WARRNAMBOOL GEM CLUB

2010 Activities

December 12: End of year BBQ. See photos:

December: 10  Club members wish to express their sadness at the passing of Utah Lambert, A long term, and much valued member of the club. Utah was always ready to lend a hand at our shows and will be greatly missed by all his friends. L to R Keith & Utah:


November  Sat. 20 Club members from Warrnambool met with fossickers from the Ballarat, Bendigo and Geelong clubs for  a days fossicking at Mt Shadwell. The weather was great and a few nice finds helped make it a pleasant day. Place mouse over photo!


Sunday 14, A bus of enthusiastic club members travelled to the Geelong Gem show . See our report.

October        Saturday 23rd.  A large number of club members attended the club workshop for normal cutting activities plus a 'thank you' afternoon tea for the Warrnambool City council. Mayor Michael Neoh and councillor Andrew Fawcett attended, along with council engineer John Loomes (who supervised works on the upgrade of the club building). The afternoon tea members put on was very impressive and it was good to see members from 12 to 95 in attendance! An enjoyable afternoon was had, and club members had the chance to show our new work area in full use.

September    Several club members attended the VGCA fossicking trip at Lake Cooper Quarry  to hunt for jasper, chert and mineral specimens.

Club members Ted and Val, collecting at the Lake Cooper quarry

Darren (2nd from left) at Lake Cooper Quarry

Looking for some Jasper

Boy, that is a lot of rock to break up!

August    Member Kathleen Brockett enjoying her time faceting at the club workshop. Kathleen is making good progress having completed her first gem!


July    Four club members travelled to the Hart's Range in the N.T. The area was wet after extensive rains throughout the region, however access to the main fossicking areas was still good. Alan Altmann and Alan Wood spent time fossicking at Mud tank and around Mt Palmer. At Mud tank Alan Wood dug up a nice selection of zircons during the two days spent there. In the Mt Palmer area the main items collected were mica books, some beryl, garnets in mica schist. The 'Disputed Mine' site showed signs of extensive fossicking over the last few years. The access track is still in good condition.

A good selection of unakite was obtained in S.A., along with gypsum and chert in the 'moon plains' area of Coober Pedy. On the way home we visited an ex member of the club, Brian Alexander, who now lives near Mildura.

THE APTLY NAMED MOON PLAIN REGION EAST OF COOBER PEDY IN S.A.

ALAN ALTMANN AND ALAN WOOD AT MUD TANK IN JULY 2010

John and Marion Chivers tailgating at the Palmer Rockarama.

JENNI WOOD SORTING THE ZIRCONS AT MUD TANK

May 1-2    The Palmer Rockarama  was held over the weekend and kathleen Brockett, John & Marion Chivers attended. They reported that the show was great fun with good attendances.

Keith shifting some of the black scoria to expose fresh fossicking material for the visiting VGCA members.

GYPSUM AT MOON PLAINS NEAR COOBER PEDY

Relaxing at a BBQ at Brian Alexanders' home near Mildura  Back to top

SOME OF THE FINDS FROM THE TRIP. (bottom left unakite, centre left gypsum, top left zircons & apatite ,bottom & centre right mica, top right chert,

 centre large garnet bearing mica schist)

June 19    Some 28 VGCA  members, led by George Faderson, arrived at the Mortlake quarry at Mt Shadwell; as part of a weekends fossicking in the area. Mt Waverly, Mt Gambier, Geelong, Murray Valley, Blue Hill and Warrnambool clubs were represented.  Alan Wood, of the Warrnambool Gem Club, guided the visitors as to what to look for and provided some fossicking hints.  After a cool start to the day, the sun came out and the fossicking conditions in the quarry were good. This 'writer' found 2 good 'gemmy bombs' whilst there during the morning. Calcites, aragonites  and some ilmenite crystals were also collected while I was there. Visitors were lucky to have Keith Hargraves in attendance, he is both the quarry supervisor and a club member, and used machinery to provide access to fresh fossicking material. It is nice to see such support for fossickers by the local community.

