Rocky Mountain Federation News - rmfms.orgrmfms.org/uploads/newsletters/2018/2018-06-June-RMFMS-Newslett… · 6/6/2018 · Rocky Mountain Federation News, Vol 49, Issue 6 Page 3

Rocky Mountain Federation News, Vol 49, Issue 6 Page 1

Rocky Mountain Federation News


Contents

From the Editor ................................................. 2

Affiliations ......................................................... 2

Letter from the President – June 2018 ............. 3

Road Trip: Mining Communities of the Northern

Black Hills and Heading to the RMFMS Meeting

and Show ........................................................... 4

What to do in the Case of BAD Publicity......... 16

RMFMS Convention and Show ....................... 18

Upcoming Symposium .................................... 26

June/July Upcoming Shows and Events .......... 27

Show Flyers ..................................................... 28

RMFMS Board and Committees...................... 31

Cover photo courtesy and copyright Mike

Nelson of the Colorado Springs Mineralogical

Society. “The Precambrian Harney Peak

Granite is well exposed in the Needles Area

north of Custer City alond SD 87. Note the

jointing of the granite producing the ‘needle.’”

From the Editor

For those attending Convention and the exciting

field trips in South Dakota, please consider

taking some photos and doing a short write‐up

on the activities so we can all enjoy the fun.

Please submit your contributions for the next

issue by July 10th to [email protected].

Heather Woods, PG

Affiliations

The Rocky Mountain Federation of

Mineralogical Societies (RMFMS) is a member

of the American Federation of Mineralogical

Societies (AFMS).


Letter from the President – June 2018 By Liz Thomas

Summer has quickly arrived, and man has it gotten hot here in the middle of the country, Oklahoma. But

I see in Rapid City South Dakota it will be in the 70’s and 80’s for the next 10 days. And for July at the

time we will be there for the convention it is forecasting the mid 80’s for the day and in the 60’s at night.

I can live with that.

I hope by now everyone has seen all the information on our website about the show/convention in Rapid

City South Dakota for July 20 – July 22. Not only that, there are field trips hosted by the club 2 days prior

and 2 days after the show. If you have not gotten a chance to look and download everything you will

need, please do so. The pre‐registration form for the banquet, editors’ breakfast and show passes, Entry

forms for the competitive and noncompetitive cases, the Delegate credentials and the Proxies, and the

2018 annual report is on there as well. The most important at this point is the proxies. If you do not

have anyone coming to the show, we need to make sure your club gets in their proxies for the delegates

meeting. You can send them to me or to your state director or to someone you know will be attending

the show. There are a few things we will be voting on and we want your voice to be heard.

We have four items that is being presented by the long range planning committee to be voted on. Those

items are in the annual report for you to go over and decide as to how you want to vote on this. We also

will be discussing and voting on where to hold a couple of our future conventions. Last but not least we

will be voting on new officers and a few things I am missing, I am sure.

I am looking forward in seeing a lot of you at this year’s convention and if you have any question about

anything please feel free to email me or call and I will be more than happy to speak to you.

Thank you

Liz Thomas

RMFMS President


Road Trip: Mining Communities of the Northern Black Hills and Heading to

the RMFMS Meeting and Show By Mike Nelson, Colorado Springs Mineralogical Society, [email protected],

www.csmsgeologypost.blogspot.com

Lord, I was born a ramblin' man,

Tryin' to make a livin' and doin' the best I can. And when it's time for leavin',

I hope you'll understand, That I was born a ramblin' man.

Allman Brothers Band

This is the 4th and final installment of my articles on the Black Hills of South Dakota where Rapid City is

the home of the Federation meeting and show on July 20‐22. The event is hosted by the Western Dakota

Gem and Mineral Society (www.wdgms.org) and all sessions, including the show, will be held at the

Rushmore Plaza Civic Center. Field trips are planned for the Thursday and Friday (July 18‐19) before the

meeting and the Monday and Tuesday (July 23‐24) after the event. So, when the time comes put on

your rambling shoes and hit the road.

My previous articles have been geologic in nature rather than zeroing in on specific spots to collect

minerals from the igneous pegmatites—I will leave that chore to the Show Committee. However, I have

tried to steer show participants into areas of well‐exposed geology and June’s offering is not any

different. In fact, I want travelers to take a few roads north of Rapid City to observe a series of Tertiary,

northwest trending, igneous intrusions (mostly sills, dikes, stocks and laccoliths) around 46‐58 Ma

(Eocene). Some intrusions (Devils Tower) are quite well known while others see hundreds of autos each

day without the occupants having the slightest idea about the roadside rocks (Elkhorn Mountain). Even

rockhounds and fossil hunters are often unaware of what the countryside holds and believe “that tall hill

is just another hill!”

