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November 1

Every morning from my hotel I make the half kilometer walk to the nearby Schwanthalerhoe U-Bahn station.  In the past ten years I have come to this show I have never once rented a car.  With the efficient U-Bahn and S-Bahn train system all you need is a good pair of comfortable walking shoes.

My first stop each morning on the way to the show. 

Take the last segment of the Ubahn ride with me to Messestadt Ost station and the Mineraliantage!

 

A few new things to report on for this installment.  But first, I have to tell you that people here in Europe are absolutely dialed in to the coming Presidential election and I can tell you that 100% of the people I have talked to, regardless of their nationality, are hoping that Barack Obama is elected.  Not one person out of over 100 people I spoke with wanted to see McCain win. For lack of a better word they are simply appalled at him for his selection of Sarah Palin as a potential Vice President. I must have heard it at least 50 times over the past few days. They're very curious to know how we Americans, here at the show, have voted since most people submitted absentee ballots before coming here as I did.  I don't usually like mixing politics with minerals but the people I spoke with found a sympathetic listener in me.  We will all find out in a very short while who it will be and life will go on regardless of who wins.

I had seen Bruce Cairncross earlier (For those of you who don't know of Bruce, he is one of the more knowledgeable people on mineral in general and southern African minerals in particular. He is a pleasure to talk to and very approachable.  I encourage you to try and obtain several books he's been involved including the Minerals of South Africa and two books with numerous images from the famous Desmond Sacco collection.) and he made mention of new olmiite specimens from the N'Chwaning II mine.  He was assisting Paul Balayer of Kalahari Mineral Venture with his stand. Recall last year that the mineral was first introduced at the Munich Show as pale beige colored crystalline masses.  Well this year the specimens were stunning.  Rich salmon red colored masses and rich beige colored masses - both with brilliant luster - were available.  The salmon colored specimens were quite pricey as you would expect and they got snapped up quickly by Bryan Lees in particular. But I did obtain several nice groupings for the update.  Several of the specimens were associated with snow white, acicular crystals of xonotlite.  Subsequent research on the polvervaartite/olmiite question indicates that just about all poldervaartite is in fact olmiite.     

A 7 cm specimen of olmiite. 

 

A beige colored specimen revealing the radial habit of the olmiite. 

The shelf of olmiite specimens in Paul's stand. 

Here's Paul holding one of the olmiite specimens. 

A 4 cm specimen of olmiite and Xonotlite - a "Don King hair cut" specimen. Paul had nick named this one "Bryan"...  

While roaming the vast halls I finally made it to Czech dealer Jaroslav Hyrsyl in Hall A4.  Jaroslav is one of those people that evoke feelings of humility in me.  He is nothing short of brilliant in the field of mineralogy and he is a pleasure, like Bruce Cairncross, to talk to.  He's also fluent in several languages.  It is hard to not stand there with my mouth agape when I visit with him.   He pointed out a couple of exceptional specimens of the rare silver bearing sulfosalt famatinite that he had recently obtained from the Quiruvilca Mine in La Libertad, Peru.  I bought one of them that had a fine association with crystallized pyrite.

A 12 cm specimen of pyrite with several violet hued crystals of famatinite to 2 cm across.

For the most part the best minerals are found under the funnel shaped object denoting the International Pavilion (IP).  Some of the leading dealers in the world are found here and there is always a crowd it seems. It is easy to understand why when you look into several of the cases.

A view from inside the IP.

A 40 cm crystal of Kunzite from Afghanistan and a 25 cm specimen of elbaite and lepidolite from Brazil.

A gorgeous 42,000 euro gold specimen from California!!!  

A favorite meeting place in the IP is the watering hole where quality wine is available along with soft drinks and coffee.

A shot of Munich at night from the arch at Sendlinger Tor. 

One last installment covering the displays at the show and my final thoughts on what was here.

Past Shows & Reports
PLEASE NOTE: The minerals that were offered on these pages are all sold
1999
Munich Show
2000
Sainte Marie Show
Munich Show
2001
Sainte Marie Show
Munich Show
2002
Tucson Show
Sainte Marie Show
Denver Show
Munich Show
2003
Tucson Show
Sainte Marie Show
East Coast Show
Denver Show
Munich Show
2004
Tucson Show
West Coast Show
East Coast Show
Denver Show
Munich Show
2005
Tucson Show
West Coast Show
East Coast Show
Denver Show
Munich Show
2006
Tucson Show
Bologna Show
Sainte Marie Show
East Coast Show
Munich Show
2007
Tucson Show
Dallas Show
East Coast Show
Denver Show
Munich Show
2008
Tucson Show
West Coast Show
East Coast Show
Denver Show
Munich Show
2009
Tucson Show
West Coast Show
East Coast Show
Denver Show
Munich Show

2010
Tucson Show
San Francisco Show
East Coast Show
Denver Show

Munich Show

2011
Tucson Show
San Francisco Show
East Coast Show
Denver Show
Munich Show

2012
Tucson Show
West Coast Show
East Coast Show
Denver Show 
Munich Show

2013
Tucson Show
Sainte Marie Show
Crystal Days (Poland)
Munich Show  

 

 
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