Fossickers enjoyed a BBQ at the local caravan park on Saturday night, with Alan Wood showing some of the cabochons he has cut from the Mt Shadwell material as well as his techniques for making 'Peridants'.

There was some rain on Sunday, though I understand that at least one good 'gemmy bomb' was found in the morning. Later in the day, fossickers spent time at Alan Wood's place viewing his collection and having afternoon tea.

Mortlake has become a popular fossicking locality for many Australians and overseas visitors!

Some of the fossickers at the Mt Shadwell quarry.

Part of the evening entertainment. Kym (left) stars again!

May 1    Eleven Post-graduate  geology students from the Australian National University visited the Mount Shadwell quarry in Mortlake as part of their 'geological tour'. Alan Wood and Alan Altmann from our club spent 2 hours at the quarry with these geologists (from Russia, Italy, South America, the U.S.A. and other countries) as they fossicked for mineral specimens. Some nice peridot  specimens in volcanic bombs were collected along with other mineral specimens. The group then viewed Alan Wood's mineral and gem collection where they had 'a cuppa' and purchased some 'bargains' from Woody.  The group then travelled to Tower Hill near Warrnambool, to view the caldera (and emus & kangaroos). A good time was had by all.

Geology graduates from ANU with Keith (rhs, shire foreman)

Examining some of the 'really large' volcanic bombs near the entrance to the Mt Shadwell quarry. Back to top

April 15-19   Some 14 club members spent the weekend fossicking at Eldorado. Members sieved and panned in Reedy Ck, obtaining some gold dust, agates and quartz crystals. Members also dug at an abandoned tin mine and found quartz crystals, citrine and amethyst crystals. Most finds were small and required a lot of digging. Members had a great time at the 'happy hours' at the Eldorado campground after each day's fossicking.  

Keith Fisher sieving for gems.

Len & Robin fossicking in Reedy creek.

Alan Wood showing how not to search for gems.

Panning for gold in Reedy Creek.

Digging at the tin mine.

Keith sorting some finds.

The Eldorado dredge, a reminder of another era!

April 10   Club workshop reopens after renovations. See the 'Club history page'.

March 6-7   Club members will be visiting the Gemkhana in Ballarat.

February 7    Club members spent the morning fossicking at Mt Shadwell, in Mortlake, for peridot. The morning yielded little peridot, but some anorthoclase was found by two members. For lunch a BBQ was held at Alan Wood's home where members viewed his collection.

Club members fossicking for peridot. New members Heidi and Brandon on left of photo.

A lot of digging and scrambling over rocks occurred during the day.

A considerable amount of digging went on for limited reward on the day. Some peridot and calcites were found.

Club members relaxing at Alan & Jenny Woods home.

At the end of the fossicking with temperatures high, members had a pleasant BBQ.

The 2010 Warrnambool Gem Show was held in January on Friday, 8th to Sunday 10th . For a full report go to the CLUB SHOWS page.  Back to top

2009 Activities


December 6: Club members had a pleasant end of year breakup, at Keith & Janice's Place, in Woodford.

November: 15th    Thirteen club members travelled to the Geelong Gem show on Sunday with Alan Wood driving the bus down. Club members had a good day, catching up with friends and making some necessary purchases at the show. The standard of the work in the show cases was up to it's usual high standard.

Jenni (left) and Alan Wood (rt)

Club members arrive at Geelong

Kathleen purchases some faceting gear

Keith & Janice 'shopping' at the Geelong show

Keith & Utah relaxing. A tough life for some!

Val Morton and Alan Wood 'shopping' at the Geelong show

October:     Saturday 24th, 11-30 am. Ten club members attended the 'Celebration of the life of Allan White' at the Fritz Loewe Theatre, McCoy Building, University of Melbourne.  Some 140 people from all over Australia, and overseas, attended the celebration. It was a fitting tribute to a great, but very modest, Australian.  


