Post by bobby1 on May 16, 2011 21:30:59 GMT -5
The show was a 3 day show (as mandated by the CFMS, more on this later) and the weather was somewhat variable. We got there on Thursday to set up and it was 75 degrees and sunny. From there it changed radically....Friday 92, sunny, Saturday 79 and overcast, Sunday pouring rain and 59. There were about 15 dealers and food booths outside so the rain devasted them and the show attendance was dismal until the rain stopped at noon and the sponsoring club had the local radio station announce free entrance to the show. Overall most of the dealers did poorly which is not unusual for a federation show. For these shows the booth fees are almost double normal (as mandated by the federation).
Here are some photos of slabs from one of my favorite dealers (I didn't buy any of these, though)
Very large Labradorite
I'm not sure what this is.
A large solid Dino Bone.
Prudent Man?
A very interesting large slab of Polish Flint. I even captured a water drop falling off it.
Another one that I'm not sure what it is.
A near perfect Large slab of Ocean Jasper.
And, finally a very interesting one. The dealer said it was all Rhodochrosite but I wondered about the brown areas because I always believed that Rhodochrosite had to be red/pink due to the coloring from Manganese. The dealer repeated that it was all Rhodochrosite. Later when I was chatting with Bob Jones (He was there to do a talk all three days) I asked what he was going to talk about. He said Azurite and Cuprite so I asked him if there were any recent working mines that had any of these materials and he said yes, and I'll show you some. He went to my favorite dealer and showed me some slabs of Sonora Sunset (Sunrise?). While we were there out of curiosity I showed him the slabs of Rhodochrosite that the dealer had and I asked him what the brown material is. He said Siderite which is brown due to its Iron content. The dealer was looking on as the conversation occurred. He said he stood corrected about the material. What could he do? Here was one of the world's formost mineral experts identifying it.
The photo.
Bob
Here are some photos of slabs from one of my favorite dealers (I didn't buy any of these, though)
Very large Labradorite
I'm not sure what this is.
A large solid Dino Bone.
Prudent Man?
A very interesting large slab of Polish Flint. I even captured a water drop falling off it.
Another one that I'm not sure what it is.
A near perfect Large slab of Ocean Jasper.
And, finally a very interesting one. The dealer said it was all Rhodochrosite but I wondered about the brown areas because I always believed that Rhodochrosite had to be red/pink due to the coloring from Manganese. The dealer repeated that it was all Rhodochrosite. Later when I was chatting with Bob Jones (He was there to do a talk all three days) I asked what he was going to talk about. He said Azurite and Cuprite so I asked him if there were any recent working mines that had any of these materials and he said yes, and I'll show you some. He went to my favorite dealer and showed me some slabs of Sonora Sunset (Sunrise?). While we were there out of curiosity I showed him the slabs of Rhodochrosite that the dealer had and I asked him what the brown material is. He said Siderite which is brown due to its Iron content. The dealer was looking on as the conversation occurred. He said he stood corrected about the material. What could he do? Here was one of the world's formost mineral experts identifying it.
The photo.
Bob