

Jean Spence, Austin Lockwood, Trevor Bridges, Bob Snowball, Shirley Adrian, Doug

Morgan, Richard Belson, Peter Wallace, Chris Jewson, and Mike Leppington.

At the 2013 Symposium the trophy came out of its large box for the 27th time. It was

to be presented to … ‘a couple who fit the criteria set for selection, as wherever they

travel around the world, they promote both the BMS and mineralogy in general. They

have been members of the BMS for longer than I can remember, and have organised

their Branch Meetings for many years.’ and I still had no idea! It was only when

Martin went on to say ‘My heart sank last year, on that Sunday morning in June, when

Dick Belson rang me to say…’ ‘Oops, that’s us!’ I thought.

So there we were with the Cup in our hands, being careful not to drop it as it is very

heavy, while the photograph was taken and Harry was saying ‘Thank you’ to all.

Others would have said something like ‘My wife and I … thank you all for this honour’

but Harry was as surprised and as overcome as I was.

32

North West Branch Christine Critchley

October Meeting Report – Show and Tell

David Green arrived first, rubbed his hands and managed to work his ‘Aladdin Magic’

on Harry’s microscope lamp which had one of those infuriating ‘intermittent faults’.

Many thanks David - a man of so very many talents. David had brought some “show

and tell” minerals from Boulby Mine which had the rest of us drooling. It is a beautiful

suite, now housed in David’s collection, which includes a number of ‘old pieces’ found

between 1970 and 1990. They included superb well crystallised blue boracite, some of

which had colourless plates of magnesite, plus the ‘so-called’ ericaite which is actually

trembathite. Trembathite occurs as toffee-brown cubic crystals up to almost 1 cm in

size.

David also had some ‘new pieces’ found in 2013 which included volkovskite with large

hematite stained cleavages surrounded by hilgardite crystals, szaibelyite found as

acicular red-stained crystals on hilgardite, and hydroboracite (RARE – gypsum-like

plates on hilgardite with szaibelyite). Truly these were ‘tummy rumbling’ pieces.

Staying with the same theme we next travelled towards Ale and Cakes, via John

Vanston’s box of ‘unknown - re-visits – show and tell’ plus a piece of baryte from

Mount Wellington Mine. This came originally from Don Alderson and we all took a

little ‘time out’ to remember Don and to think about Paddy and the family.

Oneta Wilson had some very nice gold from Hopes Nose in Devon. Perhaps of more

interest was the fact that this piece was silvery gold due to the high palladium content!

Perhaps, if Oneta had been able to get out from the back of the microscope laden

table, she would have given us a dance of celebration for this find.

Harry Critchley had material from the Manganese Mine, Keweenaw, Michigan which

had a ‘?’ mineral label attached. The concensus of opinion identified this as ‘orientite’.

Harry had several ‘grab bags’ from the Manganese Mine as well as from the ‘Freebies

Table’ at Maisemore which were passed round. Christine brought a couple of

duplicate mineral books to give away and also some sconeite, pizzatite, and fruitite as

refreshments for all to partake of.

Branch News - Meeting reports and future dates for your diary

You will always be welcome at any BMS Branch Meeting. So why not check if there is

one during your next holiday or collecting trip and give yourself an extra holiday treat by

meeting up with other BMS members from “foreign parts”

33

December Meeting Report

Just six members as illness caused

some late cancellations. While David

Hardman visited ‘The Shed’ to look

for some swap material for collectors

in Australia, John Vanston brought in

some “Scotland” boxes which he and

Beryl Taylor browsed through. John

had also brought some ‘unknown’

material from Cornwall, and Jill Goltz

had brought a similar tray from

‘everywhere’. These gave rise to lots

of discussion, some zeolites were

identified and Fleischer assisted with

some names. After the usual nibbles,

with mulled fruit juice for the Christmas flavour, there were lots of reminiscences of

drivers and driving to field trips in locations from Cornwall to Greece.