ALLAN WHITE    1931 - 2009

    Professor Allan White grew up on a dairy farm in the Adelaide hills. He studied at Adelaide under Professor Sir Douglas Mawson and was awarded the Tate Memorial medal by the University of Adelaide in 1952. He completed a PhD in London in 1956 and was appointed a lecturer at the University of Otago. In 1960 he returned to Australia, to the Geology Dept. at the ANU, where he quickly established himself with publications on a wide range of petrological topics. He eventually focused on the origin of granites where he became a world leader as a result of integrating detailed field work with their petrography and chemical compositions.

In 1971 Allan became the Foundation Professor of Geology at La Trobe University, where he published a number of landmark papers on granites.

After retirement, Allan continued his research on granites and was a regular contributor at scientific conferences, publishing regularly in leading journals.

Allan taught at the University of Melbourne and was a regular reviewer/examiner of theses, papers and books. He was the best know petrologist in the world.

Allan received a number of major awards:



Allan was a director of the Victorian Institute of Earth and Planetary Sciences, (VIEPS), which is a co-operative educational and research institution based in Melbourne. In recognition of Allan's contributions to education, the 'Allan White Medal ' was established which is awarded to 'honours graduates of outstanding calibre and demonstrated excellence' each year.

Allan White Fruit Cake recipe

Alan White ( wearing one of the 'hats' he liked for field work)

Alan White closely examining granite, an area where he was the leading expert in the world.

Alan White (lhs), doing field work in Scotland

Medal awarded to Allan White in 1999, by VIEPS

Alan White

Alan White's visitor pass at N.A.S.A.

Anakie Gem Show (L to R), Alan Altmann, Allan White, Mary Peterson, Heather White

Medal awarded to Allan by the Geological Society of Australia

Medal awarded to Allan by the University of Adelaide

Medallion awarded to Allan by the Geological Society of Australia. These medals are some of the many awards given to Allan during his lifetime, during which he became known as a world leader in his field, as well as being a driving force in the teaching of Geology in Australia.

Medal awarded to Allan White in 2007, by the Geological Society of Japan

  Friday 23rd,    Two USA citizens, Kevin & Irene Won, visited the Mt Shadwell quarry and spent a few hours fossicking there. They finished the day with some nice calcite & peridot specimens and some small 'cutters'.  Back to top

  Saturday 10th,    A large contingent of fossickers from the Ballarat club spent several hours fossicking for peridot at Mt Shadwell, along with some Warrnambool Club members. Some members from both clubs ended up with some cuttable peridot and a nice 'vent' lined with calcite crystals was uncovered and some large specimens obtained.

Ballarat club members working on the 'vent'

A view of the vent, lined with calcites.

One of the calcite specimens (400 mm wide)

Kevin & Irene Won, from San Francisco, USA

September    The club regrets it must announce the passing of Allan White, club member, geologist, geology lecturer and a good friend to many club members.


!!!!! NOTE THAT THE MT SHADWELL QUARRY IN MORTLAKE IS OPEN TO FOSSICKERS AGAIN

July   Larry, Mary, Keith & Janice  are in Queensland fossicking. Larry has found some nice green/yellow agates at Agate creek. They are attending the Atherton show before spending a few days at O'Brien's creek.

    The stadium beside the clubrooms is being demolished at present. Repairs to our clubrooms roof are being undertaken and further works are expected in the near future.

April 09    Recently a club member brought into the club for identification the specimen shown in the photos below. It consisted of a fossil shell encased by limestone from a local quarry. Of special interest were the crystals of barite which had formed around the shell and inside it.

 fossil shell, limestone and barite crystals (15 cm long).

close up of shell and barite crystals

Barite filling of inside of shell. The barite was clear with well formed crystals and had the appearance of a 'crystal snake'.

