INTRODUCTION

Imagine going to the Tucson Gemand Mineral show, and seeing some newgolds from a mine you have never heardof. They are leafy specimens with bright,shiny, yellow gold and hints of octahedralcrystals on the edges. The specimens arepretty and inexpensive, and you have tohave one. Then you return to Tucson thenext year and see more golds from thesame mine with even better crystals.Now do this for several years in a row,finding different crystal habits, biggerand better crystals, better luster, andlarger specimens both on and off matrix!

Is it a collectors dream, or nightmare?It is easy to justify having one good spec-imen from the mine, but does one reallyneed ten pieces just because they areall different? This dilemma has manymineral collectors, and especially goldcollectors, scratching their heads andthen digging deep into the pocket booksall because the Round Mountain minewent from being an obscure gold localityto being a world class specimen pro-ducer virtually overnight.

HISTORY

Nevada is known as the Silver State,stemming from the famous silver minesof the Comstock Lode discovered in 1859.Prospectors bound for the California

M I N E R A L SI S S U E # 1 2 0 1 0 N E W S P A P E R F O R C O L L E C T O R S

www.SpiriferMinerals.com

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Editors:

Tomasz Praszkier (Poland)Scott Werschky (USA)

Associated photographer:

Jeff Scovil (USA)

Contact:

tom@spiriferminerals.com

Crystalline goldfrom Round Mtn, USA

R. Scott WERSCHKY

Crystalized gold from Round Mountainmine. Size 6.8 cm. Spirifer collection.

INTRODUCTION

The Adelaide Mine, located inWestern Tasmania, is undoubtedly theworld’s most famous producer of cro-coite specimens. Only a few great pock-ets with top quality specimens have beenfound in the history of the mine – in1970’s, 1990’s and then again in 2010!The “2010 Pocket” produced a number ofworld-class specimens with great colorand exceptional crystal size. Crocoitesfrom this find are surely among theworld’s best. Following is the first writ-ten account of this recent find.

DUNDAS AREA – WORLD PRIME PRO-DUCER OF CROCOITE SPECIMENS

There are two crocoite producingregions in the Western Tasmania, theHeazlewood district, and the Dundas dis-trict.

The Dundas Ag-Zn-Pb mining fieldis located about 10 km east of Zeehan,and contains a number of mines. Two ofthem are especially productive in termsof crocoite specimens – Adelaide andRed Lead. The Adelaide mine however,produces much bigger quantities of highquality specimens, including occasionalfinds of great pockets filled with theworld’s best crocoite specimens.

HISTORY OF THE ADELAIDE MINE

The deposit mined recently at theAdelaide mine was discovered in 1887.The most important period of a large-scale mining for lead and silver tookplace there from 1890-1915. Crocoites

Continued on page 8

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In this issue:

Collector interview:Jeff Scovil

In this first issue of our news-paper, we start a regular column –interviews with well known andinteresting collectors. For our first in-terview – famous photographer andnot very well known collector – JeffScovil !!

Tomasz Praszkier (Minerals): Jeff– You are probably known to min-eral collectors all over the world ...

Read on page 13

1st International Mindat.orgConference in Poland11-17 VII 2011

The First Mindat.org Interna-tional Conference will be held in con-junction with the 14th Lwówek ÂlàskiCrystal Days Festival, three days ofmineral shows, events and live music,where the whole town comes out tocelebrate the mineralogical heritageof the region. Visitors can enjoy boththe Conference and the Crystal Daysfestival at the same time.

Read on page 7

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Crocoite from “2010 Pocket”,10.1 cm high. Gobin specimen.

Great new find:Adelaide Mine 2010Tomasz PRASZKIER & Adam WRIGHT

Mother Lode found placer gold nearwhat is now Dayton, Nevada. Althoughlooking for gold, they struck it rich withsilver at Virginia City just a few kilome-ters north of Dayton. This success withsilver dictated the exploration focus in

Nevada for the next 40 years. The sub-sequent decline of the mines of the Com-stock lead to renewed exploration effortswhich resulted in several major goldrushes in Nevada starting around 1900.Many famous gold mines were found atthis time, including Round Mountainwhich was discovered by Louis Gordonin 1906. In a very short time, there werethousands of miners living in tents andprimitive wooden shacks. At the peak,Round Mountain was producing a lot ofgold each year, especially consideringthe labor intensive mining methods ofthe era. The district produced more than300 kg (10,000 troy ounces) of gold ayear during early years. The heyday ofmining lasted through the 1930’s, and

shut down completely with the onset ofWWII. Round Mountain remained moreor less dormant until the late 1960’swhen the Ordich Group picked up theclaims. The present day Round Mountainmine was commissioned in 1977 with ini-tial inferred (not proven) gold reservesof 18.6 metric tones, and a planned minelife of about 6 years. Through a series ofmergers and buyouts, the mine is nowa 50:50 joint venture between BarrickGold and Kinross with Kinross acting asoperator. The mine has been in continualoperation since 1977, with peak goldproduction of over 22.7 metric tonnes(730,000 ounces) per year. Total produc-tion to date is nearly 373.2 tonnes (12million ounces) plus the approximately10.9 tonnes (350,000 ounces) minedbefore 1977. Current gold reserves arereported at 46.6 metric tonnes at a gradeof 0.64 g/t, with an expected mine life ofabout 3 years. These figures are basedon current gold prices, and futurechanges may extend the mine life espe-cially if they elect to pursue undergroundmining. At a minimum, total gold pro-duction for the district will be a stagger-ing 435.4 tonnes (14 million ounces) bythe time it is mined out! Not bad for amine that started out with hopes of pro-ducing less than 20 tonnes of gold!

The first gold specimens foundduring modern mining operations were

encountered around 1980 in the denselywelded tuffs at the top of the calderacomplex. While exciting to geologists,these unimpressive specimens were

typified by very fine grained dissemi-nation and/or supergene enrichmentswithin silicified tuffs. There are probablyonly a few of these specimens in exis-tence, likely well hidden by dust on somegeologist’s desk.

Until the early 1990’s, Round Moun-tain was considered to be a very lowgrade deposit that was remarkable onlyin the total lack of visibly interestingrock textures or veining. Things foreverchanged in March of 1992, when coarsegold was found in a blast hole. A routineore control assay of blast hole cuttingscame in at greater than 30 g/t, quite adivergence from the expected 0.6 g/t.Assuming there to be some sort of ana-lytical error, geologists sampled drill cut-tings piled up around the drill hole.Processing the cuttings with a goldpan yielded more than one kilogram ofcoarse grained gold from what turnedout to be the discovery of the first mod-ern day high-grade vein. Since thisdiscovery, approximately 150 high grade

veins have been encountered. Projectionof the high grade vein trend up to thepre-mining surface on Stebbins Hill cor-relates with veins worked during earlymining around 1910. Historical researchshowed that coarse gold was indeedknown back then as evidenced by photosof large gold specimens displayed duringa gold mining conference in Chicago, Illi-nois circa 1909.

It is estimated that more than 9330kg (300,000 ounces) of coarse gold havebeen recovered since 1992. Unfortu-nately, no records exist for historic pro-duction of specimen-grade gold.

