Part 3 of 3: Here is the final installment of John Bett’s field guide to mineral collectors. All characters are fictitious.

Got it, Done it, Been thereThis is truly the hardest type of collector to spot because he seldom actually goes collecting. He was there twenty years ago and collected 5 pounds of stuff then. It was crap then and he does not need more crap, even if there was a major recent discovery. When the Plumbago mine discovery was made at Newry, Maine you could hear a collective “Ha, there ain’t nothing up there!” from these guys all over New England. When confronted with specimens from new discoveries exclaims loudly that they were better in the old days.Pseudo expertNo, this is not a collector of pseudomorphs. This is the guy that looks over your shoulder (often while poking the ground with a stick - see poker) and tells you that you are using the wrong tool or working the wrong zone. Often has odd theories about pocket zones involving the Coriolis Effect, left hand quarks, or cold fusion. No amount of factual articles can sway this guy from his theories. And he never actually does any collecting, he prefers to direct others.VampireThis is the rarest collector of all to be seen in the field. He is a nocturnal collector that only collects in active quarries at night. Can be spotted with essential camouflage outfit, flashlights, lawyers phone number and bail bond card. Never collects at any location open to the public. Only knows the back entrance into a quarry and has memorized the work hours of each quarry. This collector always has the best specimens.LeechThis collector attaches himself to the side of any

VOLUME 52, ISSUE 5 MAY, 2014 © 2014 RIMH

Continued on page 4Continued on page 3

A Field Guide To Mineral Collectorsby John Betts. © All Rights Reserved.

Reprinted with permission of the author.Please visit John’s website for more information and to see

many great minerals, crystals and fluorescents for sale: www.johnbetts-fineminerals.com

Mineral Auction BIG Success!!!Well, it came and it went and I must say it was as exciting as I ever have seen an auction. We had a record number of bidders (70), a record number of attendees (over 100), a record number of donations and box lots and most of all a record amount of money donated on bids. We had a tremendous amount of specimens from beautiful amethyst crystals to stunning fluorites, from arrow heads to fish fossils, from tourmalines to opals and everything in between. And everything went. I had a blast as the auctioneer along with Don Mello and even our young runner Anthony got a chance to try his hand (voice?) as the auctioneer and did great.I’m sure everyone wants to know how we did, so after a quick tally by Dante our treasurer I was informed that the club grossed about $3,500. That is nearly 2 and half times last year’s total and 7 times the year before! WOW! It was a testament to all those who worked hard before, during, and after the auction to make it a success. I want to thank all those who came to help and especially to buy, without you all this could never have happened.Thank you for making this auction a great success.

Steve Emma and the Executive Board

Diamond Hill Field TripIt couldn’t have been a more beauteous day for a field trip. Sunny and in the high fifties and low sixties. A perfect day to dig! Over 20 of us met at Diamond Hill State Park at 9:00 am, a lot of new members and their families, young kids and a few older ones and the rest of us diehards. Everyone had a good time especially the youngsters who were excited about finding “sparklees!” It is easy to find quartz crystals here and everyone went home with numerous specimens of “sparklees.”

After a few hours of easy prospecting most of us headed around the corner to Sneech Pond, to the old colonial

Photos from the auction can be seen on the insert page found only in the eBowen-Lite digital newsletter.

VOLUME 51, ISSUE 1 JANUARY, 2013 © 2013 RIMHRhode Island Mineral Hunters, Inc.

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Executive Board meets at 7 PMon the 1st Tuesday of the month.

May 6th, 7 PMMeeting will be at: Steve Emma’s house

June 3rd, 7 PMMeeting will be at: location TBA

Volume 52, Issue 5 Bowen-Lite May, 2014

RHODE ISLAND MINERAL HUNTERS ~ 2014OFFICERSPresident: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Steve EmmaVice-President: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Buck LeachSecretary: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jennifer DavisTreasurer: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . *Dante Caprara

EXECUTIVE BOARDLouise Barbish, Tom Barbish, *James Brenek, Rachel Cesana, Don Fail, Joel Russo, *Chris Tremblay, Bill Wilson

DEPARTMENTS / COMMITTEESHistorian: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Bill WilsonMembership:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . *Tom BarbishField Trip Coordinator:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joel RussoShow Chairman: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Don FailEditor: . . . Bruce Luscombe, bdluscombe@msn.comWebmaster: . . . . . .Bruce Hecker, bbhecker@cox.net

VISIT OUR WEBSITE: www.RIMH.us* indicates a new officer / board member / duty for 2014

OUR NEXT MEETING RIMH FIELD TRIPSField Trip Coordinator: Joel Russo 401-942-3394, 401-263-1076 (cell), russojoel@gmail.com

You MUST call or e-mail the field trip leader at least 24 hours in advance to be included. ALWAYS give your

cellphone or home phone # in case of cancelation.

