No Stone Unturned - cairnsmineralclub.rocks · “No Stone Unturned” should be handed to the editor or emailed. All articles must be signed and will be published at the Editor’s

May 2010 Issue How Safe Are Your Work Practices? 1

No Stone Unturned

President Bill Reece

Secretary Jeanne Mora

Editor & Publisher:

Jeanne Mora

News and views of the

Cairns Mineral & Lapidary

Club Inc

Opening Times:

Monday: 7:00pm-9:30pm Wednesday:

8:30-4:00pm (7:00pm-9:30pm tuition)

Saturday: 10:ooam-4:00pm

Club Rooms: Youth Centre Grounds, 129

Mulgrave Rd. Cairns, Queensland. PO Box

389, Westcourt Queensland 4870

Crystal Interrupted

The quartz crystal pictured

left is from Keith Hill’s col-

lection. It clearly shows

growth lines as the crystal

grew, then remained static

for a time then recom-

menced growing as condi-

tions once more became

favourable. Each striation is

where the crystal recom-

menced its growth.

This specimen measures

approximately 120mm long.

Trying Something New

Below from left to right Sylvia, Kay, Anne and Val are knitting wire with added

pearls, beads or polished gem stone chips to form bracelets and necklaces. The

end result is a wide lacy and light cuff. Below left are some of the bracelets they

have completed

REMEMBER TO

COLLECT SOME

RAFFLE

TICKETS TO

SELL


OFFICE BEARERS

CLUB PATRON HON. DESLEY BOYLE MP

President Bill Reece Ph 4054 2498

Vice President Allan Rose Ph 4039 3880

Secretary Jeanne Mora Ph 4033 0028

Treasurer Anne Barham

Assistant Secretary David Croft

Assistant Treasurer Jan Saal

OTHER PERSONNEL

Purchasers Betty Reece, Bill Hall, Spec-imen Curators David Croft, Laurel Voigt

Cabochon Instructors Chrissy Wilson

Silver Instructors Bill Hall, Sylvia Rose, Jenni Hedges,

Jan Saal, .

Faceting Advisor Jim Lidstone, Joe Ferk,

Trevor Hannam, Noel Hedges

Carving Advisors Jean Morrow

Machinery Curators David Croft, Jim Lidstone

Specimen Testers David Croft, Trevor Hannam

QLACCA Delegate Bill Reece

Youth Centre Delegate Bill Reece

Librarians Betty Reece, Jean Morrow

Events Coordinators Noel Hedges, Allan Rose

Honorary Auditor Vic Cummings

The positions of Field Officers and carving advisors are yet to be filled

Please give these people all the help you can!

MEETINGS

General Meetings are held at 1:00pm on the first Saturday of each month. (unless otherwise advised) Management Committee Meet-ings held at 10:30am last Saturday of the month (unless advised otherwise)

CLUB HOURS

Monday Nights: 7:00pm to 9:30pm

Wednesday; 8:30am to 4:00pm

Wednesday Night: 7:00pm to 9:30pm (Classes)

Saturday: 10:00 am to 4:00 pm

Club closed on long weekends and public holidays.

MEMBERSHIP FEES (due January 1st)

Family: New $60:00 / year

Family: Renewal $40:00 / year

Adult Member: New $30:00 / year

Adult Member: Renewal $20:00 / year

Junior Member: New $ 20:00 / year

Junior Member Renewal $10:00 / year

(Members are those over 12 years of age. Children under the age of 12 are

welcome on field trips and in the main Clubroom under their parents’ supervi-

sion. (They must not enter the workrooms.)

INSTRUCTION CLASS COSTS

Dates will be advertised on notice board..

Cabbing $30:00 (includes material)

Jewellery $85:00 (includes material)

Faceting $72:00 (includes material)

Carving $8:00 (includes materials)

Casting $5:00 firing/flask (materials extra)

(You must purchase all materials for casting. Please see Bill Hall to order

commercial waxes, which take up to three weeks to arrive. We sell carv-

ing wax, for those who’d like to make their own wax mould. Investment

powder, wax & silver are all available for purchase at the counter.)

