2011 CLUB ACTIVITIES
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January February March April May June July August September October November December
January The club installed a flat lap in the club workshop during January. Thanks must go to John Honan for his work on this unit.
February 1 The club has just learned of the death of long term club member Doris Sizeland. Doris has been a member since the club’s earliest days and has attended club activities until recently. She will be greatly missed by club members.
March 12 Some 9 club members travelled to Ballarat today for the Gemkhana. Conditions were warm and sunny, excellent for the many tailgaters at the show. The number of tailgaters appeared to be greater than last year and the range of materials on sale was good. Inside, the traders were many in number and the range of mineral specimens, fossils, gems, findings, equipment and faceting and cabbing rough was impressive. Club members made many purchases.
John Chivers was operating as a trader inside the pavilion while Darren Lucas, who has recently opened a shop in Castlemaine, was trading as a tailgater.
Overall, a good days outing for club members.
John Chivers and Larry Peterson at the show.
Darren Lucas tailgating at the 2011 Gemkhana in Ballarat.
April The club has purchased two wall units for display of gems and mineral specimens. Doors with safety glass need to be fitted to the units. Keith & Janice Fisher and Ted & Val Morton have returned from their fossicking holidays in Tasi. Sounds like they had good trips all up.
May/June Club President Alan Altmann visited the USA and Canada. He spent time at the Smithsonian Museum of National History and his report/photos are shown on the Smithsonian Museum page on this site. Well worth a look.
While in Nova Scotia, Canada, I visited the town of Parrsboro on the shores of the Bay of Fundy. The bay is world famous for its high tides (some 14’ tidal variation) which result in significant erosion of the shoreline. Combine that with an interesting geological history (igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary regions along the shoreline) and you have good conditions for finding gemstones and fossils. At Parrsboro their is a geological museum which is well worth a visit, displaying the geological history of the region, local fossils and gemstones. At Parrsboro I also had the pleasure of meeting Eldon George, a well known fossil and mineral collector. I purchased some local agates from him and then went to have a look at a beach nearby which he recommended for a bit of fossicking. I had no equipment with me but went to have a look any way. It was worth the effort as I could see the quartz seams in the cliffs and agates embedded in the rock platforms (how I wished I had a geo-
Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia, showing tidal range.
Fundy Geological Museum
Agate section from bay of Fundy area.
Tumbled agates and local Amethysts.
Bay of Fundy area tourmaline and quartz.
Agate cabachons
Bay of Fundy agates.
Bay of Fundy agate set in silver pendant.
Bay of Fundy agate set in silver pendant.
Bay of Fundy agates.
Start of main museum display.
Fossilized Stromatolite .
Crinoids
Gypsum
Brachiopods
Dinosaur back bone.
Fossilised fish.
Mammoth tooth.
Bay of Fundy fossils.
Some of Eldon George’s collection at his rock shop/museum.
Some of Eldon George’s collection at his rock shop/museum.
A ‘local’ Stilbite specimen.
A closeup view of the Stilbite crystals.
A selection of Eldon’s agates.
Alan Altmann and Eldron George.
The area I went to looking for some agates.
Quartz seams in the cliff faces.
An agate embedded in the cliff.
Quartz and agate seam.
In 1984, Eldon found the world’s smallest dinosaur prints near Parrsboro. About the size of a penny, the dinosaur foot print was left on the muddy shores of a drying lake 200 million years ago by a sparrow sized dinosaur, Coelophysis,and was found on the shore of the Bay of Fundy. The photo below shows the size of the foot print compared to an Australian 20c coin.
July Club member Larry Peterson took a short trip to the Harts Range in the N.T. recently and collected some mineral specimens while there. Some of those specimens are shown below.
Sphene and Albite crystals.
Sphene and Albite crystals.
Tourmaline Schorl and Albite crystals
Muscovite and Albite crystals
Albite and Muscovite crystals, with a 20c coin for reference.
Kyanite crystals with a 20c coin for reference.
While examining the above specimens, Larry showed me some of the Agate Creek agates he collected last winter. A selection of these are shown below. Most of these measure around 50mm or so in length.
These agates display some of the impressive range of colours and patterns available at Agate creek. Australian lapidaries are lucky to have such a fossicking locality available to them!
September 11 Some 13 club members spent the morning at the Mt Shadwell quarry at Mortlake. The weather was cool but dry and sunny. The peridot was scarce, but Gillian found a nice bomb with gemmy peridot late in the morning.It was the first bomb she has found with facetable peridot at Mt Shadwell! Lucy also picked up a nice piece of peridot which should cut a nice small stone. John Chivers got onto a nice pocket of Illmenite crystals up to 50 mm long and an Aegirine specimen. After the mornings fossicking members retired to Alan & Jenny Woods home for a BBQ lunch and cuppa. It also gave newer members a chance to view Alan Woods collection of Mt Shadwell gems & minerals.
September 13 I was able to visit Darren Lucas’s ‘Castlemaine Crystals’ shop, located at 1 Halford St. in Castlemaine. Darren, a long term member of the Warrnambool Gem Club, is a fully qualified Gemologist, Diamond Grader, Registered Gem & Jewellery Valuer and member of the FGAA. Darren is also developing his gem cutting, faceting, silversmithing and goldsmithing skills. Darren has set up his new mineral/gemstone shop in Castlemaine and has a good range of local, Australian and international gems/minerals.
Darren in his new Gem shop.
Some of Darren’s range of gem & mineral material for sale.
Another view of the gem shop.
A nice specimen of pyrites in Lapis Lazuli.
Some of the high quality silver work that Darren is producing for sale.
More of the silver work Darren has created recently.
Above: Some quartz crystals and pyrites specimens from the Castlemaine regions
Right: A display of mineral specimens from the Castlemaine region.
Enjoying lunch at Woodie’s place.
John, Gillian and Sue relaxing.
September 17-
October The club has been fortunate to receive financial support from the Warrnambool City Council. At a meeting on the 25th, the council provided a grant of $3000 to help upgrade the lighting in the workshop and to improve our displays at the clubrooms. This expenditure will be supplemented by club funds.
The club also had some good fortune when club member Ted Morton obtained a high quality display unit, at no cost to the club, which will be used to display some of our mineral/gem collection. Well done Ted! Thanks must go to the local ‘Good Guys’ store for their generous donation of the display unit.
November 13 Club members took a bus trip to the Geelong Gem Show. It was a good drive down and back. At the show members caught up with friends from other clubs and made many purchases of equipment and gem material. Overall a good days outing.
December A number of good finds of gem quality peridot have been made recently at the Mount Shadwell quarry at Mortlake. Some bombs containing large gemmy chunks of peridot have been collected by a number of fossickers including one local who found a bomb with some large clean pieces around the 27 carat mark, which should cut around 10 carat gems! The photos below show some of the recent finds.
A bomb with a large gemmy piece of peridot.
Clean gemmy peridot from one bomb. The larger peices are 27 carat in size and clean. Alan Wood is faceting these gems for the lucky owner!
The club has recently been fortunate to obtain a grant from the Moyne Shire for the purchase of a display unit to feature the Gems & Minerals of the south west of Victoria. The club greatly appreciates the support of the shire which will help the club improve it’s mineral/gem display.