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The University of Arizona Mineral Museum recently moved to its new home in the historic Pima County Courthouse. This was major news for the mineral community, with the opening of a new, world-class gem and mineral museum in downtown Tucson.

The museum was previously housed on the campus of the University of Arizona, in the lower level of the Flandrau Planetarium Science Center. I had been to this museum several times in the past while visiting Tucson for the mineral shows, and have made museum reports here on the site regarding their mineral collection.

In August 2021, the museum officially opened in its new location in the Pima County Courthouse in the center of the city. It is a brand new facility with state-of-the-art exhibits. The minerals on display are plentiful, and the displays are clean, modern, and have excellent lighting and signage.

The official name of the new museum is the Alfie Norville Gem & Mineral Museum. The museum celebrated its grand opening in February 2022 to coincide with the Tucson shows. I wasn't in Tucson yet for the opening ceremony, but was still able to visit the museum on my trip in Tucson shortly after its opening.

I was impressed by the quality of the collection and the fantastic displays. I took hundreds of pictures and selected my favorite photos for this post. I will make two blog posts for my museum visit - this first for the worldwide exhibits, and the second focused on minerals of Arizona. Here is the first:

This post is the second one about the New Alfie Norville Gem & Mineral Museum at the University of Arizona. Our first post on the museum focused on their worldwide collection of minerals. This next post features the minerals of Arizona in the museum collection.

Arizona is one of the most prominent states regarding mineral collection and history. There are numerous classic localities with an abundance of fantastic mineral specimens coming from these locations. I therefore included a special post on the Arizona minerals in Arizona's most significant permanent display of minerals.

During the past several years, the center of mineral activity in Tucson has shifted north to the Mineral City area. Various satellite shows and tents surround the area, with perhaps the biggest being the La Fuente Show. The full name is the La Fuente de Piedras Mineral Show, and it is located in the vicinity of a well-known Mexican restaurant of the same name across the street from Mineral City. The restaurant is no longer operating, but its iconic pink building is very recognizable and has become the home of Jewel Tunnel Imports, a large dealership founded by the late mineral icon Rock Currier (yes, that was his real name.)

Adjacent to the former La Fuente restaurant is a large tent with several additional prominent dealers, including the Arkenstone, John Cornish Minerals, and Mineral Classics. I arrived here later in the day, and didn't make it to the actual La Fuente building due to a lack of time. I only was able to attend the large tent adjacent to the former restaurant. However, I still was able capture some great mineral photos from the tent to document for this report.

One of the most significant changes at the Tucson mineral scene in 2022 was the addition of the Tucson Fine Mineral Gallery. This new venue is a building adjacent to the Hotel Tucson, where the large InnSuites show was held up until recently. It housed some fine exhibit minerals from the Gail and Jim Spann collection, as well as some of the finest wire Silver and Silver crystals from the Spann Meieran collections. On display as well was a set of giant Amethyst geodes in the main entrance hallway.

The concept of this new venue is to provide a year-round location for several prominent dealers to maintain and display their inventory, and have a solid home for the yearly show. The dealers present at this facility include Crystal Classics, Collector's Edge, Graeber & Himes, Nicholas Stolowitz Fine Minerals, and The Focal Crystal. Also present are Dreher Carvings from Idar-Oberstein in Germany, MCP (Mineralogical Collection Professionals), and BlueCap Productions. The building also features an outdoor courtyard with a relaxed setting.

Below are some highlight pictures of the event. Stay tuned for additional pictures from individual dealer minerals at the Tucson Fine Mineral Gallery!