Your president is taking this month off, but he would be sure to call your attention to upcoming field trips, to our club picnic on August 26th, and to the Denver Gem & Mineral show coming up September 15-17 (for which volunteers are needed!). Read more about all of these in this issue of the newsletter.

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Club Programs for August, September
 

There is no club meeting in August. Instead, we have our annual club picnic at the North Boulder Park pavilion, 9th & Dellwood, at 4 PM, August 26. RSVPs are requested--call Gerry Naugle, 303-591-2830 for food choice and head count. Last names A-M are asked to bring a dessert or watermelon, and last names N-Z are asked to bring a salad or bread.

The main purpose of the picnic (besides fun!) is to stuff the grab bags that we sell at the Denver Gem and Mineral Show in September, and at our own annual show in December. These grab bags are the main source of income for the two scholarships that we sponsor at the Colorado School of Mines. If you haven't been to our picnic in the past, be sure to come and see what fun we have (setting up a production line, etc.) doing this! Club members who come to Charlotte's house on Wednesday evenings have bagged the small specimens brought in by field trippers. We have 450 each of ten items to fill the bags cut out by Jeanne Hurst and sewn by Jeanne, Anita Landess, Jean Brownhill, and Karen Simmons. Thank you all for helping with this scholarship project. More grab bag specimens will be needed for 2007 Wednesday evenings, so keep collecting!

The program for the September club meeting, Sept 14 will be announced via e-mail. For the October meeting (Oct 12) we are fortunate to have Florence McGovern, who will talk about the dinosaur eggs the she's been working on with her husband, Charlie. It will be an interesting talk!

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June Meeting Report
by Charlotte Morrison 

At the Flatirons Mineral Club June meeting, those present enjoyed slides of micromount specimens by Jim Hurlbut, curator of micromounts for the past sixteen years at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. A micromount is a mineral specimen too small to be seen without the aid of a microscope. The hobby got started many years ago in Philadelphia, by collectors who had access to microscopes, and used the Philadelphia trolley car routes to collect their specimens. Over time, they perfected the art of making the little cardboard boxes with black paint linings, in which the specimens are mounted. Jim pointed out some of the reasons that micromount collecting is so popular: 1) A micromount collection takes up a small space, 2) Small specimens are more likely to be perfect crystals, and 3) Getting together with other collectors to trade is very rewarding because you can carry so many specimens with you. Jack Thompson, from Colorado Springs, who presented our club program on Colorado Topaz, has come to the Museum each week to photograph the micromount collections, as they are acquired by the Museum and cataloged. However, he has had to supply his own film. With the advent of digital photography, this project will be less expensive. Jim will be able to invite members of nearby mineral clubs to visit the Museum's storage facilities soon, to see the micromount collections. Thanks, Jim, for an excellent presentation!

Also at the June meeting, Paul Boni brought a six-foot limb of fossil wood from the Blue Forest, Wyoming field trip (Memorial Day weekend). Todd Shannon has been exploring pegmatite locations in Colorado, and displayed his excellent finds. The grand door prizes for the December show have been purchased and were on display at the June meeting--a large amethyst cluster for first prize, and a polished sphere for second prize.

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New Members

A few new members have found us via our Web page (thank you Emily Epstein!). Everyone who is paid up should be receiving the bimonthly newsletter, either by e-mail or by regular mail.

The club has a new email account: fmcmemberinfo@comcast.net. It's for people who want information on joining the club, and for members who want to ask questions or inform us about anything that they think pertains to their membership.
 

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Rocky Mtn Federation Awards

Charlotte has two letters from the Rocky Mountain Federation Bulletin Editor's Contest for 2005. John Hurst was awarded a Third Place ribbon and certificate for his article on the Franklin, New Jersey Trotter Dump. His score was 94 points. There were fourteen entries in this category. John's article will be entered in the AFMS contest.

The Flatirons Facets placed fourth in the Small Bulletin division. The ribbon is for Honorable Mention, with a score of 88 points. The awards were presented at the Rocky Mountain Federation Show in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

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Show Committee meeting 

The next show committee meeting (for our December show) will be held at the County Fairgrounds in Longmont, Thurday, Aug 10, at 9:00 am. Contact Ray Gilbert for more information. All club members are encouraged to work at the show. Working members will receive a ticket for the door prize drawing for every hour they work. There will be a drawing at the end of the show on Sunday for $125 amethyst, a large piece of Lysite agate, a piece of Dubois petrified wood, a fluorescent specimen from Franklin, NJ plus perhaps a surprise door prize or two!
 