So, hop on I‐90 and head north toward Spearfish and the Wyoming border. At Exit 30 get off the

Interstate and head into Sturgis, an interesting small town (~6,600 permanent residents) in the northern

Hills but known to most persons as the host of an extremely large and rather raucous motorcycle rally

held annually in early August. At this time of the year the population soars to well over a half million

temporary residents and non‐cyclists avoid the area, and actually the entire Black Hills, at all costs. Even

on the third weekend in July the community is prepping for the rally and early birds are already in town.


To a geologist the most interesting aspect of the

Sturgis area is Bear Butte (Fig. 1), an isolated peak

sticking up off the prairie a few miles north of town

(off SD 79 and in Bear Butte State Park). Also known

as Mato Paha (Lakota), the Butte is a sacred to a

variety of Native Americans and visitors often see

prayer bundles attached to trees, especially along the

summit trail. The Butte is believed by many to be the

spot where a creator communicates with her people

through vision and prayer. Each year Native

Americans make pilgrimages to the Butte for prayer

and spiritual renewal (National Trust for Historic

Preservation, 2011). Although visitors may hike the

summit trail, many chose to observe the Native

American sacredness and just snap a few photos and visit the information center.

Bear Butte is an igneous feature termed a laccolith (sometimes a small stock) and has domed up the

overlying sedimentary rocks Figs. 2, 3. The intrusion is Eocene in age, ~50+/‐ Ma, and is related to other

Tertiary intrusions belonging to the Eocene Magmatic Province found along the northern flanks of the

Black Hills, i.e. Devils Tower and Missouri Buttes in Wyoming. The rock type comprising Bear Butte is a

rather monotonous porphyritic rhyolite, an intrusive

fine‐grained igneous rock with some larger grains of

sanidine feldspar and quartz. The summit is at 4426

feet and there is a vertical relief of ~1250 feet.

Figure 1. The eroded igneous core of Bear

Butte.

Figure 2. A cartoon (Public Domain) illustrates a

perfect laccolith that has domed up the overlying

rock layers but has not eroded into the center

igneous core.

Fig. 3. A photo of Green Mountain or Little

Sundance Peak (Google Earth), located just east

of the community of Sundance, Wyoming. It is

a beautiful circular laccolithic anticline with

igneous rock pushing up the dome. However,

the stripping of the Paleozoic rocks has not yet

exposed the igneous rock under the surface. I‐

90 cuts across the landscape (Permian‐Triassic

Spearfish Formation) with an interchange for

the community.


Most of Bear Butte is composed of the igneous

rock; however, on the east side there is a

vertical bed of Minnesula Sandstone

(Pennsylvanian and Permian) and tilted beds of

Madison Limestone (Mississippian) (Fig. 4).

These are remnants of older sedimentary rocks

that once covered the area but were pushed up

pushed up by the intrusion and eroded of the

center.

Another interesting aspect of the Park is Bear

Butte Lake (Fig. 5.) The lake did not exist until

1921 when a wildcat oil well penetrated

artesian water, lots of water, in the Madison

Limestone. The water was diverted into the

“new” lake. Today the park’s small campground

is located at the lake.

A laccolith somewhat more difficult to spot is

Elkhorn Peak located along I‐90 between

Whitewood and Spearfish along the eastern

flanks of the Black Hills—on the south side of

the road just prior to Exit 17 (Fig. 6). The

igneous rocks intruded between the

Precambrian and the Cambrian‐Ordovician

Deadwood Formation and domed up the

overlying sedimentary rocks: the Minnekahta

Limestone (Permian) is exposed as a dip slope

while the Pennsylvanian‐Permian Minnelusa

Formation covers the dome. As I said

previously, most think, “just another tall hill.”

Continue up I‐90 to my favorite town in South

Dakota, Spearfish (several exits). It has a

beautiful city campground, a Blue‐Ribbon trout

stream, several coffee shops, a nice brewery for

a good adult beverage, old mining communities

to explore, and several peaks to climb. The

skyline of Spearfish is dominated by three

peaks: 1) Lookout Mountain (4452 ft.) to the

east along I‐90, a non‐igneous cored peak; 2)

the massive Crow Peak (5760 ft.) to the west;

and 3) the dominant Spearfish Peak (5810 ft.) to

Figure 4. Tilted sedimentary rocks off the flank of

Bear Butte.

Figure 5. Bear Butte Lake.

Figure 6. Elkhorn Peak, covered laccolith, located

along I‐90 near Spearfish.


the south. Crow Peak (Fig.

7), another laccolith, has a

beautiful “back road”

leading out to a well‐

maintained summit trail

(1560 feet elevation gain).

