Category Archives: Tucson Gem Shows

Miner’s Co-op Rock Show and more

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.

Tucson’s 22nd Street Gem Show, first trip!

looking to one end from the middle of this long hard-sided tent.

entry to the Showcase tent.

The 22nd Street Gem Show has always been a favorite because of the diverse selection of products, and the large interesting displays. The big tent is @750 feet, and a second fancier tent was added, dubbed the Showcase.

Geoff Notkin and Steve Arnold combine thir meteorites at Aerolite Meteorites.

Lobby Display at Showcase Tent

Not sure what the little critter is in front, but the dog-like creature is a Megafaunal Gray Wolf

The Showcase was not quite full, and some of the vendors had moved there from other shows. Aerolite Meteorites featuring the collecting work of Geoff Notkin was up front with every location and type of meteorites. A large display of dinosaurs welcomes you as you enter, and if you turn around you will see a wall of terrific Mexican agates and pottery.

The Showcase tent was light on dealers this 1st year

Just a colorful booth.

There were several wonderful display cases in the Showcase Tent.

Cory Cotter had a large display of Keweenaw copper which was of interest to me.

Pyritized Ammonite in Simbircite at Bright Star Gemstones. Thanks Richard Kocurek.

In the big tent I especially enjoyed pyritized ammonite and agatized calcite from Russia. Jay Goldber of Relics II had this unusual material. Utah Dump Digger Tyree Lamph had some excellent dinosaur bone, both large and small. I quickly found a nice color that I was happy to purchase for a future pendant.

Not sure what this is, but I would not like it chasing me.

Stegasaurus

Etched glass and Petrified Wood.

This was in a blog last year….Gold Leaf.

Dinosaurs wandered or hung in some of the booths, tables full of crystals abounded, and sculptures of various things were crafted from gems, metal, wood, and other surprises. Laser-cut glass dinosaur framed by petrified wood, and onyx box shaped lights were also displayed.

“WIZARDS HAT” Matte Onyx, Tourmaline, Quartz, Moonstone, Amethyst, Glass Beadsand over 200 hours of labor. $6,400

Tourmaline in Muscovite with Quartz.

Malachite Hippo’s

Great Agate Display

We scooted through all this is in a morning. Parking is $3.00, but vendors may refund it if you make a minimum purchase. The 22nd Street Gem Show continues to evolve, and provides lots of small stuff for young rockhounds to buy and lots to entertain people of all ages.

Previewing the Tucson Showplace Show

I wonder if that is the new Showcase Tent at 22nd Street?

The shows in Tucson don’t really get rolling until this weekend, but there is one small show we like to check out early. The first show we always check out is the Tucson Showplace Show at 1530 S. Freeway. Checking out the great stuff at “The Gem Shop” and talking to Veronica Woods (The promoter) is always a treat. We bought a couple flats of Laguna’s and other assorted agates at the Gem Shop. They’re all wrapped up, or I would show you.

Colorful Australian Mookaite.

A pallet of Ocean Jasper

2600# of magnesite.

A couple other vendors that were open were Soklich Trading Company from Australia. They’re a large dealer in Aussie Rocks and Bonnie found a small, colorful chunk of Mookaite. They also sold pallets of materials to commercial enterprises. I noted they had some pallets of “Peanut Wood”. For many years this has been scarce, but every once in a while some of this material is washed out in the bush….Good supply there, and many small pieces available to the hobbyist. I also saw pallets of Ocean Jasper. Great cutting material at Soklich and at The Gem Shop.

Pinolith

And I found some wonderful Austrian Pinolith (Pronounced Pin-o-lite). The flower-like combination of white Magnesite on the black Dolomite/Graphite background is just amazing. Direct importers of this uncommon Magnesite Ore is Hausen Rock Treasures Wholesale, across the drive from the Gem Shop.

I called this Bumblebee “Brushfire” for obvious reasons.

Shatuckite from the Congo

I also finished up a few pendants from our trip to Quartzsite last week so here are a couple.

See the Schedule of Tucson Shows.

