The Gem and Mineral show starts Saturday!!!!!

Please click here for a preview of the Gem and Mineral Show program in PDF booklet format.  

It will be available at the door in hard copy, most likely with updates!

There are fields trips, educational talks and demonstrations every day, as well as many vendors, silents auctions, a wheel of fortune, treasure hunts and food!

See you at the show!

2018 Vendor List

Check out the vendors scheduled for the 2018 Gem and Mineral Show.  Visit the show to see their amazing offerings!

2018 Gem and Mineral Show Schedules

View and download schedules for the 35th annual Gem and Mineral Show in Silver City September 1, 2, and 3, 2018.  

Every day features a field trip, live demonstrations and talks.

PDF Schedules:  Complete  and  Summary

 

August 2018 Newsletter now available

Check out the August 2018 Beacon for current info about club events, field trips and volunteer opportunities.  Also includes info about the upcoming Gem and Mineral show!

Craft show application

If you're interested in being a vendor at our November Craft Show,  here is an application that you can print and fill out. 

Craft Show and Bazaar

THE GRANT COUNTY ROLLING STONES GEM & MINERAL SOCIETY

will be holding a CRAFT SHOW & BAZAAR

 

on November 25, 2017, from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM at

 2045 Memory Lane.

 

Set up will be Nov. 24, 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM or Nov. 25 - 7 AM to 9 AM

 

Tear Down will be November. 25 from 4-6 PM.

 

It will be $25.00 for an 8' table for the Day.

 

Let us know if you are interested in selling at this show.

Be sure to listen!

Our Club will be featured in an interview/discussion on a radio show Local Flavor, on August 31, 2017 at 9:00am on KURU, 89.1FM Silver City.  Jeannine will either come on, or send another member for the program.  It will be mostly about the Show, but will also include info on the organization as a whole and other activities we do.

Here's the web site for KURU

Silver City Library Display

The display was a BIG HIT! Many patrons of the library expressed that they were sorry to see it leave and also expressed their thanks to our club for providing it!  Here are a few photos.   

Fourth of July at Gough Park

WNMU Geology Course offered

Mary Dowse, WNMU Professor of Geology, will be offering Geology of New Mexico (GEOL 315 – CRN 20218) on Tuesday evenings from 5:30 pm to 8 pm this spring at Western New Mexico University in Silver City.  The class will start January 12 and end May 6.  There will be one day-long field trip to look at the geology of the local area.  People are welcome to sign up to take the course for credit or as an audit.

As many of you may know Mary will be retiring in May and this will be the last time she teaches the course, so if you have been thinking about taking it, this is your last chance.

For those with mining claims

We recieved the following post that might be interesting to some.

Dear Webmaster,

I wanted to reach out to you because we are currently seeking some potential cast members for a potential Season 3 of The Weather Channel's "Prospectors" a hit television series about miners and their incredible finds as they battle the elements to uncover valuable minerals and gems.

Here is a link to the show's website:

http://www.weather.com/tv/tvshows/prospectors/main

We are seeking miners in the Southwest with claims who are available to dig this winter. Great energy is a plus and a passion for mining is a must. In addition we're looking for miners who dig as their full-time profession as opposed to those who mine as a hobby. 

I am hopeful that you and or members of your Gem & Mineral Club may know miners in your area currently working. Would love to chat with you on the phone if it's convenient for you. Please pass this along to anyone who might be interested in participating. I am happy to answer any questions as well.

 

Many thanks for your time.

Sarah Finley
High Noon Entertainment
303-872-8598 (office)
303-872-8701 (fax)
sfinley@highnoontv.com 

Zuhl hosts special event

Zuhl Museum announces newsletter publication

Happy Holidays to All!!

We at the Zuhl Museum, are proud to announce the first issue of the Zuhl Museum Newsletter!

Enjoy some information on the collection, some insight into our staff and pieces, and don't forget to join the Friends of the Zuhl Collection (form on the last page). Please share the newsletter by forwarding this email or by printing it out. Thank-you for your support!

The newsletter and all other museum documents and information can be found on the museum website www.nmsu.edu/zuhl.

You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and G+!! We are very social!

Happy Holidays!