Before you travel, stop in

the USFS office and get a

free road map, look for road

10A in the northwest part of

town, follow it before

turning south on road 214,

Higgins Gulch. The Peak is a

quartz latite porphyry

(plagioclase feldspar

phenocrysts in a fine

groundmass of orthoclase feldspar) in the center surrounded by the Cambrian‐Ordovician Deadwood

Formation (sandstone), some lower Paleozoic thin carbonates and the massive, cliff‐forming

Mississippian Pahasapa (Madison) Limestone (Fig. 8).

Spearfish Peak (Fig. 9) on the skyline to the

south of town is best reached by following

east FS 195, south on FS 628.1, and continuing

FS 220.1‐‐‐remember the free map. There are

some small side roads that turn west but

require high clearance vehicles to reach nice

outcrops of the igneous core of phonolite.

This fine‐grained rock has beautiful radiating

sheathes of black aegirine or aegirine‐augite

(pyroxenes) and using a loupe or binocular

scope one should be able to spot nepheline

(feldspathoid mineral) and the sodalite

minerals nosean and sodalite. A nifty rock.

Figure 8. Geologic section through Crow Peak. From USGS Professional

Paper 65, 1909.

Figure 7. The massive Crow Peak that dominates the west skyline of

Spearfish.

Figure 9. Spearfish Peak, a Tertiary intrusion

dominating the southeast skyline of Spearfish


If you are up for continuing the search

for Tertiary intrusives (Fig. 10) stay on FS

195 and do not turn off on FS 628.1 and

head south along a creek road. FS 195

continues south as Maitland Road

(gravel) and heads to Lead and Central

City‐‐‐a sort of back road to the mining

communities. The conical Spearfish

Peak (a very large sill, I think, with

almost laccolith qualities) is the

dominant feature on the west side of

the road; however, another more

elongated peak becomes visible to the

east‐‐‐Tetro Rock at 5562 feet. Tetro,

like many other Tertiary intrusions in the

northern Hills, is also composed of the

igneous phonolite. This intrusive

structure is probably a sill intruded

along bedding planes in the Ordovician‐

Cambrian Deadwood Formation

(Lisenbee and others, 2013).

A few miles down the road from Tetro

Rock are remains of mines in the

Maitland Mining District (Garden

District) along False Bottom Creek (Fig.

12). The earliest mining activity

probably started in the 1880s; however,

the major production of gold and silver

commenced in 1902 with the opening of

the principal Maitland Mine (Fig. 13). In

1942 the Maitland was closed (due to

the country’s effort in WWII) but had

produced at least 176,000 ounces of

gold. The mineralization is a

replacement gold deposit in the

quartzite and dolomite units of the

Deadwood Formation (Cambrian‐

Ordovician) with mineralizing fluids

associated with nearby Tertiary

intrusions (Fig. 14.)

Figure 10. Index map of northern Black Hills. Note Spearfish.

T indicates Tetro Rock, M: Maitland; C: Carbonate Camp; G:

Galena; RT: Ragged Top. Consult a topographic map or

Google Earth© for more detailed locations.

Figure 11. The large Tertiary intrusion known as Tetro Rock.

Photo courtesy of Google Earth©. The Red Valley (Spearfish

Formation) and the community of Spearfish in background.


Lisenbee and others (2013) mapped the igneous

rocks associated with the Deadwood Formation at

Maitland as rhyolite (Fig. 15) and latite, both fine‐

grained igneous rocks appearing as intrusive sills.

The mineralizing fluid migrated to the Deadwood via fractures and faults. As best that I can tell,

prospectors followed the contact between the igneous sills and the Deadwood Formation while digging

small shafts along the way hunting for mineralization. The Deadwood disappears under the middle

Figure 12. Google Earth© photo of the Maitland

Mining area. Maitland Road comes in from lower

left.

Figure 13. The above two photographs show

remnants of structures associated with one of the

Maitland mines.

Figure 14. Igneous rhyolite of Tertiary age

intruded into the sedimentary Cambrian‐

Ordovician Deadwood Formation.

Figure 15. Flow‐banded rhyolite from Maitland.

Width FOV ~20 cm.


Paleozoic limestones near Tetro Rock to the north and prospecting stops (Lisenbee and others, 2013). I

located a company project report indicating that Dakota Territory Resource Corporation has proposed a

new mining project (Blind Gold Project) running from Maitland south to the Lead area (Cole and

Smailbergovic, 2013). They noted the “Maitland Mine was the last and furthest north of a string of mines

that produced ore from the Deadwood Formation on a well‐defined structural trend influenced by the

fabric of the Proterozoic metamorphic basement.” It will be interesting to see the results.

There is a small cluster of homes in the Maitland community along the creek (a gazillion other ranchettes

are up in the hills) and a side road, named either the Carbonate Road or the False Bottom Creek Road,

trends west to the old mining area of Carbonate Camp. The name comes from ore mineralization in the

middle Paleozoic Pahasapa (Madison) Limestone rather than the Deadwood Formation.

