Chips from the Quarry

SIMPLY BEAUTIFUL: The ohs and ahs that went up from the audience at this year’s Tucson Show awards evening weren’t based on the food (good as it was), but rather were the result of the mineral photos being shown on the screen as legendary photographer Jeff Scovil projected entries to his Best Photo Competition. Shown here are the judges’ choices for first place in the macro and micro categories.

CONNOISSEUR’S CHOICE—A DEPARTURE: This issue’s Connoisseur’s Choice column will also garner its share of ohs and ahs with its focus on what was being photographed at the Tucson Show as appealing to the connoisseur collector. So, instead of just one mineral species being featured, there will be several. Beginning on page 332, the text and photos are by Mark Mauthner of Graz, Austria.

FEATURED EXHIBITORS: There will be even more ohs and ahs come 9–11 August when more than fifty display cases will be filled with magnificent specimens from the collections of Dr. Terry C. Wallace, of Los Alamos, New Mexico, and Dr. Joan Massagué, of New York City, at the East Coast Show in West Springfield, Massachusetts. Both are longtime prominent collectors with sophisticated tastes in specimens.

KEWEENAW WEEK: Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula will see a series of mineral-related events taking place between 4 and 11 August with the return of the popular Keweenaw Week (sponsored by the Copper Country Rock and Mineral Club), the Quincy Rock Swap (sponsored by the Quincy Mine Hoist Association and open to the public; an evening mine tour requires registration), and events sponsored by the A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum (a surplus mineral sale and an evening lecture). Keweenaw Week activities (registration required) include something for everyone: a reception, benefit auction and banquet, and collecting activities, and culminating in a mineral show (9–11 August). For additional information and updates, see https://ccrmc.info/index.php/home/events/, https://museum.mtuc.edu/visit/events and https://quincymine.com/special-events/.

First place in the micromineral category–Beryl, 3.88 mm high, from the Ruby Violet claim, Beaver County, Utah; Jason Smith specimen and photo.

Winning photos in the 2024 Tucson Show’s photo competition.

Reproduced with permission

First place in the macromineral category—Calcite and clinochlore, 3.9 cm high, from Zheleznogorsk, Irkutsk Oblast, Russia; Matthew Parshchekov specimen and photo.

Winning photos in the 2024 Tucson Show’s photo competition.

Reproduced with permission

Featured exhibitors at the East Coast Show in August: Dr. Joan Massaqué (below left) and Dr. Terry Wallace.

Reproduced with permission

Reproduced with permission

Collecting at the Wolverine mine during Keweenaw Week in past years. John Jaszczak photo.

Reproduced with permission

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The Cincinnati Mineral Society, for the thirtieth consecutive year, and the Houston Area Mineral Society (HAMS) contributed toward color costs in the Connoisseur’s Choice column. Laura Delano did the same for the Museum Notes column. Donors to the Color Fund, including those who participated in the Dallas Mineral Symposium’s auction this past August, contributed toward color in the remaining columns and articles. All are thanked for partnering with Rocks & Minerals to support color photography in the publication.

M.E.H.