DELVINGS on Ladder Canyon in the Mecca Hills east of Indio, an interesting hike. Dale Harwood...
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Delvers Gem & Mineral Society, Inc. - mailing address: 1001 West Lambert Rd. #18, La Habra, CA 90631-1378 DELVINGS The Newsletter of the Delvers Gem & Mineral Society Volume 71 Number 4 April 2018 The Design Process: Teresa’s locket and removable dagger with emeralds and flourite
Transcript of DELVINGS on Ladder Canyon in the Mecca Hills east of Indio, an interesting hike. Dale Harwood...
Delvers Gem & Mineral Society, Inc. - mailing address: 1001 West Lambert Rd. #18, La Habra, CA 90631-1378
DELVINGS The Newsletter of the Delvers Gem & Mineral Society
Volume 71 Number 4 April 2018
The Design Process: Teresa’s locket and removable dagger with emeralds and flourite
DELVINGS April 2018 Page 2
Taps from the Gavel – Peter German, President
Hello again everyone. To everyone who attended our last meeting, THANK YOU. To those who could
not attend, you were thought of and missed. As President of the DELVERS I ask those who have not
been able to attend our meetings if there is anything that can be done to inspire or assist you to
continue to be an active member and contributor to the DELVERS Family. Your skills and history are
valued and should be shared with our members, and those same skills and stories can be shared to help
inspire those new to the world of geology, lapidary skills, specimen collecting, and the list goes on. As a
youth I enjoyed exploring, camping, collecting and just plain getting away. That desire still shines
brightly for me. I look forward to sharing new experiences with you and future members as we move
forward. Thank You ALL!!
Minutes of the March 9th General Meeting – Teresa Taylor & A. Hoekstra
Our scheduled speaker cancelled. Instead, we were entertained by members’ tales of recent field trips,
and many displays: polished jasper-agate collected at Lavic Siding from Chuck Pierce; Teresa Taylor’s
handcrafted locket with removable dagger, emeralds and color-shifting fluorite; ribbon barite collected
near Quartzite, AZ, by Karen Ellis and Kathy Sok; green calcite from Mexico brought by Ronald Mohr;
and an azurite nodule from China brought by Glenn and Susan Parrish. Andrew Hoekstra gave a short
program on Ladder Canyon in the Mecca Hills east of Indio, an interesting hike. Dale Harwood brought
a collection of minerals from the Eagle Mine in Colorado: pyrite, siderite, rhodochrosite, golden barite,
and chalcopyrite. The abandoned town of Gilman depended on this mine and much is still preserved
there. Mining began in the 1880’s with silver and gold produced initially. Later it became a major source
of zinc and lead. The ore was marmatite, an iron-rich type of sphalerite (zinc sulfide) and galena (lead
sulfide). Massive ore would sometimes contain cavities with mineral crystals.
Eighteen members were present. Dale Harwood took orders for books
from Schiffer Books - we can get a large discount on group orders. Bring
money to our next meeting to pay Dale if you ordered something.
The Delvers are invited by Professor Tor Lacy to visit the Cerritos
College Earth Science Department to “collect” from their surplus rocks
and to socialize on March 29th. It is really nice of him to invite us. You
may recall that he did a program for us on the geology of Joshua Tree NP.
Minutes of the March 9th Board Meeting – T. Taylor & A. Hoekstra
Present: Peter German, Teresa Taylor, Andrew Hoekstra, Guynell Miller
and Dale Harwood. The board voted to co-sign the San Diego Mineral
and Gem Society’s comment letter to the BLM, against amendment of
the DRECP. Peter has volunteered to be our show chairman. We need
to look for a venue, and to make a check list of what we need to put on
a show this year or next. Peter suggests that profiles of members can
help us to get to know one another better. This can be in the newsletter
or perhaps a club yearbook: are there any volunteers? – talk to Andrew.
