June 2003
TAR HEEL TAILINGS
From the Editor…
June is the Ice Cream Social.
Please bring ice cream and toppings.
Our program is fellowship.
Club members can bring things to “show and tell”.
A big Thank You to our new club member who
volunteered to bring refreshments.
Complete list of Refreshment Volunteers
June – Ice Cream Social
July – Susan & Chris Whitley
August – OPEN
September – C & C Hummel
October – OPEN
November – Christmas Dinner
JUNE FIELD TRIP
CALL SHIRLEY TO COMFIRM THE FIELD TRIP IS A GO!!!
WHEN - June 21st, Saturday, 9:30am-whenever
WHERE – The Bower’s Limonite location near Albemarle, NC
FEE - $5.00
TIME – about 2 ½ hours from Raleigh
MINERALS – limonite cubes (pseudomorphs of pyrite cubes)
DETAILS – No age limit, No bathrooms available
DIRECTIONS – From Albemarle - take US 52 South out of town, go about 7 miles on US 52
South, go thru flashing light, go ½ mile, there will be an ambulance station on the right. Mr. Bower’s
house is the first house on the right, past the EMT station. It is a brick house with a chain-link fence.
The house is back from the road a bit.
Or – reference the map below. If you come up North 52, Mr. Bower’s house is located between
Norwood and Porter, very near Bowers Road. The house will be on the left.
TOOLS – shovel, old clothes, boots, water, snacks, collecting containers, tools, and wrapping
materials
We will be digging in red clay for the crystals. There will be smaller crystals on the surface.
PROVERBS
He, who laughs last, thinks slowest.
I just got lost in thought. It was unfamiliar territory.
Everyone has a photographic memory. Some just don't have film.
A day without sunshine is like . . . night.
On the other hand, you have different fingers.
Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.
When the chips are down, the buffalo is empty
MAY MINUTES
Visitors were introduced.
Robin Suddaby adapted the minutes from the last meeting.
Club monetary donations will be as follows:
Geology field trip for students
Museum display
Elevator for William Holland
$3,000.00
$3,000.00
$1,000.00 (if funds are still needed)
The club will have $7,000.00 to spend.
The amendment to the motion from last month to accept the above donations was passed.
New business:
Shirley Green explained the check out system for our library. Vitus Carroll donated four videos. The
same method will be used to check out our machines. The club is still open for suggestions for books
and videos.
Olivia Ruizamora will furnish the refreshments for August.
A program chairperson is still needed.
See Joann Lail for subscriptions to Rock & Gem magazine.
Also, a substitute librarian was requested.
The field trip for June 21 will require members to pay a $5.00 donation to the owner.
Corinne announced that a club member has items for sale. She will check it out and report her
findings to the President.
Beth Heath won the drawing.
Respectfully submitted by
Chris Ennis, Secretary
JUNE BIRTHDAYS
Melissa Branch
Kathryn Carter
Jean Emerson
Orion Healy
Kay Kimball
Tommy Prince
Joyce Russell
Angie Tunney
Minerals from Kidney Stones
Rockhounds are often told that they have rocks in their head. It turns out that the human
body does make lots of minerals. Bones and teeth are two obvious examples. We may argue that these
aren't minerals by strict definition, because they are made by living organisms not inorganically, but
they are otherwise the same as minerals found in rocks.
When I was a graduate student at Indiana University, my office mates were helping with a
research project on minerals in kidney stones (which are concretions technically called urinary calculi).
They received daily packages of rather disgusting samples from many hospitals, which they saw fit to
open and analyze in my presence. One of my office mates wrote up a summary of the minerals they
found.
The most common minerals were, not surprisingly, phosphates. These include apatite,
brushite and whitlockite. Apatite is the most common mineral in many kidney stones, forming
crumbly to solid white, yellow or brownish masses. Various forms of apatite were interlayered, like the
layers in hailstones. Brushite occurs as tabular to bladed yellow to white crystals typical of kidney
stones formed under more acidic conditions. Whitlockite forms amber to brown coatings on some
stones, and is particularly common in prostatic stones.
