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 Show Reports
 
October 23rd
October 24th/25th
October 26th
Last Day

 
Moroccan Vanadinite
French Fluorite
Dem. Rep. of the Congo
Uranium Minerals
Romanian Selenite
Naimiban Fluorite
Chinese Minerals
Kammererite
Cobaltoan Calcite
Russian Fluorite
Rare Species
Kazakhstan Apatite
Random Specimens

1999 Munich Show        2000 Munich Show       2001 Munich Show

The Official 2002 Munich Show Homepage

All specimens are from this show are now Sold though not necessarily marked as such
 October 24th/25th

When you first enter the show near Hall A6 you are greeted by several large reproductions of dinosaurs.  They really are quite interesting to look at despite the non-chalant  appearance of the people in the pictures.
 
 
 


Dinosuars at the east entrance of the Messestadt.
 
 


Hall A-5



I started my reconnaissance of the show this day in Hall A5.  This is the hall where the better known dealers are and typically better quality specimens are to be found. As I mentioned yesterday the general impression of dealers here is that there is not a lot in the way of exceptional new finds but there is a substantial amount of very good quality specimens from known localities.  I arrived early on the 24th to meet with Chris Gobin and had the chance to plow through his material.   The Gobin's (Chris and Brice) had some great specimens of brochantite from the Congo at the Sainte Marie show and also a number of fine cuprosklodowskite specimens.   They had some additional specimens of this material so I decided to get some new pieces.  They also had some fine specimens of barite pseudomorphed by chrysocolla that I obtained.    Also on hand were some of the very finest specimens of carrollite yet from the Congo.   The quality of the crystals is exceptional in terms of size, luster and lack of damage.  Also, of interest in their booth are large slices of pink tourmaline from a new find near Kobwe in Zambia.  The tourmalines are all dark black on the outside and the rich pink color can not be seen unless they are sliced.


Here is the array of fine large crystals of carrollite the Gobin's brought to the show.  The crystal on the right is about 5-6 cm across!



 
 


Here are several of the large tourmaline slices from near Kobwe
Zambia.  These are about 15 cm across on the average.



 
 


Here a fine pseudomorph of chrysocolla after barite with malachite that is 4.5 cm across.

 I visited with German dealer Sigbert Zeccha and found an extraordinary specimen of bluish green smithsonite from Tsumeb.  This is fist size specimen that at first glance appeared to be a chunk from the Kelly Mine in New Mexico but the color and surface texture is different from that found at Kelly clearly placing the piece from Tsumeb.   He also had many historic specimens from a collection recently purchased of pieces from Europe.  Many silver bearing specimens were in the collection.

Riggi Umberto also produced some fine specimens of rich amber colored fluorite from his claim in central France.   I first saw these at the 2000 Sainte Marie show but have not seen many since then.  So it was a pleasure to be able to obtain more of these richly colored specimens.
 
 


Here is a typical specimen from the lot that is  5 cm across.  Note the Chalcopyrite inclusions.

Francois Lietard had a new find of deep purple colored apatite from Afghanistan.  I selected a couple of his better specimens.   Francois also had his usual array of fine Moroccan and Paki/Afghan specimens - many fine vanadinites,  roselites, tourmalines, etc.


Here is an 8 cm specimen covered with crystals of rich violet apatite to 1+ cm across.





One of the more interesting new finds at the show was presented by German dealer Andreas Weerth.  He had several specimens of new xenotime from Mulagori-Zeegai, Warsak, Pakistan.  These are not award winners in terms of aesthetics but they are a very good new find of a rare species here at the Munich Show.


Here is one of the specimens Andreas had of xenotime.  This crystal stands about 1.5 cm.

 Another new find of  the very rare species Kosnarite was brought to the show by Brazilian dealer Luiz Menezes.  Luiz consistently brings exceptional new finds of rare species as well as Brazilian classics to every show I ever attend.  His specimens of Kosnarite are among the best the world has ever seen.  Prior to this find the largest known crystals were 0.75 mm across. Several of his new specimens have crystals in excess of 2 mm!  I know this sounds trivial but it is significant when a new find produces specimens of minerals that are twice the size of previously known material. Kosnarite is a zirconium bearing phosphate with the formula: KZr2(PO4)3. Luiz said the specimens came from a couple of small rocks that were brought to him.  He initially thought that they were wardite but noticed an odd crystal face.  He had them analyzed and found the high zirconium levels and the xray analysis proved the mineral to be kosnarite.  We are talking RARE here folks!


Here is Luiz Menezes and a picture of one of the new specimens of Kosnarite.  This specimen has crystals over 1 mm across.



South African dealer Clive Queit had some decent specimens of fluorite on feldpsar from the now well known locality that has produced the numerous specimens of aquamarine and schorl in the Erongo Mountains.  These specimens have been around for a while as I saw some at Sainte Marie and Denver.  I did find one specimen with rich emerald green crystals of fluorite associated with very small beryl crystals and small schorl crystals.  The matrix of these specimens is crystalline microcline (feldspar).


Here is an average specimen of the emerald green fluorite on orthoclase. It is about 5 cm across.