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Help with Fossil Identification

Do you wonder what that interesting fossil is that you found on your last field trip? The University of Kentucky has an excellent fossil identification website that may provide some help. Many of the most common types of fossils can be easily identified based on their shapes and appearance. This site shows many fossil shapes; when you click on a shape, you are taken to a description of common fossils with that shape. From there, you can use a fossil book or click on "Kinds of Fossils Found in Kentucky" and you will be taken to descriptions and pictures of the various types of fossils.

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Dinosaur Egg Field Trip

The field trip to CU's Henderson Museum, July 15, to see the excellent dinosaur egg exhibit, was well attended and club members who were present were treated to a personal tour by the dinosaur egg expert herself, Florence McGovern.

This exhibit is free and open to the public, and will run through Dec 19. For more information, call the museum at 303-492-1411.
 

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Remaining 2006 Field Trips

Here is a rundown of the field trips that have been scheduled to date. For more information about the trip or to sign up, please contact the field trip leader.


Crystal Peak - Saturday-Sunday, July 22-23.The Terryalls field trip to Eric Hendricks' dig area has been cancelled for this summer, as a key access bridge to the dig area is still out as a result of flash floods earlier in July (apparently until the end of October).

Baculite Mesa - September date to be determined.
Trip Leader: Tom McSherry
We will spend the day collecting baculites (of course), spiral ammonites, and other Cretaceous-aged invertebrates.


Interested in leading a field trip this year? It's a great opportunity to take members to a favorite collecting site or to check out a new site with others in
the club. Leader packets have been prepared to assist you - just contact Dennis Gertenbach for more information.
 

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Tepee Buttes Field Trip

On May 6th, thirteen club members traveled to Boone, Colorado, east of Pueblo to search for Cretaceous fossils in the tepee buttes. The buttes were formed under the Western Interior Seaway about 75 million years ago. Methane vented into this ancient ocean and reef colonies formed around the methane. These reefs developed into a unique ecosystem, supporting a wide variety of marine animals. The resulting limestone from these reefs is much harder than the surrounding ocean sediments and erosion has exposed these buttes as mounds filled with fossil clams, ammonites, snails, and other marine animals that once made these reefs their home.

We obtained permission from several ranchers to hunt on their property, so we were able to collect in an area that has not been extensively collected in the past. We made another unusual find during the trip ? several scorpions under the rocks. Everyone had a great time and came home with many fossils for their collections.

 

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Kremmling Field Trip

June 24th found five club members outside of Kremmling to search for Cretaceous fossils in the Pierre Shale. First stop was the Kremmling Giant Ammonite Site, a protected area where ammonites up to three feet in diameter have been found. The site has many ammonite molds, plus pieces of Placenticeras, the large ammonites that once inhabited the area 75 million years ago.

The group then went to two other sites in the area where collecting is allowed. Everyone brought home lots of Inoceramus clams ? some as large as your hand – plus several different types of ammonites. Andrew Hyde found the best scaphite ammonite and Joel Hyde found part of a large Placenticeras ammonite.


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Junior Geologists Earn Earth Resources Badge
 

During the past few months, the Jr. Geologists have completed the requirements for the Earth Resources badge. The requirements helped them understand that many of the things we use everyday come from the earth as rocks and minerals. At trip to McGuckins Hardware in March, the group studied minerals and then looked at the products made from the mineral. The Cemex cement plant in Lyons provided a tour of their plant in April, where the kids learned how cement is made, from mining limestone mine to the final product. The kids also had a chance to pick up a few fossil clams at the plant. During the meeting in May, the kids learned how metals are produced from ores, making copper and nickel by hydrometallurgical and pyrometallurgical methods.

During the summer, the Jr. Geologists will be working on two badges ? Collecting and Field Trips. The Jr. Geologist program is open to all Flatirons Mineral Club families. For more information about the program, please contact Dennis Gertenbach at gertenbach@comcast.net or 303-462-3522.

 

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Lysite Agate Trip
By John & Jeanne Hurst

As guests of the Cheyenne club, Jeanne and I were invited to visit a collecting site that had been closed for years when it was under claim. As its status now stands, the field trip leader had to obtain permission from the Gardners of Lysite, WY to cross their ranch land, as well as permission of a certain Kim _____ of Scottsbluff, NE who filed a new claim on the area.

