STAR-O-LITE Augusta Gem & Mineral Society, Inc. June 2014 1 President James Cook 706-830-0139 706-860-3787 Vice President Janet English Treasurer Wayne Parker (706) 863-9171 Membership Chair Jessica Wells (706) 533-5902 Secretary Verna Fowler Editor in Training Susan Blas Field Trip Coordinator Steve Huffman (706) 210-2988 Refreshment Coordinator Liz Wylds (706) 860-3633 The Augusta Gem and Mineral Society, Inc. meets at 7:30 PM the third Friday of every month at the Georgia Military College Annex located at 3836 Washington Rd, Suite 10, Martinez, GA 30907. Visitors are welcome! Annual dues are $20 for a family membership, $15 for singles, and $1 for junior members ages 8 to 18. Our web site is http://augustagms.homestead.com/agms1.html Newsletter article submissions should be emailed to [email protected] or sent through traditional mail to AGMS Editor, Susan Blas. Submitted by Verna Fowler, Secretary Presiding Officer: Jim Cook, President Attendance: 32 members, 1 guest April Meeting Minutes were read and approved as printed in the bulletin. Treasurer’s Report was given by Wayne Parker, Treasurer, who reported on the Building fund, the Scholarship fund, and the General fund. Old Business: There was no old business. New Business: Jim Cook announced that the Bureau of Land Management is looking to enforce strict guidelines for the collection of specimens on government lands. He advised the club to go to the website of WWW.AMLANDS.org to review the upcoming guidelines. He also has found ultraviolet lights at a reasonable price. He is willing to obtain these lights for those who are interested. He will bring them to the next meeting. Contact Jim if you are interested. Glenn Williams reported that he has received a DVD from Montressor Mines in Huntsville, AL for consideration of possible future trips. Jim Cook also highlighted support for the SFMS workshops at William Holland and Wild Acres. Jim has information for those interested. Show Business: No show business report was given. No web Report was given. Field Trip Report: Glenn Williams, filling in for Steve Huffman, reported that the Open House for Graves Mountain was well attended with as many as 20 club members attending during the weekend. He announced the next club field trip is to the Ray Mica mine in Burnsville, NC on May 31. Notify Steve if you are interested in attending. Collector of the Month: Glenn Williams, Lazulite, Grave’s Mountain. Door Prizes were not awarded due to the silent auction which also served as the program for the night. The next club meeting will be held June 20 at 7:30 pm. We have the honor of one of our own, one of the Huffmans,Elliot or Steve, will be presenting the programs in May and June. It’s official! A fishing license for the sky. The Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Department of the Interior, has issued Memorandum No. 2012-182 that establishes the policy governing collections of meteorites. It does include casual collection of small quantities without a permit. Go to http://www.space.com/18009-meteorite-collectors- public-lands-rules.html Next Meeting June 20 Program By Steve or Elliot Huffman Field Trip June 28 Fossils, various Tennille, Georgia STAR-O-LITE Augusta Gem & Mineral Society, Inc. Meeting Minutes – May 16, 2014 ! Dates/Things to Know
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STAR-O-LITE - Augusta Gem and Mineral Societywhich is now a spring-fed limestone lined creek. Note: limestone is a sedimentary rock consisting of more than 50% calcium carboniate (CaCO
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STAR-O-LITE Augusta Gem & Mineral Society, Inc. June 2014
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President
James Cook
706-830-0139
706-860-3787
Vice President
Janet English
Treasurer
Wayne Parker
(706) 863-9171
Membership Chair
Jessica Wells
(706) 533-5902
Secretary
Verna Fowler
Editor in Training
Susan Blas
Field Trip Coordinator
Steve Huffman
(706) 210-2988
Refreshment
Coordinator
Liz Wylds
(706) 860-3633
The Augusta Gem and Mineral Society, Inc. meets at 7:30 PM the third Friday of every month at the Georgia Military College Annex located at 3836 Washington Rd, Suite 10, Martinez, GA 30907. Visitors are welcome! Annual dues are $20 for a family membership, $15 for singles, and $1 for junior members ages 8 to 18. Our web site is
http://augustagms.homestead.com/agms1.html
Newsletter article submissions should be emailed to [email protected] or sent through traditional mail to AGMS Editor, Susan Blas.
Submitted by Verna Fowler, Secretary
Presiding Officer: Jim Cook, President
Attendance: 32 members, 1 guest
April Meeting Minutes were read and approved as printed in the bulletin.
Treasurer’s Report was given by Wayne Parker, Treasurer, who reported on the Building fund, the Scholarship fund, and the General fund.
Old Business: There was no old business.
New Business: Jim Cook announced that the Bureau of Land Management is looking to enforce strict guidelines for the collection of specimens on government lands. He advised the club to go to the website of WWW.AMLANDS.org to review the upcoming guidelines.
He also has found ultraviolet lights at a reasonable price. He is willing to obtain these lights for those who are interested. He will bring them to the next meeting. Contact Jim if you are interested.
Glenn Williams reported that he has received a DVD from Montressor Mines in Huntsville, AL for consideration of possible future trips.
Jim Cook also highlighted support for the SFMS workshops at William Holland and Wild Acres. Jim has information for those interested.
Show Business: No show business report was given.
No web Report was given.