Two calcium oxalates, whewellite and weddellite are abundant in kidney
stones. Outside the body, these minerals are rare, found most often on the deep sea
floor, in coal seams and in sedimentary nodules. In kidney stones the whewillite forms
globular to radiating masses of crystals while weddellite forms sharp dipyramidal
crystals up to 5 mm long (ouch).
Magnesium phosphates, such as struvite and newberryite are rare minerals
found outside the human body only in bat guano. They are apparently deposited in
kidney stones by particular bacterial infect ions. Struvite forms colorless crystals lining
cracks in the stones formed under alkaline conditions. Newberyite forms pale green to
white spherules on the surface of some stones.
Some minerals found in kidney stones are more familiar to rockhounds. Calcite and aragonite
are rare as granular material intergrown with the phosphates in kidney stones. Stones from the human
pancreas are often calcite. Halite was found a few times and could be a contaminant from salty fluids
in which the stones are stored during shipping. Gypsum was found three times as white crystals
encrusting the oxalates.
Why study minerals in kidney stones? Their composition gives doctors important clues to
their treatment and prevention. For example, certain people consistently produce stones of certain
mineralogy. Sometimes these stones can be dissolved or even prevented by certain treatments. Any
one who has ever suffered from these knows that an ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure!
- Dr. Bill Cordua, U. Wisconsin - River Falls
GEM & MINERAL SHOWS
July 4-6
July 11-13
July 18-20
July 24-27
July27-Aug 3
Aug 29-Sept 1
Sept 5-7
Waynesboro, VA
“Treasures of the Earth”
Raleigh, NC
Frank Cox Productions
Boone, NC
“Treasures”
Franklin, NC
Wholesale & Retail Shows
Spruce Pine, NC
19th Grassy Creek Show
Hendersonville, NC
Gem & Mineral Society
Winston-Salem, NC
32nd Forsyth Club Show
Lazulite
The Rapid Creek locality in Canada's Yukon Territory is well known for its world-class phosphate
minerals. Wardite, kulanite, gormanite/souzalite, augelite, whiteite, collinsite, vivianite and a few
others from this locality are among the best in the world and avidly sought after by collectors. Any
one of these could closely compete for a spot on the top ten list. However, the true winner from this
locality is lazulite. Rapid Creek has produced by far the world's finest lazulite specimens.
Beautiful lazulite crystals up to 2.5 cm have been obtained from this
locality and they usually occur in clusters. Crystal twinning is common
and differs from other known localities around the world. Crystals of
lazulite are wedge-shaped and exhibit the characteristic blue color,
which makes this mineral one of the most colorful found in Canada.
But yellow-green and blue-green crystals are also known to occur.
Minerals that occur in association include quartz, siderite, apatite,
fluorapatite, and wardite. The mineral is abundant and further
exploration of the locality may yield more spectacular finds. Fine
examples of lazulite can be seen in the July-August 1992 issue of the
Mineralogical Record, which featured phosphates from Rapid Creek.
Lazulite from Rapid Creek was first reported in 1962. Until 1978, it was possible to collect freely at
Rapid Creek, but since then the Canadian federal government has restricted access to the locality and
permission must be obtained to collect there. Lazulite has also been found elsewhere in the world,
namely Switzerland, Austria, Brazil, and a few localities in the United States. Lazulite is the official
gemstone of the Yukon Territory.
Via Canada's top ten minerals. Canadian Rockhound.
Opal Lore
by Richard Busch
Fallbrook Gem and Mineral Society, Inc.; Fallbrook, CA
Perhaps no other gemstone has been as loved and as feared over the centuries as opal. Opal of
ancient times, known as Hungarian opal, came from Marmaros in the Nagy-Banya district of what is
now Czechoslovakia. The colors scintillate on a white or pale-tinted background, and so this variety,
which is found in Australia, Honduras, and many other countries of the world, is called white opal.