The trek is about 400 miles one-way, and the closest motels/camping is in Shoshone, WY. The group headed north from Moneta, WY and immediately a warning sign caught our attention--"If the light on the sign is flashing (due to toxic gases) turn around and leave the area." It made us all nervous, but we forged ahead. The Lysite Store/Post Office/gas Station was closed by 12:30 in the afternoon on Saturday and the town Lost Cabin only had one stop sign to slow us down. Two miles thereafter the road turned to a fairly good gravel road. After about 11 miles of dirt, we turned off to the west to start five miles of wagon track. Don't let anyone kid you; prairie dogs are destructive little rodents who dug major league holes in the ruts
of the ranch road--bad for trucks, horses, cows and antelopes. It was good for rattlesnakes that move in for a free lunch in the prairie dog burrows.

As tough as the road was for vehicles, the wildflowers on June 3rd were absolutely spectacular. The mountain lupine were like a blue carpet interrupted only by the wagon track. There were so many other wildflowers in bloom--how did we get so lucky??

At the Lysite dig, there was so much banded Lysite agate, pieces with drusy quartz, botroidal agate, and even stalactites and stalagmites-for a few lucky collectors, that everyone there found special pieces. A handful of the group dry camped overnight to check out the U-V qualities of the rock. It was such a successful trip, that we think it is worth joining the Cheyenne Club.

The bonus side trip to a quarry near Glendo produced some great fluorescent specimens in white/green/ orange colors. What fun!!

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The Denver Gem and Mineral Show

Since we are not having club meetings in July or August, the sign up sheet for volunteer workers hasn't had enough sign-ups! We are one of the sponsors of the Denver Show and as such are obligated to provide workers to help put on this great show. Another advantage of volunteering is that by working you get free admission to the show and an opportunity to attend the workers breakfast. If you would like to help at the show, call Carl Bird on 303-665-9794 and I will put your name on the list. If no answer, leave your name, phone number, and area in which you would like to work. The possibilities are, Security, Hospitality, Grab Bags, Admissions, Exhibits, Dealer check in, Show set up, Show take down, or any of the above. Please give me a call as soon as possible so that I may get your name to the appropriate committee. This is the second largest show in the USA and certainly deserves our support. Also, if you are interested in having an exhibit case at the show, please call me for information and a copy of the exhibit application.

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Mine Tours in Colorado

Summer is here and it's time to visit our wonderful Colorado mountains. Many of our mountain towns were originally settled by miners seeking riches from these same mountains we enjoy today. During your stay, consider visiting one of the many available commercial mine tours. You and your family will learn how these riches were extracted from the earth and about the hardships that these early miners endured. Here is a list of commercial mine tours in Colorado.

Argo Gold Mine and Mill Located in Idaho Springs, the Argo was the largest gold-processing mill of its kind in the world in the early 1900s. 303-567-2421, www.historicargotours.com

Bachelor Syracuse Mine. A train takes you nearly three-quarters into this mine above Ouray, where a miner shows how gold and silver were mined. 970-325-0220, www.bachelorsyracuse.com

Carbonate Mine. This tour takes you above Breckenridge to visit mines, miner cabins and ore mills from the 1880s. 720-226-0702, www.carbonatemine.co

Country Boy Mine. The 45-minute tour at this authentic 109-year-old lead and zinc mine in Breckenridge includes poking around old mining equipment and panning for gold. 970-453-4405, www.countryboymine.com

Creede Underground Mining Museum. The underground museum in Creede is dedicated to the silver miners that worked in the area mines. 719-658-0811, www.museumtrail.org/CreedeUndergroundMiningMuseum.asp

Edgar Mine. This mine, which burrowed one-half mile into the hills of Idaho Springs, is now a laboratory for the Colorado School of Mines students. 303-567-2911, www.mines.edu/academic/mining/edgar.html

Hard Tack Mine. This mine provides visitors a unique and real-life perspective on the history of mining in the Lake City area. 970-944-2506, www.hardtackmine.com

Hidee Gold Mine. Located in the "Richest Square Mile on Earth" south of Central City, miners provide tours where visitors can use a hammer and chisel to mine their own chunk of gold ore. 303-989-2861, www.cccmma.com/hidee/hidee.htm

Lebanon Silver Mine. Guided trips of this mine are part of the Georgetown Loop Railroad tour, with mines and mining buildings dating back to the 1860s. 888-456-6777, www.georgetownlooprr.com

Lost Mine. This Salida mine tour also includes limekilns, geologic wonders, and even minerals that glow under a black light. 719-221-6463, www.salida.com/lostmine

Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine. To enter Mollie Kathleen in the Cripple Creek mining district, visitors ride a small elevator down 1,000 feet to an air-powered train. 719-689-2466, www.goldminetours.com

Old Hundred Gold Mine. Fifteen years ago, Silverton was still a bustling mining town. Now the Old Hundred tells their story. 970-387-5444, www.minetour.com

Phoenix Mine. This mine in Idaho Springs is run by the Mosch family clan, the oldest continuous mining family in the state. 303-567-0422, www.phoenixmine.com
 

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Museums, etc.