INSTRUCTION CLASSES ARE ADVERTISED ON THE

SANDWICH BOARD NEAR THE FRONT DOOR. MEMBERS

SHOULD CHECK DATES AND DETAILS AND SIGNUP IF

INTERESTED.

Inquiries may also be made at the front counter

WORKROOM FEES (payable at counter before sessions)

Monday Night : $4:00

Wednesday: Full day: $8:00

Half Day: $4:00

Saturday : Full day: $6:00

Half Day: $4:00 (Meeting Satur-

days, no work is to be done while meeting is in progress)

CUTTING FEES

30c / inch² (members)

50c / inch² (non-members)

A Big Welcome to all our New Members

We wish all members born in May a very Happy

Birthday .

Thalia Moore, Wilma & Keith Hill, Sylvia Rose, Stuart &

Donna Blackshaw. Debbie Bloomfield, Wayne Williamson

The Editor wishes to advise that articles or advertisements for inclusion in “No Stone Unturned” should be handed to the editor or emailed. All articles must be signed and will be published at the Editor’s discretion. The Editor reserves the right to emend all copy used. Contributions should be submitted 2 weeks before the monthly meeting.

Opinions expressed in articles are not necessarily those of the Club or the Editor. The Publisher is not responsible for any consequence of inaccuracy or omission. The Publisher ex-cludes all warranties able by law to be excluded.

Well I didn’t Know That!

One of the most fascinating things about lapidary, is that you can al-

ways learn something new about the hobby. Almost every time I talk to

a member, I pick up a snippet of information that I’ve never heard before

(or heard and forgotten). I’ll bet you have too! Lets start passing these

tips on to all members. Please let me know of any you hear for future

publications. Editor


Hi, I hope everyone had a happy and successful trip over the public holiday weekends and found plenty to keep them busy.

Well it’s that time of year that we start our major raffle so think about how many tickets you can sell. Just think

how many we would sell if every member took a book of 10 to sell (apart from what they buy for themselves), instead of leaving it to the same old few. While on the subject of fund raising think about what job you can do at the Gem festival & either tell Noel or put your name on the list that will be provid-ed. Don’t leave it till the last minute as Noel will need to see where he will need more help.

I will be away for the next two weeks but when I return we will need more helpers to construct our rear awning. That should be the last major job for a while.

For those of you who haven’t noticed, on Wednesday morning we have a happy chatter group who have been donating material & time to making objects to sell at the Gem Festival. On behalf of our club, I thank them very much. If you feel you can help, join them (they are not dragons) & you may also get some handy hints, from these talented ladies (and John too of course).

There’s not much more to add but keep up the good work. We are a strong club because of the attitude of our members. We still have some problems but we are gradually overcoming them. That’s life!

Bill

WHO DOES IT ? Dare I compare a Club such as ours to the human body?

After all a club is a body of likemind-ed people performing a variety of functions in a single and closed envi-ronment.

The constituent people go about their particular interest with a seem-ingly lesser focus on the body whole.

The human body requires regular cleaning and maintenance lest it become foul and subject to break-down. So goes our Club. The seem-ingly unnoticed service and maintenance aspects are carried out by small and dedicated few….too few.

Let us all be more aware of this part of our Club life and reflect ”Who does it ?”

Allan

ALLAN’S MUSINGS

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

NAME % Au

gold

% Ag

silver

% Cu

copper

% Ni

nickel

% Zn

Zinc

Melting Point

ºC

Spec

Grav.