After the discovery of the high gradevein in 1992, geologists at the mine con-vinced management to initiate a salesprogram in which all employees couldbuy a few pieces of gold at the prevailingworld gold market price. The sale wasdone in December as an informal Christ-mas present to the miners. The goldsales to employees continued through2006, after which management decidedto terminate the program. In addition tosales to the employees, the mine has hadtwo sales to mineral/gold dealers, one in1992, and the last in 2006. The vast ma-jority of specimens one sees on the mar-ket have come from individual minerswho have sold their golds to mineraldealers.

LOCATION

The Round Mountain mine islocated on the western flank of the

Toquima Range in central Nevada,approximately 240 km east-southeast ofCarson City. It is in the heart of the Basinand Range Physiographic Province.For those familiar with the vast desertsand mountains of the Western UnitedStates, it might appear to be in “the mid-dle of nowhere”. For those lovers of crys-talline gold, it is arguably “the centerof the Universe” (at least temporarily).The original town site of Round Moun-

tain still exists, and is adjacent to thepresent day open pit mine. Perhaps 40people still live there, although the min-ing company is trying to convince themto relocate in order to expand the openpit mine to the northeast which wouldconsume the town. Most of the minerslive in the small town of Carvers or thecompany sponsored housing in what isknown as the Hadley Subdivision.

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Round MountainRound Mountainquarryquarry

5 km

Los Angeles

Washington

Ottawa

San Francisco

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Round Mountain

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MEXICO

Map of North America with location of Round Mountain and aerial view of the open pitmine.

Sign at the entrance to the Round Moun-tain mine. S. Werschky photo.

Western portion of the Round Mountain pit with heap leach pads in middle distance,and Toiyabe Range in far distance. S. Werschky photo.

Crystalized gold. Size 8 cm. A. Day coll.J. Scovil photo.

36 kg pile of gold from the high gradevein! Photo taken ca. 1992 by B. Veek.

A rare specimen with gold included in,and on, a euhedral quartz crystal. Size 4.6cm. Miner’s Lunchbox coll. J. Scovil photo.

Round Mountain pit with approximate location of original high grade vein. S. Werschkyphoto.

OPERATIONS

The gold deposit at Round Moun-tain is mined using conventional open pitmining methods. The pit is 2330 by 1700m and 580 m deep from the top of the

original mountain. Benches are drilled,blasted, and then mined on 10.7 m liftsusing 136, 172, and 218 tonne haultrucks. Oxidized ore is placed on pads,and cyanide leached. Sulfide ore iscrushed, and processed in a CIL mill cir-cuit. Placer ore and high-grade coarse

gold ore is processed in a gravity plant,with the tails subsequently processed inthe mill or on the heap leach pads. Themine employs approximately 800 work-ers. There are presently an additional200 contract personnel working on mineexpansions. The mine controls almost21,000 hectares of mineral rights includ-ing both patented and unpatented feder-al mining claims in addition to placerclaims. The mining claims cover the areafrom Manhattan, 18 km to the south, toGold Hill, 8 km north of the present pit.Gold Hill hosts a gold resource which willbe mined by the company in the verynear future.

GEOLOGY

The Round Mountain mine is situ-ated at the eastern edge of the Oligoceneaged Round Mountain Caldera complex.The caldera has been dated at 26.5 ma,and is only 0.5 ma older than the miner-alization. The volcanics are densely topoorly welded tuffs of rhyolitic composi-tion. The volcanics were deposited onboth a Cretaceous granite and the Paleo-zoic basement rocks into which thegranite intruded. Paleozoic rocks arepredominantly marine calcareous andclastic sediments which have been meta-morphosed to argillites, phyllites, andquartzites adjacent to the intrusive.Caldera formation has structurally modi-fied the area with ring and radial fault-ing in addition to the rafting of largeblocks of basement rocks into the calderaalong the ring faults. The region wasthen modified by north-trending Basinand Range faulting which down-droppedblocks westward to the valley. Quater-nary gravels overlay the western portionof the deposit. Rich gold placers arefound at the base of the gravel sequence.

Gold ores at the Round Mountainmine can be separated into 5 distinctcategories based on host rock lithology,alteration, and structure. Ore grade min-eralization is found in all of the calderarelated volcanics as well as the under-lying Paleozoic sediments. Of these var-ious ore types, only the veining isimportant to mineral specimen develop-ment. Vein development at Round Moun-tain is a function of fracture related openspace. Fractures occur in many fashionsincluding structural intersections, ten-sional gashes, rock density refraction,and dip deflections along structures andlithologic contacts. The fractures werethen filled by quartz veins during themineralizing event. The most importantvein in the deposit occurs along the con-tact between a poorly welded tuff and adensely weld tuff. Changes in dip of thecontact created dilatant zones that filledwith quartz during mineralization. Thequartz was quite gold rich in this vein,making it the largest high grade zone inthe mine producing more than 4 tonnesof gold! Probably the next most impor-tant vein type occurs as vein fillingsin tensional fractures in the Paleozoicrocks rafted into the caldera along radial

structures. These tensional gashes arequite abundant, and are responsible formany of the gold specimens collected.

MINERALIZATION

Mineralogy of the deposit is quitesimple. The Eocene volcanics are rhy-

olitic in composition, made up of quartz,biotite, plagioclase, and sanidine. Un-derlying the volcanics are the Paleozoiccalcareous and clastic sediments. Giventhe eruptive nature of the volcanics, andthe fine grained sedimentary nature ofthe Paleozics, there are no specimenquality minerals found in the host rocks.Hydrothermal mineralization, hosted by

the volcanics, and to a lesser degree thePaleozoic sediments, consists of quartzveining with adularia (orthoclase), cal-cite, pyrite, gold, and silver. The onlyspecimen grade minerals found in themine to date occur in the veins and arelimited to gold with minor amounts ofquartz. Pyrite crystals are always tiny,

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Round Mountain townsite – original home to miners during early history of the mine,today almost a ghost town. S. Werschky photo.

Crystalized gold grading from spinel lawtwinned cuboctahedrons up into herring-bones. Size 7.6 cm. Ex Miner’s Lunchboxnow in K&M Proctor coll. J. Scovil photo.

Crystalized gold. Size 3.1 cm. A. Day coll.J. Scovil photo.

Crystallized gold in situ after blasting. Kinross photo.

Crystalized gold showing classic herringbone formation and spinel law twinning of cubic crystals. Size 12 cm. K&M Proctor coll. J. Scovil photo.

and frozen in quartz or in altered rock.The calcite seems to have filled allspaces not already filled in by quartz.Hydrothermal alteration of the hostrocks and veins is characterized byargillic, sericitic, and chloritic zones asevidenced by fine grained minerals suchas illite, smectite, sericite, and chlorite.Even though the alteration assemblagesdo not produce nice mineral specimens,they are very important to mineral col-lecting in that the clays replaced bothquartz and adularia, frequently leavingbeautifully crystalline gold surroundedby soft clays which can be easily cleanedoff by simple washing.