Tiffany

Zuhl Museum:Home of the Zuhl Collection

"Where Rocks Come Alive"

Tiffany Santos

Director of Zuhl Collection

Dept. Geological Sciences/ MSC 3AB

New Mexico State University

P.O. Box 30001

Las Cruces, NM 88003

office: 575-646-4714

fax: 575-646-1056

zuhl@nmsu.edu

www.nmsu.edu/zuhl

Rolling Stones Awards Funds to GCEC

The Rolling Stones Board recently awarded Gila Conservation Education Center (GCEC) a check in the amount of $500.00 to be used for the education of students at the Gila Water Festival. For those of you that are not aware of it, the Rolling Stones in the spring of each year has a station at the GCEC Water Festival in which we acquaint the students with information and techniques on how and where to pan for gold. It is a very popular station at the water festival. Students pan for gold (aka brass BB’s) and many of the kids take their treasures home with them.

The Board of the Rolling Stones decided that the GCEC is a worthwhile cause as it educates the students of Grant County in the Ecology and Geology of the Gila River. The award will be used to purchase supplies and to help with transportation costs for the project.

Shop at Mama's Minerals in March and Help Our Club

Visitors to Albuquerque in March are encouraged to visit Mama's Minerals where a portion of proceeds this month will benefit our club!    The store is located at 1100 San Mateo Blvd NE at Lomas (San Mateo exit south off I-40 after Constitution).   Mama's is celebrating their 25th Anniversary this year, so each month has a theme such as Prospectors in January and  Beaders in February.   March will be their Gem and Mineral Club month, and we have been selected to be one of their recipients.  Keep an eye on their web site for more information and just click on 25th Anniversary Specials and Events!   You can also follow them on Facebook and Twitter. You can also visit the Santa Fe Plaza store at La Fonda Hotel.  Both stores are open every day.  

Mama's is a really fun place to shop, so check it out!  Spread the word and help our Club! 

Supporting a Sister Club

42nd Annual Jewelry Gem & Mineral Show
Albuquerque Gem & Mineral Club
by Judy Allen, Rolling Stones Member

The Albuquerque Gem & Mineral Club will hold their 42nd Annual Jewelry, Gem & Mineral Show March 18-20, 2010 Friday and Saturday the 18th & 19th from 10am to 6pm and Sunday the 20th from 10am to 5pm. The theme is Treasures of the Earth. The Show will be at the Creative Arts Center, New Mexico State Fairgrounds, San Pedro Drive NE, Entrance 4. Admission $3.00 for Adults & Seniors, Under 13 free. Admission on Friday is $1.00. Geode Cracking, Door Prizes, Raffles, Silent Auction and much more. Keep this in mind as a great place to visit in March, and support a sister New Mexico Club.

Report on the 31st Annual New Mexico Mineral Symposium

by Lee Stockman

The 31st Annual New Mexico Mineral Symposium drew a record number of geologist, mineralogists and rock hounds to Socorro for the two day meeting. Sixteen speakers presented discussions ranging from mining artifacts and papers to discussions of mineral collecting and history in various localities from Quebec to the Kearney Mine at Hanover. Mineral and mining knowledge was interspersed with humor, beverages and good food making the Symposium a worthy event.

Some of the presentations dealt with mineral collecting sites in Quebec, Michigan, Arizona, Colorado and Utah. Other parts of New Mexico were discussed in three reports and Grant and Hidalgo Counties in southwestern New Mexico was more than adequately represented with reports on four localities.

Ron Gibbs reported in a short talk about some rare and only recently identified minerals collected at Granite Gap. Robert Walstrom reported on mineral collecting in the Apache Hills, east of Hatchita, Travis Cato told about collecting at Mt. Watson, in what we call the Turkey Creek Fluorite area, and Jack Burgess reported on the fabulously rich zinc ores and the operation of the Kearney (pronounced Karney) Mine at Hanover. Talks were illustrated with numerous photos of mineral specimens, a significant number of them, micro minerals.

If you are particularly interested in minerals you may wish to check this web site for an organization, Friends of Mineralogy, at: http://www.friendsofmineralogy.org/

For the last two years, several of the presenters talked about mining artifacts and memorabilia including carbide lamps and blasting supplies and containers. Ross Arrington reported on the paper documentation of mining operations, and how he found some reports from the old mine of Carlisle signed by a young mining engineer, Herbert Hoover. Those interested in mining artifacts should check the internet magazine at: http://eurekamagazine.net/

Abstracts of the talks at last year’s symposium are available at: http://geoinfo.nmt.edu/publications/periodicals/nmg/downloads/31/n4/nmg_v31_n4_p107.pdf

Abstracts of this year’s Symposium will be published in the quarterly New Mexico Geology later in the year.