In the Carbonate District, the Pahasapa has been intruded extensively by Tertiary sills and dikes. Wimorat

and Patterson (1989) noted two different types of ore bodies: 1) fissure veins with gold‐bearing iron

gouge in the center and lead‐silver rich (galena, cerussite, and cerargyrite) mineralized jasperoids (silica)

along the margins; and 2) solution cavity‐filling ores that are usually closer to igneous intrusions, are less

siliceous than jasperoid, and are rich in lead and silver with minor gold.

The major minerals produced at Carbonate were silver, lead and gold with the best production for less

than 20 years from ~1880‐1900 (peak years 1885‐1991). The larger Iron Hill Mine, in the southern part

of the District, hung on until ~1930. In the late 1880s Carbonate Camp was a booming town with

numerous businesses, including banks, newspapers, stores, mills, smelters, saloons, the largest hotel in

Dakota Territory, and hundreds of residents. By the early 1900s diphtheria, other illnesses, fires and

falling silver prices sounded the death knoll for the community.

It is hard to find production figures;

however, Shapiro and Gries (1970)

stated that in the peak six years the

various mines produced 83 ounces of

gold, 18,511 ounces of silver, and

83,191 pounds of lead. Carbonate Camp

was not a major gold producer.

Today the casual visitor might not even

notice that a thriving town once existed

in the area (Fig. 16). Maybe casual is the

wrong word since visitors most likely are

aiming for Carbonate Camp on ATVs or

high clearance (preferably 4‐wheel

drive) vehicles. The road can be very

rough and rocky, and the forest has

reclaimed most of the old town. I

spotted some hewn logs, a few rotting

log foundations, perhaps some

Figure 16. The forest has reclaimed much/most of Carbonate

Camp although some structures may be identified as

“human” in origin.


collapsed mine shafts (the ole

knee prevented much hiking), but

nothing spectacular. To the

south the Iron Hill Mine (I think)

looked reclaimed and No

Trespassing signs were common.

Nature has its way of taking back

localities of desecration and

healing the land.

The journey now leads back to

Spearfish via the road just

traveled, or more interestingly,

south on FS 195 to Lead and

Deadwood and back north on

U.S. 85 to I‐90. A few miles north

of Deadwood turn left on Rd.

133 and go a couple of miles to

Mt. Roosevelt, another one of

these igneous intrusions (Fig.

17).

OK, now it is back to Spearfish and a hookup with one of the Hill’s best‐known roads, U.S. 14 alt., or the

Spearfish Canyon Road, trending south along a Blue‐Ribbon trout stream, Spearfish Creek (Trivia note:

trout species are not native to the Black Hills). The canyon itself is absolutely gorgeous in all seasons,

but especially so in the fall. The canyon and stream dissect a large plateau of Mississippian Pahasapa

Limestone; however, interrupting

the plateau are numerous small‐to‐

large, Tertiary igneous intrusions.

One of the “must stop” places in

Spearfish Canyon is Bridal Vail Falls

on the left side of the road and

well‐marked (Fig. 18). As you

approach the Falls and small

parking area be careful of

pedestrians crossing the road in

both directions. The Falls are

directly related to an Eocene

intrusion since a large sill was

intruded between the Cambrian‐

Ordovician Deadwood Formation

and rocks of Precambrian age. The

Figure 17. I love the back roads of the Black Hills, puttering along

looking at the scenery (back side of Mt. Roosevelt north of Lead),

checking out the rocks, and just enjoying life. There is a walk to the

fire tower and summit (5690 feet).

Figure 18. Bridal Veil Falls in Spearfish Canyon.


small stream in Rubicon Gulch could not cut

through the hard‐igneous rocks and

therefore tumbles over the sill into local

base level, Spearfish Creek. Exposures of

the sill are easily observed on the west side

of the road.

As you continue up the Canyon and

approach the small community of Savoy,

most visitors look east and notice Ragged

Top Peak/Mountain (Fig. 19) towering

above the creek and reaching 6220 feet in

elevation while next door to the south is Elk

Mountain coming in at 6422 feet. What

most visitors do not realize is that in the

1880s Ragged Top was the site of a booming

mining community and several small towns

and settlements. The major mines were

generally north of Ragged Top, but several

other prospects were located west of the

intrusion. The production, mostly gold with

some silver, came from vertical fractures in

the limestone where mineralized fluid from

the nearby intrusions had left behind the metals. As with many of these boom towns, major production

lasted less than 20 years with final closing ~1915. It is difficult to estimate production; however, Allsman

(1940) noted production from the mines operated by Spearfish Gold Mining and Deadwood Standard

was nearly 50,000 ounces of gold from 1899‐

1914. In mid‐May 2018 spot gold prices

ranged from ~$1250‐1300 per ounce. That

calculates out as ~ $62,500,000 in today’s

market.; however, I have no information on

the production costs. I do understand that

some operators are looking at the deposits

at Ragged Top, and Carbonate, for

development of “heap leach” (cyanide)

mining.

