president’s message olmc annual generalolmc.ca/news/apr17.pdfpink star diamond p. 6 51st annual...

The Cutting Edge

Monthly Newsletter of the Ottawa Lapsmith and Mineral Club

April is our Annual General Meeting and Election of Officers. We need new blood to help run the club. Rita and I have been part of the Executive for 20 years now.

Don't let any position frighten you. The duties of a club officer, with the exception of Treasurer, require just a few hours of your time/month. No experience required. We will train.

The club has director liabilities insurance for all executive positions.

Most positions within the club, such as supervisor, are appointed positions. We need new blood there as well.

We welcome Jo Stinson as our newest volunteer to help organize the Gem show.

Kerry Day

In this month’s Newsletter: President’s Message p. 1 OLMC Annual General Meeting & Executive Board Election, followed by Rock Swaps p. 2 MiG Meeting p. 3 Field Trips p. 4 April Birthstone p. 5 Pink Star Diamond p. 6 51st Annual Gem, Mineral and Jewellery Show p. 7 OLMC Classified p. 8 Workshop calendar p. 9 Membership form p. 10

Workshop Address: 1000 Brookfield Road, Ottawa Mailing Address: Room #22, 1000 Brookfield Road Ottawa, ON K1V 6J1 Phone: 613-700-GEMS (4367) Website: http://www.olmc.ca Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ OttawaLapsmithMineralClub

Newsletter Editor: All members are invited to submit articles, proposals, or any thoughts that could be included in the newsletters. Also, feel free to send your Classified ads by e-mail to: [email protected]

Stéphane Jetté, OLMC Newsletter Editor

http://www.olmc.ca/

http://www.facebook.com/OttawaLapsmithMineralClub


mailto:[email protected]

OLMC’s monthly newsletter – April 2017

Come to Vote for New OLMC Executive Board! followed by

Rock Swaps Our OLMC Annual Meeting is the occasion to see and the question the Club’s financial status.

It is also the occasion to influence the Club’s new or current activities by sharing your thoughts with the volunteers of the executive board.

All executive positions are open for nomination and the members present will vote on who will be in the executive positions.

If you think you can help, you can nominate yourself as candidate for any of the positions.

We need all the help we can get!

This is the time for nominations!

Please send your nominations to [email protected] The list of current executive committee members is on page 9.

Note that copies of the 2016 Financial Statements are currently available at the workshop. These are on the display cabinet.

Do you have surplus rough, minerals or equipment that you would like to barter?

After the election, all members are invited to swap and exchange anything that may be of interest to other members!

Bring things you would like to get rid of or trade around!

Clean out your basement!

There will be coffee and tea and some goodies to share.

We are all looking to see each of us at the Annual General Meeting!

Cheers, OLMC!

OLMC Meeting Date: Thursday, April 13th, 2017 Time: 7h30pm-9pm Location: OLMC Workshop 1000 Brookfield Road, Ottawa ON



Monthly Meeting

The Opal deposits of Magdalena Mexico Monday, April 17, 2017, 7:30pm - 9:30pm

Kerry Day will be giving a geology-oriented talk on the Opal deposits of Magdalena Mexico which he and five other club members visited in late February.

As usual after the presentation, we will have a show and tell. Bring minerals that you want to show us or have identified!

After the presentation, there will also be a show-and-tell with mineral identification!

Welcome to all! Christian Rochefort, [email protected]



QUADEVILLE FIELD TRIP

Our first field trip is planned for April 29, at the Beryl Pit in Quadeville.

Let’s meet at All Saints Lutheran Church at the intersection of Pinecrest and the Queensway Meeting time 8 A.M. – Driving time is about 2 1/2 hours – Car pooling is possible.

There is a $10 fee to enter the pit. Material at the site includes beryl, peristerite, amazonite, smokey quartz, black tourmaline, weak perthite, weak rose quartz. Bring a lunch, bug repellant (this could be particularly useful), gloves, hammer, chisels, bucket, fluids, and a water bottle is also useful.

