Fueling a Passion for Paleontology

Getting to Know Father-Daughter Duo Paleo Joe and Paleo Jen

Spectacular Silver Boulder TREASURES

An Exhilarating New Arizona Find

Mineral County: WANDERINGS

Chance Encounter Creates Opportunity to Mine for Variscite in Nevada

HOT ROCKS

A Rockhound’s Guide to Radioactivity

TIPS FOR ACTIVITIES: Maximize Tumbling Results for Kids' Prizes and Projects

Tumble-polished stones are an honored, time-tested stock-in-trade at the kids’ booths of local gem club shows all around the world.

METEORS AND METEORITES: HISTORY AND MYSTERY

The earliest meteorite with a documented place and date of fall came to Earth in France’s Alsace region in 1492. With a lack of understanding of meteors and meteorites at the time, townsfolk chained the two-foot-diameter piece of stone and iron to a tree to prevent it from escaping.

PART II Summer in the San Juan Mountains

Gold, Quartz, and a Cast of Characters

New Mexico: The Tyrannosaur State

Fossils of the Tyrannosaurus Rex and his relatives have been discovered in several places around New Mexico. The rich fossil record there spans about 500 million years, with some very unique fossil vertebrates that include fishes, amphibians, reptiles (turtles, dinosaurs, and birds) and mammals.

CRYSTAL TWINNING

Examining the Attributes of Various Twin Forms

Crystal Habits

Whenever we talk about minerals, especially our favorite minerals, we use all sorts of descriptive terms that don’t seem to have anything to do with one of the six crystal systems.

SOUTHWEST SUMMER

EXPLORING THE SAN JUAN MOUNTAIN MINING HISTORY

Terrific Trillion

There is something quite remarkable about the way the trillion cut design captures and then seemingly radiates an abundance of color and light. However, it is not surprising, since the trillion cut is an extension of the brilliant cut, with a vast number of facets.

The Village Smithy Opals

STEPHEN AND DARLENE NEWSTROM

TEOTIHUACAN

JADE, OBSIDIAN AND SHELL TREASURES FROM ANCIENT MEXICO

Using the Wax Pen to Create Wax Models

Now that you have fabricated the tip for the wax pen and formulated the wax, it’s time to start using the pen for making the wax models.

METAMORPHIC INDEX MINERALS

Revealing Secrets of Earth’s Deep Crust

SILVER MINING SURVIVOR

Creede Colorado Navigates Economic Transition While Preserving History

Valuing Vanadinite

WITNESS TO MOROCCO’S MODERN MINING RUSH

FIELD TRIP FOCUS

Making Memories and Discoveries As a Club

Classic Blue: Pantone's Color of the Year 2020

Transparent vs. Opaque Blue Gemstones

WHAT TO CUT - PURPLE COW AGATE

Purple Cow agate comes from the McDermott area of Nevada, one of the many stones you can get straight from the Caldera Rock Shop, which is owned by the Kemp / Zuccone family.

Non-Zeolite Minerals

Constant Companions of Zeolites

Pterosaurs Fossils Shine In the Spotlight

Pterosaurs have held the limelight of late. In the past decade or so, whole books have been written about them, such as Mark P. Witton’s Pterosaurs or David M. Unwin’s The Pterosaurs from Deep Time. More recently, Scientific American featured them with a cover story last October, and a new research article appeared in a January issue of Scientific Reports.

POLKA DOT AGATE

RICH IN ANCIENT HISTORY AND MODERN MINING

MINERALS AS DECORATIVE ART

Showcasing the Beauty of Science

Microscopic View of Minerals

Appreciating Minute Details

Making Homemade Wax

In my two most recent columns, I discussed the process of using flexible wax and a homemade wax pen to draw the shapes of a wax model used in casting a jewelry object.

Hall of Famer Bernie Emery

Inspiring and Educating Generations In the Appreciation and Technique of Lapidary Art

Field Trip and Fossil Fun

It was field trip fun for a group of nine, including members from the Oxnard Gem & Mineral Society (OGMS), Conejo Gem & Mineral Club (CGMC), and the Ventura Gem & Mineral Society (VGMS), in early February with an adventure at the Nuevo Silica Mine, according to a report by David Springer, Field Trip Chair for VGMS, published in a recent issue of the club’s Rockhound Rambling newsletter.

The Minerals Of Pre-Columbian America

Examining the appeal and prevalence of gold and jade story