Our reporting of the 2020 Tucson Gem and Mineral Show® continues with more of the new and interesting dealer minerals seen at the show this year. From our experience at Tucson, year after year, the show is too big to take notice of all the new material -- but what is noticed just has too much to photograph! And of those lucky specimens that do get photographed, there are just too many to post!
So here goes our second post on the dealer minerals -- the ones we noticed at the show, and that we were able to photograph, and that were deemed worthy of posting!
Azurite seems to be having an unending yield at the Milpillas Mine, in Sonora Mexico. The specimens just get bigger and better, and many dealers have top notch material. However, Unique Mineralshad the largest crystal from Milpillas I have ever seen (apparently from a recent find.)
Spirifer Minerals had a full display case of new minerals from the Mindouli region in the Pool Department, Republic of Congo, including Wulfenite, Cerussite, and some of the best Dioptase examples. Spirifer Minerals also had exceptional green Fluorite cubes on Barite from a place called Jebel Tighemi, Tauourirt, Morocco.
Rhodochrosite is now being mined once again from the Alma area. Considered to be among the most valuable of minerals, Rhodochrosite from this location is highly revered and cherished by collectors. High-end dealer Collector's Edge recently started specimen mining operations at a new portal called the Detroit City portal. (More later about this in our designated Collector's Edge post.) Big Rock Minerals, a relatively new player in the game, had a new find of Rhodochrosite from a different location in the same area, at the Sara Rose Mine in Alma. Many of these were associated with bluish-purple Fluorite.
First appearing on the market several years ago, the new find in Colombia of what has been called by many "Mango Quartz" - i.e. Quartz with bright yellow Halloysite inclusions - has been yielding increasingly exceptional specimens. This year's mining crop has produced some of the biggest crystals with the deepest color. Several dealers had this material from Cabiche, in Boyaca Dept. available, but the biggest and the best seemed to have been observed at Ziga Mineral.
Enchanted Minerals always has surprises from the west. This year, owner Phil Simmons treated show-goers to a new find from Garfield Co., Utah of green Dogtooth Calcite colored by vanadium inclusions.
Perhaps the most memorable new mineral seen this year was the fragile golden Rutile needles, larger than any of these previously seen, from Ibiajara, Bahia, Brazil at the booth of Miner's Lunchbox. This location has been producing the jackstraw Rutile needs for many years now, but this year's find was on a whole new level, with giant crystal sizes and very well-defined thin needles.
Newly Mined Rhodochrosite from the Sara Rose Mine, Mt. Bross, Alma, Colorado
Big Rock Minerals
Stalactitic Malachite from Katanga, D.R. Congo
Big Rock Minerals
"Mango Quartz" Quartz with Halloysite Inclusions from Cabiche, Boyaca Dept., Colombia
Ziga Mineral
Large, Thick Rubellite Tourmaline from the Cruzeiro Mine, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Bruce Wood Minerals
Green, Vanadium-Included Calcite from Garfield Co., Utah
Enchanted Minerals
Another Green Calcite (Dogtooth) from Garfield Co., Utah
Enchanted Minerals
Purple Fluorite Crystals from the Surprise Mine, Cookes Peak, Luna Co., NM
Enchanted Minerals
Delicate Rutile Crystals Crystals in Exceptional Size from Ibiajara, Bahia, Brazil
(Picture from the Mineral City Show, as I Forgot to Take Picture at TGMS.)
Miner's Lunchbox
This is our third show report post of the dealer minerals at the 2020 Tucson Gem and Mineral Show® . This post features the minerals of one very prominent dealer: Collector's Edge Minerals. Collector's Edge is known at the show for having a booth right near the show entrance, featuring large, flamboyant minerals that are over the top in quality and size. They did not disappoint this year, and we have some of their fantastic booth displays featured in this post.
One of the most memorable items at Collector's Edge was one of the largest specimens of pink Fluorite, in the the form of multiple octahedral crystals on green-included Quartz, from the new find this past year at the Huanggang Mines in Inner Mongolia, China.
Collector's Edge also had plenty of great examples of Wulfenite, from the new find at the La Morita Mine, Chihuahua, Mexico. As stated on a plaque in a display case of these new Wulfenites, this is the most significant discovery of Wulfenite in the past 20 years.
The main attraction this year at Collector's Edge were three giant Silver boulders mined in 2018 in the Richmond Basin, Gila Co., Arziona. The largest specimen on the the find, and on display, weighs 411 pounds!
Fluorite Cubes from Dal'Negorsk, Primorskiy Kray, Russia
Collector's Edge Minerals
Exceptional Pink Fluorites on included Quartz from the new find
in the Huanggang Mines in Inner Mongolia, China
Collector's Edge Minerals
New Find of Wulfenite from the La Morita Mine, Chihuahua, Mexico.
This is the Finest Wulfenite Discovery in 20 Years!
Collector's Edge Minerals
Another Fine Example of Wulfenite from the La Morita Mine, Chihuahua, Mexico
Collector's Edge Minerals
Information Plauque Explaining the 2018 Discovery of the Largest Silver Boulders
in the World as seen in the Next Picture
Collector's Edge Minerals
The Largest Silver Boulders in the World on Display, from the Richmond Basin, Gila Co., Arizona
Collector's Edge Minerals
Our annual show reports of the happenings at Tucson will start with the 2020 Tucson Gem and Mineral Show®. This show is the main show that started all the other mineral and gemstone venues in Tucson and made it the mecca it is today for mineral and gemstone collectors.