Please email me if you plan to attend, Frank Stoyles, [email protected]

CABONGA FIELD TRIP

Cabonga Reservoir – Labour Day weekend September 1-3, 2017

Collecting by boat along the shoreline of the reservoir. Minerals to be collected currently include pale-blue Corundum, Feldspar and Biotite crystals and yellow Diopside (new).

Two cabins, with beds for 12, have been rented in Le Domaine that weekend. The cost is $75/person for 2 nights. Many people couldn't make the last one because it was in the middle of the week.

Priority will be given to those who did not attend the last one.

Fees are to be forwarded to Kerry Day, [email protected]

32e SALON DES PIERRES, MINÉRAUX ET FOSSILES DE MONTRÉAL

Friday April 7th 3 pm – 9 pm Saturday April 8th 10 am – 7 pm Sunday April 9th 10 am – 5 pm

Location: Centre Pierre-Charbonneau 3000 rue Viau Montréal, Québec

Admission: Adults 10$ Children (accompanied) 6 to 12 years 4$ Children under 6 are free.

For more information please contact: 514 353-0101, or Visit: http://www.salonminerauxmtl.com



http://www.salonminerauxmtl.com/


Extracts from: American Gem Society http://www.americangemsociety.org/en/birthstones

You probably already know of the diamond’s toughness. In fact, it’s the hardest gemstone and is made of just one element: carbon. Its structure makes it 58 times harder than anything in nature and can only be cut with another diamond.

While it’s become nearly synonymous with wedding engagements, it’s also the perfect stone for individuals who want something that’s just as appropriate for everyday wear as it is for special occasions. Diamonds come in several colors, including yellow, red, pink, blue, and green, and range in intensity from faint to vivid. Generally speaking, the more saturated the color, the higher the value.

In fact, diamonds sparkling with intense color are rare and may be priced higher than a colorless diamond of equal size. Because fancy-color diamonds are very desirable, color is sometimes introduced in a laboratory. These are correctly called color-treated diamonds.

Its unique physical properties means it has the best possible luster of any gemstone when cut and polished well.

Diamonds have been admired for centuries, and some historians estimate it was traded as early as 4 BC. One of the reasons it is so admired and valued is because of the process by which a diamond must be formed well below the earth’s crust, then forced upward until it is uncovered. Historically, the diamond first became a popular gemstone in India, when the Moghuls and Imperial Colony easily mined diamonds from deposits along rivers.

Canada is now among top five diamond production countries in the world. Its production is estimated to more than double over the next four years driven by two new world-class mines gone online in 2016, and a new mine plan at Dominion’s Ekati mine which is estimated to increase production almost 3-fold to 6M carats annually by 2018.

http://www.americangemsociety.org/en/birthstones


A 59.6-carat diamond known as the Pink Star is returning to auction April 4 in Hong Kong and could fetch $60 million. The Pink Star is rated in color as Fancy Vivid Pink by the Gemological Institute of America.

The Pink Star was mined by De Beers, in 1999, in South Africa, and weighed 132.5 carat in the rough. The Pink Star is the largest known diamond having been rated Vivid Pink. As a result of this exceptional rarity, the Steinmetz Group took a cautious 20 months to cut the Pink. It was unveiled in Monaco on 29 May 2003 in a public ceremony.

Sotheby’s says now is a good time to return to auction. “The last few years we’ve had colored diamonds perform extremely well,” said David Bennett, worldwide chairman of Sotheby’s jewelry division. Mr. Bennett said the current record for a pink diamond is held by the 24.78-carat Graff Pink, sold for $46.2 million in 2010 in Geneva. He said there have been many records for colored diamonds, particularly pinks and blues.

–This largest, most perfect pink diamond to have ever been offered at auction has sold for $US 71.2 million at a Sotheby's event Tuesday, April 4th, 2017, in Hong Kong.–

In 2015 the Blue Moon of Josephine sold for $48.5 million in Geneva. At 12.03 carats, it set a price-per-carat record.