2018 Board
President – Peter German [email protected]
Vice-President – Nancy Bird [email protected]
Treasurer – Andrew Hoekstra
Secretary – Teresa Taylor [email protected]
Editor – Andrew Hoekstra [email protected] Director – Guynell Miller
Director – Glenn Parrish [email protected]
Director – Dale Harwood 310-217-0551
DELVINGS April 2018 Page 3
ROCK AND GEM SHOWS
March 29-April 1, at Joshua Tree Sportman’s Club Gem Show 6225 Sunburst Street, Joshua Tree, CA. 92252 Phone:(760) 366-2915 http://www.jtsportsmansclub.com/ShowFlyerSpring2018.pdf
April 6-8, Vista Gem and Mineral Society Vista Antique Gas and Steam Engine Museum 2040 N. Santa Fe (Museum Way), Vista, CA Hours: 9-5 Daily http://www.vistarocks.org
April 21-22, at Newbury Park Conejo Gem & Mineral Club Borchard Park Community Center 190 Reino Rd & Borchard Rd Hours: Sat 10-5; Sun 10-4 http://www.cgamc.org
April 21-22, at Paso Robles Santa Lucia Rockhounds Paso Robles Event Center 2198 Riverside Ave Hours: Sat 10-5, Sun 10-4
April 28- 29, at Lancaster Antelope Valley Gem & Mineral Club Lancaster High School 44701 -32nd Street West Hours: 10-5 daily http://www.avgem.weebley.com April 28, at Santa Ana Art of Adorning, Bead Society of OC Bowers Museum, 200 N. Main St., Santa Ana Hours: 10-4. No admission charge. http://beadsocietyoc.org/art-adorning/
FIELD TRIPS
April 21, Lavic Siding, Pasadena & Whittier clubs: Joe Goetz, [email protected], 626- 914-5030
April 28-29, Marble Mtns – trilobites & chapenite, Searchers: Steve Duncan, [email protected], 714-724-7102
April 28, Lavic Siding, Ventura/Conejo clubs: Chuck Borchart, [email protected]
May 19, Basin Road, Ventura/Conejo clubs: Chuck Borchart, [email protected]
May 25-27, Wiley’s Well (tentative), Conejo G&MS: Chuck Borchart, [email protected]
July 26-29, Davis Creek – obsidian, CFMS-North: Dick Pankey, [email protected] (preferred), 925-439-7509
PROGRAMS
April 3 – It all started with a tattoo…How California got an official state dinosaur, by Karol McQueary South Bay Lapidary & Mineral Society, 6:30 PM, Torrance Public Library, 3301, Torrance Blvd
April 8 – Dinosaurs on Ice: Fossil Hunting in the Mesozoic of Antarctica, by Dr. Nathan Smith, NHMLA
SoCal Paleontological Society: 1:30 PM, Tar Pits Museum (rear entrance) 5801 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles
April 9 – A Geologic Journey to the Center of the Earth, by Krista Sawchuk, PhD student at UCLA Culver City Rock and Mineral Club, 7:30 PM, 4117 Overland Ave. (Multi-Purpose Room at SW corner of the bldg)
April 26 – About Turquoise, by Patrick Keegan. Whittier G&MS. 7 PM, Whittier Senior Center, 13225 Walnut St.
Lapidary Shop at the Torrance Senior Center : 1318 Cravens Ave, Torrance Dave Lundstedt (310-714-7035) oversees the shop Mondays and Thursdays from 9:30-12:30, and John Pepper ([email protected], 310-684-5479) first and third Saturdays (usually) noon-3:30. There is a modest per day fee. The shop has saws & grinders. Bring eye-protection. Bring rock or use rough/slabs from the shop.
DELVINGS April 2018 Page 4
Searcher April Field Trip, April 28 & 29
Cadiz Trilobites and Siam Siding Chapenite
The Searchers are going to Cadiz to collect trilobite fossils, and to Siam Siding to collect Chapenite.
