The Bitterroot Conglomerate
Newsletter of the Bitterroot Gem & Mineral Society
Vol. XXIX issue 9
Presidents Colum
I trust everyone has enjoyed the summer as it draws to an end. It seems that it went faster than normal it also feels that fall is here already.
I hope that everyone that went on the Bynum fieldtrip had a great time and found some treasures. That was one that Jenet and I would have like to have gone on, but my job keeps me very involved with the Ravalli County Fair that week. A special thanks to Steve for arranging the trip and for all the fieldtrips that we have enjoyed this summer. Great job Steve!
On a related subject, for next year’s field trips let’s try and put together specimens of the gems and minerals that we will look for at the locations prior to each fieldtrip. I think this would be of benefit to everyone.
If you missed the club picnic you missed a great time. Thank you Dianne and Gene for you hospitality and opening your home to the club. For everyone that brought items and bid on items, even if it was tipping your glasses, thank you. Not sure what the totals were but we made some money.
Our next big project will be Apple Days in Hamilton. If you can help either at the booth or some other way please do. Like many projects the more help the easier and smoother they work.
Mike McConnell, Pres.
Editors Notes
Fall is on it’s way so there is not much time left for field trips so if there is a place you would like to go in the next few weeks let someone like Steve, Wayne or Harvey know so a field trip can be arranged.
According to the By-laws the President will appoint a nominating committee of three members one month before the first October meeting.
I will need reports from the Chairperson of the various Committees during the last week of each month so they can be included in the newsletter.
The Editor is not responsible for the accuracy of articles accepted, items for sale, nor are the opinions expressed therein necessarily those of the Club Officers, members and/or the Club Editor.
Ralph
BGMS Minutes August 2010
There were no meetings this month only a potluck at the Ayres house.
The potluck was a huge success with a rock hunt after the meal. It was like an Easter egg hunt in the backyard except it was for rocks that had been hidden and scattered around.
I don’t have a count on the number attending but it appeared that all had fun.
After the rock hunt an auction was held which got lively at times.
Field Trip Report
No report has been submitted yet on the field trips and the dinosaur dig. I expect that someone will have a report for us in the near future.
Mining Committee Report
I have been trying for two weeks to reach Paul Younger to see if he will be available to do the reclamation work at the Blue Grouse Claim. He has just now returned my call and will be watching the weather and his schedule to try and set a time to do the work.
MT Council Report
Montana Council of Rock & Mineral Clubs
Annual Fossil Hunt – Bynum Montana
By Council President, Wayne Farley
On Saturday, Sept. 4, 2010, the MT Council held a 1-day Fee-Dig Fossil Hunt for Dinosaur Bones for the Two Medicine Dinosaur Center at Bynum, MT. This fossil hunt was advertised in the MT Council newsletter, mailed out in August 2010 to the Council rock clubs in Billings, Bozeman, Butte, Hamilton, Kalispell, and Missoula.
The newsletter stated that participants would be charged a reduced fee of $70.00 per person, if ten or more signed up; and the Council would pay the fee up to a maximum of $1000.00; per vote by the Council members at the June 19 Butte summer Council meeting. Thus, if ten showed up, the Council would pay the total of $700.00 and the participants nothing. If twenty showed up, the Council would pay $1000.00 of the total of $1400.00, and the participants would pay $20.00 each.
Potential participants were told to contact the MT Council field trip coordinator Steve Vieth from the Hamilton club, or MT Council president Wayne Farley from the Hamilton club. Steve said that The Hamilton “Bitterroot Gem & Mineral Society” (BGMS) was the only club to respond to the request for participation. Steve Vieth said that he had 12 people lined up for the Dinosaur Bone Hunt. They were told to be at the Two Medicine Dinosaur Center at Bynum at 8:00 am for the Hunt.
The following people showed up for the dinosaur hunt: 1. Wayne Farley, 2. Daniel Farley, 3. Jo Farley, 4. Mike Farley, 5.Barb Abbe, 6. Ron Livsey, 7. Marshall Almarode, 8. Traci Warner, 9. Ed Marchand, 10. Mark Finkbeiner, 11. Dave? (He did not sign my roster). Steve Vieth was suppose to be number twelve, but did not show up. The above group was guided by: 1. Paleontologist, David-Trexler, 2. Geologist/ Field Instructor, Cory-Coverdell, and 3. Fluorescent Pathologist, Tayler ?; all from the Two Medicine Dinosaur Center. David and Cory gave a dinosaur bone presentation at the BGMS show last May, and Cory signed up as a member of the BGMS at that time.
We left the Dinosaur Center for the dig at 9:00 am in two vans belonging to the Center. Two areas of the dig are on private ranch land several miles from Bynum and near Choteau. A third area was on state land in the same vicinity.