North West Branch 2014 Meetings

We hold a meeting every two months, usually on a Saturday afternoon, except

in the months of September and October when we have them on Monday

afternoon as most ‘weekends’ are booked with other mineral activities. All

meetings are held at Harry and Chris’s house, Blackrod. We do not set dates at

the beginning of the year, unfortunately – we tend to decide the next meeting

date at the end of each meeting. If we know of ‘visitors’ from other branches

(e.g. when Philip Taylor comes down) we organise a meeting which they can

attend. For each of the meetings Harry contacts NW members beforehand –

we find this impromptu system achieves a good turnout. IF any members from

other branches are in the area PLEASE do get in touch, we will gladly use your

visit as an excuse to plan another meeting!

Devon and Cornwall Branch Chris Jewson

The group meets in the Long Room at Liskeard Council Offices, 3 – 5, West Street,

Liskeard, East Cornwall. Meetings start at 1 pm and finish by 5 pm. There is car

parking 100 metres along West Street from the venue, unfortunately it is not free.

Entry is £1 to cover cost of room and refreshments. Visitors are most welcome to

come along for a chat and a cuppa or bring material for identification. A ‘scope will be

available. For further info contact Chris Jewson on 01872 560687 or email

[email protected]


34

Devon & Cornwall Branch 2014 Meeting Dates

Saturday 15th March, 14th June, 6th September, 6th December

Norfolk Branch Richard Belson

We had three micromount meetings in

2013 and we usually have a theme for the

day. In February we concentrated on Eifel

Minerals to help those who were on the

Eifel trip last year identify some of the

multitude of minerals found there. In July

we visited another foreign country and

enjoyed the millerites and copper

secondaries from Nant-y-moch Reservoir

in Mid Wales. For the September meeting

we chose an area that can never get boring

and had a feast of minerals from the

Caldbeck Fells.

There are normally about a dozen members attending from the BMS and the Norfolk

Club. The meetings include a slide show of minerals and locations. Our subject is

usually a location, rather than specific minerals, so we can share information on the

location such as minerals, rights of access and collecting policies, if any. After the slide

shows several microscopes are made available for viewing specimens, and sometimes

rough material can be broken up by means of rock splitters and then looked at, giving

those members some idea of what matrixes to look out for.

Our next micro meeting is on 1st April, theme yet to be decided.

Sussex Branch John Hall

October Meeting Report John Pearce

Eleven members spent a very busy, enjoyable and interesting evening peering down

their microscopes and exchanging ideas and information. There were a number of

activities proceeding alongside each other:

John Hall had borrowed 50 lead mineral micros from the BMS Reference

collection and had, as always, produced detailed notes for each. Without them I

doubt whether, in many cases, I would find what I should be looking for.

A rather nice pseudobrookite on

kaersutite from Eifel

35

John had also raided the Merritts’ and his own collection for further examples of

lead minerals, including cylindrite, kasolite, bournonite, vauquelinite and fiedlerite.

From the Merritt Collection John had also assembled 12 examples of anglesite to

illustrate some of the wide variations in habit (exterior appearance) of this

species.

At the BMS Symposium, Mike Leppington, “King of the Caldbecks”, had made his

annual gift to the Sussex Branch of a series of micros from the Caldbeck Fells.

This year he also sent some interesting material including baryte and witherite

from Settlingstones, and pyromorphite from the Burgam Mine. Members looked

through the material and “collected” what they wanted. Many thanks Mike.

One of our new members, Susan Tizack, challenged us to identify some well-

formed spikey material from Loanhead Quarry, white orthorhombic bladed

zeolite and some bladed inclusions in garnets. The jury is still out on all of them.

Mark Oddy brought in a box of interesting lead micros, including plumbogummite

and caledonite. Additionally there was a beautiful 3” x 3” specimen with

spectacular cog wheel bournonites with pyrite and minor quartz. Mark thought it

was foreign, possibly from Peru, but dreamt it might be from the Herodsfoot

Mine in Cornwall.

