Many small show down this way.

Mineral & Fossil Marketplace

Loads of variety at this show.

Several Mineral and Fossil Shows populate the area north of town on Main Street.  We enjoy the Mineral and Fossil Marketplace which is open tents of different vendors, a nice breeze, some rough pavement, a bit of shade under the tents.

Which one is natural?

All dyed

Even though this is dyed, I sort of liked it.

Saber tooth carving with nice teeth.

Unicorn was cuit.

At Australian Outback Mining we always find a treasure or two.  I originally thought my selected piece was tiger iron would make fine jewelry.  My wife observed that is it Marra Mamba that is more desirable.  At careful examination it did indeed have blue in it, and lesser amounts of hematite and a positive ID was made by the vendor.  I think the dealer missed this ID before he put it on the sale table. since it was on the unpolished side.   I also found a nice Noreena Jasper.  He had a good quantity of peanut wood this year which has been in short supply in some years. He mentioned that next year he will be at a different location further down Main Street.

The Labradorite was shining in the sun.

Crysta-lined Septarian Nodule eggs

Need a new sink or fountain?

This wine holder was a great idea.

Petrified wood bowl.

Roc 3000 has interesting rocks and minerals.  Lots of crystals, labradorite, and small fossils were available. The small carved animals that you see so often were available in quantity here.  I thought the saber toothed tiger with inserted carved white teeth was above out of the ordinary. If you needed some carved rock sinks to add to your decor, this are would be your source.  Bonnie lifted one of the carved soap dishes and decided that it wasn’t going home with her.

A vendor mentioned that he had a degree in mining and I asked him if he had ever worked in the Upper Peninsula.  Surprisingly he had been the mining engineer at White Pine Mine in the Keweenaw.  Bonnie admired some vintage turquoise bead necklaces and cabochons, but was determined to hang on to her money.

I’ll let you figure out how much 440kg is. It’s probably more that you can lift!

Azurite-Malachite from Bisbee

I can see my house with the Crinoid filled plate wall.

Nice assortmernt of Meteorites (Fireball Meteorites)

Palliside Meteorite

A large Siracho pallasite meteorite was on display.  You wouldn’t have survived a landing of that!

In a permanent building there was another great dinosaur display by Paleo Web. Fireball meteorites had a find selection of meteorites from different locations.  Paleo Tools has useful things, including t-shirts for the fossil lovers.  In a nearby tent, an interesting and wall sized fossil plate with detailed crinoid fossils.  Usually we see just the bits of crinoid stem, but there is a whole “flower” of tentacles creating the creatures.

You will find great deals, good quality, free parking, and lesser crowds here than in most venues.  We.ve never been disappointed at the show.

We like to look at the smaller shows. The Tucson New Mineral Show sounded interesting.  The location is behind a huge wall with interesting paintings, previously a slaughterhouse.  (Yes, really).  A spray painted graffiti over the iron archway entrance confirmed that this was the slaughterhouse.  An ominous atmosphere prevailed. Bonnie asked the police what other uses this big piece of property has. Apparently at Halloween, and other times, you can practice your skill at shooting Zombies (with laser weapons). Apparently Zombie killing is quite popular.

Note: the Show Guide lists this as “Cineplex Theater”.  Please study the photos below.  It should have said Slaughterhouse and we would have known where it was! Not what we expected! You could say this is the Apocolypse Mineral Show. This is the most unique venue ever!!!! Go here, buy stuff, look around.

We hesitantly entered the parking area. The block slaughterhouse and dual showtents were enclosed.  I commented that I hoped this wasn’t a DEAD END show.  We were please to see that the Tucson police were there to protect the minerals, or to keep back the zombies.  I do know the safest place to avoid a Zombie Apocalypse is in your LIVING ROOM, but I feel good if someone is armed in a Zombie area. We didn’t go into the “sketchy” cattlepen area which may be where the zombies hide during the day.

Surprisingly there were some wonderful mineral specimens including a couple of vendors selling quality micro mounts.  If I were a mineral collector, this would be a great spot to go.  But do take a flashlight, one of the tents had a dark ceiling (and DARK corners).  A nice lighted display cabinet had some beautiful mineral specimens. We found one vendor with agates, another had Nevada gold jewelry which was pretty.

I tried to remember the Zombie computer game I played with my son-in-law where I blew zombies apart with the shotgun…but I had to trust that the local police could dispatch any zombies that might exhume themselves from their graves. Also I wondered if cattle could be zombies. Wouldn’t they be more likely to eat a person’s brain that an ordinary undead zombie?  Next time I go to a show like this I’ll have to brush up on my zombie lore.

Like a movie theater; Be mindful of the exits.

Old Slaughterhouse in the background.

Waiting rooms for the slaughterhouse.

One of the Showrooms.

Your ride awaits you. THIS IS NOT AN OFFICIAL SHOW SHUTTLE (but it should be)

A lovely block fence adorned with happy cattle headed for the slaughterhouse, surrounds the property.

Do we really want to enter? Hell yes we do.

If you are running from a hoard of zombies, you don’t want to be the slowest one! Sort of like a rock hunt, where you want to be first to the rock pile. If you had a bunch of rioting zombies with large lips, would this be A-PACK-OF-LIPS?

We experienced the zombie mineral show which was surprisingly entertaining.  We were also pleased to safely exit the Zombie Experience grounds. If the zombies had come out, I would not be writing this blog, because I would be last in line of those fleeing the zombies. A DEADicated Zombie could catch me. This experience made me want to go to a bar and have a shot of TO-KILL-YA.