Changes in 2018 to Tucson Rock and Gem Shows

We’ve noticed a couple changes at the Tucson Rock & Gem Shows this year. The first is that the very popular 22nd Street show at 22nd Street and I-10, has again expanded. Last year the tent expanded to a 750′ long monster, and this year an additional tent they named a “Showcase Tent” will bring a “higher end” experience to buyers and sellers. Featuring modular walls, high end lighting, and dealers the promoters will also be pleased as it is claimed this will be a much quieter venue than the big tent. Thirty spaces are filled and every year the vendors at the showcase will expand until they reach 300! I assume that the tent size will continue to expand.

According to their website this year the parking at 22nd Street is $3.00. It had been free, but $3.00 is still a good price and you can take shuttles to other places.

The 22nd Street Show circa 2014. Since then the length has doubled, and this year they added the “Showcase” Tent.

2017 22nd Street Show

2018: The Monster 750′ 22nd Street Show as seen from “A” Mountain (Sentinal Peak). The new show tent is on the far left. On the near side of I-10 (West side of I-10) are some of the show venues at the Hotels, along the Freeway, known as “The Strip”. So if I refer to “The Strip Shows”, I am not ogling anything but rocks (most of the time). Notice the new “Showcase” tent to the far right.

Some of the “Strip Shows” are shown in the foreground , while the Large Wholesale Show (GJX) tent across from the Tucson Convention Center (shown center right) hosts the AGTA and the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show, the weekend following the AGTA Show.. This years’ theme is Crystals and Crystal Forms.(Feb 8-11), You can find the shows from the links I’ve included in this Blog.

JGX Tent on the right and Convention Center is mid-picture on the left. Anyone can go to JGM as it is a Wholesale/Retail venue.

Two popular vendors have moved from the show at the Hotel Tucson City Center. It was mentioned Aerolite Meteorites and Dinosaur Brokers are two of the exhibitors (they will have a display in the lobby of the Showcase Tent). Michigan Rocks and Arkenstone are two vendors I’m going to check out. For a new venue in 2013 this 22nd Street Gem Show is on the move; The promoters claim the the 22nd Street Show is the most attended show in Tucson. It is open to the public as well as dealers. https://22ndstreetshow.com.

Another change at the Tucson Rocks Shows is shown in this billboard. The sign on the freeway announces the True Bead True Blue Show, Colors of the Stone, and Tucson Bead and Design Show have all moved to the Casino Del Sol out on west Valencia, with a thousand sellers and workshops promised this year. This will be a big change in locations and promises lots of new shopping for the beaders!

We hope you can use these changes at the Tucson Rock & Gem Shows that we have spotted.Here’s a link to the list of dates and places for the Tucson Shows in 2018: http://www.tucsongemshows.net

That’s all for now, but stand by. Shopping to begin soon!

If you are new to our website we invite you to visit our jewelry pages. Check out our hand crafted stone jewelry featuring Greenstone (Chlorastrolite) Michigan’s State Gemstone, Petoskey Stone Michigan’s State Stone, Lake Superior Agate Minnesota’s State Gemstone, Gems from the Copper Country of Michigan, and semi-precious stones from around the world. These are created with wire artistry by Don Reed and make wonderful gifts for stone lovers–Check them out!

Bonus Blog from Tucson-Down on the Strip

We decided to take in the African Art Show at south end of the strip. We haven’t been there, but people have mentioned to us that it is a good show to see. African art abounds, but there was one person selling African prehnite for sale, but no other rock. Since we already had our parking spot we walked across to the Mineral shows before they closed.

Tubs of jewels

Looking for Star Rutiles’

I think I found one.

Bonnie met a friendly Mexican man selling Brazilian gemstones. After standing in the shade talking, I came outside and they were talking like old friends. They had some fine rutilated quartz by the tub or kilo, and he said I could look through for some star rutile. He even helped and I bought 1/2 kilo which I hope will be great for future jewelry making. He also had tubs of other gemstones.

Amethyst wit Calcite Crystal.

My personal show favorite.