Lisenbee and others (2013) indicated that

Ragged Top is a sill and/or dike(s) intruded

along bedding planes in the Deadwood

Formation (Fig. 20). Someday I am going to

try and find out the “whys” of these Tertiary

bodies and their intrusions into the

Figure 19. Google Earth© photo of Ragged Top Mountain

along Spearfish Creek.

Figure 20. Igneous rocks, phonolite, exposed on flanks of

Ragged Top. Cloudy and misty morning and a telephoto

lens do not allow for good photos.


Deadwood Formation. For example, some of the intrusions are not sills but actually laccoliths that

domed up the overlying Paleozoic rocks. Other intrusions deposit minerals in the middle Paleozoic

Pahasapa Limestone Why? I did note that Paterson and others (1989) believe isotopic compositions of

minerals indicate “element sources in [both] the Precambrian rocks and Tertiary intrusive rocks.” Some

of life’s persistent questions?

I saved the best for last if travelers don’t mind many winding gravel roads without good directional signs.

However, since Tinton and Cement Ridge are such fantastic locations with magnificent views, grab the

USFS map and head out‐‐from Savoy, travel west on the Roughlock Falls Road (FSR 222) to the junction

with FSR 134, where you will turn left and drive a very short distance to FSR 105. At the junction with

FSR 105, go west until you come to FSR 804. On FSR 804, go north until you come to FSR 850, where you

will see a sign for the route to the summit. To go through Tinton first, from Spearfish take Tinton Road,

(FSR 134) south to the junction with FSR 105 and then see directions above. Take your map!!

Lisenbee and Dewitt (1993) described the rocks at Tinton as being related to one of three large intrusive

centers in the northern Black Hills‐‐‐the Tinton Dome in the western Hills on the Wyoming‐South Dakota

state line, the Deadwood‐Lead Dome, and the northwestern Bear Lodge Dome, all related to basement

(Precambrian) plutons swelling the overlying rocks and sending up hot magma to solidify as laccoliths,

sills, dikes, and other stocks (Fig. 21).

The Tinton Dome has two major areas‐‐‐the

Tinton District in South Dakota where cassiterite

was the major mineral producing tin, much of it

placer tin derived from pegmatites in the

area. Today most streams seem to have gold

placer mining camps, both claimed (?) and

weekenders; however, some large exploration

companies have moved in and staked several

hundred claims. As best that I can tell many of the

larger companies are looking for gold in

paleoplacers of the Cambrian Deadwood

Formation, or in rocks like those past producers

over at the Homestake Mine near Lead. The

companies, placer miners, and people living near

Tinton do not seem the friendliest in the world

and threaten visitors with all sorts of bodily harm

for setting foot off the road. My momma didn’t

raise no fools, I just keep trucken’ so as to stay out

of the sights! I would have enjoyed peeking at the

old mines but…...

Figure 21. The three large Laramide intrusive

domes in the Black Hills: Bear Lodge, Tinton,

Lead/Deadwood (BH). Inyan Kara is a separate

laccolith. Map from DeWitt (1989).


Across the state line in Wyoming is the Mineral Hill

District, a locality that produced gold from the 1870’s

through the 1930’s, both placer and lode. Today, I

believe, exploration companies are purchasing leases at

Mineral Hills to look for porphyry‐style gold and copper

deposits. This type of deposit is has produced much of

the copper in the desert southwest (Fig. 22).

The rocks at Mineral Hill are exceedingly complex with

ring dikes, multi‐phase alkaline intrusive rocks including

trachyte porphyry, Precambrian rocks, amphibolite, and

sedimentary rocks, especially the Cambrian Deadwood

Formation, and perhaps a central brecciated diatreme

pipe. The epithermal style gold veins (warm water at a

somewhat shallow depth) were the targets of the early

miners (2009, Market Wired).

The trachyte porphyry (mostly orthoclase feldspar of two different generations) at Mineral Hill occurs as

sills and dikes and is part of the Laramide intrusive suite in the northern Hills. The southwestern section

of Mineral Hill is known as Cement Ridge where the resistant trachyte forms the highest elevation (6674

feet) of the dome, and the second highest peak in the Wyoming section of the Black Hills and is home to

a USFS Fire Lookout Tower (Fig. 23). The Tower often has an interpreter and supplies some really great

views, some of the best in the entire Hills. But before you leave, take a peek at the boulders lining the

access road and try to locate some of the large colonial corals. The boulders were quarried from the

Mississippian Pahasapa Limestone.