This first post introduces the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show®, showing some of the general show themes, as well as some of the major cases, including the largest
Gold specimen found in modern times, an iconic wire Gold that serves as the logo for the Harvard Mineralogical Museum, and the famous "Snail"
Rhodochrosite specimen from South Africa, that was one of the most expensive minerals ever sold. This was also the 50th anniversary of the Mineralogical Record, with several cases highlighting this milestone.
We will also create additional posts for several of the other Tucson shows. For the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show®, we'll add posts on the exhibit cases, individual minerals, and dealer minerals.
This page will contain links to all the posts that we create as we organize and publish them. Stay tuned and check back frequently for additional updates on Tucson, including posts on the exhibit cases, individual minerals, dealer minerals, and other shows in Tucson.
The Tucson Gem and Mineral Show® View from Above on Opening Day
Another View of the Main Hall from Above
Peter Megaw, Exhibits Chair for the Show, Showcasing the Large Gold Specimen to the Media
"Dragons Lair Gold" - A 113 Pound Gold Specimen discovered in September 2018
in the Beta Hunt Mine, near Kambalda, Western Australia
Prepared by Collector's Edge Minerals and Pending Sale to the Pinnacle Collection
The Snail: An Iconic Rhodochrosite on Manganite
from the N'Chwaining 1 Mine, Kuruman, South Africa
Bill Larson Collection
Tribute Case to the Young Mineral Collectors
Showcasing Youth Involvement in the Hobby
This post about the 2020 Tucson Gem and Mineral Show® focuses on some of the amazing displays at the show. Private collectors, dealers, museums, and mineral clubs set up public display exhibits that showcase some of the most exceptional minerals that are out there.
This show, the most prominent mineral event in the world, features over one hundred displays with a wide variety of specimens that rival the displays of the best museums in the world. It would be difficult to cover these displays our post, so we chose some of the most prominent and photogenic samples and divided the display exhibits into two posts, this being the first one.
This year's theme was "World Class Minerals." This is a loosely defined terminology and this is a more encompassing theme than in previous years. The website of the Tucson Gem & Mineral Society devoted a page to explain the theme - visit their website to read more about the theme at http://www.tgms.org/news-archive/2019/10/20/world-class-minerals.
The Mineral Wines Collection
Brett Keller
A Love Affair with Prehnite
Steve Blyskal
Herkimer Diamonds: World Class Treasures from the Mountains of New York State
Rocko Rosenblatt
Made in America - USA Gemstones
Display Case Devoted to Sulfur
Colorado World Class Minerals
Mines Museum of Earth Science
Significant Color Varieties of Calcite
Cincinnati Museum Center
Sample of World Class Minerals
New Mexico Tech Bureau of Geology Mineral Museum
Large Impressive Chinese Minerals
Perot Museum of Nature and Science
Arizona's World Class Minerals
Les & Paula Presmyk Collection
An Amazing Case of Exceptional Minerals
Walt Donovan
Arizona's Best
AZ Mining, Mineral and Natural Resources Education Museum
Some Classic Mineral Examples
Yale University Peabody Museum of Natural History
Treasures from the AMNH'S Bement Collection
American Museum of Natural History
Large Interesting Gem Minerals Mineral
The Meieran Collection
What Makes a World Class Mineral?
Rice Museum of Rocks and Minerals
This is our second post on the display exhibits of the The 2020 Tucson Gem and Mineral Show®. We divided the photos of the displays into two posts to keep it from being too long. We didn't put these photos in any particular order -- the order is the sequence of our photographs.
In past years, we separated our posts on the display cases into separate posts for theme-related and non-theme related. However, with this year's more ambiguous theme of "World Class Minerals," every case seemed to have been filled with "World Class Minerals" so it was hard to separate the theme from the non-themed. We therefore included them all together and did not designate separate posts for this.
Please stay tuned for our next post which will include some of the exceptional minerals within these display cases.
Footballs and Snowballs: The Mines of Carthage, Smith Co., Tennessee
Tellus Science Museum
Golden Calcite from Malmberget, Sweden
Peter Lykberg
In Memoriam of Tom Hales: February 19, 1943 - April 4, 2019
Gregg and Glenn Hales
Beautiful Mineral Examples from the Harvard Collection
Harvard Mineralogical Museum
The Science Behind World Class Diamonds
GIA - Gemological Institute of America
Mineralogical Record Covers of Minerals in the Museum Collection
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
From the Mineral Museum Collection: World-Wide Minerals
The University of Arizona Mineral Collection
Marquis Pieces from the Spann Collection
Jim & Gail Spann, Rockwall, TX
Classic Collection Pieces from the Frederick A. Canfield & Washington A. Roebling Collecton
Smithsonian Institution National Museum on Natural History
Colorful Gemstone Minerals
JTV Internal Collection
Favorites from the Collection of Gary and Rosemary White
Gary and Rosemary White
Exceptional Mineral Display
Bruce Carter: Board Member of Rice NW Museum of Rocks and Minerals
Russian Treasures
Robert Lavinsky
MAD Treasure Honoring the Mineralogical Record
MAD - Mineralogical Association of Dallas
The Mineralogical Record: Celebrating 50 years of Excellence
Arizona Mineral Minions