In a parking lot in front a tent with amethyst cathedrals and Uruguay specimens. I have looked at thousands of amthyst cathedrals at the shows, and even though it was not a large impressive monuments that are scattered about, I found my favorite specimen in this tent. He also had lovely amethyst with calcite pieces.

STOP WATCHING ME!

I purchased a hard-to-describe amethyst stalactite with an eyeball that seemed to be calling me and would not let me out of its powerful grasp until I bought it.

El Paso Rock Shop

Somehow all during this show we missed the El Paso rock shop, one of the largest sellers of rough material. Way in the back of the show, it has a couple large tents, and what looks like an acre of 50 gallon drums overflowing with jaspers, fossils, shell. They also have cabochons and carved skulls. Warning: dirty and chaotic, but exciting for the lapidary guy or gal. Dodge the forklifts and pallets. Good clothes not required.

This seemed a little overkill to guard a few vases.

It became a hot day, but we got our “rock-fix” done early as un-winter-like weather was in the mid 80’s. Happy to retreat to my air conditioning!

Tucson Gem & Mineral Show=Rock & Mineral Overload

Long lines awaiting for the show to open. It was fun chatting with people from around the world.

The show floor

The Main Show is open with about 250 vendors.

The Tucson Gem and Mineral show kicked off Thursday morning and we were one of the first ones in the door. Hosted by the Tucson Gem and Mineral Society, it is the oldest and most prestigious rock show. The show fills the Tucson Convention Center with 250 retail vendors. The theme is Mineral Treasures of the Midwest. Since we live in the Midwest, we were anticipating the displays from our area.

Wooly Rhino

When we first got to the convention center a wooly mammoth and her calf were on display in the lobby. Not the usual skeleton, but a fur-covered mammoth. Also a wooly rhino welcomed us. They looked very real and are certainly an eye-catching welcome to the show!

Mammoth Family

Eager visitors lined up ½ hour before the show started. We were surprised to see a friend of ours from Maryland. People come from everywhere to attend this show.

Oriental Mine Gold, Sierra County CA

Himalayan Rutilated Quartz

Fluorescent Minerals

Sugarcane Emerald

The displays at this show are from museums, universities, and private collectors. It is delightful to see how each interpreted the theme of the show.

The Seaman Mineral Museum, Michigan’s official state mineral museum, had a large display featuring copper, iron, calcite and other Michigan stuff. Nearby were two impressive displays by Donald K Olson. He was closing up one of the cases and we began to discuss the Centennial Datolite in his case, because Bonnie was wearing jewelry of the same. He had some of the most unusual copper crystal formations. We talked for a while and he also proudly showed us another case he brought, of red quartz crystals from the iron range of Minnesota.

I took lots of pictures of the cases. Some of the museums had sent some of their favorite pieces, even if they had nothing to do with the Midwest. There was the Northwest, and the Midwest Arizona, and so forth. Collector’s Edge had beryl, tourmaline, gold crystals, Rhodochrosite from the Sweet Home Mine, and every mineral specimen that you can imagine.

The local University of Arizona had beautiful malachite, chrysocolla, turquoise, copper, many fine specimens from their collections.

Bisbee Malachite

Bisbee

Copper Queen Mine-Bisbee AZ

Dioptase-Nambia

Pallasites from various locals

Malachite from the Copper Queen Mine, meteorites from many locations, Dioptase, Rhodochrosite, Calcite crystals were represented.

A dinosaur named Baby Bob was the center of attention in the second room.

Frederick C Wilda had a nice display of minerals paired with jewelry made from the minerals, and enhanced by a display setting of fine art paintings.

Tiffany Amethyst Neckless

Tiffany Opal Pendant

Three pieces earned the police guard this year. One of the finest specimens ever is the Alma Rose from the Sweet Home Mine in Colorado. Next to it the Smithsonian Institution supplied the Tiffany Amethyst Necklace. A 56 carat Siberian Amethyst most likely produced by George Kunz who was the chief gemologist at Tiffanys at the time. Lines, leaves and berries surround the deep red/purple amethyst. A wonderful example of Art Nouveau made at the turn of the century.