Elsewhere in Hall A5 French dealer Renee Daulon had some exceptional specimens from China.  This fellow always has great pieces from China and I see him set up at Sainte Marie as well as the Munich Show.  This year he had his usually array of fine fluorite and scheelite specimens as well as other interesting items from China.  He also had some specimens of a new find of stilbite from the Daye mine - also known for the Hubeite specimens first introduced at the 2001 Tucson Show.  I selected the best three of the four that he had and also selected a remarkable specimen of a  spessartine pseudomorph of orthoclase. This specimen comes from Tongbei, Yunxiao, Fujiang, China - the same location for the smoky quartz and spessartine specimens.
 
 


Here are two of the specimens obtained from Daulon: A fluorite/spessartine combo and a specimen of the new stellerites from the Daye Mine.

Near to his booth I found Italian dealer Balestra who specializes in systematic minerals.  His display is VERY user friendly with all of the pieces placed in alphabetical order.  This makes it very easy to locate species of interest to the customer.


Here is Balestra's display at the show.  Complete economizing of the small area!
French dealer Alain Martaud has his usual display of exceptional specimens.  His specialty is fluorite and tourmaline.   I snapped a couple pictures of some of the interesting specimens I saw in his display and a picture of him also.
 
 

Here is picture of a large cabinet specimen of fluorite completely coated in microscopic crystals of pyrite from El Hamman, Morocco.  The tourmaline crystal on the right is from Jos, Nigeria.



Here is Alain.  Unfortunately, I caught him literally in the blink of an eye... Sorry Alain!



German dealer Horst Burkard specializes in Moroccan minerals.  He sets up in Tucson and Denver also.  He had some great ramshorn specimens of selenite that were too interesting to not photograph.  These have been out for some time now but his pieces were by far the best seen here at Munich.  I did not get any of these due to their extreme fragility. They are quite striking.
 
 
 


Here is the shelf of selenite specimen Horst has. The largest specimens are over 30 cm in length!

 Close to Horst was German dealer Christian Rewitzer.  He always has an attractive display of specimens from eastern Europe, Pakistan and rare species.  It is always worthwhile to browse his display because good specimens  will always be found there.  I found some beautiful specimens of Autunite from Portugal, crystals of tourmaline from Elba Island with antique labels, and other interesting specimens.
 


Here is German dealer Christian Rewitzer speaking with a customer.




Here are two casual shots of the show.  The picture of the "Desert Inn" attempts to recreate the atmosphere of the old location in Tucson that no longer is around.  They serve Mexican and American beers and have a constant stream of mostly 1950's music dominated by Elvis.  A lot of people meet here at lunch time and at the end of the day.
 
 

As the 24th continued I found a nice specimen of Peruvian Rhodochrosite from Czech Republic dealer Dr. Jaroslav Hyrsl.   Jaroslav always attends the Tucson Show and sets up in the Executive Inn.  If you find yourself in Tucson it is always worthwhile to drop in and see what he has which is large array of fine rare species.  He shares the room with Dr. Petr Sztacho who is also here at Munich under the business name: Plus-Praha.  Petr always has fine specimens from Russia and other former Soviet block states.

Near the entrance to Hall A4 German dealer Gunnar Faber was set up.  Gunnar is a very knowledgeable in mineralogy and is an avid field collector who visits places all over the world.   I make it a point to visit his display at both Tucson and Munich.  This year Gunnar visited the far north of Canada and collected some very nice specimens of a new find of barrerite coating and partially pseudomorphing calcite from the Tungsten Flat River, Nahanni Range in the Northwest Territory of Canada. Gunnar explained the significance of this new find being that barrerite is typically found as a byproduct of the interaction of ocean water on other minerals.  This, according to Gunnar, is the first known find of barrarite not associated with some sort of oceanic interaction.  Gunnar also had interesting specimens of native gold from Yellow Knife and rare iron bearing sulfates - voltaite and botryogen - from Chile.
 
 


Here is a shot of Gunnar (smiling on the left) and his assistant pointing a much large camera at me while I was
 taking this picture.  I blurted out that I was "out gunned" and that produced a hearty laugh from Gunnar.



Here are two of the specimens obtained from Gunnar: A barrerite on the left and botryogen on the right.




As mentioned earlier Jeff Scovil and I are sharing a space to conduct our work.  Jeff is, of course, the well known photographer for most mineral magazines published around the world.  I took the liberty of capturing Jeff in action as he was photographing a specimen for the What's New report to be published later in the Mineralogical Record.  Jeff also provides a constant stream of dry humor so there is plenty of laughter going on in the "hole".  I have prepared a short Scovil mpg file where Jeff "complains" to me about dust on a specimen that he has to brush off before taking a picture.
 
 


The door in the center is the entrance to our space.



 
 
 


The room is purposefully kept dark to control lighting.  Jeff has a vast array of tools
and tricks of the trade that he employs to produce his famous mineral photos.
 Lots more to come!
 

John

Follow the links below to see pages from the largest show in Europe!

Show Reports


October 23rd
October 24th/25th
October 26th
Last Day
Moroccan Vanadinite
French Fluorite
Dem. Rep. of the Congo
Uranium Minerals
Romanian Selenite
Naimiban Fluorite
Chinese Minerals
Kammererite
Cobaltoan Calcite
Russian Fluorite
Rare Species
Kazakhstan Apatite
Random Specimens
 

1999 Munich Show        2000 Munich Show       2001 Munich Show

The Official 2002 Munich Show Homepage



Trinity Mineral Co
Tsumeb
Rare Minerals
MineralShows.Com
Benitoite Mine

All images, text and stuff on these pages copyright John Veevaert -Trinity Mineral Company 2002