In the first area examined, we were shown several dinosaur bones in limestone rock; and told that several large bones had already been burlap & plaster wrapped and removed from the area for further preparation at the lab. We were told that we could search the rut road going through the area, and each keep one small dinosaur bone fragment from or near the road. Any loose bones found in the Center’s dig, area about 100 feet from the road, could be picked up and looked at, but then had to be put back in the exact same spot, as it could be the lead to other buried bones. The best dinosaur bone find that any of our group was allowed to keep was a fist-size elbow-bone found by Jo’s son, Mike Farley. I, Wayne Farley, found a fist size dinosaur bone which I put back as it was in the Center’s dig area; and a nice goose-egg size cluster of crinoid stems in limestone which I kept. We were allowed to keep any marine fossils that we found.
The second area we went to nearby was the state land. There were five spots of significant bones exposure which Dave said could be complete or almost complete dinosaur skeletons. There were also several clusters of dinosaur egg fragments, with fragments about the size of your small fingernail or smaller, that Dave said were a dinosaur nest. Dave said that he could tell if the eggs had hatched or not by the thickness of the shell fragments. Eggs that had hatched were thinner, as the embryo used part of the shell as nutrients.The Two Medicine Dinosaur Center was not allowed to collect on the state land, as the Center is a non-profit institution; and only state or federal institutions that contain certified permanent repositories are allowed to collect vertebrate fossils on public lands. They are trying to work out a deal with the Fort Peck Dinosaur Center, as they are certified. The other certified center is the Museum of the Rockies at Bozeman, but they have had bad relations with the Paleontologist, Jack Horner, from that institution, and want nothing more to do with him. DavidTrexler’s mother (Marion Brandvold) found the first duckbilled dinosaurs in the area when she was only 5 years old, and later in life she and her son David Trexler discovered Egg Mountain and baby dinosaur skeletons on a nest. Marion loaned the baby dinosaur skeletons to Jack Horner only for study, and had to sue Jack to get them back. See the full story at website:http://www.lacusveris.com/The%20Hi-Line%20and%20the%20Yellowstone%20Trail/The%20Rockies/Dino_Hunter.shtml
The last area we went to was back on private land. The Two Medicine Dinosaur Center is in the process of digging up bones there, and we assisted in exposing some bones with an ice pick and paint brush. It’s pretty slow going. We worked for a couple of hours and my hand is still sore a couple of days later from the picking. Periodically the bones are wrapped in burlap saturated with a plaster paste until they are completely wrapped. They are then dug up and transported back to the lab for exposure and stabilization. Mike Farley made a significant bone discovery in another bone cluster exposure a couple of hundred yards away. The significant find was a 1” Dia. by 4” long dinosaur bone with deep teeth marks in the bone. He turned it over to Cory and Cory showed it to Paleontologist David Trexler. David said it was worth a Paleontological write-up.
We almost got blown away a couple of times in the afternoon, but managed to survive, and got back to the Center about 5:00 pm. Everyone had a great time, and we all talked about returning next year.
If you ever go through Bynum, stop at the Rock Shop next to the Dinosaur Center. It is one of the best Rock Shops that I have seen. The next time I go there, I will go prepared with some extra money in my pocket.
N.W. Federation Report
None
Sunshine Committee
No report.
Programs
No report, so I don’t know what is planned for our Sept. meetings.
Show Report
None this month.
Cobalt (continued from last month)
Re-usable energy storage systems -
All rechargeable batteries have this fact in common: cobalt improves the properties of the batteries or is an essential part of the system whether they are nickel cadmium, nickel metal hydride or lithium ion systems. With hybrid electric vehicles gaining strong support from manufacturers and consumers, the use of cobalt in the rechargeable sector alone could lead to deficits in supply.
Substitution for cobalt in jet engine castings will probably not occur and cannot be considered as a meaningful solution to the cobalt supply problem. Future cobalt displacement will be due to technical developments, like ceramic matrix composites and titanium aluminides.
Wear resistant alloys -
"The hard facing industry". These are the Stellite alloys still widely used to prolong the life of cast components, welding wires, rods and electrodes, and hard facing powders. These various alloys are used in the construction, automotive, oil drilling, petrochemical, and aerospace, food, pharmaceutical, power generation, glass, and plastic and rubber industries.
Magnets -
A typical American household contains an average of 40 permanent magnets. Peak usage of cobalt in magnets occurred in the late 1970's and, because of the cobalt price crisis; substitutes began to enter the market.
The magnet industry will always be a considerable user of cobalt. Permanent magnet applications are found in loudspeakers, hearing aids, compasses, cathode ray focusing, traveling wave tube fields, oil filters, microphones, galvanometers, MRI systems, musical instrument microphones, ABS systems, speedometers, tachometers, watt-hour meters, telephone ringers, voltage regulators, generators, alternators, magnetic separators, motors, precision scales and automotive airbag systems.
Rigid magnetic disk production for computers consumes the greatest amount of cobalt in the thin film electronics industry. Although cobalt will continue to be utilized, the amount is expected to decrease due to decrease in disk size and film thickness. Cobalt is an important addition to the basic ferric oxide recording layer on some videotapes, and recording on some computer memory files.
The Samarium-Cobalt (rare earth) magnet has made it possible for the US to have the best performing radar, communication and electronic countermeasures systems in the world. These units are used in most military aircraft, satellites, missiles, tanks, submarines and other ships.
www.formcap.com
Binder Material -
Cobalt is preferred for development of cemented carbides and diamond matrix materials, i.e.: metal cutting tools and diamond tools. Cobalt is the binder metal of choice in the hard metal/diamond tool industry. It is also used in snowplow blades, asphalt milling, grader & scarifier blades etc.