22K coin-

age

90 10 940 17.2

18 K yellow 75 12.5 12.5 904 15.5

18 K white 75 5 15 5 904 15.7

18 K rose 75 5 20 932 15.5

14 K yellow 58 25 17 802 13.4

14 K white 58 20 14.5 7.5 927 13.7

14 K rose 58 10 32 827 13.4

10 K yellow 42 12 41 786 11.6

10 K white 42 26 20 11 1760 11.8

10 K rose 42 10 48 927 11.8

In the May Edition of “No

Stone Unturned” , a table of

common alloys (page 3) was

included. You will have noticed

that the final three rows for 10

karat gold did not add up to

100%. This is because the

quantities were taken from a

1982 publication “The

Complete Metalsmith” by Tim

McCreight. Gold dealers were

standardising their 10K alloys

at the time and were allowed a

3% variation in the ratio.

The quantities in 18K rose

gold should read as amended.

This was a typing error. We

apologise for any inconven-

ience this may have caused.


CONGRATULATIONS Sylvia Rose celebrates her 70th birthday this month and Thalia Moore her 21st. DID WE MISS YOUR BIRTHDAY?

Please let Jeanne know the month of your birthday. If

we don’t know it we can’t send you a birthday hello in

“No Stone Unturned”.

BELOW IS A LIST OF OUR FABULOUS MONSTER

RAFFLE PRIZES.

At just $1:00 a ticket you have a chance of winning one

of these prizes. Good value in anyone’s book.

They are on display on the front table behind the carving

display, Check them out to see just how impressive they

are.

1.Handcrafted gold ring & blue topaz - Trevor Hannam

2.Faceted sapphires—J & J Elliot

3.Digital compass & map measurer- NQ Miner’s Den

4.Sterling silver choker— David Roney

5. Framed tapestry - Jean McGuigan

6. Prospecting hammer—Club donation

7.Faceted sapphire— Coolamon Mining

8.Silver and CZ ring—Joe Ferk

9.Gem- tree—Kay Gadd

Happenings from

around the Club

A FEW REMINDERS

COMING CLUB GEM SHOWS:

May & June:- See April Edition

July:-

3 QLACCA General Meeting

3—4 Atherton Lap Club Show

17—18 Townsville Gem & Mineral Show

31/7—1/8 Cairns Mineral & Lapidary Club Inc. Gem

Festival

August:-

7 QLACCA General Meeting

& Ipswich & District Lap Club Show

6—8 Anakie Gemfest

14—15 Central Qld Gem show, Gladstone

21 Innisfail Club Gem Show

TBA Kybong Rock & Mineral Fest

(Addresses for the club rooms may be seen on the

QLACCA Calendar …..front counter)

CONDOLENCES:

Members offer their sincere condolences to

Colin & Jan Saal and family and John Baldwin

and family on their recent bereavements.

The picture below wasn’t taken at the club BUT it raises a possible solution to the congested parking at the club

on Saturday mornings. It certainly is “creative parking” - but the drivers don’t seem too happy about it ….


GEM TREES by Janine Peterson

Gem trees are very popular at the club these days

and our members are becoming more and more cre-

ative and diverse in their creations. These minia-

ture gem trees originated in China and were pat-

terned on the ‘bonsai’ trees, which were miniatures

of the large gnarled trees that grew in the forests or

clung to the rocky, wind blown cliffs.

It was in China that the first ‘bonsai’ trees were

grown in pots in the courtyards of the affluent

homes. They were usually arranged on tiered

shelves and watered and manicured with great care.

However, within the home, the philosophy of feng

(wind) shui (water) developed. Feng shui is the

Chinese art of creating positive and harmonious

surroundings by using natural energy within the

home. It uses ‘chi’ - the basic life force energy of the

universe, the elements—water metal, earth, wood

and fire- and the opposing forces of yin and yang.

There are nine life satisfaction or good luck areas,

which can be enhanced by gems within the home.

These gems can be on a gem tree, or may be in the

form of symbol like the turtle, which symbolises long

life.

If you want wealth and prosperity, your gem tree will

have leaves of citrine, jade or agate and the colours

used will be light green. If you want health, it will

have leaves of tiger eye or pyrite in conjunction with

the colour yellow, a good career will mean leaves of

hematite or lapis lazuli combined with dark blue and

so on.