Field Trip Report: Glenn Williams, filling in for Steve Huffman, reported that the Open House for Graves Mountain was well attended with as many as 20 club members attending during the weekend.
He announced the next club field trip is to the Ray Mica mine in Burnsville, NC on May 31. Notify Steve if you are interested in attending.
Collector of the Month: Glenn Williams, Lazulite, Grave’s Mountain.
Door Prizes were not awarded due to the silent auction which also served as the program for the night.
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The May Program was the annual Silent Auction. Members brought various treasures for the clubs’ bidding pleasure. Shown below are some of the offerings.
See if you can name the type of specimens that were offered for bid above. Answers will be given in the July newsletter next month (oh, the anticipation!)
It’s always of interest to find out the results of the bidding. The results of the auction were: Total Sales = $146.50 Portion retained by sellers = $64.00 Total Proceeds to the club = $82.50
Thanks go to Wayne Parker for sharing this information!
Tennille, Georgia June 28 Contact: Steve Huffman
At the May meeting, Glenn Williams, who will be hosting
the dig, shared some collecting tips. The Tennille site is on
private property. The dig site is an Ecocene ancient seabed
which is now a spring-fed limestone lined creek. Note:
limestone is a sedimentary rock consisting of more than
50% calcium carboniate (CaCO3).
Bring a shovel so you can dig down past the upper most
sand layer. You’ll want a 1/8” small box screen if you’re
looking for smaller items. Of couse the larger the screen
(mesh) size, the larger the items you will be targeting. If you
don’t have a screen/seive, the Dollar store sells plastic
colanders that work well and wear well. Club collectors’ at
the site have found a dire wolf and megalodon tooth
(shown below), ray teeth, Manta Ray plates, an arrow head
point, and fossilized sand dollars (shown below) among
other discoveries. You may chisel out sand dollars within
the stream bed, but are asked not to take out big chunks of
limestone.
Little Pine Garnet Mine, June 21, 2014: A Dixie Mineral Council Program of the Southeast Federation of Mineralogical Societies, Inc, Field Trip Hosted by the Forsyth Gem and Mineral Club, Inc. (Winston-Salem, NC) , 9:00 AM to 4:00PM.
Glenn Williams, with blue Lazulite from Graves Mountain. Glenn,
YOU ROCK (of course!)!
Collector of the MONTH
Snipets from the May Program
AGMS Upcoming Field Trips
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The collecting talent is rich at the Augusta Club. Turns out, some of youngest collectors have a wonderful eye for collecting. Shown below are some of our youngest members displaying their treasures.
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All 101 of Brad's bench tips are available in "Bench Tips for Jewelry Making" from Amazon.com at the following: http://amazon.com/dp/0988285800/
SAWING JUMP RINGS
The difficult part of making jump rings for me has always been holding the coil while cutting off the individual rings. I use a saw to get the best fit when closing the rings later. I've seen all sorts of suggestions for ways to hold the coil, but the one that works best for me is this little jig made from scrap wood. It's about 2 inches wide and 4-5 inches long with a groove cut down its length to cradle the coil of wire and a thin stop attached to the front end.
Photo: Jump Rings
To cut the rings, thread your saw blade through the coil, hold the coil down in the groove and against the front stop, and saw at bout a 40 degree angle.
Don't forget to use some wax or cutting lube. It really does make a difference. If you don't believe me, do an experiment while you're cutting a mess of rings. Count how many rings you cut before breaking a blade, first without lube and then with some every 6-8 rings.
SAVE WHEN BUYING SILVER
Silver products like sheet, wire, and casting shot are sold by the Troy ounce at what is called the spot price. That's what companies pay for the pure metal on the commodities market, and the spot price changes daily. But in addition to the spot price, there is also a cost to fabricate the metal into wire or sheet, so the price of the item you buy is the cost of the metal plus the cost to make it. Different products have different fabrication charges because each takes a different amount of labor. Also, different companies will have different fabrication charges because of local labor rates and their desired profit margin. You can save money by finding a company with a lower fabrication charge. Also, note that the fabrication charge per ounce is less on larger orders, so you can save more by buying more. Find a friend to place a joint order and split the shipping charges. But for casting purposes, there's an even better way to save. Buy your silver at a coin store. They sell bars and rounds in pure and Sterling for the spot price plus about a dollar per ounce. The local coin shop adds only a small profit over the spot price. Further, they often waive the sales tax on a cash buy. So I save about $3 per ounce, pay no tax, no shipping charges, and support a local business.
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specimens they donate. Plans are to add a new wing to
the building allowing for dedicated space for the
gallery. So canvas those priceless specimens you may
have hidden away, and consider a donation that will
benefit the community. The big feldspar crystal
(microcline host with albite lamellae) was collected
from the Ruggles Mine in New Hampshire.
Glenn Williams received a compact disk (CD) from Montressor’s Mines, Natural Minerals, Crystals, and Gems out of Hunstville, Alabama. The CD contained the May 2014 cataloge.
The email address is [email protected] if you would like to request a calogue or additional information. The CD will be brought to the next club meeting, so others may puruse the items for sale such as Jasper, Chert, Opal, Rubies, Petrified Wood, Tumbled Stones, Silver, Topaz, etc.
In May, a honored Mary Anning
who helped shape early paleontology in the 1800s.
By Amina Khan. May 21, 2014, 2:58PM From the Los
Angeles Times, Science Now, Discoveries from the world