While gold is the principal ore min-eral of the deposit, trace amounts of na-tive silver as well as silver sulfosalts,sulfides, and tellurides have been en-countered such as mckinstryite, stro-meyerite, and pyrargyrite. Unfortu-nately, no published data is yet availabledetailing this mineralogy.

Gold in the Round Mountain depositis silver-rich. The average gold specimenfrom Round Mountain is 63.5% gold and37.5% silver. This ratio appears tobe consistent throughout the deposit.Amazingly, there is no vertical zonationor variations in the silver content at themine. This is highly unusual for epither-mal gold systems. Additionally, geolo-gists at the mine say that there is lessthan 2% difference in the silver contentabove the water table where oxidationcan preferentially leach out silver fromthe rock.

GOLD MORPHOLOGY

A key feature of the Round Moun-tain mine is the great diversity of goldhabits and styles. The early specimenswere massive and/or leafy in nature, andwere not particularly interesting to min-eral collectors. In fact, there were greatdifficulties selling golds from RoundMountain in the early years. The goldwas not crystalline enough for collectors,and not rounded enough or yellowenough to interest the nugget collectingmarket. In 2001, the first fine crystalswere encountered, and several differenthabits are noteworthy. While there aremany different habits of gold in the de-posit, Round Mountain gold does have anoverall look that is quite distinctive.Select pieces can resemble golds fromBreckenridge (Colorado, USA), Veres-patak (Romania), Eagles Nest (Cali-fornia, USA), and even Liberty (Wash-ington, USA). However, the combinationof form and color is readily recognizableto one familiar with gold specimens.

Following is a brief summary of the goldstyles from Round Mountain.

Massive goldThe massive gold is texturally unre-

markable as expected from the classifi-cation. Large masses have been found tomore than 6 kg. These masses are typi-cally less than 3 cm thick, but are knownto reach sizes to 20 cm long and 8 cmthick. The masses mimic the shapes ofveins which are typically less than 10 cmin width.

Wire goldWire gold is rarely seen at Round

Mountain. In fact, only a handful of spec-imens with well formed wires are known.This is to be expected, as wires are therarest form of gold in nature. The wirescan be striated, and are arcuate totightly curved or coiled. They occur bothas isolated single strands and densemasses with hundreds of tiny wires. Allof the specimens seen to date are small(less than 8 cm). Most of the individualwires are less than 2 mm thick and <1to 2 cm long, although one wire was morethan 40 mm long by 3 mm thick.

Ribbon goldRibbon gold at Round Mountain oc-

curs as thin leaves less than 1 mm thick,2 or 3 mmwide, and 5 to 20 mm long. Thespecimens form in groups of hundreds ofthe ribbons tightly packed just like thewire gold. The ribbons vary from flat andstraight to tightly curved or curly. Only afew such pieces have been identified todate. Ribbon gold can be considered in-termediate between wire and leaf gold.

Leaf goldThe most common form of gold in

the Round Mountain deposit is leaf gold.Leaves can be very tiny to quite large.

Fine specimens with leaves to 15x5 cmhave been found. The leaves are typicallyvery thin and are often delicate like foil.Stout leaves thicker than 1 or 2 mm are

the exception. Although leaf gold isactually crystalline, the leaves do not al-ways have nice crystal faces at the mar-

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One of the finest golds from Round Mountain. Textbook example of cubic crystal spinellaw twinning on herringbone leaves. Size 11 cm. Miner’s Lunchbox specimen now inP. Weiss coll. J. Scovil photo.

Cubic spinel law twinned gold crystals forming herringbones. Size 4.2 cm. N. Prenncollection. J. Scovil photo.

Cubic spinel twins on an cubooctahedralspinel twin! Size 5 cm. K&M Proctor spec-imen. J. Scovil photo.

Spinel law twinned crystals of gold. Size5.7 cm. Miner’s Lunchbox specimen nowin K&M Proctor coll. J. Scovil photo.

Exceptionally large octahedral spinel lawtwins forming lustrous leaf. Size 6.7 cm.K&M Proctor coll. J. Scovil photo.

gins. Certainly, the best leaf specimenshave beautiful octahedral or cuboctahe-dral crystals (typically flattened) at theedges. Leaf gold can vary from a dull,matte finish to extremely lustrous gold.The best pieces exhibit almost mirrorlike luster.

Cubic crystalsGold being in the isometric system

might be expected to form as nice cubes.Unfortunately, in nature, cubic crystalsare exceedingly rare. The presence ofabundant cubic crystals at Round Moun-tain is what makes the gold so uniqueand desirable. Most of the cubic crystalsare in the 1-2 mm range, but cubes tonearly 1 cm have been recovered! Often,cubes form in groups, sometimes aslarge as several centimeters across.The cubes are mostly solid crystals, al-though hoppered-growth crystals similarto those seen in Venezuela are found.

Octahedral and more complexcrystalsOctahedral and cuboctahedral crys-

tals are abundant, while more complexcrystal faces are less common in thegolds from Round Mountain. The mostcommon place to see the octahedrons isat the edges of leaves as discussedabove. The octahedrons are typicallyflattened, parallel to the leaf structure.They can be less than 1 mm to greaterthan 20 mm. The best specimens haveperfect luster, although differences inluster of adjoining crystal faces are com-mon. Most of the octahedral crystalsshow hoppering or skeletal growth, afeature common to gold crystals all overthe world. The smaller crystals, espe-cially those with higher order crystal

faces tend to exhibit more solid crystalgrowth. While most crystals tend to format the margins of leaves, one pocket wasencountered consisting of large massesof intergrown octahedrons and spinellaw twins. Specimens to 15 cm were re-covered with numerous 1-2 cm octahe-drons present in a mass of smalleroctahedral and elongate spinel lawtwins. These specimens were sold by themine in the year that had size limits onpieces bought by the miners. It appearsthat all of the pieces may actually havebeen from a single specimen greatly ex-ceeding the 150 gram limit imposed bymanagement. It has been hypothesizedthat the piece was broken up to accom-modate the size restrictions, and stillallow some truly great pieces to make itto the market.

TwinningThe feature that most significantly

sets the Round Mountain golds apartfrom other localities is twinning. Spinellaw twinning (more accurately twinningon the 111 crystal plane) is extremelycommon in the deposit, and almost every

specimen with well developed crystalshas at least a few twins. Like most golddeposits in the world, the most commonmorphology of twinned crystals is octa-hedral (a direct result of gold preferringto crystallize in octahedral form). Spinellaw twinning of two octahedral crystalsproduces a form resembling flattened oc-tahedrons visible at the leaf edges. Thetriangular steps that one can see on theflat surfaces of gold leaves (the featuregold collectors call “trigons”), are alsospinel law twins. The propensity of goldto twin in octahedral crystals is so strongthat we rarely observe simple completeoctahedrons (hence the elevated price ofgood octahedrons). Crystals exhibitingthe spinel law twinning of octahedral (orcuboctahedral) crystals at Round Moun-tain are typically less than 5 mm. Excep-tions to this occur where the crystals areelongated. Elongated twins to 3 cm areknown, and at least 3 specimens havebeen identified with elongated twins to 5cm. One gigantic gold crystal was foundwith a single hexagonal shaped spinellaw twin weighing 200 g! Unfortunately,

it had some poorly formed crystals over-growing the twin so as to make it aes-thetically challenged.