This road trip just covered a small portion

of the scenic backcountry in the Black

Hills. Most rockhounds come to the Black

Hill to hunt for agates and/or the wide

variety of minerals located in the

pegmatites associated with the

Precambrian Harney Peak Granite. I hope

this small article allows visitors to become

acquainted with an entirely different

suite of rocks and minerals that are

associated with Tertiary intrusive centers.

Several of these centers form high peaks

in the Hills, especially in the northern

section, while some are associated with

mostly forgotten mining communities.

And, there are many more peaks to climb

and mining areas to explore.

Figure 22. Cement Ridge portion of Tinton

Dome. Map from DeWitt (1989).

Figure 23. USFS Fire Lookout Tower at Cement Ridge.

Outcrop in foreground is part of the Eocene intrusive.


REFERENCES CITED

Allsman, P.T., 1940, Reconnaissance of gold‐mining districts in the Black Hills, S. Dakota.: US Geological

Survey Bulletin 427.

Cole, B. and A. Smailbergovic, 2013, Technical Report on the Blind Gold Project, Maitland Mining

District, Lawrence County, South Dakota: Dakota Territory Resource Corporation, Reno, Nevada

DeWitt, E., 1989, Geologic Map of the Black Hills Area, South Dakota and Wyoming: U.S. geological

Survey Miscellaneous Investigations Map I‐1910.

Lisenbee, A.L. and E. DeWitt, 1993, Laramide Evolution of the Black Hills Uplift in Snoke, A.W., J.R.

Steidtmann and S.M. Roberts, eds. Geology of Wyoming: Geological Survey of Wyoming Memoir no. 5.

Lisenbee, A.L., J.A. Redden, M.D. Fahrenbach, and K.A. McCormick, 2013, Geologic Map of the Savoy

Quadrangle, South Dakota: South Dakota Geological Survey 7.5 Minute Series Geologic Quadrangle

Map 20.

Lisenbee, A.L., J.A. Redden, and M.D. Fahrenbach, 2013, Geologic Map of the Spearfish Quadrangle,

South Dakota: South Dakota Geological Survey 7.5 Minute Series Geologic Quadrangle Map 21.

MarketWire: http://www.marketwired.com/press‐release/Golden‐Predator‐Acquires‐Mineral‐Hill‐

Alkalic‐Gold‐Property‐Crook‐County‐Wyoming‐TSX‐VENTURE‐GPD‐1029605.htm

Paterson, C.J., A.L. Lisenbee, and J.A. Redden, 1989, Gold deposits in the Black Hills, South Dakota in

Paterson, C.J. and A.L. Lisenbee, Metallogeny of gold in the Black Hills, South Dakota (T.B. Thompson,

Ed.): Society of Economic Geologists Guidebook Series Volume 7.

Shapiro, L.H., and J.P. Gries, 1970, Ore deposits in rocks of Paleozoic and Tertiary age of the northern

Black Hills, South Dakota: US Geological Survey Open‐File Report 70‐300.

Wimorat, M. and C.J. Paterson, 2007, Carbonate‐hosted Au‐Ag‐Pb deposits, northern Black Hills in

Paterson, C.J. and A.L. Lisenbee, Metallogeny of gold in the Black Hills, South Dakota (T.B. Thompson,

Ed.): Society of Economic Geologists Guidebook Series Volume 7.


What to do in the Case of BAD Publicity By DeLane Cox, RMFMS Public Relations Chair

Yes, it does happen. Bad publicity. There is nothing quite like two people getting together and putting

nasty, or wrong, or harmful information about your Club on Facebook.

Who will see it, you wonder? Everybody! Especially anyone you don’t want to see it.

This is a crisis. And Crisis Management is needed. Quickly.

But the first thing you want to do is…wait. Isn’t that

contradictory to what I just said, to get to it quick? Well,

there is “quick” and there is “quick and better.”

When I said, “Wait,” did you imagine not doing

anything? Wrong. Did you imagine putting off a

response for a few hours, then firing with all guns at the

perpetrator of the Bad Image Post? Also Wrong.

First of all, you need information. You need to know just

who was saying what and why. Was this a

misunderstanding between two people not in your club?

Or IN your club? Was this someone who heard something then decided to expand on the information,

even though it was wrong? Or was this willful and meaningful hatred of somebody or some thing?

Just for the record: This last one is probably the hardest to handle. And requires the most delicate of

handling. And I will start with this one. Again, do not jump up and start shouting bad words or making

statements before you have full facts. You have got to have more information. Try and find the root

cause, because without knowing that, anything you do or say or print will be useless. Get help in trying

to find out the reason for the bad publicity. See who might know the person, who might know something

about the situation, someone who might be able to get to the actual cause for the nastiness.