The other piece from the Smithsonian Institution was a Tiffany Opal Necklace designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany featuring black opals with brilliant green demantoid garnets. The black opals are from Lightning Ridge and the rare Demantoid garnets are from Russia. Made in the early twentieth century this is also an Art Nouveau.

Hallelujah

Hallelujah! Crystals were found in 2006 at Peterson Mountain in Nevada.

A replica of the Russian czarinas diamond was there.

We spent a good part of the day looking, photographing, and talking with all the folks there. As always, this is the highlight of the Tucson shows. As we sort through our treasures, we will continue to show you what we have here in our blog. Please visit our jewelry pages to see what we do with our rocks.

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Bonnie and Donald K Olson discuss his Red Quartz specimens.

Quartz with Hematite (aka Red Quartz). Minnesota Iron Range

Seaman Mineral Museum Case

Don Olsen Case

Don Olsen Case. Notice the Centennial Datolite in the lower Left.

Canyon Diablo (These are part of the Meteorite that created Meteor Crater)

Next years show theme

Aqua, Morganite, other stuff

Rhodochrosite-Sweet Home

Unique Flourite from Poland

Decanter set looks like Tourmaline but I believe it is glass that looks like Tourmaline.

Sorry I did not label everything, but in most of those if you expand the picture, you can read the tags. I’ve spend several hours sorting through all the pictures I’ve taken at the Main Show. You’re getting only a small taste. How about you come next year?

Another Trip to The Strip at the Tucson Shows

Pretty good Chrysocolla

Globes of Amethyst

A return to the strip as the show comes to an end often produces some bargain treasures. One of the things I wanted from our Koroite Boulder Opal source was a specimen piece of which he had several last time we were there. Upon returning I found he only had one specimen that when you pulled it apart demonstrated the opal seam. Unfortunately the one he had was a very gemmy piece, but since I was a good customer at this year’s show, and in the past, we reached an agreement on price.

Other than the opal, there were some assorted cabs; Oh, I forgot about the drilling machine: NOT!

I need one of these

Now I can make some beads with my new unit. My rock spending seems to be down, but my shop equipment spending is sure up.

The first time through the strip I looked at a Gunther Bead Drilling Machine. Today I brought in some Isle Royale Greenstones and Thomsonite to see if these materials could be drilled without shattering the stones. Both Greenstone and Thomsonite are very sensitive to Harmonic Vibrations and can just explode apart with the vibration. This machine passed the test, so now bead drilling will be one of our services beginning in April.

Jeff shows Bonnie one of his fine agates.I

We visited with my friend Jeff Anderson at his Dwarves Earth Treasures Booth at the Rapa River Show. Most any type of agate can be found there.

Other things we found were Druzy Quartz and Abalone Cabochons, and some other small random things.

Thursday the big Tucson Gem & Mineral Show Opened . We explored the show and took lots of pictures. This has delayed this post, which I apologize for. I will be posting pictures from the TG&MS tomorrow and continue to show you the highlights over the next few days.

A metaphysical spa is always available if needed. I have a friend who is a Reiki Master. I’m not real sure this is what was taking place here, but many people take advantage of whatever was happening here.

Laramar. I found the one special piece I’ve been searching for the entire show. I’ll sho you in a later blog.

Some really fine Ruby in Zoisite

We really had no room for this in the RV, but the guy selling this was interesting. He was willing to cut a deal.

A new archway for my shop? Perhaps……

Bones and Linghams at the Tucson Shows

Sunny mid 70’s

We noticed in the show guide a couple of shows we haven’t visited yet this year. We think of this first show as the Bazaar, because of all the Middle Eastern jewelry, clothing, small metal containers, a dark passageway filled with colorful lights. The main ballroom was filled with bead suppliers, and a smaller central room had ancient pieces with big chunky rough beads. There was lots of jade beads of various types and things an archeologist would love to find.

Speaking of dangers, an American with mixed heritage regularly goes to Pakistan. He said everything is done in cash. Imagine dealing with tribes in the mountains and carrying thousands or hundreds of thousands, and trying to stay safe.