April 10 - 13 (Easter). Gemboree in Horsham! A large number of club members attended the Gemboree over Easter. One of the best Gemboree's in years! The weather was fantastic, displays and competition entries were impressive and members enjoyed themselves. Many members attended the talks at the show and came away with a greater knowledge of the hobby. The evening entertainment was great fun.  Back to top

The main hall worked well as a venue

The main hall

Part of the tailgating area

Gem trees

Some of our club members relaxing!

Silver work

Cabochons

Warrnambool member Alec, who rode down from Port Macquarie for the Gemboree.

March 2009        Three club members (Alan, Chris & Janice) were at the Hobart Gem Show on the 7th & 8th of March. The show was located at the casino on the waters edge and a good crowd were in attendance. Some snaps of the show are below.

The Hobart show was located at the casino

Teaching gold panning!

Serpentine & stichtite carvings

Lune river agates

Chris & Janice's stall

Fish Fossils

Crocite specimens

Mineral specimens

azurite specimen, very attractive!

SUNDAY 1/2/09   The club to a field trip to Mt Shadwell quarry in Mortlake. Warrnambool club members were joined by members of the Geelong club, making a total of some 29 keen fossickers at the quarry. Several members and visitors found peridot, calcites and other mineral specimens.  Back to top

Digging in the scoria for olivine, calcite etc.

The quarry equipment used to excavate at the quarry.

Alan Wood (field officer)

Different colours of scoria are obvious in photo

Keith (quarry foreman, second from right) explaining 'local' fossicking techniques & 'know-how' to visiting fossickers.

2008 Activities


7/12/08 Christmas Breakup:    will be held at Keith and Janice Fishers' home at Woodford on Sunday 7th of December, from 12 noon. B.Y.O. meat and a salad or sweet. Bring along a chair and a $5 'present' for 'Santa' to distribute.


29/11 08   THE ALAN WOOD COLLECTION    A significant number of attractive ilmenite crystal specimens have been collected from the Mount Shadwell quarry over recent months. If you would like to view these specimens then have a look at the THE ALAN WOOD COLLECTION on this website. Beware that the photos are of a larger size than normally used on the site, to provide you with an opportunity to appreciate their beauty, and so may take longer to download than normal!


30/11/08   On Sunday the 30th of Nov., some 25 members meet at the car park at Childers Cove. Young and old then headed off for some tektite fossicking. However, the tektites were as 'scarce as hens teeth'! Congratulations go to young Matthew for being the only member to find a nice tektite.


19/11/08 A.G.M.    The Annual General Meeting of the club voted in the following office bearers for 2009.



VALE BILL RODGERS

Warrnambool Gem Club members wish to express their sorrow at the passing on October 30, 2008, of Bill Rodgers, age 97. Bill was a member for several decades. He worked tirelessly in maintaining the club workshop and taught many newcomers over the years. Bill was an excellent lapidary; as well as his cabochon work he was a high standard facetor, gem carver and silversmith. Bill was also an outstanding artist and a lover of music. Bill was a life member of the club and a returned 'Rat of Tobruk'.

A week before his passing Bill enjoyed viewing the photos of the club's visit to the Melbourne museum and discussing the progress at the club. Bill was interested in lapidary to the end.  

A good man, sadly missed!

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Bill & Phyl Rodgers (LHS) with Ron Lovell, at Moonlight Heads, March 1984

Bill Rodgers celebrating his Birthday at a club meeting at 'Lyndoch'. (Roy Coleman in background)

October 18-19:    12 club members travelled via mini-bus to Melbourne to view the Melbourne Museum's mineral collection and  attend the Nunawading gem show, meeting up with other club members who had travelled independently to Melbourne.

    Our first stop was at the Nunawading show on Saturday. This was the first time the club had attended the show and members were impressed with both the displays and number of people attending the show. From the show cases it was obvious that Nunawading club has many very capable lapidarys among it's members.

A general view over of the show

Demonstrations of cabbing and faceting

Club members jewellery for sale

Jenny and Alan Wood relaxing at the show.

