The Cochise County Rock

Monthly Newsletter of the Sunsites Gem & Mineral Club

www.cochisecountyrock.org

“Finding and Grinding Rocks in Cochise County, Arizona since 1962”

June 2007

This issue edited by Paul McKnight

_________________________________________________________________

 

40th Annual Picnic includes Eurofresh Tour

 

If you have not yet signed up, please call Hanni at 520-826-1009 by June 10.  Both Eurofresh and the Forest Service need to know the number of attendees in advance.

 

Date:  Saturday, June 16

9:15 am: Meet at Willcox Safeway parking lot, leave at 9:30

10 to 11:30: Tour organized by Henry Vandenbos

(If only attending picnic, join the group at 11:30 at Eurofresh)

11:30 to Noon: Travel to Stockton Pass

Noon to 2 pm:  40th Annual Picnic

 

The picnic area is at 5300 ft. elevation with shade trees, picnic tables and toilets, but no water.  Meat (bratwurst), plates, and silverware will be provided.

Sigels and Pontious will bring grills for cooking.

 

Last names beginning with

A thru H bring a salad 

I to O bring a covered dish

P thru Z bring dessert  

 

Food Safety:  Please plan to keep your food cool for several hours while your car is sitting in the sun at Safeway and Eurofresh.

 

Non-member guests are welcome as long as Hanni is notified in advance.  Guests must join the club for a day (cost $1) and sign a risk disclosure / release.

 

No Meetings this Summer

 

Our next meeting will be Monday, September 10 at 7 pm at the Sunsites Community Center.

 

May Field Trip Report

About 12 cars met the landowner Mr. Marcos on Davis Road.  We traveled past his ranch headquarters and drove up a fairly steep road to the old Fluorite mine.  There was plenty of beautiful fluorite as well as bacon Rhyolite and lots of druzy Quartz to be collected.  Henry found the Rock of the Day, a beautiful 15-inch diameter boulder containing lots of Fluorite crystals.  Ably assisted by our chief rock roller Walter Sigel and others, he was able to get the boulder rolled about 75 feet uphill, where four members assisted Henry in lifting the 5-man rock into his pickup.

 

Gem and Mineral Club Meeting Minutes

 

May 14, 2007

     President Paul McKnight called the meeting to order.

There were no new members or visitors.  Dick Yeager made a motion to accept the published minutes for the previous meeting.  Ilse Edgett seconded the motion.  Motion carried.  Walter gave the treasurer’s report.  Paul then explained that we had made the mistake of paying the dues for the Sunsites Chamber of Commerce thinking they were the Sunsites Community Assoc. dues.  The membership now needs to approve the expense since it was not in the budget.  Dick made a motion to approve that expense.  Larry seconded the motion.  Motion carried.

    Paul gave some announcements concerning our members.  Ed Francis from Ohio passed away recently.  There are some pictures, etc. to remember him by on the table.   Also, Ed Fenn’s feed store in Benson burned.  He lost all of his rock hounding and lapidary collection.  He does not wish any donation, etc. at this time. 

     Irvin reported that lapidary classes would continue on Monday afternoons ONLY if you call him by Sunday evening the day before.  Most of the attendees are leaving for the winter.

      Bob Fenner gave us information on the upcoming field trip.  He reminded us to bring hammers, chisels, etc.  Also high clearance vehicles needed, no cars.  This site was once a working Fluoride mine.  Vandalism has stopped further production.  The owner would consider hearing of any interest in a possible reclamation project.  We will meet on Davis Rd at 9 a.m. 

      Hanni gave us the report for the picnic scheduled for June 16.

We will be lead on a tour of Eurofresh thanks to Henri Vandenbos.  We will then go to a picnic area near Stockton Pass.  There is shade and restroom, but no water.  We need to bring water and a dish to share.  The club will provide meat, drinks, and plates, etc.

Those with names ending in A-H bring a salad, I-O covered dish, and P-Z bring desert.  We will meet at Willcox Safeway at 9:15a.m.  We will leave at 9:30 to arrive at Eurofresh at 10a.m.

There are separate sign-up sheets for tour and picnic if members only want to attend one or the other.  There are also sign-up sheets for the field trip and hospitality for the fall. 

      The meeting was adjourned for intermission.  During intermission raffle tickets may be purchased.  The raffle will be held at the end of intermission.  We will reconvene at 7:40 for our speaker John Ware from Amerind. 