There were rooms of beads, wonderful natural Southwest turquoise, and various hand made jewelry items of varying interest. A fellow in the center area had rocks and I found a solid looking azurite piece that I plan to make into jewelry.

As we were driving away we came across another Arizona Mineral and Fossil show (there are 3 locations with the same name), and they had parking available so we kicked around there a bit. This is at the Ramada Inn where most of the vendors are in the hotel rooms, but there is a large tent featuring Alaskan carved deer, elk antlers and moose buttons. A couple years ago I met a dealer sold me a piece of mammoth tooth that I made into jewelry as an experiment. I saw him again today and bought a couple more slices that looked hard enough to be wire wrapped. They are stabilized, but still a lapidary artist might have trouble with the variation in softness of the areas of the tooth, so they are tricky.

The Russian guy, that I could not understand, had some nice fossils. He moved everything out of his room so he could get the fossils in.

One room I attempted to speak to a Russian and I found that I really have a problem understanding Russian, but he seemed to be very proud of his fossils. He had his room set up like a little museum.

Miles’ Mastodon Tusk.

Miles had fair prices for tusks ivory.

I bought a few slabs of Mastodon Ivory to make jewelry.

We saw a lot of fossil mammal parts, and we noticed a large mastodon tusk for sale. Miles Martin from Alaska had photos of his recovery of mastodon tusk near Denali. He had a large collection of mastodon tusk pieces, pairs you could make knife handles with and mastodon slices for lapidary work. I have never made jewelry from mastodon tusk, but I will this year. Miles recounted how he takes a flat bottom boat 400 miles down a river with no gas stations to find and extract tusks that may be emerging from melting permafrost. He mentioned several dangers, isolation, river sand bars, bears, and “scary weird people” that might be living out there dodging the law because they are “wanted” elsewhere. He’s written seven books about his adventures. He was a colorful character.

A couple Mammoth Teeth slabs were bought from this pile; jewelry to follow in the near future.

One of our pleasures is learning the stories of the people we meet, how they got into what they are doing, and what their challenges are to get their rock products to us.

Moose “Buttons”

Carvings galore

At the Ramada Inn, Alaska Creations had unique carvings made from “Moose Buttons”. The “Buttons” are where the antlers attach to the skull. The antlers are shed and he cut these buttons off and carved these amazing things. He had lots of carvings from Antlers of all kinds.

Carborundum from China. Pretty but not for jewelry. See the yellow material? It’s Orpiment, a dangerous toxic Arsenic Sulfide. Most people would never know what this is.

The colors of this carborundum is similar to Peacock Ore. A picture does not do justice to the colors.

Shiva Linghams Increases Vitality and Pranic Energy. The dirty little secret is most of these are not real Linghams, but are made.

There were more Linghams here than anywhere in Tucson.

Lots of fun in the sun today. See you tomorrow.

Miner’s Co-op and the Honeybee Jasper

Softly cloudy and 70

So tacky it’s cool!

Morenci Az quality Chrysocolla.

We returned to the Miner’s Coop today. This is the farthest north show in the book. It was worthwhile and enjoyable to talk to some of the dealers there. The Miner’s Coop is the closest you get to a real rock hound show in Tucson, with lots of rough rock as well as cabochons, slabs, and small mineral boxes. Sometimes the dealers close up their booth so they can go to another show, so if you don’t go a couple of times, you will most likely miss some of them. The dealers are appreciative of your business, and may have some good offers.

HoneyBee Jasper

Honeybee Jasper consists of primarily Quartz with Amphibole minerals. There is also a presence of Iron and Manganese causing the yellow tinge.

I am always looking for something new for jewelry and Bonnie found a dealer selling a yellow jasper he named Honeybee, from his claim in western Colorado. We have customers who seek out yellow stone, so this was something new along that line. He told us that it comes from the edge of a cliff, not real hospitable access. Larry Wright from Aspen Rock and Gem also features Utah Lace Opal and a sage rock which he said he has to climb up and down rough terrain to get to. Bonnie commented that it was good he didn’t have bad legs. (Wonder where she go that thought?) He agreed that he had good legs and back that are an essential for miners.