But you need to do it quickly. Social Media has

made it possible to get anything put online heard

around the world in less than a minute! (That’s

scary!)

This is an instance where the key leadership in your

club must get together, preferably in person, and

come to an agreement on how to handle the

problem. This IS something to do quickly. You can

agree to publish a short statement as close as

possible to the site of the original foulness that

states the Club is aware of the statement and is looking with due care into the problem, but will make

no further statements until we know what the cause for the problem to be. Period. NEVER strike back.

Keep calm and look for causes.


And do not go threatening lawsuits: They are expensive and usually not appropriate.

Depending on the severity of the problem, all of your membership might need to be informed and told

what you know. That way if they hear or see something about the problem they can counter it, or for

sure get the evidence and give to the president or publicity chair to add to the history of the problem.

Once the problem is solved, and not a minute before, you can put out information about the problem,

its source, why it has happened and, most importantly, what the Club is going to do about it. Simple and

Calm. Then, chances are, and with a little luck, there will not be any other responses. The problem will

just fade away and cease to exist.

So much for the nastiness. Let’s look at other reasons for bad publicity.

Some things you can counter, some things you leave alone. Sometimes a simple apology will suffice.

This will probably work in the case of a misunderstanding between people.

Sometimes it takes a bit more work. If erroneous information has been published or put on social media,

you need to get the correct information out as soon as possible. But be sure you have that correct

information first.

But what if something actually happens that gets disastrous

press coverage? Again, as quickly as you possibly can, first

offer an apology or offer condolences on behalf of the club.

Put out a brief press release or Facebook post or a note on your

website (or all of these) that this is what happened and the

Club is looking into the problem and will report back as soon

as information has been gathered. Then get the correct

information, and get that out where it will be seen as soon as

it is known. Things happen, and it helps if the club and the

club’s publicity chair have some good thoughts that can be

pulled in and published to help polish up the Club’s image. This might be one of those times when your

RMFMS insurance really pays for itself.

But someone will have to make the decision about what you and the club are going to do to improve

your public image. And you really, really DO want to shine that up. Especially if you want to keep

members, or get new members. Good image IS important to your club. The fate of a 501(c)(3) could

hang on good images. It is not a good idea to overlook problems that shed a bad image on the clubs

good name or reputation.

Face problems with clear vision, good intentions, and all of the help you can get. Think problems through

thoroughly before jumping onto them. But do not let a smear on your reputation go without some

acknowledgement, even if it is just that apology. That BIG apology will go a long way to help create a

better public image than doing nothing at all.

How well does your club shine?


RMFMS Convention and Show









Upcoming Symposium


June/July Upcoming Shows and Events

June 29 – July 1, 2018; San Juan County Gem and Mineral Society’s Annual Show; (See flyer on page

29); Friday and Saturday 10am‐6pm, Sunday 10am‐5pm; Free Admission; McGee Park, 41 RD 5569,

Farmington, NM 87401. Gemstones, mineral specimens, jewelry & repair, books, tools, rough material,

polished cabs, silent auction, hourly door prize drawing, raffle, Wheel of Fortune, and fluorescent

display. Contact: Tory Bonner [email protected] or (505) 716‐2847, Facebook @ SJCGMS.

July 7 – 8, 2018; White Mountain Gem and Mineral Club’s 21st Annual Show; Saturday 9am‐6pm, Sunday

10am‐4pm; Hondah Resort and Casino, Show Low, Arizona. Jewelry, gems, minerals, beads, slab & fossil

dealers, lapidary equipment & supplies, silent auction, door prizes, grand raffle, Wheel of Fortune, and

more. More info: [email protected] attn. R. Fowers, www.whitemountain‐azrockclub.org.

July 14 – 15, 2018; Tulsa Rock and Mineral Society’s Annual Gem Mineral and Jewelry Show; (See flyer

page 30); Saturday 9am‐6pm, Sunday 10am‐5pm; Admission $6 Adults, $10 two‐day pass, children free

under 12 with paid adult admission, free admission for uniformed military, scouts, police, and fire;

Exchange Center at the Tulsa County Fairgrounds, 4145 E. 21st St., Tulsa, OK. Show includes gems, beads,

fossils, jewelry, crystals, working exhibits, demonstrations, florescent display, touch and feel display,

spinning wheel, grab bags and free kid’s zone. Show information contact Finis Riggs,

[email protected] or Eric Hamshar, [email protected]. Vendor inquires contact

[email protected], (918) 346‐7299, or Liz Thomas, [email protected].