The 51st annual gem, mineral and jewellery show for the club will be held at the Nepean Sportsplex, on the weekend of Sept. 16-17, 2017. It would be great to have some sort of tie-in to Canada's 150th birthday. Ideas are welcome.

The show cards have been printed, and are available at the workshop. Please feel free to take some of the business cards and distribute them in your neighbourhoods and work places. These cards are a big part of advertising the show, and we can always get more printed.

The club needs a lot of volunteers to make the show work. If you would like to help on the weekend to set up the show and/or help at one of the club areas, please contact the Show Chair at [email protected] . Last year, we had a lot of trouble getting enough volunteers, and it meant many club tables were left empty. This year, one person has already volunteered to help at the Kids' Crafts Table, and that is a great start.

Another great thing is display cases to showcase club members' work or perhaps interesting stones found around the world. Visitors to the show always walk by these cases to admire what's inside. Do you have a fascinating mineral collection? Have you done anything with copper and silver? Do you have works in progress that show your efforts? The theme is up to you. Please contact the show chair if you are interested in putting on a display.

Thanks, Eric Clara, OLMC Show Chair, [email protected]




Ads need to be sent at [email protected]

Classified ads are free for a month or two. The ads can be about aking or offering a good or services relating to the Club’s activities. In general, a few words and/or a small picture to describe or show the item, with the contact information is mandatory.

Stéphane Jetté, OLMC Newsletter Editor

Obituary Mike Bellfeuille, a club member for many years, passed away on March 15, 2017, aged 64. Mike was a internationally known carver, sculptor and painter. As well he was a published underwater photographer and an avid cyclist. He is survived by his wife, Monique.

He will be missed by his many friends.



April 2017 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 Lapidary 10am - 4pm

2 3 Faceting 6:30pm - 9pm

4 Lapidary 9am - 2pm Silver Smiths 6:30pm - 9pm

5 Lapidary 12pm - 9pm

6 7 8 Lapidary 10am - 4pm

9 10 Carving 6:30pm-9pm

11 Lapidary 9am - 2pm Silver Smiths 6h30pm - 9pm


13 OLMC General Meeting 7:30pm-9pm

14 15 Lapidary 10am - 4pm

16 17 MiG meeting 7:30pm-9pm



20 Board Meeting 7pm - 9pm

21 22 Lapidary 10am - 4pm

23 / 30 24 Faceting 6:30pm - 9pm



27 28 29 Lapidary 10am - 4pm

Contact: President Kerry Day [email protected] Vice-President Arnold Roos [email protected] Secretary John Skelton [email protected] Treasurer Rita Hudec [email protected] Workshop Chair Jean-Guy Bradette [email protected] Membership Chair Nathalie Bourget [email protected] Program Chair Russell Black [email protected] Newsletter Editor Stéphane Jetté [email protected]

We are on Facebook, join us! http://www.facebook.com/OttawaLapsmithMineralClub












Membership Application for the Year: 2017

New Membership Membership renewal

$20 Single (one individual) $30 Family (2 or more persons under the same residence)

$60 Annual workshop access fee (optional)

Name:

Address:

City:

Province:

Postal Code:

Tel.:

Please specify how you would like to receive OLMC’s newsletter:

By e-mail:

By mail

Do you need a receipt? Yes No

Administration use only:

Card provided: Yes No Supervisor signed: Yes No

Payments are payable to Ottawa Lapsmith and Mineral Club. Please mail your membership form and fees to: Ottawa Lapsmith and Mineral Club 1000 Brookfield Road, Room #22 Ottawa, ON, K1V 6J1 Other services: • $25 Members’ Newsletter advertisement — half to a quarter pages per calendar year;

$55 Businesses’ Newsletter advertisement (advertising fee plus a business membership). • Locker Fee: $25 per year – depends on locker availability • Mandatory Workshop Course for Making Cabochons:

$55 - required for all members who want to use the workshop machinery.

Questions? Please contact us by phone or email [email protected] for details.


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