Benitoite!

A few weeks ago a band of fellow rock hounds and I traveled to San Benito County, California, in search of the California State Gemstone: Benitoite. (Image courtesy of www.calstategemmine.com)We all met up at the California State Gem Mine (www.calstategemmine.com). We weren't actually allowed to mine for the benitoite, but we were given all day to go through gravel brought down from the mine. I didn't get to test out my full Indiana Jones gear, but it was nice not having to try to ignore my claustrophobia, too.
The price for a day's gravel pickins was $70, and we were taught how to sort through the gravel, given tubs to soak off the dirt and mud to make it easier to find the benitoite, and allowed access to a room lit only by shortwave UV light, which makes benitoite glow whitish-blue! (Longwave blacklights are the kinds used at clubs, etc. Shortwave can actually burn skin and eyes.) The shortwave blacklight was indespensible, and thanks to the safety glasses provided by the Gem Mine owners, we were able to patiently sort through our cleaned bits of gravel, hoping to find something that glowed.There were about 3 piles of gravel to get our diggins from. We all got a few buckets to fill, and were encouraged to get through as much gravel as we could to find the benitoite.
The most efficient strategy seemed to be to fill up a couple buckets of gravel, put a load into the sorting screen, sift in the air to get rid of the tiny dirt particles, and stick it in one of the water bins to soak. While the first screen was soaking, fill another screen and start the process all over.By the time you're done with the second screen, you're first one is ready for a preliminary sorting and breaking up of the muddy clumps. The trick is to let the gravel soak to get the baked-on mud off the benitoite. Patience is a key for benitoite hunting.
After washing the gravel and pulling out the rocks that aren't likely to bear benitoite, it's time to head to the blacklight room for more detailed sorting.

At the end of the day, most of us had found at least a small piece of benitoite, and some other fun rocks that couldn't be left behind. The weather was perfect, the the rock hounders were in good spirits, and the seeds were planted for a return trip to hopefully get up to the mine.

Bead Museum

In mid-July members of the Bead Society of Northern California got the treat of traveling to Carmel, CA to visit the Picard Bead Museum. (www.picardbeads.com)
The Picards have a great collection of glass trade beads. They've got them organized by style and some by region where they're more traditionally found.


The displays are beautifully done, really allowing visitors to get a good, up-close look at these beads. Many have labels describing their materials, and where and when they were commonly traded.

It was a treat to be able to spend the afternoon in a museum FULL of beads, instead of being limited to the usual few pieces in most museums.



In addition to the museum, the Picards also have a bead store so that you may be able to purchase some of the same styles of beads that are on display. I was able to find some vinyl beads that I regretted not getting more of on my visit to Ghana. I also bought some wonderful coconut shell beads. I highly recommend a visit here if your heart melts a little when beads are mentioned.

Mineral and Gem Society of Castro Valley Show

This past weekend was the locally-famed gem and mineral show at Centennial Hall in Hayward, put on by the Mineral and Gem Society of Castro Valley. All volunteer-run by the members of MGSCV, the show includes faceting and cabbing demonstrations, walls of displays ranging from gemological education to sorting different salts, to examples of rough gem specimens next to cut and finished specimens.And, the most fun? The fluorescent mineral room:
One whole room dedicated to minerals and rocks that glow under short- or longwave UV light. One of the hotspots for collecting is a site in New Jersey. Sign me up.

Tucson!

Every year in early February, Tucson, AZ hosts the most fabulous gem/mineral/fossil/jewelry show around. You want rubies, emeralds, tanzanite? No problem. Tektites? Yup. Fossilized dinosaur poop? Yes. Jade table? Sure.

And how about these skyscraper amethyst geodes?


Petrified wood?

From morning to evening my trip was filled with looking at these beauties.

I was there for 5 days. My days began with grabbing a quick breakfast, then usually heading out to a seminar or two (fabulous education!), and then taking the shuttles to the different shows. There were tents up all over town with gem and mineral dealers, and even the hotels had vendors showing wares in the rooms.
Can't wait until next year...