Much less commonly, gold will formspinel law twins in cubic crystals. A fa-

vorite gold habit at the Round Mountainmine occurs where an entire leaf twinsso that the surface is covered with smallcubic crystals, all perched up in the sameorientation (the so-called homo-epitaxy).This growth can be further modified by

having the cubic crystals growing intwinned orientation out of the primaryoctahedral twins giving the appearanceof cubes perched on the hexagonalplates. The twins of cubic gold crystals

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Herringbone leaves of gold. Size 7 cm.Private coll. J. Scovil photo.

Twinned gold crystals forming casts aftercalcite. Size 5 cm. Ex Miner’s Lunchbox,now in private collection. J. Scovil photo.

One of the best known gold wires from Round Mountain. Size 5.9 cm. Miner’s Lunch-box Specimen. J. Scovil photo.

Twinned gold crystals on herringbone leaves slightly folded by tectonic faulting. Size 8.5 cm. S. Werschky coll. J. Scovil photo.

Massive leaf grading into large spinel twinned cuboctahedral crystals. Size 6.5 cm.Mineral Exploration Services coll. J. Scovil photo.

6 C R Y S T A L L I N E G O L D F R O M . . . M I N E R A L S I S S U E # 1

also form on the herringbone leaves,which are a type of skeletal growth.Spectacular specimens form with paral-lel rows of flattened gold crystals con-nected by a second set of parallelcrystals at 30° to the first set. On top ofthe two sets of parallel crystals there arerows of twinned cubic crystals allperched at an angle. The herringboneleaves often show folding or bending dueto tectonic deformations that occuredafter mineralization giving the effect ofundulating rows of cubes, which reflectincrementally as the specimen is rotatedunder light. A truly fantastic and beauti-ful thing!

Color variationsGold from the Round Mountain mine

exhibits two distinct colors. To date,about half of the specimens sold by thecompany have a nice, rich buttery yellowcolor. Contrasting this, the other speci-mens are lighter yellow color typified byhigh-silver content gold. The two lookvery different, and one would assumehave grossly different compositions. Inreality, the only difference is surfacial.All of the more yellow colored golds weremined from oxidized rock above thewater table, where acid produced fromthe oxidation of pyrite preferentiallyleaches the silver from the surface of thegold. Since gold is not porous, this re-moval of silver occurs only at the veryoutermost part of the specimen (likelyonly penetrating a few angstroms downinto the gold). The leaching of silverleaves a surface relatively enriched ingold, hence the better color. Below thewater table, there is no oxidation, andthe gold has the lighter silver color thatcan be considered normal for the de-posit.

SUMMARY

The Round Mountain mine has trulybecome one of the premier gold localitiesin the world. The size and quality of crys-tals rival golds from anywhere in theworld. The variety of crystal habits, mor-phology, and color set the mine apartfrom other localities that typically ex-hibit only one or two styles of gold.Round Mountain has produced top qual-ity pieces for all types of collectors frommicromounters to those who love largecabinet pieces. Although the mine hasnot been selling gold for the last few

years, they are still finding good crystals.Let’s hope that mining continues to pro-duce more crystals as they get deeper inthe system, and that management onceagain elects to sell specimens to the em-ployees.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank the manage-ment and geologic staff of Round Moun-tain Gold for making this paper possible

– without the golds, there would be nopaper. Thanks also to Allan Young forediting, Bruce Veek for historical photos,background, and geology, Jeff Scovil forphotography, and Aleksander Recnik forhis help in understanding crystallogra-phy.

R. Scott WERSCHKYMiner’s Lunchbox

e-mail: scott@minerslunchbox.com

Octahedral spinel law twinned crystalsof gold showing silver-rich color typicalfor unoxidized rock. Size 4.1 cm.N. Prenn coll. J. Scovil photo.

Miner ’s LunchboxR. Scott Werschky, www.minerslunchbox.com

5655 Riggins Court, Suite 15, Reno, Nevada 89502, USATel: +1 (775) 829-6881; e-mail: scott@minerslunchbox.com

Specializing in high quality

specimens for the discerning

collector, with extra focus on

crystalline and nugget gold

from world-wide localities.

Elongate spinel law twinned gold – one of the finest from the Round Mountain mine. Size 6 cm. Ex Miner’s Lunchbox, now S. Smale coll. J. Scovil photo.

Herringbone leaves of gold. Size 5 cm. Miner’s Lunchbox specimen. J. Callen photo.

1st InternationalMindat.org Conference

hosted by the 14thLwówek Crystal Days

Lwówek Âlàski, Lower Silesia,Poland, 10-17 July 2011

The First Mindat.org InternationalConference will be held in conjunctionwith the 14th Lwówek Âlàski CrystalDays Festival, three days of mineralshows, events and live music, where thewhole town comes out to celebrate themineralogical heritage of the region.Visitors can enjoy both the Conferenceand the Crystal Days festival at the sametime.

11-13TH JULY – FIELD TRIPS

Agates of Pogórze Kaczawskie – 3 lo-calities – Lubiechowa, Płóczki Górne,Nowy KoÊciół; visit local collectors whowill cut and polish your agates.

Strzegom pegmatites – visit to 3-4 gran-ite quarries in this classic mineralogicalarea.

Lubin copper mines – tour thesefamous underground copper mines, over1000 m deep!

Evening Entertainment – every eve-ning, for those not too tired by the day-time activities, there will be a fullprogramme of parties and other activi-ties!

14TH JULY – CONFERENCE, DAY 1

Talks: "Mindat.org – past, present andfuture" (Jolyon Ralph), "Agates fromKaczawskie Mts, Poland" (Jacek Bog-daƒski), "The Yaogangxian Tungstendeposit, China" (Berthold Ottens), "Peg-matite minerals from Strzegom granitic

massif, Poland", (Tomasz Praszkier),"Vulcano - Minerals from La Fossa cra-ter, Italy" (Marco E. Ciriotti), "NewMiner-als and the IMA" (Chris Stanley),"Theories of Agate formation" (BrianJackson), "The Rogerly mine" (JesseFisher), "Native gold from Round Mt,USA" (Scott Werschky).

Session for Young Collectors – slide-shows and presentations by youngcollectors for young collectors”.

Slideshows with beer: "Madagascartrip" (Tomasz Praszkier), "Travelingthrough Peru" (Scott Werschky).

15TH JULY – CONFERENCE, DAY 2

Talks: "The cavitiy minerals from thespilite basalts in Mumbai, India" (Bert-hold Ottens), "Minerals from burningdumps of coal mines" (Łukasz Kru-szewski), "Exploring classic Japanesemineralogical sites” (Alfredo Petrov),"Melanophlogite: a weird phase of sil-ica?" (Chris Mavris), "Chrysoprase fromPoland" (Michał Sachanbiƒski), "Apa-tites from Sapo, Brazil" (Luiz Menezes),"Minerals of the lead-zinc mine Mežica,Slovenia" (Aleksander Recnik), "GranitePegmatite Minerals from Maine, USA"(Van King).

