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 sblas@knology.net 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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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.

Thanks so much for sharing!

Fossils of giant 'Titanosaur' found in Argentina

Published May 18, 2014, FoxNews.com

(http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/05/18/fossils-giant-

titanosaur-found-in-argentina/?intcmp=latestnews)

Paleontologists in Argentina's Patagonia region have

discovered fossilized remains of a so-called Titanosaur, which

may have been the largest dinosaur ever to walk the earth.

Titanosaur was a long-necked, long-tailed sauropod (think

Apatosaurus or Brachiosaurus) that walked on four legs and

lived during the Cretaceous Period, approximately 95 million

years ago.

Jose Luis Carballido, a paleontologist at the Egidio Feruglio

Museum in Trelew, Argentina, said in a statement Friday that

a Titanosaur weighed around 100 tons, or "the equivalent of

more than 14 African elephants.

"This is a true paleontological treasure," Carbadillo's

statement continued. "There are many remains and they

were practically intact, something that does not frequently

happen."

The Titanosaur bones are among 200 fossils at the site in

Patagonia's Chubut province, approximately 800 miles south

of Buenos Aires. The site was accidentally discovered in 2011

by a farm worker. Experts believe that the remains of seven

dinosaurs and the broken teeth of carnivores are among

those at the site.

Jack, Avery, and Alex

brought some

wonderful specimens

to show fellow club

members.

News from the Web

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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.

Photo: Silver Rounds ==================================

Bench Tips by Brad Smith

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Researcher Donates Collection for Education from www.srs.gov, News Releases, 5/14/14 http://www.srs.gov/general/news/releases/nr14_srnl-donation.pdf

Photo: Dr. Carol Jantzen with the donated feldspar crystal on display

When Dr. Carol Jantzen was just one year old, her

father gave her a mineral pick. Even though she was

barely able to hold the tool, it sparked a lifelong

interest in rocks, minerals and fossils. Jantzen is now a

Materials Scientist and Geochemist at the Savannah

River National Laboratory (SRNL) and has donated her

extensive mineral collection to the Ruth Patrick Science

Education Center at the University of South Carolina –

Aiken for the creation of the Fredericks Mineral

Gallery. The gallery is named for her parents and

features a 250-pound feldspar crystal.

“My dad had me collecting minerals and rocks when I

was barely able to walk,” she said. “My father was a

geologist and a rock and mineral ‘dealer’. We made

educational kits for the Hayden Planetarium and

Museum of Natural History in New York City. When I

was seven or eight, I got the job of gluing the little

numbers on each rock or mineral in the educational

kits. I got good at gluing and watching television at the

same time. Later, after I had my BS and MS, I wrote

guide books for the educational kits with titles like

‘How is Coal Formed?’ and ‘What is a Mineral?’.” “My

father went on to supply educational kits for schools

and later universities around the country, as well as

dinosaur bone and other minerals for cereal giveaways.

He also bought and sold large quantities of minerals

and I was paid in minerals rather than money.” Jantzen

said she received the best of the specimens.

“I am a strong believer in science education as I lived it

all my life. I hope students learn a love of geology from

this collection, a love of earth science and how natural

minerals form in wondrous shapes and sizes. The 250-

pound feldspar crystal can be touched, stroked, and

hugged, so children can run their hands along the

crystal faces and consider how neat it is that it wasn’t

cut that way, but it grew that way.”

Jantzen said it’s vital for scientists and researchers to

share their knowledge with the next generation. “If the

current scientists, researchers and collectors do not

reach out to the next generation and beyond, we will

be a country without scientists. The time to interest a

child in science is early. The earlier the interest, the

more certain one can be that the boy or girl will carry

that interest into adulthood.” More of Jantzen’s

collection will be donated to the Ruth Patrick Science

Education Center over the next ten years.

Photo: Pictured with her father in 1947

Note from the Editor: Dr. Jantzen shared that although

there is not yet a “mineral gallery”, the Fredericks

Mineral Gallery fund has been established. Others can

donate specimens, and their names will appear on the

Regional News

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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 montressors3mines@yahoo.com 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

of science and medicine

http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-

mary-anning-google-doogle-fossil-hunter-20140521-

story.html

The Google doodle celebrated the 215th birthday of Mary

Anning, a 19th century fossil collector and paleontologist

who, even as a poor working-class woman in a field

dominated by wealthy upper-class men, helped shape the

study of ancient extinct creatures in the early years of

geology and paleontology.

