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Deep Thoughts
Notes from the underground by Communications Director Constance Walter
Monday, August 10, 2015
Amazing Discoveries
T
om Campbell began collecting and
Photo by Tom Campbell and the Smithsonian Institute
studying fossils and minerals as a
Campbell took his
kid. Eventually his childhood hobby led
discoveries back to the
to degrees in geology from the University
School of Mines where
of Akron and the South Dakota School of
he and Roberts began
Mines & Technology, which turned into a
characterizing the minerals.
career as a geologist.
“We looked at the most
While on that journey, Campbell, a
attractive one first—the
Science Education Specialist at Sanford
red one—and it turned
Lab, made some amazing discoveries.
out to be montgomeryite,
He was working on his master’s
which wasn’t a new mineral,
degree helping his mentor Bill Roberts
but the color was a new
characterize some minerals when he
occurrence.”
heard the Tip Top mine was reopening
They began working on
near Custer, S.D.
Campbell’s other samples
The tiptopite crystal was found in the Tip Top pegmatite. The image was
“I got really excited because I’d never seen using a scanning electron
an operating pegmatite before,” Campbell
microscope. “As we looked taken using a scanning electron microscope.
said. Pegmatite is a course-grained igneous
at them, we thought, ‘Yeah,
rock similar in composition to granite in
these are bizarre.’” So they began doing
alongside experts from the United States
that it is a inverted-teardrop shaped or
additional tests to determine what
and Canada using specialized equipment.
dike-like formations. You can see similar
elements they had. Eventually, they
Through the characterization process,
formations in the rhyolite dikes in the
turned to Pete Dunn at the Smithsonian in he discovered the minerals were unlike
Open Cut.
Washington D.C. for help. To his delight,
any existing minerals. He named one
On his first trip to Tip Top, Campbell
Campbell was invited to do an internship
fransoletite, which honors Dr. Andrediscovered
with Dunn.
Mathieu Fansolet for his work with
some tiny,
“That was the
primary phosphate minerals; a second
very colorful
ultimate internship
was named pahasapaite, from the
minerals
for a grad student,”
Lakota word for the Black Hills; and a
on beryl
Campbell said. “I
third was named tiptopite, for its firstfractures.
was at the Hall of
noted appearance at the Tip Top mine.
“We’re talking
Gems and Minerals
All were found at the Tip Top site and
millimeter
as a kid and loved
have not been found anywhere else.
sized minerals
it. As an intern, I
“This was super exciting. One of those
in red, white,
got to go behind the
things you never expect to happen,”
pink and
scenes.” He also
Campbell said. “There about 5,000
Photo by Dan Behnke
dark brown.
was able to continue
known mineral species and only a
That’s really Red montgomeryite crystal group. Larkest crystal is
characterizing his
dozen or so are found every year. It’s
1.25 mm in length. T.J. Campbell specimen.
unusual.”
minerals, working
kind of remarkable.”
Learning Made Easy
Photo by Matt Kapust
For the past two months, Carissa Hauck
was an intern with the Environmental,
Health and Safety Department at Sanford
Lab. A senior at Black Hills State
University, Hauck transferred existing
training components into modules she
developed for online training.
“The modules have video, scenarios
and embedded quizzes that allow people
to do their training from anywhere,”
Hauck said. “The modules will be easy
to use, like a PowerPoint presentation,
South Dakota Science and Technology Authority
but more immersive and interactive.”
Hauck works at BHSU doing much the
same thing she did for EHS. “I help create programs that help students learn. It
could be a quiz or a program that teaches
students how to matte a photo.”
After graduation, Hauck, a business
administration major, hopes to work in
international relations, but believes it’s
good to have something to fall back on.
“Tech-savvy people are highly marketable”
she said.
Lead, South Dakota