Saturday’s departure is 0830 from the camp. Saturday we will collect Trilobites, the collecting is not far from the camp (camp directions below).There are 2 collecting sites, the first one is on a steep shale hill, it is a tough walk up to the collecting areas. Once there you will find large holes created by other collectors, the easy collecting is to work through the “tailings” from these holes. You just split pieces of shale and look for the trilobite fossils (really imprints). You can use a paint scraper and your rock pick to split them, or if you are lazy like me just smack the piece with the side of your rock pick and it will split. For the more serious workers, you can use small picks and shovels to enlarge an existing hole. For safety be sure to remove overburden, do not work under it. As you enlarge the hole, you want to keep looking for fossils in what you remove. Once you find the band of shale that holds fossils you should try to follow that band. You might want to bring some tissue or bubble wrap to hold your specimens on the way back down the hill, and on the way home. Getting to the base of the hill is a short 4x4 only drive, but non-4x4s can park at the bottom, and a 10 minute walk gets you to the bottom of the hill. Going up the hill is another 10-15 minute walk for everyone. This part is somewhat hard, going up the steep shale hill. It can also be very hot on the hill if it is sunny, some sort of shade is advisable, and I bring a large umbrella.
We will have our traditional potluck and fire on Saturday night. The potluck will be at 6:30 PM
Sunday’s departure is 0800 from the camp. Sunday we will collect at Siam Siding for Chapenite. Chapenite is porcelain jasper (very fine grain) in pastel colors, which cuts well and takes a beautiful shine. We will drive dirt roads to get to the location; passenger cars should be ok if driven carefully. I have decided that I know how to make Siam Siding produce and here is how: You need to dig big holes (in soft sand). This is best done by grouping into small teams. Some shovels will be needed. I find it best to have one person digging while the others help move sand away and rest. This is soft sand so you will find that what you have dug out has a tendency to slide back into the hole. Therefore, you need to move it a little bit away. In the beginning a small tarp or blanket works, the person in the hole shovels onto the tarp, and some of the helpers then drag it away and “dump” it away from the hole. Later when the hole gets deeper 5-gallon buckets can be filled in the hole, then handed out of the hole, and again dumped elsewhere. The digger should just dig for a few minutes and then trade off so that he stays fresh to dig again later. You need to keep your hole wide enough that you are not at risk should the walls cave in. During our last trip, Marcia and I paired up with Cary and Wei. We dug a big hole. We found a few fist-sized pieces, and a few double fist sized pieces. After I slabbed them I expect Cary and I got more than 10 slabs each. And the material is beautiful fine grained jasper with nice colors and patterns, and not many cracks. Sweet!
Limited (very) supplies and (expensive) gas are available at Amboy (~8 miles from camp?). There is also a small motel there, which may not be open; there is a motel in Ludlow, which is a bit further away.
Remember to dress in layers; you will still want sunscreen and lots of liquid.
Google maps say 3.5 hours from Orange to Chambless (right next to Cadiz).
If you have any questions call me, Steve Duncan, at 714-724-7102, or email me at [email protected]
Directions from Orange County to camp:
Take 15 North to Barstow, then 40 East to Ludlow. Exit Ludlow, right at the bottom of the exit, then left at the stop onto Nat’l Trails Hwy (old route 66). Go East on Nat’l Trails Hwy past Amboy (this is the last gas and supply stop) to Chambless, turn right on Cadiz Rd. Cadiz Rd goes straight southeast for ~3 miles, and then bends sharply to the left. It goes a little less than a mile, and then turns right and crosses the tracks. DO NOT cross the tracks. You will turn left off Cadiz Rd onto a dirt road about a hundred yards before the turn towards the tracks. Camp is ahead a ¼ mile, closer to the base of the hills. There should be Searcher signs at the turn off, and at camp. You should be able to see the vehicles at camp from the paved road.
DELVINGS April 2018 Page 5
PRESERVING ROCKHOUND ACCESS TO PUBLIC LANDS
WMRNP (WEST MOJAVE ROUTE NETWORK PROJECT )
The BLM has released the draft supplemental environmental analysis for the WMRNP. The rationale and
history are discussed in the Federal Register notice. Documentation is posted online. The new draft EA
incorporates the BLM’s response to public concerns regarding Maintenance of access for various types of
recreational, scientific, and other uses. Why is this important? You can’t collect unless you can drive to the sites
(Or stop along the road? The preferred alternative also includes network-wide minimization measures that
would limit the extent of off-route stopping and parking throughout the planning area – this language rather
worries me).
