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Post by paulshiroma on Oct 1, 2012 21:32:35 GMT -5
Some jerks stole $2M in gold and gems from the California State Mining and Mineral Museum up in Mariposa. Barbara and I visited the place a couple of times in the past. It's an outstanding museum. If you haven't made the trip you really should consider it. Unfortunately, someone else decided to take a shortcut to making money vs. actually earning it themselves. www.fresnobee.com/2012/09/29/3011622/mariposa-stunned-by-brazen-heist.html |
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Post by christopherl1234 on Oct 1, 2012 21:35:17 GMT -5
Seem like there is a lot of that happening now a days.
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Post by beefjello on Oct 1, 2012 22:25:23 GMT -5
That sucks, I hope they catch them.
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Post by Toad on Oct 2, 2012 6:30:10 GMT -5
That is truly a shame.
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marinedad
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since December 2010
Posts: 813
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Post by marinedad on Oct 2, 2012 7:17:11 GMT -5
hope there caught before specimens are destroyed. stone them.
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Post by NatureNut on Oct 2, 2012 8:42:06 GMT -5
Wow... 2 mil bucks worth. That's shocking.
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Post by Pat on Oct 2, 2012 9:01:21 GMT -5
"Rude effrontry" is right. Lovely museum; been there several times.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller 
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,494
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Post by Sabre52 on Oct 2, 2012 9:03:12 GMT -5
Wow, as we had a home in Mariposa County for years, I'm very familiar with that museum and visited it often. Lot of those specimens there have been in the Division of mines museum for many years and are very unique and impossible to replace. That's a crying shame but I can't say I'm surprised as I can't say I ever saw much in the way of security there and staffing was always very minimal. Hope they catch those jerks and man I hope they were not astute enough to take all that beautiful benitoite the museum had. Those specimens were awesome.....Mel
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Post by johnjsgems on Oct 2, 2012 10:23:13 GMT -5
When we did the big federation show in Billings I could only see the displays before the show opened. I was disappointed the giant gold nuggets were removed as well as several other valuable items overnight. I guess this is why.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Oct 2, 2012 13:07:42 GMT -5
[speechless]
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hand2mouthmining
spending too much on rocks
Purveyors of California Gem Rock
Member since September 2011
Posts: 495
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Post by hand2mouthmining on Oct 2, 2012 21:10:50 GMT -5
The CM&MM is a favorite haunt when we get up there for the Mariposa County Fair, or take a ride along Hwy 49, "The Golden Chain Highway."
It was a shock to hear of the robbery on our way home from Area 54 last Saturday, putting a damper on our post field trip good spirits.
Later, reading the accounts, I was outraged almost to tears that the robbers had committed the crime "armed" with miners style pickaxes! Such brazen effrontry indeed! It felt as though all miners were being both mocked and violated, too.
The saddest part is that this museum isn't a rich man's play toy, or the product of someone's ego trip. The vast collection belongs to all the people of California, and is a rich repository of our mining past, giving all Californian rockhounds hope that they will be able to access our historical mineral riches in perpetuity.
Please keep an eye out for any "too good" deals on obviously high level gems. We expect that the superlative gold specimens that were stolen have already been pounded or melted beyond salvage.
The bright notes of this sad episode are that none of the staff were injured, and the crown jewel of the collection, the 14+ pound Fricot Nugget, was not harmed.
Best regards,
Kris
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Post by Roller on Oct 2, 2012 22:08:13 GMT -5
yeah someone walked in sterling mine not long ago smashed a window and did the same here in nj .. gold value is very high nowadays .. think of all the people walking around who spent say 250 on a necklace years ago and now its worth 1000 $ plus ! and they dont realize what there wearing .. maybe not for everday trainride"s and wear ..
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Post by tntmom on Oct 2, 2012 23:13:33 GMT -5
I saw this on the news... very sad and disgusting...
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Post by helens on Oct 7, 2012 1:18:58 GMT -5
What the heck is up with all the rock thefts??? It has to be the gold. There were people in Florida that were digging up copper piping and wires in 2007 all over the place because of the value of copper (which was a pittance, but I guess they were starving). A few hit live wires and electrocuted themselves doing it.
That's terrible, hope they recover the exhibits!!
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Dora
spending too much on rocks
Member since September 2012
Posts: 252
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Post by Dora on Oct 7, 2012 2:48:57 GMT -5
It is a rare case, how often things like this happen to mining museums. I wonder if an eccentric collector could be behind of this. Perhaps the thieves already planned to attempt to sell these to collectors on other countries. Unfortunately there’s not much information on the news, I wonder if the museum had security cameras installed. Nowadays there are video cameras almost everywhere. If they had cameras investigators could go back and analyze the videos from the previous weeks because usually these criminals go there several times in order to plan the felony. Under slow motion their body language will be easy to spot by experts. I think the investigators probably have a good profile on them already and are quietly trying to go after them. Let’s hope for the best. Dora  |
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