In startling contrast to white opal is the black opal of Australia and Nevada. Against a curtain of dark
blue, gray, or black, the opal colors flash in incomparable richness, glowing like a "smothered mass of
hidden fire." The black opal from Nevada and Australia is found replacing fossil wood, shells of sea
animals, and the bones of extinct reptiles, which lived in the days when dinosaurs ruled the earth.
Most opal occurs in thin seams in the rock.
The ancient Arabs believed that opals fell from the heavens in flashes of lightning, acquiring
their marvelous colors in the process. The ancient Greeks felt that the opal gave foresight
and the gift of prophesy to the wearer.
To the Romans, opal was the symbol of hope and purity. In fact, Pliny, the ancient Roman scholar
in about 70 A.D., wrote that opal had the fire of the ruby (or the carbuncle), the brilliant purple of
the amethyst, and the sea green of the emerald all shining together in incredible union. Opal was
thought to prevent disease and to strengthen one's sight. Opal also provided the spirit of truth and the
perfection of beauty. It is reported that the Roman Senator Nonius chose exile rather than surrender a
large opal to Marc Antony.
Until three or four centuries ago this stone was thought to combine all the virtues of the various
colored stones whose hues are united in its sparkling light; however, during the Black Plague in the
14th century opal took on an evil connotation, as it was thought to lose its luster when its owner died
of the plague. Opal is thought to be a good thieves stone in that it makes one invisible. It is also
thought to preserve blond hair. The birthstone for October is opal.
The fear of damaging an opal is not entirely fair to the species since no gemstone
is indestructible. Opal is a bit softer and more fragile than most gemstones,
but with proper setting and ongoing care, an opal can last a lifetime. Here are
some tips. Generally, the thicker the opal, the better. Look for settings that
protect the opal, such as bezel settings where the metal holds the stone all the way
around its edges. Prong settings should be avoided.
Because opals contain water, they are prone to drying out which causes them to craze. Avoid storing
opals in a bank safe deposit box. The atmosphere in bank vaults is purposely kept dry in order to
protect papers. Unfortunately, this climate hastens the drying (and destruction) of precious opal.
When purchasing opal, it is best to buy from a reliable dealer and look for material that is at least one
year old since, if the material was prone to crazing, it probably would have occurred by then. When
working opal, keep the stone wet and cool to prevent it from shattering.
Optical Properties of Opal
by Karen Dawes
Fallbrook Gem and Mineral Society, Inc.; Fallbrook, CA
I love opals. Even as a child, I was fascinated by the ever-changing play of colors as I moved
my grandmother's opal ring in the light.
There are many kinds of opal, but only precious opal flashes color. Opal is composed of
silicon, oxygen, and water. The chemical formula is SiO2 · nH2O. Opal contains from 1 percent to 27
percent water. The mineral itself is amorphous, never crystalline. Opal is most often found in cracks,
cavities, and in veins within rock.
Why does precious opal flash color? The opal structure consists of numerous, tiny spheres of
silica, hydrous silica, and water packed together in a pattern to form layers. The index of refraction of
opal is 1.44. The index of refraction of water is 1.33. The refraction of light, back and forth, between
the layers causes the light to break up into spectral colors. Unequal refraction of different wavelengths
of visible light result in bright flashes of different prismatic colors.
The size of the tiny spheres determines which colors are visible. If the particles are large
enough to allow the longest wavelengths of visible light through, then all the colors of the spectrum
will be seen. If the particles are very small and only the shorter wavelengths of visible light can pass
through, then only the colors produced by the shorter wavelengths will be seen. I have a piece of
opalized petrified wood that only flashes blue and violet. This tells me that this piece of opal consists
of very tiny spheres of material.
Precious opal is rarely faceted like a gemstone. It is polished "in cabochon" in order to capture
as much of the flash of color as possible.