OK enough of this. I think my mind is fading.  More tomorrow without Zombie jokes; promise. Oh, thanks for letting me play wit my Photoshop.

Loads of rough at the Kino Rock Show

Crowds are thin in the morning then grow as the day goes on.

Insode the show tent at Kino.

One of the boneyards. If you bought one Buffalo it is around $100 and the more you buy the cheaper they are.

The eclectic rock show at the Kino Sports Complex is always one of our top rock shopping venues. From rough rock, Lapidary Equipment, Jewelry, it’s a rock lover’s paradise. It seems on the average there are more unexpected items here than at most other shows around town. Antique Guns, large rock yard art, beautiful, carved statues, wood carvings, rock paintings, Metal Art, and imported bizarre clothing and had made belts and Buffalo Hide wallets are found. I always enjoy the variety at the Kino Rock Show.

Wood and Stone lamps and decorative things at the “Sticks N Stones” booth.

Beads? Where’s Bonnie? I gave her the day off without pay.

Petrified Wood at “Rimrock Gems” at Kino Park.

Lots of Lapis around.

A little pile of rough Lapis.

Pure German Silicon. If I would have stepped two steps to my left that stuff would reflect so bright you could not look at it.

Australian Marra Mamba at “Aradon pty LTD”. Amazing in the sun.

I had to stop back to the JOGS show and saw they brought in petrified wood bathing facilities.

This banded Jasper/Hematite from Australia was so shiny and reflective, I could hardly get a picture.

Australian Printstone at Aridon pty ltd

Printstone in the rough

Bonnie would have liked this Rose Quartz.

I can’t explain this, but it made me laugh.

Let’s just bring in a little Petrified Wood, shall we?

I told you this show was eclectic. Here’s a bear guarding his Buffalo pile.

Heads and Horns, pelts and purses.

Signs anyone?

Nice metal garden.

Antique weapons and western gear.

Diamond Pacific had a new flat lap that is higher up, angled for comfort, and magnetic laps. I liked this unit.

American Frontier Lapidary Supply Company had great rough. Go see my friend Damon Essig; you’ll like his material and prices.

More rocks at Damon’s Booth.

The 22nd Street Show brags that they have the greatest attendance, but by the crowds, you might think that honor goes to Kino. Kino is the place where we go to look for things we didn’t know we needed. Let’s swing through the Kino Show, with lots of pictures and fun. The people and goods are like a giant outdoor Walmart on steroids. I think I’ll just let the pictures speak for themselves.

Miners Co-op has a new paved lot!

North of Tucson in a Sports Park parking lot is a rock show that resembles the “old” shows that rockhounds recall. Over the years we have found The Miner’s Co-op Rock Show to be an excellent alternative to fighting the crowds at the major shows in Tucson. The Miner’s Coop is more of a tailgating experience than any other show in town.

Happily this year they were bragging about the million-dollar parking lot, which if you had been to the show a few years ago the parking lot was a dusty dirty field, rough to walk on, windy and wild. Pima County has been making upgrades to the whole sports complex, and smooth pavement for walking on was a big plus this year and so much cleaner. Road construction closed a couple of exits by the show, but the website explained the route, signs welcomed us telling us we were on the right route, and it was a simple trip. Since Weatherbug said is was 43 degrees, we put on our sweatshirts and started out.

Dead Camel from Fallon Nevada area was featured in Rock & Gem Magazine not long ago.

Dead Camel Jasper.

Bonnie was interested in some Dead Camel Jasper, a colorful jasper from Fallon, Nevada. A trailer full of buckets had her engaged. She pawed through those buckets looking for just the right pieces and miner Walt Harrison helped her find just what she wanted.

Blue Point Mine, Near Thunder Bay

Seconday deposition causes the rust colored crystals.

I found a slab of Ocean Picture Rock which I know makes great jewelry. Next I dug through some amethyst. Like a beacon sparkling in the sun, I recognized the amethyst as being from the Blue Point Mine at Thunder Bay Ontario. We have friends who have been there and collected. A red iron oxide coating from the secondary mineral coating within the vugs give additional depth to the expected purple color on some of the pieces there.They were glistening in the sun. By the time we left we were all glistening in the sun, without any sweatshirts!

How did the not break crystals, and how will someone get it safely home?

Ammonite at Russian Stones Booth

Russian Ammonites

I went through a lot of cabs at Johnson Brothers close out sale. Bough a good bunch also.

After lunch we went to JGX to check out a “closeout” sale at Ed Johnson’s booth. Even though I usually cut my own cabochons, I sometimes buy cabs cut by others. Quality colorful Dinosaur Bone is becoming scarce, and the cabochons that he had were all exactly what I look for. I bought some sunstone, and assorted agates, but mostly dino bone!

Gemstone Material Interiors

Chevron Amethyst

As usual a large display of amethyst cathedrals, gemstone tables, Moroccan fossils, chevron amethysts and artistic interior design pieces are highlighted at this venue. Sometimes you find little surprises at the shows. It looked like Indian clothing, nothing to do with rocks and minerals. A Russion vendor featured colorful ammonites as well as large more ordinary ammonites. Large citrine geodes were on sale outside. In this case the citrine was heat-treated amethyst. Some amethyst when heat treated turns into citrine. You can research this if you are interested, that’s all I know about it!

I’ll show you our treasures at a later date.

We were pretty fast at our shopping today, doing Miner’s Coop and JGX both.  We might wander back to them another day.