UPCOMING FIELD TRIPSSunday, May 4th - 9:00 AM

CONKLIN LIMESTONE QUARRYRt 146 & Wilbur Road, Lincoln, RI

GPS: 41.925654 N -71.458211 WThis quarry is home to our state mineral bowenite, a variety of antigorite found only in northern RI, plus many other minerals. Great local collecting site! Many of the minerals at this site fluoresce under ultra-violet light. Good spot to bring children.Trip Leader: Joel RussoTools: hammers & sledges, garden tools, wedges, prybars, spray bottle w/water, protective eyewear, close-toed shoes, and always, common sense. There are no sanitary facilities at this site.Dress: Dress for seasonal conditions. Long pants.

Minerals to be found: Antigorite (var. ‘bowenite’), thulite, goethite, chert, pyrite, serpentine, dendrites and more. (Go to Mindat.org for complete mineral list.)

Directions: From south: Take 146 N and enter quarry yard on right side of highway just before the Wilbur Avenue Bridge. Drive through the yard to the dumps in the back. From north: Take 146 S to the Route 116 north exit and almost immediately turn left onto route 246 south. Go about ½ mile and turn left on to Wilbur Ave. When you cross the bridge there will be a building on the right followed by a white driveway into the quarry dumps.

Car pooling: None. Meet at dig site..

Saturday, May 31st - 9:00 AM SHARPCHERENZIA QUARRY

70 Old Hopkinton Road, Westerly, RIGPS: 41.385330 N -71.808116 W

QUARRY RULES APPLY - SEE PAGE 3Mainly a granite quarry located in the SW corner of RI. In the preliminary trip there we noted large, well-formed, orange-salmon feldspar crystals, massive smoky quartz, and biotite mica. Brian Brennan, the quarry manager showed us what looked like a 5 inch cluster of greenish, well-formed fluorite crystals with some kind of coating on it – very pretty!

Date: Tuesday, May 13th at 7:00 PMPlace: CCRI (Community College of RI) 400 East St., Rt. 113, Warwick, RIRoom: 1130Speaker: Bruce Luscombe will show digitals photos and speak about the Tucson International Gem & Mineral Show. Come and see why it really is considered “The Greatest Show ON Earth.”

. . . continued on page 3

ALSO AT THE MAY MEETING

Bill Neal, the new club librarian, will be bringing the bulk of the RIMH library to the May meeting for everyone to peruse and check out books if they want to.

A list of available books can be found on the website.

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New England Gem & Mineral ShowSat. May 3rd 9am-5pm Sun. May 4th 10am-4pm

TOPSFIELD FAIRGROUNDSCoolidge Hall & Trade Bldg, Rt 1 N, Topsfield, MA

RETAIL & WHOLESALE DEALERS - minerals, fossils gems,jewelry, beads, lapidary & jewelry suppliesCHILDREN’S ACTIVITIES - Spin-a-gem, gold panning, mineralsifting, geode crackingADMISSION - $5.00 per person, $4.00 with ad (limit 2 per ad),$3.00 Seniors. Children under 12 are free. FREE PARKINGwww.northshorerock.org or email: nrsmc@verizon.net for discount flyers

Diamond Hill . . . continued from page 1

Trip Leader: Joel Russo

Tools: hammers & sledges, garden tools, wedges, prybars, spray bottle w/water, protective eyewear, close-toed shoes, and always, common sense. There are no sanitary facilities at this site.

Dress: dress for weather, proper quarry attire

Minerals to be found: Visit Mindat.org for a list of 20+ minerals found, including: several varieties of quartz and feldspar. Also fluorite, epidote, aragonite, pyrite, magnetite, pyrite, rutile, and zircon.

Directions: Follow I-95 S to exit 1, last exit before entering CT. Merge onto RI-3 S Nooseneck Hill Rd - 4.7 mi. Turn Right onto Old Hopkinton Rd - 0.6mi. Meet at parking area where the white office trailer is.

Cherenzia Quarry Field Trip . . . continued from page 2

UPCOMING EVENT: May 9-11, 20142nd Annual New England Mineral Conference

for more information, please visit:www.nemineralconference.org/nema/Welcome

Hunting For Indian ArtifactsSpring is the season when mineral and fossil enthusiasts end their annual hibernation from digging and start gearing up for the new collecting season. Gold panners know that the winter snows have swelled mountain streams and washed the heavy glitter downstream, but they must have patience until July and August when the rivers’ torrents turn to sluiceable rivulets. Spring is also the favorite time of year for amateur archeologists to begin scouring local environs - frost heaved over the winter - for Native American arrowheads, “bird points”, and tools like mortar and pestles.

Area farmers use spring as a time to start plowing their corn, bean, lettuce, and strawberry fields in preparation for planting. Thus, newly worked farmlands, especially fields near lakes and cranberry bogs (former lakes), expose buried arrowheads to cleansing rains, helping collectors see them in the fertile black soil. Sunny, south-facing river banks, and gravel pits on the north shore of ponds, are good places to look for larger artifacts like spear points and bowls. (Not surprisingly, Native Americans often made camps on high ground facing the sun’s warmth near fresh, fishable water.)