Bodie and a great Amazonite/Smokey Quartz specimen from his claim.

I talked with Bodie Packham who proudly showed his prize amazonite/smokey quartz crystal, which was appraised for $250,000. Similar specimens have sold for much more. He works a claim near the Dorren family you may have seen on the Prospectors TV show. He took time to explain the difference between gem amazonite and the more common amazonite.

Peter still had some very fine Smithsonite

We bought some slabs from Peter Bruno last time we were there and he still has some nice smithsonite available.

This was a leisurely social day, learning from and teaching miners at a show we like. It grew quite a bit this year, and should grow again next year. We hope it will continue to emphasize rock!

Ever See A Golden T-Rex? Tucson Rocks 2017

Sunny and 75

A show hardly anyone came to.

Lobby of Executive Inn

Because of the weekend, the major shows around town are packed with people, and parking is far out and the whole thing is hectic more than fun. We decided to do some small shows.

We went to the Executive Inn that listed around 30 vendors on two floors. The parking was free and there were almost no cars. When we went in there were 2 mineral display cases and a paper sign that said “Shows” to point us in the right direction. A few doors were open with little paper signs alerting us they were there. We found either 5 or 6 vendors on the first floor, and nothing on the second. I kind of felt sorry for these people from foreign countries who obviously had big expenses getting here, and this seemed to be such a small turnout. And the rooms were advertised as newly renovated. New? We wondered.

A Russian vendor had quality pyrite ammonites that I have used for jewelry before, so I selected one. Bonnie admired his Eudialite and Charoite rings and pendants and he had minerals. The best thing at this spot was the free parking, because from there we could walk across the street to the Mineral and Fossil Marketplace that had large tents and looked more promising.

In the past we have found small rock pieces of interest, so we scouted carefully. Like all the mineral and fossil shows, Madagascar fossils were prominent, as were Amethyst crystals. My eye was captured by Labradorite shining in the sun. This was some of the nicest I have seen in Tucson, oriented properly to bring out the maximum shimmer. These pieces were cut into blocks and polished so you could see exactly what you were getting. I bought a fin multicolored specimen and then went back and got a very fine gold Labradorite (some people refer to this as Spectrolite).

A dealer offered nice mineral specimens at good prices.

Never saw a gold T-Rex

sea Monsters

Muonionalusta Meteorite

A permanent building on the grounds sells medium/large prehistoric beasts. They had some great sea monsters, and a gilded T-Rex skull replica. I had never seen a gold T-Rex skull. Just what every house needs!

One of the vendors was a dealer in Muonolusta meteorite material. He searches meteorite fall areas, and he indicated that these are very hard to find now, and hard to dig up. Some are 8-10 feet underground because of glacial activity causing overburden over the meteorites. A backhoe is required as well as special large ray metal detectors to find them in the first place. And property owners don’t like to have big holes dug and disturb their trees.

We had these in Michigan also-Crinoids

Another tent had some fine fossil plates, one 12’x12’covered with a large crinoid colony.

A table full of Australian rocks

Tiger Iron

Wonderful specimens both individually and in trays; all at fair prices.

Most all the major Aussie minerals on one table.

Mookaite

Glenn Archer’s Tent

Glenn Archer had great specimens from remote areas of Australia. He had all the good stuff from there, slabs, chunks and smaller specimens.

We did not have to fight the crowds at this show.

Silver Ore from the Cobalt region of Canada

If you want some fine rough, go here. Random trays abounded.

This labradorite was the best I’ve seen for the money anywhere around Tucson.

I bought this one and another all gold one

Loads of dyed Brazillion slabs. Not really my cup of tea, but many people like these.

Nice Madagascar Stuff

The wall of Chrysocolla.

Because the crowds were at the big shows, we had a very nice time talking with the vendors at this show. We walked back to our free parking and admired the foundation of the old motel sign with many Chrysocolla rocks, the best part of this motel.