Planning a Trip this summer? Colorado abounds with many interesting geological sites worth visiting during your travels:
* Denver Museum of Nature & Science, http://www.dmns.org
* Dinosaur Ridge, Morrison CO, http://www.dinoridge.org
* Morrison Natural History Museum, Morrison, CO, http://town.morrison.co.us/mnhm/index.php
* Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center, Woodland Park, CO; www.rmdrc.com
* Western Museum of Mining & Industry, Colorado Springs, http://www.wmmi.org/html/index.htm
 

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Dino Jokes
 

Q: What is T. rex's favorite number? A: Eight (ate)

Q: Why are there old bones in the museum? A: Because they can't afford new ones.
 

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Fossils in the News
Dennis Gertenbach

Stegosaur tracks found in Morrison. Two new dinosaur track sites found by the staff and volunteers of the Morrison Natural History Museum contain stegosaur tracks, plus footprints made by two or three unidentified and potentially new dinosaurs. In all, tracks from six or seven species of dinosaurs - some as small as sparrows and others with the combined bulk of eight elephants ? have been identified. The tracks were formed when these dinosaurs were walking in wet river sand about 150 million years ago. Also found were blocks of sandstone containing both fossilized dinosaur bones and tracks, which are rarely found together.

These fossils were found in 2003 during a re-evaluation of some of the quarries first opened by Arthur Lakes in 1877 outside of Morrison, Colorado. Researchers were flipping over boulders, looking for fossil bone, when the tracks were uncovered. Some of the track- and fossil-bearing rock have been removed and are being studied and displayed at the Morrison museum.

Living fossil found in the Coral Sea. French scientists exploring the Coral Sea have discovered a shrimp-like crustacean that was thought to have become extinct 60 million years ago. Neoglyphea neocaledonica was discovered 1,310 feet under water during an expedition in the Chesterfield Islands, northwest of New Caledonia. The creature is nearly 5 inches long and looks like something halfway between a shrimp and a lobster. It has huge eyes, necessary for living in the dark ocean over 1,000 feet deep, and reddish spots on its body. The huge eyes are thought to be used by the creature to actively hunt prey. Another so-called living fossil from the Neoglyphea group was discovered in 1908 in the Philippines by American scientists.

China fossils help clarify the origin of birds. Five 110-million-year-old specimens from China of the grebe-like Gansus yumenensis were recently described in the journal Science. These fossils have the bone structure and even foot webbing of aquatic birds. A comparison of most bones of this fossil bird, including the breastbone and the wishbone, are nearly identical to those of all modern birds, from ostriches to eagles to humming birds, indicating that the ancestors of all modern birds may have lived on water.

At the same time that Gansus was around, other types of birds were found living on land, perching in trees. However, at the end of the Cretaceous, this second branch of the birds went extinct. This implies that the line that would become modern birds originally evolved on land, left land to adapt to life on the water, and then came back onto land.

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Origin of the Hope Diamond

The origin of the Hope diamond has long been a mystery to gemologists. It seemed to appear out of thin air in the early 1800s. Last year, a team of gem experts assembled at the Smithsonian Institution to solve the mystery of where the 45.52-carat Hope diamond came from. Their findings indicate that it was cut from the 69-carat French Blue, a diamond that was stolen during the French Revolution. The French Blue was cut from the larger 115-carat Tavernier diamond, an Indian diamond that was sold to Louis XIV.

Using photographs of the Hope diamond and historical drawings of the earlier diamonds, the team used forensic geometry to show that the three diamonds fit perfectly together. Historians have long suspected that the Hope and the French Blue diamonds were the same stone, but there was little evidence to support this. This suspicion was based on the fact that the French Blue disappeared in 1792 and 20 years later similar
looking blue diamond came on the market. This new diamond was eventually purchased by London Banker Henry Hope in 1839.

The researchers point out that the evidence for the link between these three diamonds is circumstantial. Their analysis shows that it is likely that the Hope was cut from the French Blue, but that this still cannot be conclusively proved.

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Sale
Lapidary slabs and rocks
Saturday & Sunday August 26 & 27, 9AM-5PM, 1802 Fillmore Ct., Louisville.
Bob England 303-665-3232

Old collection from Doc's Rocks in Boulder, Leroy & Irene Penton:

Agates (plume, moss, dendritic, blue lace, green, amethyst) etc.
Alabaster for carving
Amazonite, crystals and clusters
Bloodstone
Coral, Petosky stone, limestone with fossils
Colorado marble
Jadeite (Wyoming Jade)
Jasper (Walla Walla, Oregon, Colorado)
Travertine, Tiger Iron
Wood (Wyoming, Arizona, Texas Palm)
Youngite and much, much more.

