The Bitterroot Conglomerate
Newsletter of the Bitterroot Gem & Mineral Society
Vol. XXX issue 4
Presidents Column
Mike has not submitted a report.
Editors Notes
It must be assumed that people expect that the editor is out of town so no one has submitted a report for this month. I will admit that income tax was a priority this month so didn’t have time to make calls for reports.
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
None submitted.
BGMS CABBING Mach.
I’m not sure who has the machine this month.
Field Trip Report
None
This is a communication that was received concerning a possible field trip with another club.
Dear Fellow Rock Hounds, My name is Donna Barker and I am a member of the field trip committee for the Idaho Falls Gem and Mineral Society (IFG&MS) in Idaho Falls, ID. We would like to invite you to a joint club field trip to the Spencer Opal Mine in Spencer Idaho, on July 16th, 2011. I have attached the particulars of the trip and hope you will join us and pass this information along to whomever may also be interested. We look forward to meeting you and digging in the dirt with you. Call me @ 208-881-9306, email to donameche@cableone.net with any questions you may have. Thanks and see you soon, Donna
Mining Committee Report
I’m having a difficult time finding a back-hoe operator this year, but will keep trying.
MT Council Report
None.
N.W. Federation Report
None this month.
Sunshine Committee
No report but you might ask Don Tibbs about his trip to Emergency.
Programs
Looking for more volunteers.
Show Report
None
The following is an article that many may find of interest.
New Mineral Discovered in Meteorite
A meteorite discovered in Antarctica in 1969 has just divulged a modern secret: a new mineral, now called Wassonite.
The amount of the new mineral found in the 4.5-billion-year-old meteorite was tiny — less than one-hundredth as wide as a human hair. Still, that was enough to excite the researchers who announced the discovery Tuesday (April 5). [Image of new mineral]
"Wassonite is a mineral formed from only two elements, sulfur and titanium, yet it possesses a unique crystal structure that has not been previously observed in nature," NASA space scientist Keiko Nakamura-Messenger said in a statement. The mineral's name, approved by the International Mineralogical Association, honors John T. Wasson, a UCLA professor known for his achievements across a broad swath of meteorite and impact research.
Grains of Wassonite were analyzed from the meteorite that has been officially designated Yamato 691 enstatite chondrite. Chondrites are primitive meteorites that scientists think were remnants shed from the original building blocks of planets. Most meteorites found on Earth fit into this group.
Yamato 691 likely originated from an asteroid orbiting between Mars and Jupiter. It was discovered along with eight other meteorites by members of the Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition on the blue ice field of the Yamato Mountains. They constituted the first significant recovery of Antarctic meteorites.
Follow-up searches by scientists from Japan and the United States have recovered more than 40,000 specimens, including rare Martian and lunar meteorites.
The research team used NASA's transmission electron microscope to isolate the Wassonite grains and figure out their chemical makeup and atomic structure.
When meteors hit the ground they are called meteorites. Most are fragments of asteroids, and others are mere cosmic dust shed by comets. Rare meteorites are impact debris from the surfaces of the moon and Mars.
"Meteorites, and the minerals within them, are windows to the formation of our solar system," said co-discoverer Lindsay Keller, space scientist at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. "Through these kinds of studies we can learn about the conditions that existed and the processes that were occurring then."
This story was provided by LiveScience, a sister site to SPACE.com.
SOME LAPIDARY CRAFTS-
Channel work - The lines of the design are formed with vertical metal strip backed by horizontal sheet metal. The spaces between the strip are filled with polished rock or gem material. This gives color to the design.
Casting is the replacement of a item by forming a mold, removing the item from the mold material and filling the void left with molten metal and cooling.
Enameling is the fusion of ground glass on a metal surface.
Engraving is the formation of a pattern in a base material by removing metal from the base.
Filigree is the formation of patterns from wires twisted, coiled, or otherwise shaped and then soldered into a wire framework.
Wire-Wrapping is coiled, twisted and bound wire formed into a pattern which also holds and frames gem materials.
Intarsia and Mosiac are formed by forming a pattern from individual pieces of stone, slab, or tile.
Cameos are raised figures which form the image of an item
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
The end this month
SAVE USED POSTAGE STAMPS FOR CANCER RESEARCH!
GIVE A HOOT - DON"T POLLUTE! KEEP MONTANA GREEN