Left:

Peter Egan

examines a

bunch of

grapes crafted

from polished

gem stones.

(see inset)

Each of the

stones have

been drilled

and attached

with wire to the

bunch.

Above: The combined efforts of Val Evans and Kay

Gaad created this masterpiece, which resembles a

bonsai specimen rather than a gem tree. Where next

girls?

The club ladies have come

FROM THIS

TO THIS

Wealth &

Prosperity

citrine, jade,

tree agate

Fame &

Reputation

Garnet,

carnelian

Love &

Relationships

Rose quartz,

rhodonite

Community &

Family

Harmony

Chrysocolla,

malachite

Health &

Wellbeing

Tiger eye, pyrite

Creativity &

Children

Citrine,

ice quartz

Wisdom &

Spirituality

amethyst

Career &

Life Journey

Hematite, lapis

lazuli

Helpful People

& Travel

Moonstone,

white jade

Continued on page 6.


DIRK HARTOG’S PEWTER PLATE.

The alloy pewter was discussed in a previous edition of

“No Stone Unturned”, and the pewter plate left on Dirk

Hartog Island in 1616 by Dirk Hartog, captain of the ship

Eendracht of the VOC (Dutch East India Company).

You will recall that Indonesia was once known throughout

the world as The Dutch East Indies, which colonised the

islands in the 17thC. Indonesia was also known as the

Spice Isles because they were an important source of

spices that were essential to Europeans for the

preservation (and deadening the smell) of their meat at a

time before the invention of refrigeration.

The sailing ships that plied between Indonesia and Eu-

rope, with valuable cargos relied for their eastern pas-

sage across the Indian Ocean, on the “Roaring Forties”,

powerful winds that carried their sailing ships swiftly to-

wards the coast of Western Australia. Before making land-

fall in Australia, the ships would veer north, then east

again to Batavia (now called Jakarta).

The ship “Eendracht”, sailing in convoy with a fleet of VOC

ships became separated from the other ships. Captained

by Dirk Hartog, it sailed too far east on the roaring forties

and made landfall on an island off the coast of Australia.

As a memento of his unexpected visit the captain

scratched a message onto a flattened pewter ship’s plate

which read:

“1616 On 25 October arrived the ship Eendracht, of Am-

sterdam: Supercargo Gilles Miebias of Liege, skipper

Dirch Hatrichs of Amsterdam. On 27 ditto she set sail

again for Bantam. Deputy Supercargo, Jan Stins, upper

steerman Pieter Doores of Bil. In the year 1616.”

Dirk Hartog left the island and sailed north, charting the

WA coast to just north of Shark Bay. Before sailing on

to Java.

The plate remained on the island for 81 years until it

was retrieved by another Dutch captain, Willem de Vi-

amingh, who replaced it with his own plate.

The plate was finally returned to Amsterdam where it is

housed in a museum.

The plate, pictured left, is an exact replica of the

original, and is owned by club member, Neville Ridley.

According to Neville, the Australian Government were

interested in acquiring the plate for the Australian

archives, but were promised a replica. Subsequently,

20 replicas were produced. The composition of the

pewter is exactly the same as the original. Neville was

“in the right place at the right time” and was able to

purchase his plate for $80.

Thanks Neville for sharing this with us.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

...continued from page 5:- Some gem trees & their meanings

The peridot tree

for prosperity

The peach plant

for longevity

The citrine tree

for wealth &

prosperity

The lime plant

for good fortune

The rose quartz

tree for love

The peony tree for

love, romance &

wealth.

http://idealcrystal.com/crystal_products/0840_prosperity_peridot_tree.php


AROUND THE CAMPFIRE

After Christmas a teacher asked her pupils how they spent their holiday away from school. One child wrote:

“We always used to spend the holidays with Grandma and Grandpa. They used to live in a lovely big two-storyed house, but they got retarded and moved to a retardment village.