John Tunzi's stall at the Nunawading show

Club members relax after spending Saturday at the  gem show

On Sunday, club members travelled to the Melbourne museum where we were shown the museum's mineral/fossil/gem collection by a very informative and friendly Dermot Henry. Dermot explained the different parts of the collections and how they are used for scientific and mining purposes. Many of the mineral, gemstone and fossil specimens had members 'drooling' and aiming to improve their own collections. Hopefully one day many of these magnificent specimens will be on display in the main museum area in Melbourne.

The photos of this visit are on the MELBOURNE MUSEUM VISIT page and are well worth a look. They illustrate some of the many minerals we saw at the museum.









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August   I had the pleasure of visiting the Rockhampton Gem club this month while in Q.L.D. The club members are very friendly and helpful and I would recommend dropping in if you are in the area. The club rooms are located in the 'Walter Reid Cultural Centre', which is in the CBD, a short distance from the tourist information centre. This large multi-story building holds several community groups and is an example of how a council can successfully cater for community groups by reusing an older factory style building.

A close-up of some of the work area.

Faceting & Silversmithing!

One of several display cases the club has on show.

Alf and Beryl, two of the very friendly club members at 'Rocky'

Part of the gem club workshop, showing grinding units. Note lockers in rear for club members use.

Carving and silversmithing area of workshop.

Kitchen area.

Walter Reid building in Rockhampton which houses the gem club and many other clubs.

During august I also had the pleasure of visiting the 'Australian Fossil and Mineral Museum', which houses the Somerville Collection. The museum is located at 224 Howick St., in the centre of Bathurst, in a refurbished public school building. The museum has a website with much information  at http://www.somervillecollection.com.au  I recommend parking at the rear of the museum and allowing 4 to 5 hours to view the collection, but take a break halfway through as it can be overwhelming in one viewing. The staff are very helpful and the labelling of the exhibits is excellent. Some of the collection is shown below.

‘Big Bertha’, a really impressive slab saw at the ‘Rocky’ clubrooms!

The Australian Fossil and Mineral Museum.

A magnificent beryl crystal on display.

An amethyst specimen.

Tribolite Fossil on display.

Fish fossil from the Green River Shale deposit in the U.S.A.

Fish fossil from the Green River Shale deposit in the U.S.A.

A purple/pink flourite specimen.

Rhodochrosite.

Yellow flourite specimen.

Part of the interior display at the museum.

May 2-5     A number of club members attended the 2008 Palmer Rockerama in S.A. John & Gillian, Janice & Keith, Brian, Sarah, Tarna, Alan, Jenni, Chris, Janice and John enjoyed the great weather and the large number of tailgaters. Members had a good time (who spent a lot of money in the first few hours John?), with several members taking part in the metal detecting competition. All Warrnambool members who took part in the competition came away with a prize as a result of their efforts. Special mention must be made of Tarna Alexander and Alan Wood who were 'over the moon' when they won metal detectors. And in a pleasant change this year, Alan Wood managed to avoid getting sick, much to the relief of Jenni!  Back to top

Brian Alexander at the Palmer Rockerama

John Chivers at his stall

Janice Krause at her fossil's stall

Keith & Janice Fisher discovered their van was for sale, without their knowledge!

Warrnambool Gem Club members displaying their prizes from the metal detecting competition. A very happy group!

April 29    Club member John Adams  has passed away suddenly at South West Healthcare. John was a member of the club in it's early days and has been an enthusiastic member again over the last few years. He was faceting at the club workshop on Saturday (26th) before falling ill at home the following day. Club members will miss John's friendly face around the club and offer their condolences to John's family.

April 16    Club meeting

April 6  MORTLAKE FIELD TRIP  A great days fossicking, in perfect weather conditions, was had by club members at the quarry today. Matthew started the day off well, finding a very impressive gemmy bomb soon after arriving at the quarry. Jenni found a great bomb, close to Keith's feet as he was explaining to new members what they should be looking for. How did you miss that one Keith? Several club members, both old and young, had good finds during the day.