July 20 – 22, 2018; Western Dakota Gem and Mineral Society’s 38th Annual Gem and Mineral Show;

(See flyer page 19); Admission $4 per day, children 12 and under free with adult; Rushmore Plaza Civic

Center Barnett Arena, Rapid City, SD. Show in conjunction with the Rocky Mountain Federation of

Mineralogical Society’s Convention. Vendors will offer rocks, fossils, gemstones, minerals, lapidary tools,

and jewelry. Show activities include door prizes on the hour, silent auction, grand prize drawing, kid’s

activities, exhibits, fluorescent mineral displays, guest speakers, and live demonstrations. For more info:

[email protected] or www.wdgms.org.

August 3 – 5, 2018; Lake George Gem

& Mineral Club’s 19th Annual Show;

(See flyer at right); Admission is free;

9am‐5pm daily; U.S. Highway 24 (next

to the Post Office), Lake George, CO.

Local specimens, rocks, minerals,

fossils, gems, beads, jewelry, lapidary

and more. For more info:

www.LGGMclub.org.


August 3 – 5, 2018; Prescott Gem & Mineral Club’s Show & Sale; (See flyer below); Friday and Saturday

9am‐5pm, Sunday 9am‐4pm; Admission $5, Seniors 65+, Vets, and Students $4, Children under 12 free;

Prescott Valley Event Center, 3201 Main Street, Prescott Valley, AZ. Free parking. Over 60 vendors. One

of Arizona’s largest shows outside of Tucson! For more information: www.prescottgemmineral.org.

Show Flyers




RMFMS Board and Committees

President Liz Thomas [email protected]

Vice President Bob Regner [email protected]

Secretary Wayne Cox [email protected]

Treasurer Gene Maggard [email protected]

Historian Cinda Kunkler [email protected]

Past Presidents Richard Jaeger Diane Weir

[email protected] [email protected]

Arizona State Director Jodi Brewster [email protected]

Colorado State Director Kathy Honda [email protected]

New Mexico/Texas State Director

Dr. Robert Carlson [email protected]

Oklahoma/Arkansas State Director

Virgil Richards dws@dances‐with‐snakes.com

South Dakota/Nebraska State Director

Sondy Hemscher [email protected]

Wyoming State Director Stan Strike [email protected]

Utah State Director Tom Burchard [email protected]

Editor Heather Woods [email protected]

Publications Contest Linda Jeager [email protected]

Webmaster Jim McGarvey [email protected]

Finance Robert Hains (Chair) Wayne Cox

[email protected] [email protected]

Convention Advisory Dr. Robert Carlson [email protected]

Insurance Gene Maggard [email protected]

RMRMS Show Chairman Dr. Martin Kocanda [email protected]

Nominations Richard Jaeger (Chair) Judy Beck Dr. Robert Carlson

[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

Fluorescent Technical Pete Modreski [email protected]

Fossil Technical Roger Burkhalter [email protected]

Lapidary Bill Smith [email protected]

Mineral Technical Pete Modreski [email protected]

Programs Contest Gene Maggard [email protected]

Program Library Gene and Peggy Maggard

[email protected]

Webmaster Contest Jennifer Gerring [email protected]

Boundaries Bill Smith [email protected]

Membership Directory Kay Waterman [email protected]

ACROY Sheri Johnson [email protected]

All American Club DeLane Cox [email protected]

International Relations Mike Nelson [email protected]


Long Range Planning Judy Beck (Chair) Dr. Robert Carlson DeLane Cox


Name Badges Richard Jaeger [email protected]

Parliamentarian Gene Maggard [email protected]

Permanent Address/Trophies Dr. Robert Carlson [email protected]

Junior Program Terri Harris [email protected]

Ribbons Peggy Sue Moore [email protected]

Scholarship Richard Jaeger [email protected]

Supplies Finis Riggs [email protected]

Safety OPEN

Credentials Janet Smith [email protected]

Public Relations DeLane Cox [email protected]

Gold Pan Award Dr. Robert Carlson (Chair) Richard Jaeger


Public Land Advisory (PLA) Colorado/Nebraska/North Dakota

Mike Nelson (Chair) [email protected]

PLA Arizona Dr. Alex Schauss [email protected]

PLA Kansas Jared Kyner [email protected]

PLA New Mexico/Texas Mel Stairs [email protected]

PLA Oklahoma/Arkansas Stan Nowak [email protected]

PLA South Dakota Brandon Nelson [email protected]

PLA Utah/Nevada Jack Johnson [email protected]

PLA Wyoming Richard Gerow [email protected]

Uniform Rules Lee Whitebay (Chair) Jay Bowman Roger Burkhalter Dr. Robert Carlson Paul Otto

[email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

Documents

Rocky Mountain Federation News - rmfms.orgrmfms.org/uploads/newsletters/2018/2018-06-June-RMFMS-Newslett… · 6/6/2018 · Rocky Mountain Federation News, Vol 49, Issue 6 Page 3