Directions: South Boulder Rd. East from H'way 36, Foothills Pkwy or Louisville exit at McCaslin (North to S. Boulder Rd., right at light). East to Washington Ave (Mormon Church on left) North at light 2 Blocks to Ash, right (East) to house on corner of Ash & Fillmore Ct.
 

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Upcoming Events, Nearby & Elsewhere 

August 11, Free Map, Compass, and GPS class: the USGS offers these free classes for the public, the 2nd Friday of each month through November, at the Denver Federal Center, Lakewood CO, Building 810. Mornings (9-11) are Map & Compass, and afternoons (12-4) are GPS. To register please call 303-202-4689, or email gpsworkshops@usgs.gov to reserve a place; bring your GPS unit if you have one.

August 10-13 is the "Contin-Tail" rock swap and outdoor mineral show, at the Buena Vista Rodeo Grounds, Buena Vista, Chaffee County, Colorado. A free and fun event, and a good place to find "anything you were looking for" in the way of rocks, gems, and minerals. See www.coloradorocks.org

August 18-20, Lake George Gem & Mineral Show, sponsored by the Lake George Gem and Mineral Club. A nice weekend mineral show and rock swap, down in the heart of "amazonite and smoky quartz" country. One or more field trips will be led to local sites. For more information contact Richard Parsons at 303-838-8859 or tazaminerals@att.net.

August 26: FMC Annual Picnic, 4:00pm-8:00pm, Main Pavilion at the North Boulder Park at 9th Street and Balsam St. (same location as last year).

Sept 1-4: Crawford, NE Rock Swap: Open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, Friday through Monday (Labor Day weekend). Crawford City Park--Crawford, NE 20th Annual Rockswap hosted by the Northwest Nebraska Rock Club and 8th Annual Fairburn Agate Collectors Gathering. Field Trips, Agate Displays, Flintknapping Demos, Swappers Potluck & Auction, Agate Meeting & Discussion. Contacts: crawfordswap@hotmail.com Wade Beins, 308-432-8950; Mike Brost, 308-668-2511

Sept. 1-4 (Friday through Monday), The Colorado Mining Exhibit Foundation would welcome volunteers to help staff its booth, The Importance of Mining and Minerals to a Strong America at the Taste of Colorado in Civic Center Park, Denver. Volunteers can help demonstrate gold panning, or talk to visitors and help pass out educational materials. You may volunteer for 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. or 3-6 p.m. shifts Friday through Monday, or to help with the exhibit setup Thursday afternoon, Aug. 31. Anyone who would like to help should contact Guy Johnson, 303-969-0365 or GPJ222@aol.com.

September 15-17, Denver Gem and Mineral Show, "Minerals of South America", the second-largest gem and mineral show in the entire U.S. Sponsored by the Greater Denver Area Gem and Mineral Council (a non-profit association of ten local gem and mineral clubs), and held at the Denver Merchandise Mart, I-25 at 58th Ave. For more information see http://www.denvermineralshow.com/

And, the Colorado Mineral and Fossil Show is an independent, free, open-to-the-public mineral show held the same week in Denver, Sep. 13-17, at the Holiday Inn Denver Central, 4849 Bannock St. (just north of I-70 and I-25); see http://www.mzexpos.com/colorado_fall.htm

September 23-24: Stone Age Fair, Pulliam Community Building, 545 Cleveland Ave., Loveland, CO. Featuring world-class displays of prehistoric artifacts, with distinguished guests Dr. Marcel Kornfeld, Dr. Jack Hoffman, and Dr. Thomas Stafford (featured in Time Magazine article on Kennewick Man); flint-knapping demonstrations by Bob Patten; Native-American performances on Sunday. Free admission. Sat 9-7, Sun 9-4. More info at www.stoneagefair.com.
 

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Obituary

Audie Covey, wife of 49 years of club member Harry Covey, died on July 29. Our sympathies go out to Harry. Audie was a nurse and had worked at Boulder Memorial Hospital. A celebration of life will be held at the Gold Hill Inn on Sunday, Aug. 13, at 3:00 p.m. Her obituary was in the Daily Camera (http://www.dailycamera.com/bdc/obituaries/article/0,1713,BDC_2437_4890435,00.html).

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Updated 8/9/06