 

                                               Respectfully,

                                               Carol A. Pontious

                                               Secretary

                 

 

Lapidary and Silversmithing

Interested in lapidary?  Irvin Pontious will conduct Lapidary sessions during the summer on an as needed basis. Call him at 824-0110. 

 

Club Calendar

June

7 Board meeting 7 pm

16 40th annual Picnic and Eurofresh Tour

July

Field Trip

August

Field Trip

30 Board Meeting

September

10 Regular Meeting – Host Ilse-Rose Edgett

15 Field Trip

27 Board Meeting

October

8 Regular Meeting

14 Field Trip

November

1 Board Meeting

12 Regular Meeting

17 Field Trip

29 Board Meeting

December

17 Christmas Party

 

Upcoming Regional Events

June 7-10, 2007.  Rocky Mountain Federation Annual Convention & Show.  Roswell, NM.  Hosts:  Chaparral Rockhounds.  Chairman:  Frank Whitney 505.623.3236 Fdw@direcway.com  This is a joint convention with the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies and being this close, a real opportunity for us to see what these organizations are all about.

June 15 -17 (but remember our June 16 picnic) Tombstone Gem Show at the Holiday Inn on Highway 80

August 25-September 3 Agate 2007, Apache Creek, NM.  Yonis Lone Eagle 505-860-2455. rockymountainrockhounds at yahoo dot com or www.chaparralrockhounds.com

October 6-7, 2007 Phelps Dodge Annual Turquoise Hunt, Bisbee Mining and History Museum.  520-432-7071

October 11-13, 2007 21st Annual Quartz Crystal Dig, Mount Ida, Arkansas.  800-867-2723     www.mtidachamber.com 

October 13-14, 2007 Huachuca Gem & Mineral Show, Elks Lodge, Sierra Vista.

 

Club Officers for 2007

 

President                    Paul McKnight             520 824-4054

Vice-President             Jack Weller                 520-826-0625

Secretary                   Carol Pontious             520 824-0110    

Treasurer                   Walt Sigel                   520-826-1009      

Delegate at Large        Jack Light                   520-384-4774

Hospitality Coordinator  Hanni Sigel                520-826-1009

 

Dues are due.  $10 for individual and $20 for family.  Please mail your check to Sunsites Gem & Mineral Club, PO Box 87, Pearce, AZ  85625.  Members with dues unpaid by March 15 have been dropped from the membership rolls.

 

Metamorphic Rocks

 

Metamorphic rocks are formed when a pre-existing rock type (the protolith) is changed by great heat and pressure inside the earth.  Think of metamorphic rocks as recycled rocks.  When igneous, sedimentary, or even metamorphic rocks get buried deep beneath the surface of the earth, over millions of years, the heat and pressure inside the earth change them into something else.  Limestone can be changed into Marble, Sandstone can be changed into Quartzite, and Shale can be changed into Slate. 

 

The change in the particle size of the rock during the process of metamorphism is called re-crystallization. For instance, the small calcite crystals in the sedimentary rock Limestone change into larger crystals in the metamorphic rock Marble.   In metamorphosed Sandstone, re-crystallisation of the original quartz sand grains results in very compact Quartzite, in which the often larger Quartz crystals are interlocked.

 

Metasomatism is the drastic change in the bulk chemical composition of a rock that often occurs during the processes of metamorphism. It is due to the introduction of chemicals from other surrounding rocks. Water may transport these chemicals rapidly over great distances. Because of the role played by water, metamorphic rocks generally contain many elements that were absent from the original rock, and lack some which were originally present. Still, the introduction of new chemicals is not necessary for re-crystallization to occur.

 

Contact metamorphism is the name given to the changes that take place when magma is injected into the surrounding solid rock (country rock). The changes that occur are greatest wherever the magma comes into contact with the rock because the temperatures are highest at this boundary and decrease with distance from it. Around the igneous rock that forms from the cooling magma is a metamorphosed zone called a contact metamorphism aureole. Aureoles may show all degrees of metamorphism from the contact area to unmetamorphosed (unchanged) country rock some distance away. The formation of important ore minerals may occur by the process of metasomatism at or near the contact zone.

 

Source:  Rockhound Ramblings – February 2006

via ROCK CHIPS – April 2006

with some additional cut and paste from Wikipedia.