Thermal spray coatings -
These are used for protection against wear, corrosion, oxidation, thermal fatigue and thermal shock, electrical conduction & insulation, surface roughness control and pump sealing.
Orthopedics -
There are three groups of metals most commonly used in orthopedic implants: cobalt alloys, titanium alloys and stainless steels. Of importance in selection of materials for these uses are corrosion resistance, biocompatibility, static and fatigue mechanical strength, structural integrity, abrasion and wear resistance. About 70% of hip replacements utilize Cobalt-Chrome femoral stems. The estimated cobalt usage for hip replacements in 1996 was 150,000 pounds. This has greatly increased during the last nine years with an increasingly active but ageing population in the developed world.
Life Science -
Cobalt is an essential element in human and animal metabolisms. Pernicious anemia, a fatal inability to retain cobalt in humans, is treated by vitamin therapy (Vitamin B12). Cobalt soil dressings or implants are used to supplement cobalt deficient soils to prevent "wasting disease" in grazing animals. In other areas of medicine, nanocrystaline metals of silver and cobalt are effective antibacterial agents and can be used in air-conditioning systems to stop formation of bacterial.
Other Uses -
- Drying agents in paints, de-colorizers, dyes, pigments, and oxidizers.
- Promotes adherence of enamel to steel, and steel to rubber in steel belted radial tires.
- Catalyst in de-sulfurizing crude oil and as a catalyst in hydrogenation, oxidation, reduction, and synthesis of hydrocarbons.
- Gas to liquid technology (GLT) -- The application of this technology is expected to result in a major new demand for cobalt. GTL has the potential to convert enough "stranded" natural gas reserves into ultra-low emission liquid petroleum fuels to supply the world's energy needs. This technology will help eliminate the need for flaring natural gas in association with oil production, allowing development and production from wells previously closed due to
- dispose of stranded natural gas.
The Idaho Cobalt Project, located in east central Idaho, is a unique 100% owned primary cobalt deposit with production estimates of over 1,500 tonnes of high-purity cobalt metal per year. The project received a positive National Instrument 43-101 compliant Bankable Feasibility study in July 2007, a final Environmental Impact Statement in June 2008, a Record of Decision from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Salmon Challis National Forest in January 2009, a Record of Decision from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in February 2009 and a Section 401 Certification from the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality in February 2009. All essential environmental mine permits are now in place and the company is pursuing mine construction financing.
Cobalt is an essential metal in today's society used in a wide variety of applications, including the production of "green" energy and environmentally conscious products such as hybrid electric vehicles. It is also considered a strategic commodity by the U.S. government. There is no current domestic primary production of cobalt - the U.S. must rely almost entirely on foreign sources for all of its supply. The cobalt project's output will be equivalent to 3.3% of the entire global cobalt supply and it will be able to feed 15% of the North American demand for cobalt.
The Idaho Cobalt Project will strengthen the local economies around Salmon and Challis by creating 157 high-paying jobs and an additional 39 jobs in northern Idaho. This represents an annual payroll of approximately $9.5 million dollars a year generating over $8 million dollars paid annually in taxes with a significant portion of that going to Lemhi & Shoshone Counties helping to support vital local services.
The cobalt market demand segments chart is representative of the cobalt usages in 2004, based upon a world market demand of 50,100 tons.
The information on this page has been compiled from the 2005 International Conference Proceedings on the Cobalt Industry and Cobalt Facts Update (Cobalt Development Institute).
For Sale. An ore car from the Betty O’Neil Mine near Battle Mountain, Nevada. In good shape. $500.00. Contact Posey at 961-4116
For Sale. Jim Rayner in Hamilton has a Fram Tom Tock Grinder Set-up with 2 diamond wheels, and a 10” trim saw with new blade, new motor on a steel stand for $800. 375-0663
One Liners
My husband and I divorced over religious differences. He thought he was God and I didn’t.
I don’t suffer from insanity; I enjoy every minute of it.
Some people are alive only because it’s illegal to kill them.
I used to have a handle on life, but it broke.
Don’t take life too seriously; No one gets out alive.
Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.
I’m not a complete idiot -- Some parts are just missing.
Out of my mind. Back in five minutes.
The gene pool could use a little chlorine.
Consciousness: That annoying time between naps.
Ever stop to think, and forget to start again?
Being ’over the hill’ is much better than being under it!
Wrinkled Was Not One of the Things I Wanted to Be When I Grew up
Procrastinate Now!
A hangover is the wrath of grapes.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a cash advance.
He who dies with the most toys is nonetheless DEAD.
A picture is worth a thousand words, but it uses up three Thousand times the memory.
Ham and eggs..A day’s work for a chicken, a lifetime commitment for a pig.
end
SAVE USED POSTAGE STAMPS FOR CANCER RESEARCH!
GIVE A HOOT - DON"T POLLUTE! KEEP MONTANA GREEN