John Hall brought in his first six trays, each containing 6 micros, from the

Introduction to Micros he is producing. In contrast to many of the specimens in

the BMS Reference Collection, these are beautiful simple specimens containing

only one or two mineral species and are invaluable in helping to get one’s eye in

before looking at more complex and obscure micros. One box, for example,

contained exquisite specimens of: annabergite, aragonite, arthurite, aurichalcite

and two contrasting azurites each with John’s helpful descriptive notes.

The meetings are from 7 pm. to 10 pm. and take place in the Redwood Centre,

Perrymount Road in Haywards Heath. This is the same building that is used for talks at

the Sussex Mineral Show each year and is on the north side of Clair Hall (the Show

venue). All meetings are free and built around various themes chosen by members,

making good use of the BMS Reference Collection specimens in the process.

Members’ latest mineralogical finds and unidentified specimens etc. are also most

welcome for viewing/discussion. Refreshments are served for a nominal charge. For

further information please contact John Hall on 01444 415066.

Sussex Branch 2014 Meeting Dates

21st March 2014 - the theme for the March meeting is Zinc Minerals

17th October 2014 – theme yet to be chosen

36

Midland Branch Jane Randle

December Meeting

Thanks to the generosity of Mary and Roy Starkey, the Midland Branch Meetings are

now held in their house. We make a day of it which gives plenty of time to enjoy and

learn about the specimens related to the theme. We are exceptionally lucky to have

such a wealth of expertise among the members of the branch.

The December Meeting on the Minerals of Derbyshire was very good with 12

members present. Specimens from the collections of Neil, Frank, Peter and Edgar

were passed round. Many of these minerals showed a variety of habits and many

localities could be compared.

After a lunch of delicious home-made soup and seasonal treats we enjoyed a couple of

presentations.

Adrian Wyatt has been studying the Malvern Area for about forty years now. Having

spent some time there, I had my doubts about collecting minerals, but Adrian’s

thorough account included many aspects: geology, history, engineering, hydrology, the

past state and the present state of the classic localities and how to get permits. All this

was illustrated with superb pictures. The list of mineral present was much longer than

I expected! Thank you Adrian. Roy then took us from the very ancient to the not yet

cool lava of Hawaii. This was typically full of interest and I am sure you will all be

seeing more of this very interesting excursion. Thank you Roy.

Midland Branch 2014 Meeting Dates

16th February – Minerals of St. Just

30th March - (theme to be arranged)

28th October – the Shap Area

7th or 14th December - (theme to be arranged)

South Crofty Mine

The company website has no update on the position, and there appears to

have been little or no progress made with raising new funding. The future of

the mine must now be in serious doubt. Our man on the ground confirms

that “absolutely no news is coming out”. In August the numbers employed

at the site dropped to only a handful and the business rational for mining, waste

disposal or even building development seems to be increasingly elusive - as do the

previous hints that we might see Cornwall’s first gallium (or was it indium) mine.

37

Sheila’s Fizz

So many stories to tell (Part 1)

Sheila Harper

So there I was at the 2013 British Micromount Symposium when I was approached by

Dr. David Roe. He gave me that look, his hand rubbing his beard, the eyes

unblinking…I think I was being hypnotized - ‘An article for the BMS Newsletter…your

favourite mineraaaaal’.

And now it’s the New Year and every time I look at a rock up pops….’Your favourite

mineraaaaal’ so I’ll have to jot something down or be haunted for the rest of my life.

But I do have a problem. Because it doesn’t matter what I find when I am collecting. If

it is crystalline, small or large, perfect or dinged – it doesn’t matter - I’m in heaven. I

get my buzz from the prospect, the hunt, the chase, the expectation and most of all -

finding minerals new for me on a site. And even better, but very rarely, finding

something no one else has ever found.

