Sparse crowds seen upon opening.
Slab Tubs are always worth a look.
Outside tables were loaded with rocks.
I love Amazonite.
Black Hat Trading's display.
A display featuring a large, rare, Keswick Agate from Iowa.
I love this picture. "How do you make spheres Mr.?").
Dwarves Earth Treasures. Jeff Anderson has great Agates.
The Deming Gem & Mineral Society’s 49th Annual Rockhound Roundup opened this morning. Guided field trips began at 8am with hunts at Big Diggings, Baker Ranch, and Fluorite Ridge. The Gem and Mineral Show is at the SW New Mexico Fairgrounds with vendors both inside two permanent fair buildings and outside on the grounds. Vendors sold rough rock, slabs, cabs, beads, jewelry, machinery and other assorted rock-related items. We leisurely browsed the entire show and found a few slabs and rough rocks from which I will make handcrafted jewelry.
Crowd was low, but should pick up for the weekend. There were some great displays sponsored by club members. We had a pleasant time chatting with vendors and learning from veteran rock hounds. One gentleman from whom I purchased slabs said he had been cutting rock since 1946. I don’t think too many people can say that! We saw our friend and fellow club member Jeff Anderson, his business Dwarves Earth Treasures focuses on agates, and seemed to be the busiest booth in the outside area, with a large assortment of agates.
Bonnie bought some pieces of a new stone, Jessite Agate which was recently featured in Lapidary Journal. I talked with a fellow who said he has been cutting stone since 1947. How many people can claim that? i got a few slabs from him. As you might expect several vendors featured turquoise and chrysocolla from this area, and some folks had some very nice jewelry made with them which we admired. I loved a chunk of red dinosaur bone, but passed on it since I have a good supply. A local dealer that we have seen in Quartzsite and Tucson (Black Hat Trading) had one of the biggest displays, and he encouraged us to visit his business before we leave town.
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The Rockhound Roundup in a few hours and we really enjoyed the warm New Mexico weather. While we were there a friend sent us a picture of his truck and the snowbanks on either side dwarfing it. Perhaps we will never go home to Michigan! Next weekend is another rock show in Albequerque, and since we are headed that way, can we stand another rock show? Duh…