Opening ceremony of Town Center Min-eral Show of Lwówek Crystal Days, Pa-rade of Trasure Hunters and officialopening ceremony of Lwówek CrystalDays.

Slideshows with beer: "What's hotin minerals in 2010-2011" (Jeffrey Sco-vil), "Colleting in the Kola Peninsula,Russia" (Agata Leszczuk).

16TH JULY – PRESENTATIONS ANDWORKSHOP, DAY 1

Short presentations (15 minutes each)for formal mineralogical papers andposter presentations.

Workshops: "Photographing minerals –equipment, techniques" by Jeffrey Scoviland "Mindat.org workshop. Contributing,Editing, Improving the site" by JolyonRalph.

"Big Party" with Polish collectors.

17TH JULY - WORKSHOP, DAY 2AND CLOSING CEREMONIES

Workshops: "Photographing minerals –practical workshop" by Jeffrey Scoviland "Mindat.org workshop – AdvancedTechiques" by Jolyon Ralph.

Live music in town center – LwówekÂlàski Crystal Days.

Closing ceremony and fireworks ofLwówek Crystal Days.

MINERAL SHOWS

There are two mineral shows during theconference period in the town.

Town Center Mineral Show at the Lwó-wek Âlàski Crystal Days Festival takesover the full town center, and contains

rock, gem, jewellery and mineral dealers,selling mostly inexpensive local miner-als.

Mindat Conference Mineral Show –dealers, including international dealerswith a wider range of quality mineralsfor sale.

71 S T M I N D A T . O R G C O N F E R E N C EI S S U E # 1 M I N E R A L S

Granite quarry in Strzegom – area famous for pegmatites. G. Bijak photo.

District ofLwówekŚląski

“Spirifer”GeologicalSociety

www.mindatconference .org

Conference organised by:

For the detailed programme and to register for

the conference visit www.mindatconference.org,

write to: conference@mindat.org,

call +48 507 038 876 (Poland),

or meet us at major mineral shows.

1st International Mindat.orgConference in Poland

Calcite on cavansite, 2 cm high. J. Gajo-wniczek coll. J. Scovil photo.

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D. Antosik photo.

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Continued from page 1

1880’s. It is interesting to note that thefirst workings specifically targeting cro-coite specimens were mined in 1899!After a long period of inactivity, the minewas reopened in 1957 exclusively forspecimens. The first owners did not havemuch luck mining for crocoite. Fortune

changed when the mine was acquired byFrank Mihajlowits.

For more than 30 years (beginningin 1973), the Adelaide Mine was ownedby Frank Mihajlowits. His dedicated col-lecting brought to the world some of thevery best crocoite specimens. In July2004, The Adelaide Mining Company Pty.Ltd. (TAMC) purchased the AdelaideMine lease and a new specimen miningprogram commenced.

The small-scale exploitation of themine is handled by only a few miners.TAMC has a rule that at least two peoplehave to be present on the mine leasewhenever there is any undergroundwork being done.

TAMC started working in 2004 andfound their first good pocket (the Pre-miere Pocket) two years later in July,2006. Since then, they have found onlyone small pocket (Kurt’s Pocket) late in2009 and there has been nothing else.The majority of mining until now hasbeen hard work with no great return.

GENERAL GEOLOGY OF THE DUNDASAREA

The geology of Western Tasmania isvery complex. The region is underlain byrocks dating from Mid Proterozoic toCenozoic age. Throughout this time, thispart of Australia has been very activegeologically. The rocks in Dundas area

have been subjected to metamorphism,orogenic movements, intrusions, fault-ing, and mineralization.

Pb-Zn-Ag vein deposits at Dundasare associated with a Devonian intrusiveevent that emplaced granites into thehost Cambrian serpentinites and sedi-mentary rocks, and to a lesser degreePrecambrian slates. These veins are theprimary ores for the metals in the Ade-laide mine. The host rocks have been al-tered due to the hydrothermal activityrelated to the granitic intrusions andvein mineralization. Such alteration ofsheared ultramafics is manifested by Fe-Ca-Mn carbonates, quartz, and chromianmuscovite in an unusual rock type calledlistwanite. Close to the present day sur-face, the ore veins are strongly altereddue to the deep Cenozoic weathering.Ca-Fe-Mn carbonates frequently dis-solved during the process of weatheringand were replaced by gossans. The gos-sans formed during oxidation are veryporous with numerous open spaces,which are great places for the growth ofcrocoite and other secondary minerals.

GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY OF THEDEPOSIT

The ore vein worked at the Adelaidemine is hosted by listwanite. The veinstrikes NNW, dipping 50-60°NE, and is 13m wide by 130 m long. The zone of oxi-dation reaches over 100 m in depth. Theprimary ore consisting of galena, sphal-erite, pyrite, and jamesonite occursbelow the oxidation zone and is sur-rounded by carbonates (predominantlyMn-siderite and dolomite) and serpenti-nite.

From the collectors’ point of view,the most important mineralization oc-curs in gossans within the oxidationzone. The gossans host a number of min-erals including, but not limited to cro-coite, cerussite, dundasite (type local-ity), mimetite, coronadite, bindheimite,

goethite, gibbsite, and philipsbornite. Ofthese minerals, only four are the subjectof collector’s interest.

CerussiteYellow crystals of cerussite forming quitebig clusters, were found mainly in the70’s. Greenish cerussite crystals are alsoknown from the locality. Presently, cerus-site in macroscopic form is rarely found.It is however, known from a number of

different mines in the region where it oc-curs as spectacular specimens with com-plex twinning. At the moment, the mineis approaching the zone where there isagain a chance to find cerussite.

DundasiteAlthough not forming in spectacularspecimens, dundasite is highly valued

Tasmania landscapes - The Neck Beach, Bruny Island (upper photo) and Maria Island(lower photo). E. Aheimer photos.

Logo of The Adelaide Mining Company.

Main adit to Adelaide mine. A. Wrightphoto.

One of mine tunnels in Adelaide mine.A. Wright photo.

Adam collecting specimens in the area of 2010 Pocket, note dirt on his clothes. B. Starkphoto.

Great new find of crocoitesin Adelaide Mine – 2010 PocketTomasz PRASZKIER & Adam WRIGHT

9G R E A T N E W F I N D O F C R O C O I T E S . . .I S S U E # 1 M I N E R A L S

from the Adelaide mine as it is the typelocality for this mineral. Locally abun-dant, it occurs as small, spheroidal clus-ters built of acicular crystals. Thespheroids can reach 1 cm in diameter,but are typically much smaller. The dun-dasite crystals are usually white, but

more rarely are blue-green. Dundasitecan occur with other minerals, occasion-ally forming a characteristic thin cruston crocoite crystals.

MimetiteMimetite crystals as large as 1 cm dooccur, but are typically less than a few

millimeters long. Mimetite is mostly lightyellow-green in color, although rarelyoccurring in orange-red or red colors.The crystals of mimetite form classichabits for the species from tabularto prismatic. Occasionally they arefound with highly distorted and etchedforms.