I came away from the Symposium with two major impressions. One, there sure is a lot more I need to learn about nomenclature and crystal structure of minerals, and Two, the quality of the presentations that we, the Rolling Stones, have at our meetings, while maybe not as deep technically as those at the symposium, are professionally presented and we should be proud of the fine job our speakers do.

Gold panning with the kids

2010 Children’s Water Festival by Kyle Meredith

For club members who missed gold-panning at the Children’s Water Festival in April due to obligations with the Tour of the Gila, well, maybe next year. As usual we had a lot of fun with the local fifth-graders by the Gila River, teaching them how to pan for gold (using BBs as a substitute.)

The day couldn’t have started out better, but before the last session around 2:00 the wind was getting up to the point that it was dangerous to be walking under the cottonwoods as they lost some rather large branches. We hurried out of there and battled the wind home, crashing through a herd of tumbleweeds crossing the highway at Saddlerock Canyon.

I want to thank everyone who showed up to help, including Josh Reeves, Greg Conlin, Buzz Montgomery, and especially Roger Dombrowski who explained and demonstrated the panning technique to the kids. He also documented the day with these photos that show some of the fun we had.

3rd Natural History of the Gila Symposium

Here is a great opportunity for members to share their geology skills and interests.

3rd Natural History of the Gila Symposium
Western New Mexico University (Silver City, NM)

Presentations: Thursday, October 14 (1:00 PM – 5:00 PM) & Friday, October 15 (9:00 AM - 5:00 PM) 2010 Field Trips (8:00 AM -1:00 PM) on Saturday, October 16 2010

ABSTRACTS and POSTERS on RESEARCH and MANAGEMENT PROJECTS are encouraged in all topics related to archaeology, botany, conservation biology, ecology, ethnobotany, forest management, geology, hydrology, stream restoration, ichthyology, herpetology, ornithology, mammalogy, entomology, and similar subjects of southwestern New Mexico or regions of Arizona affected by the Gila River

Send abstracts (not to exceed 150 words) to Martha Schumann Cooper (mschumann@tnc.org) by May 15 2010. Publication of accepted papers in proceedings for this symposium are planned

Partners for this symposium include: The Nature Conservancy of New Mexico, Native Plant Society of New Mexico, Native Plant Society of New Mexico - Gila Chapter, the Audubon Society (SW New Mexico Chapter), The Gila Conservation Education Center, United States Forest Service, Western Institute of Lifelong Learning and Western New Mexico University.

Steering Committee Members: Marcia Andre, Carol Campbell, Jack Carter, Richard Felger, Kelly Kindscher, Frank Merritt, William Norris, Martha Schumann Cooper, Roland Shook, Ellen Soles, Art Telles, John Titre

Gila Water Festival Report

Gila Water Festival Report
by Kyle Meredith (Rolling Stones 2nd V.P. for Field Trips)

The 6th Annual Gila Water Festival at the Lichty Center outside Cliff took place about a month later than in past years. That made it very pleasant to set up along the river, without the near-freezing temperatures that we had to endure previously. The redwing blackbirds were still there singing for us as we prepared for the groups of fifth-graders to come learn how to pan for gold throughout the day.

Our first group showed up on schedule at 9:15, and we began our routine as I talked a bit about the history and consequences of gold panning and mining, followed by David Rinsch showing the kids some gold he had found a week earlier. Then Roger Dombrowski talked about the physics and technique of gold-panning before we turned the kids loose with a pan of sand and BBs and a tub of water. Some learned very quickly while others struggled before getting a feel for the method to separate the BBs from the sand, but I think most of them eventually succeeded in accomplishing the task. Undoubtedly they (and we) all had a lot of fun.

I want to thank all the volunteers who showed up. Besides Roger and David, we had Ansel and Shirley Walters, George Skiba, Greg Conlin, and Josh Reeves. We wouldn't have had enough pans and tables if not for Ginger and Ed Coombs, and thanks to Judy Allen and Lee Stockman for the use of their pans, as well.