Matthew with his volcanic bomb!

Close up of volcanic bomb with Peridot found by Matthew

Gemmy volcanic bomb picked up by Jenni.

April 4   Our life member Bill Rodgers celebrated his 97th birthday with  club members. Happy  Birthday Bill!


March 20 - 25   Gemboree in Murray Bridge S.A.  Nine club members travelled over to the Gemboree for a get together with other rockhounds. The weather was fine, sunny and 'mid-twenties' during the days, though' brisk' first thing in the mornings.

    Other Victorian clubs were present, and myself, Ted & Val found ourselves camped between members from the Glen Waverly club and the Nunawading club. Many rockhounds from other states were present (QLD, N.S.W, W.A) as well as the South Australians. A great group of friendly people!

    Meals were well catered for, and toilets and showers were excellent. Tail-gaters were numerous and the two main halls had an excellent combination of displays and traders.

    Congratulations to Chris Ahyee on his win in the open section (fossils)!

General view of some of the campers

Steam machinery display

Tailgating area

Larry Peterson tailgating

Part of one of the main halls

Part of one of the main halls

Display case

Novelty case

Display of stone aircraft

Stone carvings

Stone carvings

Display case, cabachons

Minerals in display case

The importance of a good diet!

Display cases in the main hall

Some club members relaxing after a 'long day'.

Janice Tailgating

Chris Ahyee's first prize in Open fossil section

 One of the great things about these gemborees is the chance to obtain new information about equipment (new and old) , lapidary techniques and competitions. Be sure to attend the next Gemboree in Horsham, Vic. next year!


March 19   Club meeting. The club has purchased a 'as new' Robilt 8" grinding/trimsaw combination unit for the very reasonable price of $100! Also, the club has had a set of tubular steel mining ladders plus a diff. based winch donated to it. These items will be offered for sale to club members at a nominal price at the march meeting!


February 20    Club  meeting. Show discussed, new members welcomed. Several members travelling to the Gemkhana on 9/3/08. A group of members will be spending several days at the Gemboree at Murray Bridge next month.


January 25-27    Our Gem show was held over the weekend and was very successful (see the report on the 2008 &2006 club shows page)


If you wish to view earlier club activities, then go to our Archived Club Activities Page

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THE ALLAN WHITE FRUIT CAKE RECIPE: Allan provided this recipe to club members (the original source is unknown). It is a simple and fairly healthy recipe.

1 kg of mixed fruit, 2 cups of self raising flour (I use wholemeal), 2 cups of unsweetened orange juice (freshly squeezed is best).

Mix and place in an 8” (200mm) cake tin, greased and lined. Bake at approx. 175C for approximately 1 ½ hours (this will vary depending on the oven). I cover with foil to prevent burning of the top of the cake.

2010 GEELONG GEM SHOW VISIT: SUNDAY NOV. 14

Ten club members travelled to Geelong for a days shopping and browsing. A great day’s outing for all involved. It was good to catch up with members at the Geelong club.


One of the showcases at the Geelong show.

Some nice silver work by Geelong members.

Cor Melis browsing Des Liston’s stall.

The two Des’s having a good chat. It was good to see Des Liston (left) at the show.

L to R. Alan Wood, Des McKiernan, Keith & Janice Fisher, Jenny Wood

Some of the showcases on display

Rod (centre) and Nellie (right) shopping at Des Liston’s stall.

CLUB ACTIVITIES

December 12  CLUB BBQ  A large number of club members met at Keith & Janice Fishers home for our end of year bbq. Fortunately, the weather improved during the day and we had fine conditions for the bbq. As normal, the food was fantastic and the company great!

L to R    Alan Wood, John Honan and John Chivers manning the bbq.

L to R: Alan Altmann, Larry Peterson, Chris Ahyee and Dianne Brown

Jenny Wood and Keith Fisher in the Fisher’s lovely garden.

L to R: Val, Janice, Alan and Ted.