During April the BLM has “open house” public meetings on WMRNP in Victorville (17th), Ridgecrest (18th),
Lone Pine (24th), and Joshua Tree (25th). The public comment period for the draft EA ends June 14th 2018.
Rockhounds need to verify that the proposed BLM plans leave routes open to our collecting sites. We need to
check BLM maps of the WMRNP proposals to confirm that access roads to favorite collecting sites remain open.
The BLM’s online maps (links below) are cumbersome: rockhound-appropriate maps have been requested.
http://navigator.blm.gov/data?keyword=WEMOTMP&format=Portable%20Document%20Format%20(PDF)&fs_publicRegion=California
http://blm-egis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=4ae087c34bc142b3b5265cc32752e3f8
http://eplanning.blm.gov/epl-front-office/eplanning/mapset_view.do?projectId=93521¤tPageId=139665&documentId=138600
We hope to have a better idea of what rockhounds need to do, soon - before public comment closes in June.
DRECP (DESERT RENEWABLE ENERGY CONSERVATION PLAN)
The Delvers G&MS joined the San Diego Mineral & Gem Society, eight other clubs, and 14 individuals in co-
signing a letter to the BLM arguing against opening of the DRECP to plan level review. The CFMS did not take
any position, so why did we think this is important? The existing DRECP plan reflects the efforts made by many
rockhounds and clubs during the public comment period to argue for continued access to collecting areas (see
http://www.sdmg.org/blmdocs/DRECP_ROD_rockhound_fact_sheet.pdf). Renegotiating the DRECP plan puts
rockhounds at risk to losing out to more powerful competing interests (energy companies, conservation
organizations, etc…) that would like to expand the acreage devoted to their goals.
Some rockhounds would like to scrap the DRECP and return to the old status quo, but that is not one of the
options. If the existing DRECP is opened for amendment, we will again need to make the difficult effort to
protect our access rights through attending public meeting and submitting formal comments. Many of us
worry that the more powerful interest groups (“stakeholders”) would gain at our expense, and that we could
lose access to some collecting areas. Commercial energy companies have the most to gain from amendment.
A detailed account of the Desert Advisory Council meeting on March 20th, where the DRECP was discussed and
rockhounds in the audience made comments, has been written by Lisbet Thoresen. This is well worth reading.
Lisbet also provided a written statement to the court reporter to supplement her own remarks at the meeting.
It is quite possible that the DRECP will be opened for amendment. Rockhounds will need to be vigilant and
active to protect their interests. Whether the DRECP is amended or not, we need to remain concerned with
the details of implementation and rulemaking: “disturbance caps” is one standard of dubious implementation.
Rockhounds are just one of several recreational “stakeholders”, but our public voice has been insignificant in
comparison to OHV enthusiasts. Rockhounds have at times worked with OHV groups. We need allies. Perhaps
we should not reject out of hand conservation organizations with which at times we share common interests.
While we like to collect rocks, most of us also value the experience of visiting the desert, camping, the quiet
and solitude. This desert landscape can be degraded by ill-considered or unnecessary industrial installations.
Delvers Gem & Mineral Society, Inc. - mailing address: 1001 West Lambert Rd. #18, La Habra, CA 90631-1378
Delvers Gem & Mineral Society DELVINGS, c/o A. Hoekstra, editor
16643 Chicago Ave.
Bellflower, CA 90706
FIRST CLASS MAIL
Website: http://delversgemclub.wordpress.com/
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email: [email protected]
Regular Meeting of the Delvers Gem and Mineral Society
April 13th, @ 7:00 PM at the Holy Redeemer Church,
14515 Blaine Ave., Bellflower, CA
Program: Rockhounding 101 by Justin Zzyzx Visitors are always welcome
Board Meeting (all members invited) 6:30 PM