Now they live in a box sort of house and have rocks painted green to look like grass. They ride around on bicycles and wear name tags because they don’t know who they are anymore.

They go to a building called a wreck centre, but they must have got it fixed because it is all ok now. They do exercises there, but they don’t do them very well. Sometimes they sneak out to golf but their bits are getting stiff. Also they need operations to fix some of their parts. Especially poor old Grandma.

There is a swimming pool too, but all they do is jump up and down in it with hats on.

At their gate is a doll house with a little old man sitting in it. He watches all day so nobody can escape. Some-times they sneak out, and go cruising in their golf carts.

Nobody there cooks, they just eat out. And they eat the same thing every night—early birds. Some of the people can’t get out past the man in the doll house. The ones who do get out, bring food back to the wrecked centre for pot luck.

Grandma says that Grandpa worked all his life and so did she to earn their retardment and that I should do the same so I can be retarded too.

When I earn my retardment I want to be the man in the doll house. Then I will let people out so they can visit their grandchildren.”

(Thanks Allan. I hope it isn’t really as grim as that .)

A Woman Dreams: What I Want In A Man!

Original List: 1. Handsome 2. Charming 3. Financially successful 4. A caring listener 5. Witty 6. In good shape 7. Dresses with style 8. Appreciates finer things 9. Full of thoughtful surprises What I Want in a Man, Revised List (age 32) 1. Nice looking 2. Opens car doors, holds chairs 3. Has enough money for a nice dinner 4. Listens more than talks 5. Laughs at my jokes 6. Carries bags of groceries with ease 7. Owns at least one tie 8. Appreciates a good home-cooked meal

9. Remembers birthdays and anniversaries What I Want in a Man, Revised List (age 42) 1. Not too ugly 2. Doesn't drive off until I'm in the car 3. Works steady - splurges on dinner out occasionally 4. Nods head when I'm talking 5. Usually remembers punch lines of jokes 6. Is in good enough shape to rearrange the furniture 7. Wears a shirt that covers his stomach 8. Knows not to buy champagne with screw-top caps 9. Remembers to put the toilet seat down 10. Shaves most weekends What I Want in a Man, Revised List (age 52) 1. Keeps hair in nose and ears trimmed 2. Doesn't belch or scratch in public 3. Doesn't borrow money too often 4. Doesn't nod off to sleep when I'm venting 5. Doesn't re-tell the same joke too many times 6. Is in good enough shape to get off the couch on week-ends 7. Usually wears matching socks and fresh underwear 8. Appreciates a good TV dinner 9. Remembers my name on occasion 10. Shaves some weekends What I Want in a Man, Revised List (age 62) 1. Doesn't scare small children 2. Remembers where bathroom is 3. Doesn't require much money for upkeep 4. Only snores lightly when asleep 5. Remembers why he's laughing 6. Is in good enough shape to stand up by himself 7. Usually wears some clothes 8. Likes soft foods 9. Remembers where he left his teeth 10. Remembers that it's the weekend What I Want in a Man, Revised List (age 72) 1. Breathing. After being married for 44 years, I took a careful look at my wife one day and said, “Honey, 44 years ago we had a cheap apartment, a cheap car, slept on a sofa bed and watched a 24” black and white TV, but I had the most beautiful 25 year old wife in the world. Now I have a $500,000 home, a $45,000 car, a king sized bed and a plasma screen TV, but my wife is a wrinkled 65 year old woman. Seems to me you’re not holding up your side of things.” My wife is a very reasonable woman. She told me to go out and find a new beautiful 25 year old wife, and she would make sure that I would once again be living in a cheap apartment, driving a cheap car, and sleeping on a sofa bed and watching a 24” black and white TV. Aren’t older women great? They sure know how to solve a mid-life crisis!