Anning, born May 21, 1799, was "the greatest fossil

hunter ever known," according to the National History

Museum in London. She helped discover the first

described ichthyosaur skeleton when she was just 12

years old; her older brother Joseph found the skull and

she found the rest of the body.

In her early 20s, she found the first two reported

plesiosaur skeletons, along with a host of other major

discoveries, and continued to uncover significant fossils

throughout her life by combing the Blue Lias cliffs near

her home in Dorset, England. She made myriad other

contributions to science. Her observations helped show

that so-called bezoar stones, thought to have magical

healing properties, were actually fossilized feces left by

long-dead beasts. She also found fossilized ink sacs in

squid-like fossils known as belemnites, and her friend

and colleague Elizabeth Philpot even managed to

restore the dried-up ink, which Anning used in her

scientific illustrations.

As a woman, particularly one from the working class,

Anning was not allowed to join the Geological Society

of London, which was filled with rich, landowning men

from England’s elite. But she was visited and consulted

by giants of early 19th century geology and

paleontology, including Charles Lyell and Adam

Sedgwick (who taught Charles Darwin at the University

of Cambridge). Anning had very little education,

learning to read and write from lessons at her church’s

Sunday school. But she devoured articles in scientific

journals, and her knowledge of fossils often

outstripped the men who came to her fossil shop.

Anning, who died when she was 47 of breast cancer,

was a remarkable paleontologist who, as a member of

the working class and a religious minority, was

frequently denied credit by the male paleontologists

and researchers who studied and benefited from her

work. Note from Editor: GIRLS ROCK!

Google and Beyond

Buying and Selling

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Exciting news! The young bald eagle at Berry College,

visible from the college Eagle Cam, has fledged and is

the only live streaming camera of a bald eagle nest in

Georgia. Check it out at

http://www.berry.edu/eaglecam/. The eagle hatched

in February.

The screen shot above, taken earlier in the year (April

2014) shows the young eagle between the male and

female pair.

Shown above is a more recent screen shot from the

Approach Cam that is pointed up toward the nest

tree (from 5/16/14). The young eagle spends quite a

bit of time out of the nest as she tries out her wings.

It is thought the young eagle is female since she is

quite large. Viewing from the Eagle Cams can be

conducted at night, as well, since the camera is

equipped with infared technology. B3 now spends

most of her time out of the nest. In October, nest

building will likely begin again.

More locally, Dr. Jim Beasley, mammalogist at the

Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (University of

Georgia) had the thrill of photographing a rare

visitior to the Savannah River Site (located in Aiken,

Barnwell, and Allendale counties). The photo below

was taken in January, 2014.

Evidence has revealed that there were a minimum of

3 goldens this year, possibly 4. The images were

captured as part of a scavenging study to better

understand the fate of mammal carcasses and the

community of scavengers utilizing various sized

carcasses. Kelsey Turner, one of Dr. Beaselys’

graduate students, was also able to capture a images

of a Golden Eagle.

Check out the Beasley Wildlife Lab at

http://srel.uga.edu/facstaffpages/beasley/people.ht

ml for additional information on Dr. Beasley’s

research efforts.

Nature Corner

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STAR – O – LITE published monthly by the

Augusta Gem & Mineral Society, Inc.

Editor, Susan Blas

3513 Wakefield Court

Martinez, GA 30907

FIRST CLASS

TIME DATED MATERIAL

PURPOSE OF THE AUGUSTA GEM & MINERAL SOCIETY INC. To encourage interest in rocks, minerals, fossils, and related subjects of the lapidary craft.

To sponsor educational programs within the membership, to increase the knowledge of its members in the

properties of identification and evaluation of rocks, minerals, fossils and related subjects.

To cooperate with other mineralogical and geographical clubs and activities.

To arrange and conduct field trips to facilitate the collection of specimens and minerals.

To provide an opportunity for the exchange and exhibition of specimens and minerals.

The Augusta Gem and Mineral Society Inc. is affiliated with the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies via its

membership in the Southeast Federation of Mineralogical Societies and the Eastern Federation of Mineralogical &

Lapidary Societies. Please visit our web site at: http://www.augustagemandmineralsociety.org/