CROCOITE AND ITS ORIGIN

Crocoite is a rare mineral that wasfirst discovered in Russia and has sinceonly been found in a few other locationsaround the world. Its most notable oc-currence is in the Dundas region on Tas-mania’s West Coast. The Dundas areahas produced the world’s largest andbest quality crocoite crystals in greatabundance. Crocoite specimens from theAdelaide mine are renowned, with piecesdisplayed in museums, private collec-tions, and educational institutions world-wide. In recognition of the significantcrocoite deposits within the state, it wasofficially proclaimed the Mineral Em-blem of Tasmania in 2000.

Crocoite crystals from the Adelaidemine usually exhibit hollow, ”straw”-likeor hoppered forms, and more rarely formchisel pointed crystals (especially in thesmaller crystals). Color varies from deepred to pale orange-red. The luster can bevariable from highly lustrous to dull. Thecrocoite crystals are usually coveredwith the mixture of gibbsite, Fe-man-ganese oxides, and sometimes white, orpale green dundasite. The size of crys-tals reach up to 15 cm, but are usually 2-5 cm.

The development of crystallized cro-coite specimens is a function of very spe-cial circumstances and conditions. Themost important among them is the sur-rounding rocks rich in Cr and Pb, and re-sultant re-mobilization of those mineralsduring shearing and later oxidizing con-ditions.

In the specific case of the Dundasregion, we have two basic sources of Cr– firstly the ultramafic ophiolite complex

(with chromites), and secondly, otherCr-rich rocks (such as listwanites rich inCr-muscovite). There are also metallif-erous veins with galena (source of Pb)occurring in the area. The coincidentalco-occurrence of Cr and Pb is perfect forpossible later crystallization of a specialmineral like crocoite.

Thanks to deep oxidation (over 100m!) by the acidic ground waters in thetropical paleoclimate (probably pH ofwater was <4 during this process), ex-tensive alteration and weathering of pri-mary rocks took place. During thealteration of serpentine, listwanites, andore minerals (from the veins), lead,chromium and other metals were re-leased into solution. The remobilizedmetals, along with oxygen, recrystallizedin gossanous cavities, forming free grow-ing crystals of crocoite and associatedminerals. Because the remobilization ofCr is not so easy over large distances,the crocoites usually grow in the imme-diate vicinity of mineralized veins. It isworthy of mention that crocoite is stablein low pH conditions, so continued oxi-dation and weathering has not adverselyaffected crystal quality.

Additional elements released in thesame weathering process were de-

posited in other minerals. The silver con-centrated in chlorargyrite, zinc wasdiffused into numerous minerals, andlead into anglesite, cerussite, pyromor-phite and coronadite as well as crocoite.

FAMOUS POCKETS

The first of the famous Adelaidemine crocoite pockets for which wehave recorded history, was found in theearly 1970’s. It was followed twentyyears later by the much larger pocket of

the early 1990’s. No accurate recordswere kept on the size of the 1970’spocket but several verbal accounts detailit as being a pipe which travelled up-wards for several meters in length.

Adam Wright – co-owner of Adelaidemine – after day of working in the mine.A. Wright photo.

Photos of different parts of 2010 Pocket, size of crystals up to 13.5 cm. A Wright photo.

Fragment of 2010 Pocket with deep red crystals of crocoite still in situ, view about15 cm. A. Wright photo.

Footwall pocket found before the discovery of 2010 Pocket. Intense weathering causedspecimens to fall apart, leaving mostly single crystals. A. Wright photo.

One of the best specimens collected from2010 Pocket before and after cleaning;crystals up to 13.5 cm. A. Wright photo.

10 G R E A T N E W F I N D O F C R O C O I T E S . . . M I N E R A L S I S S U E # 1

It has been reported that only around20% of this pocket was actually recov-ered intact and the rest was destroyedduring the process of extraction. It isunknown exactly how many specimensthis pocket produced but it would prob-ably be in the hundreds rather thanthe thousands. Of those producedonly a very small percentage were inthe upper echelon of mineral speci-mens.

The “1990’s Pocket” was the biggestby far at up to 1 meter wide, 14 meterslong and 10 meters deep. This pocketproduced thousands of good specimensover the roughly 10 years it took to mine.Although there were many more speci-mens recovered from this pocket thanothers, it still only yielded a very smallpercentage of top quality specimens.

The small percentage of top piecesmight be related to the method used toclean the crocoites. Anyone who visitedthe mine in the 1990’s might recall see-ing a garden hose with a high pressurenozzle perched on a tree stump, blastingwater at crocoite set on an adjacent treestump. Any specimen not broken topieces eventually made it onto some col-lector’s shelf. The heaps of orange crys-tals around the tree stump weretestament to the fragility of the matrixpieces!

The trend of a twenty year intervalbetween big finds seems to have contin-ued to the present, as another greatpocket was found by TAMC in 2010.

PROGRESS OF MINING IN 2010

The mining in 2010 commenced withcompletion work on the raise started in2009, and development of a new levelfrom the top of the raise. The new drive

followed the vein, going farther into thehill, with the intention of intersecting thecavity at the top of the Premiere Pocket.The vein continued to widen slightly asmining progressed both in, and up alongthe structure. The amount of visible cro-coite began slowly increasing, andthe vein walls became more and morecavity-rich. Mining continued, rampingupwards a little following encourag-ing signs of mineralization and softerground. The crocoite continued toimprove as mining progressed further,although at this stage there was still verylittle specimen quality material. Crocoitealways looks very nice in situ under-ground, but much of it has a matrix ofloose dirt or is not held together at all,making much of it nearly impossible torecover complete. It was at this point indevelopment that the vein ahead seemedto be getting a bit narrower, and thewalls getting a bit harder, so drifting wasdetoured up a bit higher to avoid thisrestriction. It was at this point, whileclearing out muck from the back a thicksolid seam of crocoite about 10 cm widewas exposed... the discovery of the 2010Pocket.

2010 POCKET

The new pocket, cleverly named the“2010 Pocket”, turned out to be very goodindeed. It was about 2 meters long by1 meter high and up to 45 centimeterswide. The pocket took a bit over twomonths to extract, working roughly fourdays every second week. The mining wasvery hard, dirty work, and after fourdays a break was necessary to recover.

The crystals growing off the pocketfootwall mainly formed in radiatingsprays and were better supported onmatrix, so more of the crystals survived.The crystals which had grown on thehanging wall had their weight andphysics working against them so more ofthem seem to have fallen, leaving mainlysmaller crystals and only those biggercrystals which had grown in more grav-ity friendly positions. Piles were found atthe bottom of pocket containing largenumbers of loose crystals and detritus.It seems likely that while the first gener-ation crocoite crystals were growing big-ger and heavier, the matrix to which theywere attached got softer and weakeruntil some of them could no longer besupported and they fell to the bottom ofthe pocket.

At some point after crystal growth,the large crocoite crystals were coatedby ferro-manganese oxides. The coating,

even though it at first glance may seemto spoil the aesthetics of specimens, mayhave interrupted crystal growth andstopped the crystals from spanning thewhole space and becoming a solid seam

instead of remaining an open pocket.Over time more detritus dropped downand this accumulated mostly onto thehigher sides of the footwall’s radiatingclusters. A thin coating of dundasite andgibbsite was then deposited, mainly overthe exposed upper surfaces of the cro-coite crystals. After that, additionalferro-manganese oxides appear to havebeen added. The final stage was thegrowth of another generation of crocoitecrystals, being the small bright red crys-

Crocoite, 8.7 cm high. Gobin specimen.J. Scovil photo.