I enjoy collecting with other people and have a long history with BMS members going

back to when Bob Snowball came to stay with Steve and I at our guest house

(Chichester Interest Holidays) in Newquay down in Cornwall. He introduced me to

the BMS and I think I joined about the time when Newsletter No 10 was being

produced. Bob photocopied all the previous ones to make sure I had a complete set.

And since then mineral collecting weeks became one of the speciality holidays we

offered to the punters – and we particularly looked forward to the Norfolk bunch

coming down.

So many stories to tell and adventures to relive. Like a first visit to Gravel Hills,

Perranporth, with Richard Bell, to find we shared the location with soldiers having

firing practice on the beach below the mine. Then the time I parked my old van on

Fowey Consols and the land owner came up and accused me of trying to dump it

there.

I organised some prospecting weeks and we went to Tresavean dumps at Lanner.

Everyone barring Bob Snowball and I shot out of the van and headed towards a

calciner. Bob and I decided we needed a tea and a pee. We had the tea and then went

forward into some gorse in opposing directions to relieve our other need. With our

minds cleared of those concerns we looked around and realized in front of us was a

slope. We upped it and found the ground in front of us was covered in massive

sphalerite coated with cyanotrichite and francolite.

Stowes Shaft, Wheal Phoenix, Linkinhorne – now there is a site I ‘dig’. The trick is to

sit down on the main dump and move boulders until one turned up with a bit of green

on it. Then crack the rock open and enjoy the chalcosiderite. These days it is getting

38

hard work as one has to get through a foot or two of rubble to reach these prizes. So

I am sitting in my hole busy on the hunt when I look up and Rodney Rabbit is staring at

me. (Perhaps I ought to explain that Rodney featured in my newsletters I sent out

each Christmas. Always up to mischief one day he had appeared in our dining room –

sort of fluffy, scruffy and brown). Back to Stowes – so I look up and tucked around the

dump are various persons - mostly from Norfolk – killing themselves with laughter –

but I ended up with the best chalcosiderite.

We did find dufrenite once at Stowes during a Norfolk bunch visit, Steve was

organizing the expedition’s refreshments and put the lunch time drink flasks in a

shopping trolley, wheeled it down the track to near Stowes and parked it under a tree.

When we moved off to go home there was a boulder under the wheels and - you’ve

guessed it!

Hemerdon Update

The Environment Agency recently granted an environmental permit to

Wolf Minerals UK Ltd, for them to operate a mining waste facility at

Hemerdon in Devon. This is clearly great news for the project, and follows

the announcement by Wolf Minerals that they have appointed a new

Managing Director to see the project through to completion. He is Russell

Clark who emphasized that his replacement of Humphrey Hale was “a managed

change, not to fix a problem”. Mr Clark is an Australia-based mining expert with 35

years of industry experience who will do most of his work from the headquarters of

Wolf Minerals in Australia

The Environmental Permit is a key requirement for the project before it can move on

to the next stages of project development and construction and work is expected to

start after Christmas 2113. Apparently the Definitive Feasibility Study completed in

2011 confirms the project’s “robust economics” and with global demand forecast to

grow substantially the company sees it as being uniquely positioned to capitalise on

tungsten’s status as one of the European Union’s 14 ‘critical’ metals.

The Feasability Plan is based on a two-stage open pit with an initial 10 year life, and a 3

million tonne/year concentrator with associated infrastructure. The mine is expected

to produce around 350,000 metric ton units of tungsten concentrate plus some 450

tonne/year tin and deliver over 200 full time jobs. The first production is expected

within a year. The 650 metre long, public access link road was completed in July 2012.

From: http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/content/en/mineweb-base-

metals?oid=222059&sn=Detail

39

Foolow sinkhole

“Members of the public have been warned to stay away from an

"unpredictable" sinkhole in Derbyshire's Peak District. Police were called in

by council officials after widespread media coverage attracted visitors to the

site, near Foolow, "to take pictures". The hole, believed to be about 160ft

(49m) wide and 130ft (40m) deep, was caused by mining in the area,

according to landowner British Fluorspar who are said to be confident that

the cause was the collapse of an old mine shaft and not new mines being

worked in the area. The firm has been asked to stabilise and fill the hole.