(Thanks to Anne Thomas for the last two jokes)


SAPPHIRES - ZIRCON - CHRYSOPRASE

Come and see our outstanding range of Australian gemstones all from our own mines and guaranteed

genuine and natural. See for yourself that some of the world’s best gemstones are produced right here in

Australia.

Jewellery and Gemstone Buyers

If you are buying a piece of jewellery or a gemstone, you want it

to be beautiful, brilliant and precious and you hope that it will last

forever. Natural sapphire is not only beautiful and precious, it is

extremely durable and is rarer even than diamonds, and comes in

an amazing range of natural colours. Our zircons rival diamonds

for brilliance. Our Queensland chrysoprase has been sold for

years as “Jade”.

Avoid synthetically modified, artificially coloured or radiation

enhanced gemstones, which are often sold to unsuspecting buyers

without proper disclosure. These false gems may be quite pretty,

but they have a very low value.

Choose genuine, natural sapphire (preferably Australian) and ask for

a Certificate of Authenticity from the seller to guarantee that your

purchase is really genuine and valuable.

Come and visit us at the Cairns Gem Festival

at 129 Mulgrave Road – beside the Cairns Showgrounds.

Bring any jewellery with missing sapphires you need replaced.

Or contact us at:

COOLAMON MINING PTY. LTD.

P.O. Box 303, Sapphire, Qld. 4702.

Phone: 07.4985.4277 Fax: 07.4985.4384

Cairns Mineral & Lapidary Gem Festival 31/7 & 1/8, 2010

See us

at the

Gem

Festival


Did You Know?

Silver and Gold made in Galactic Furnaces

From “The Age”, July 14 2003 By Richard Macey

High in the sky, on any clear Melbourne winter evening, Antar-es glows bright red. "Antares is a red supergiant, a star nearing the end of its life," said Bryan Gaensler, an Australian astro-physicist who is an assistant professor of astronomy at Harvard University.

Professor Gaensler works with NASA's Chandra X-ray Obser-vatory, the Hubble's "sister", to study neutron stars, the cosmic corpses after big stars die and explode as a supernova. Within a million years or so, Antares may suffer such a fate.

But Professor Gaensler, back in Australia for this week's Inter-national Astronomical Union meeting, says such a death is not the end, but merely another phase in the cycle of stellar life.

Eventually, such stars run out of nuclear fuel, can no longer support their own bulk and collapse, blowing themselves apart. The blast spews out carbon, oxygen, nitrogen and other ele-ments - right up the elementary table to iron - that were manu-factured in the star's nuclear furnace during its life. Heavier elements, including silver, gold and uranium, are fused in the supernova itself.

Supernova elements not swept up by the new star can gather to form planets, and everything on them.

"Without supernovae these elements would not exist and there is no way we would exist," Professor Gaensler said. "If you wear something made of silver or gold, you are wearing some-thing made in a supernova. There is no other source in the universe."


CAIRNS MINERAL and

LAPIDARY CLUB INC.

129 Mulgrave Road, CAIRNS.

DEALERS

MORNING &

AFTERNOON TEAS

BBQ SNAGS &

COLD DRINKS

DEMONSTRATIONS

* Cabochon polishing

* Faceting

* Silver-smithing

* Gold Panning

* Metal Detecting

INSPIRING DISPLAYS

* Club Members’ Work

* Polished Agates

* Mineral Specimens

WHY NOT VISIT THE NORTH’S GEMFIELDS WHILE YOU’RE HERE?

CHILDREN

FOSSICK FOR

YOUR OWN

GEM-STONE

EXPERIENCE OUR GOOD OLD-FASHIONED

NORTHERN HOSPITALITY

WIN GREAT

RAFFLE PRIZES

MICRO-SPECIMENS

See magnified micro-specimens.

Amazing detail on a large

screen.

Grab a Bargain at a variety

of STALLS

Documents

No Stone Unturned - cairnsmineralclub.rocks · “No Stone Unturned” should be handed to the editor or emailed. All articles must be signed and will be published at the Editor’s