One of the best crocoite specimens recovered from 2010 Pocket; size of specimen16,5 cm, crystals up to 10 cm. A. Wright photo.

Fragment of 2010 Pocket with cleancrystals of crocoite and part wherecrystals are covered by coating of blackFe-Mn oxides. A. Wright photo.

High quality crocoite specimens recovered from 2010 Pocket; size of specimen 16 cm,crystals up to 9.5 cm. A. Wright photo.

Adam Wright with the best specimens from 2010 Pocket after cleaning, note size ofcrystals and intesity of color. E. Aheimer photo.

Another top quality crocoite specimenfrom 2010 Pocket with crystals up to9.5 cm. A. Wright photo.

11G R E A T N E W F I N D O F C R O C O I T E S . . .I S S U E # 1 M I N E R A L S

tals coated over the top. When this lastgrowth of crocoite occurred it also hadthe affect of rehealing many of the bro-ken ends on the fallen crystals and theirstumps by creating multiple small termi-nations on their large ends.

SPECIMENS FROM 2010 POCKET

There were around 350 collectorgrade specimens recovered from the2010 Pocket, not counting the many loosesingle crystals found in the detritus at

the bottom of the pocket. These speci-mens range in size from thumbnail tovery large cabinet. The color of the cro-coite from the 2010 Pocket was quitevariable, and covers the spectrum fromintensely bright orange through verydeep red. The largest crystals from the2010 Pocket are 14 cm in length, proba-bly some of the longest known that arenot contacted or broken.

As previously discussed, a largepercentage of specimens come out witha dull black coating over the larger cro-

coite crystals. These are bathed in sever-al different chemicals to remove theferro manganese oxides, gibbsite, anddundasite coatings from the crystals.This process reveals the bright color andshiny luster which was hidden under-neath.

COMPARING 2010 POCKET WITHOTHER FAMOUS POCKETS

The 2010 Pocket was similar in sizeto the 1970’s pocket and thus not thelargest, but many of the specimens fromthis latest find rival those of the two ear-lier finds in terms of their quality. Mostprobably, the large crystal size and colorintensity of the 2010 material has onlyever been matched by a very small num-ber of the 1970’s specimens. The moretypical and well knownmaterial from the1970’s is the radiating sprays of gemmyred, sharply terminated crystals, how-ever it seems that there was also a smallamount of material recovered back thenwhich was very similar to the new 2010Pocket specimens. There were appar-ently so few pieces of this style and qual-ity in the 1970’s material that they areseldom seen or even heard of.

CONCLUSION

The 2010 crocoite pocket is one ofthe best, or perhaps simply “the best”pocket in Adelaide mine history. Lookingto the cyclical 20 year interval betweenfinds, we will probably have to wait until2030 to see another great find! Let ushope this is not the case and that moregreat material is found a lot sooner! Tothis end, we wish Adelaide Mine crewGluck Auf!

Tomasz PRASZKIERSpirifer Minerals, Poland

e-mail: tom@spiriferminerals.com

Adam WRIGHTTAMC, Tasmania

e-mail: alwright@theadelaidemine.comwww.theadelaidemine.com

One of the first specimens collected from 2010 pocket, before and after some cleaning;size 29 cm, the longest crystals up to 5 cm. A. Wright photo.

Group of red-orange crystals of crocoite on matrix, 9.6 cm wide. Gobin specimen.J. Scovil photo.

Crocoite, 10.7 cm high. Spirifer specimen.J. Scovil photo.

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Scovil PhotographyP.O. BOX 7773, Phoenix, AZ85011 Tel: +1 602 254 0735, Cell: +1 602 692 0944

E-mail: jeffscovil@earthlink.net www.scovilphoto.com

I travel the USA photographing collections at major shows and in private homesand businesses. I also visit European shows in Munich and Sainte-Marie-Aux-Mines. You can also send specimens to my studio. I work in digital (DSLR) andlarge format (4x5 film) photography for the web, advertising, publications, education and insurance. Contact me to discuss pricing and scheduling.

13C O L L E C T O R I N T E R V I E WI S S U E # 1 M I N E R A L S

In this first issue of our newspaper,we start a regular column – interviewswith well known and interesting collec-tors. For our first interview – famousphotographer and not very well knowncollector – Jeff Scovil !!

Tomasz Praszkier (Minerals): Jeff –You are probably known to mineralcollectors all over the world – yourphotos of mineral specimens and jew-elry are recognized as some of the bestin the world, but I think that not

many people know that you are alsoa mineral collector. Please tell us howyou began your mineral collecting.

Jeff Scovil: I probably have my father toblame for my mineral collecting. He wasan oil geologist, and although he did notstick with it, I remember that he had asmall collection of rock samples and healways kept his geologist’s pick. Thesethings probably first caused me to havean interest in the earth sciences. I wasabout eight years old when I started collecting minerals. Later in junior highschool, I took my first class in geologyand also joined the junior staff at a localnatural history museum for children (theMid-Fairfield County Youth Museum inWestport, Connecticut). There I workedon displays and curating the collection.This was followed by the geology club inhigh school, and of course lots more fieldcollecting once I got my driver’s license.

TP: What are your favorite mineralsand why?

JS: My favorite minerals are tourmalineand fluorite. Minerals of the tourmalinegroup come in such a wide variety of col-ors and wonderful associations. It is agroup I became familiar with and couldcollect in Connecticut where I grew up.Fluorite also comes in a wide range ofcolors and a much wider range of crys-tal forms and occurrences. It also helpsthat it is much less expensive than tour-maline.

TP: What do you value most in miner-al specimens?

JS:What characteristics do I value mostin minerals? That is a tough question.Unlike many collectors today, I am actu-ally interested in mineralogy. I find assoc-iations, paragenesis and morphologyparticularly fascinating. I will buy an in-expensive quartz or calcite for strangeforms or an odd locality just as quicklyas a beautiful specimen from a classic locality.

TP: What type of specimens do youcollect and how big is your collection?

JS: I collect a little bit of everything. I prefer small cabinet size (ca. 10 cm) butif I like a piece and it is within my budgetI will buy it even if it is not my preferred

size. I do have a soft spot for mineralsfrom Connecticut where I grew up andArizona where I have lived for the last 34years. I probably have about 2,000 piecesin my collection which is definitely inneed of thinning out.

TP: How do you obtain specimens foryour collection? Are they self-collec-ted, bought at the minerals shows orfrom miners?

JS: I used to do a lot of field collectingand enjoyed it very much. Now that I travel so much, I have little time to fieldcollect anymore and so I collect mostlyby purchase. Many are bought at mineralshows and a few are gifts from friends inthe business. I have even traded spec-imens for my photographic services. I have never bought a specimen via theinternet. On a few of my trips I havebought directly from the miners.

TP: Which of your self-collected speci-mens do you consider to be the best ?