Pictured is an example of a small quartz arrowhead I found while walking with my wife and our dogs around the north side of a cranberry bog this March. Sharp eyes and persistence will go a long way for you, too, should you begin to try your luck with archaeology

this spring. For more information on what else can and has been found in our area, the Robbins Museum of Archaeology in Middleboro, Massachusetts and the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology at Brown University (google them!) house major collections of local Native American artifacts. Hope to see your finds at an upcoming RIMH meeting! Bob Sproule, RIMH

Thanks for the article Bob. Everyone should keep their eyes open when out walking or on field trips. Who knows when you’ll find some beautiful flower, funky bug, cool arrowhead, or valuable gold nugget! ~ The Editor

Quarry Rules: You must be a club member and 14 or older. You must wear all saftey equipment: hard hats, hard-toed shoes, reflective vests, and safety glasses are required and must be worn. Quarry walls are vertical and loose falling rock is a real danger at any time. Keep a safe distance from walls. Check-in by time posted for quarry or you may have to wait or not get in.

copper mine. The walk in is a bit long and winding and we had to traverse a few water hazards but we got there. Right off I found a large piece of green chrysocolla with malachite. Everyone got plenty of magnetite and samples of chrysocolla and malachite. A few got good samples of purple azurite. Also chalcopyrite on magnetite, chrysocolla, bornite, malachite, azurite and a few other copper ores can be found here.I carried out too much as usual. This was a great field trip and I know everyone had a great time. Steve Emma, RIMH

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INSERT ~ 2014 RIMH AUCTION

Photos from the 2014 RIMH Mineral & Crystal Auction

Bruce LuscomBe

390 Bridgetown rd.saunderstown, ri 02874

© Rhode Island Mineral Hunters ● “Bowen-Lite” newsletter ● May, 2014

The “Bowen-Lite” newsletter is produced by and for the members of the Rhode Island Mineral Hunters, Inc. (RIMH).All portions are copyright © 2014 - RIMH and/or the original author / photographer. www.RIMH.us

Here’s More:THINGS I LOVE ABOUT ROCKS!Since I’m the speaker for the May club meeting I thought I’d get a little head start to hopefully warm you up.The Tucson International Gem and Mineral Show is the world’s biggest and best show. Every February Tucson becomes full of minerals, crystals, fossils, and gems.You don’t really grasp the full size of the Tucson show until you’ve been there for a few days. Every day, every week the show changes, evolves, grows. In fact it’s not one show but really a whole collection of great shows all rolled into one huge event. And I mean HUGE!

How huge is it? You’ll have to come to my talk this month to really get the feel for it. But I can say it is “The Greatest Show ON Earth.” This is not your grampa’s regular rock show.In fact it’s so big and lasts so long that you are forced to focus on just the portions, the mini-shows within, that really interest you.

Be prepared to walk miles too, hauling your great finds because your rental car just sits in a parking lot all day. Sometime you get lucky and can drive to a “special” show but mostly it’s walking or waiting for shuttles (and more walking). You will earn every great bargain found.I will bring some of my great Tucson “finds” too, so you will be able to examine them up close.

Bruce Luscombe, RIMH

Guide to Mineral Collectors . . . continued from page 1

http://www.johnbetts-fineminerals.com

Quarts Crystals inside a pocket of Amethyst

successful collector in the hopes of benefiting from their hard work. Can easily spotted saying “Let me squeeze in here”. When dump digging is fond of rubbing shoulders with the collector he is attached to. This collector never actually finds anything except Leaverites (as in “leave it right there”). His bad habits comes from being used to parallel parking in the city.Field Trip DirectorThis guy is the collector most likely to loose his patience and temper, especially after being asked the same question that he just answered ten times. Often mistaken for a travel agent by other members too lazy make their own arrangements. Can be identified by the bags under his eyes resulting from members calling his home late at night and early in the morning.Perfect Club MemberThis is the ideal collector (“low maintenance” in field trip director lingo). He understands that this is a group effort and does not think of himself first. He can be spotted giving away crystals to others, sharing food and water, lending a hand to others to move large rocks. He never complains to the field trip director when it is too late to change the situation. He brings everything on the tool list, nothing missing, nothing extra. He knows his physical limits and only participates at locations that are appropriate. He arrives early at the meeting location, collects steadily all day, he maintains his interest past 2:00 P.M. and is the last person to stop collecting. He has a car and always bring another member who doesn’t with him knowing it is an opportunity to make a new friend. Always thanks the van driver and field trip director at the end of the trip. © John H. Betts - All Rights Reserved

All newsletter photographs © Bruce Luscombe unless otherwise noted.

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