Caver Mark Noble, 58, from Eyam, said he saw the hole during a walk on

Christmas Day, but believes the land began to fall the day before. Mr Noble

said: "It's quite a large hole and it's getting bigger all the time. It's probably

increased by about 10% since it opened up. It is quite interesting but there

are two other similar large holes that appeared about half a mile away from

this one in the 1970s, so it's not a new thing."

So, be careful, seems to be the sensible advice!

Reported on the BBC News website on 30th December

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-25559718 Contributor – Roy Starkey

2014 is the International Year of crystallography

“IYCr 2014” has a number of events organised to celebrate the

International Year of Crystallography and those for the United

Kingdom can be found at http://www.iycr2014.org/countries/united-

kingdom.

Rather oddly most of these UK events – covering some interesting

stuff including the pioneering work of the father and son William and

Laurence Bragg who laid the foundations for the science of x-ray

crystallography took place in 2013 and there appear to be only two

events in 2014. The main forthcoming event will be a special issue of

the Mineralogical Magazine in April 2014 (for details check out

iycr2014.org website). Additionally there is an exhibition running until

30th March 2014 at Oxford Museum of History of Science entitled

“Crystals: Beauty, Science, Structure” This looks at the history of the

study of crystals, an endeavour which has prized their mysterious and

natural beauty, as well as probed their fundamental atomic

structures”.

Contributor – Roy Starkey

Rock

Chip

pin

gs

Ro

ck

Chip

pin

gs

40

The views and opinions expressed in this Newsletter are those of its correspondents, and are not

necessarily agreed with, or shared by the Editor, the British Micromount Society or its Members.

The accuracy of submissions is the responsibility of the authors and will not necessarily be checked

by the Editor for validity. It is the responsibility of contributors to ensure all necessary permissions,

particularly for the reproduction of illustrations, are obtained. Contributors retain copyright of items

published and their contributions should not be reproduced without their permission.

Please send all contributions for the next Newsletter - preferably in electronic format by

e-mail, to [email protected] . I am using Gill Sans MT font size 10 in an A5

page with narrow margins if you would like to see what your contribution would look

like – but I will use anything such as Microsoft Word, RTF, WORKS, OpenOffice.org,

MS Publisher or plain text. It is best if the photographs are attached as separate jpeg

files. Internet access to Ugborough can be intermittent and it helps if you reduce the

size of your photos to below 500 Kb when sending them by email.

My grateful thanks to everyone who has contributed material to this

Newsletter. I have been gifted with two wonderful proof readers – John Pearce

and Frank Ince – thank you both. And a very special thanks to our wonderful

printer Robin Mundy of Perry Print in Chard who in addition to the printing

also does the Newsletter distribution.

All editors need articles and contributions and I am no exception. Anything is

welcome - a snippet of news, a short paragraph on something that caught your

interest or a longer article on a particular subject. A short article of 300 and

1000 words (one to three pages in the Newsletter) would make my day!

Choose a subject of your choice - for example, your favourite location (which

might be mineral-free but wonderful scenery or wildlife), minerals that you have

looked at in the last month, your last tomato box, a museum visit, mineral shows,

chemical tests, unusual crystal forms, micromounting techniques, rock saws, labelling

and cataloguing (I challenge you to make that interesting!) book review or even

mineral websites. One area in particular I need help with is articles with a technical

angle – lens, lights, camera techniques, upgrading microscopes etc.

The next BMS Newsletter should be issued in May 2014. All contributions

gratefully received - so please get writing! Deadline for contributions will be

1st May 2014

– but anything received before the deadline makes it so much easier to plan the

layout.


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