JS: It is difficult to say which of my selfcollected specimens is the best or fa-vorite. When I was able to collect at theGillette Quarry in Haddam Neck, Connec-ticut in the early ‘70s I hit one goodpocket with one good green elbaite thathas a blue cap. That holds a specialplace in my collection. I also collected apretty good group of barites from theBook Cliffs near Grand Junction, Colo-rado. When I was in undergraduateschool in the early ‘70s I also collected afine though small, highly modified, colorzoned fluorite crystal from the Old Tung-sten Mine, in Trumbull, Connecticut. Nottoo many collectors would think it is all

that great but a self collected specimenis always more special to me than a pur-chased specimen.

TP: I know that you travel a lot visit-ing mineral localities all over theworld – please tell us which countries

you have visited and which localitiesyou liked the most ? Also, which col-lecting trip was the most exciting foryou ?

JS: There is a difference between fieldcollecting and mineral tourism. I thinkthat the most exciting collecting I havedone was a series of trips I did to a roadcut in New Britain, Connecticut. I wroteabout it in an article in Rocks and Miner-

als magazine in the spring of 2009. My favorite mineral tourism trip was theone I took in the summer of 2009 toMadagascar with you, Tomek! We visitedmostly pegmatite localities and bought

Collector interview:Jeff Scovil

Jeff Scovil – world famous mineral photo-grapher and not so famous collector.

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Malachite clusters to 1.4 cm. Kalatala mine, Katanga, Democratic Republic of Congo.Collection and photo J. Scovil.

Lorenzenite crystal 3.1 cm long, from Lo-vozero, Kola Peninsula, Russia. Collectionand photo J. Scovil.

Calcite on dolomite, 6.5 cm high. Shang-bao, Hunan, China. Collection and photoJ. Scovil.

Jeff showing photography to children of the Bara tribe in Mandrosonoro, Madagascar.

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specimens from the miners as well as intown markets and from the mineralvenders who always seem to find you atyour hotel or restaurant.

I think I have the best job in theworld because I get to handle and photo-graph amazing things, go behind thescenes and know so many of the peoplein this business. I also get to travel tomany exotic and classic localities. I have

been to the silver mines in Kongsberg,Norway, many localities in Hunan, China,pegmatites in Minas Gerais, Brazil, andmines in Bulgaria, Canada, England,France, Kosovo, Morocco, Poland, Ro-mania and Spain.

TP: Where else are you planning to goto see the minerals in situ in the out-crops?

JS: I look forward to going to India andAustralia some day.

TP: Do you photograph your ownspecimens ? How many photos ofthem do you have ?

JS: I don’t often photograph my ownspecimens because I have the opportu-nity to shoot so many much finer speci-mens in other collections. Through theyears I have shot around 200 of my ownspecimens.

TP: Being the photographer who takespictures of the best specimens in theworld, do you ever get the feeling that

it is pointless to collect just the speci-mens of ‘’normal quality” How do youdeal with that ?

JS: Years ago I used to get a little de-pressed when comparing my own sadcollection to the very fine collections thatI photograph on a near daily basis. I feltthat I should just shovel my collectioninto the trash. I did get over feeling thatway and realized that you cannot com-pare your own collection to other’s andcontinue to collect on your own. Whenyou collect for yourself you collect be-cause you love the specimens and theyare special to you – that is enough. You should only compare your specimensto what you have collected in the pastand how you will upgrade them in the fu-ture.

TP: Now a few questions about thephotography that is your profession.How many photos do you have inyour library ?

JS: I have been photographing mineralsprofessionally now for over 20 years and as an amateur for 15 years before

that. I have about 60,000 35 mm slides,around 12,000 digital images and about7,000 4x5 inch transparencies in my li-brary.

TP: How do you select the specimensfor photography ? Who decides whichspecimen is going to be photograph-ed?

JS: The choice of specimens varies.Sometimes the owner has very set ideason what he wants photographed andother times I make the decisions. A veryfine specimen is not always terribly pho-togenic and I usually have a betterknowledge of that difference than theowner. The usage of the photographs willusually determine the choice of speci-mens. Owners will usually be very famil-iar with their own specimens and whichsides are the best and where there are less desirable aspects that shouldnot be emphasized. The choice of speci-mens and the view of them is usually ajoint effort between myself and theowner.

TP: What should a collector do ifhe/she wants to have you photographtheir minerals?

JS: If a collector is interested in havingme photograph their specimens, they cancontact me by email, phone or just showup at one of the shows were I set up mystudio. I photograph at several miner-al shows in the U.S. and in Europe –Tucson, Arizona; the Rochester (N.Y.) Mineral Symposium; Cincinnati, Ohio;

Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines, France; Spring-field, Massachusetts, USA; Denver, Co-lorado, USA; and Munich, Germany. I often photograph at people’s homes,places of business or at museums whenI am in the area on one of my trips or byspecial arrangement if the number ofspecimens warrants it.

TP: Thank you for the interview. Wewish you many great adventures!

Interview: November 2010

Jeff and his girlfriend Leslie on camels in Moroccan desert.

Smoky quartz with spessartine garnet. Tongbei, Yunxiao County, Fujian, China; size 5.5 cm. Collection and photo J. Scovil.

Jeff crawling in tight workings, with flashlight in his mounth, inside an almandine garnet-rich pegmatite, Central Madagscar.

Schorl, crystal size 1.2 cm long. Timm'sHill, Haddam, Connecticut, USA. Self collected and photographed by J. Scovil.

Wavellite, 2.5 cm high. Mauldin Moun-tain, Arkansas, USA. Collection and photoJ. Scovil.

Jeff in Southern Madagascar with twochameleons.

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Cerussite on baryte, 8.1 cm wide. Mibladen, Morocco. Collection and photo J. Scovil.

Jeff with Spirifer team-members Tomasz Praszkier and Andrzej Grzesiuk at the Trepcamine main adit.

“Master” at work during a photography workshop in Lwówek Âlàski, Poland.D. Antosik photo.

Wavellite/variscite on quartz, 4.5 cm wide. WiÊniówka Wielka, Âwi´tokrzyskie Mts, Poland. Collection and photo J. Scovil.

Jeff’s mineral cabinet in his house inPhoenix, Arizona, USA. J. Scovil photo.

Jeff in Kosovska Mitrovica (Kosovo) withmuseum size specimen from Trepcamine. T. Praszkier photo.

Jeff with Tomasz Praszkier and Joanna Gajowniczek (both from Spirifer team) in TsingyBemaraha National Park, Western Madagascar.

Find us at the mineral shows, on the internet , or in the f ie ld !

We joined forces to bring you more greatspecimens directly from the mines !

Great acquisitions just in from Morocco, Mexico,India, Kosovo, Madagascar, Bulgaria, UK, USA !!!

Miner’s Lunchbox (USA)www.minerslunchbox.come-mail: scott@minerslunchbox.comtel. +1 775 829 6881

Spirifer Minerals (Poland)www.spiriferminerals.come-mail: tom@spiriferminerals.comtel. +48 507 038 876

Tom (Spirfer Minerals) in Trepca, Kosovo.

J. Scovil photo.

Scott (Miner’s Lunchbox) in Jalgaon quarry, India.

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