KOFA National Wildlife Refuge - February 2004 - photo by John Veevaert
John Veevaert    PO BOX 2182   Weaverville, California  96093  USA  (888) 689-8402



Return to the 2010 Tucson Show Homepage 

Show Reports
Report 1   Report 2   Report 3   Report 4  Report 5  Report 6 

 
 
 

Tucson 2010 Report 1

I have been here in Tucson since the 20th of January.  The drive down here was wet and wild once I left Cal Graeber's home in Fallbrook.  Wind and driving rain.  I-8 10 miles west of Gila Bend was subjected to an absolute torrential downpour like nothing I have seen since 1995 in New Orleans.  A few big rigs and lowered our speeds to about 20 miles per hour on the interstate as any speed faster than that would have likely resulted in a hydroplaning "fun time". Anyway, I have been running around town here in an effort to scare up some interesting things to talk about.


A YouTube video of my ... "impressions" of the weather in southern Arizona.

 

There is an upside to the rain with stunning views of Tucson and snow in the Catalina Mts.
Taken January 23rd.

The first person I saw was Marshall Sussman.  Marshall, a retired fabric dealer from Chicago, now lives here in the Tucson area with his wife Charlotte.  He is a magnet for new minerals coming to Tucson.  He had several things that I found interesting including a new find of dioptase from Omaue Mine, Kaokoveld, Namibia and a large lot of scorodite from Baishichong, Guanxi, China.

 
 

A 4.7 cm specimen of calcite hosting crystals of diotase to 1.5 cm.
The crystals are larger but covered with more of the calcite at the base.
 
Here's a larger 15 cm specimen with crystals to 2.5 cm across.  I left this one at Marshall's as 5 figure price was a bit too much for me....
 
 

Here is one of the scorodite specimens with lustrous crystals to just under 1 cm across. The matrix is pyrite.
 

 
The Inn Suites has changed its name to the Hotel Tucson.  They are also going through a major grounds cleaning, pool cleaning, etc.  The pool is and will be closed during the show.  The grounds were littered with debris from the trimming of the palm trees.  Here are a few shots and videos...
 
The palm around the pool post trimming.
 
 
 
Some of the debris piles which I am sure will be gone by opening day of the show.
 
 
In this short video Don and Gloria Olson can be heard commenting on the raining palm debris.
Just minutes before I had unwittingly walked out from under the covered walkway and was narrowly
missed by one of these projectiles... That would have solved and created a few problems... ;^) 
 
 
As usual John Cornish is the first guy set  up and it is worth stopping by to see what he has.  I found a very nice specimen of muscovite with spessartine from Fujian, Tongbei, China.  I had one of these 5-6 years ago and have looked for one like it ever since.  This is the closest I have come.
 
 

A 10 cm specimen of muscovite crystals studded with dep orange spessartine crystals to 1 cm across.
 
 
 
 
Luis Miiguel Burillo, as usual, had some exceptional specimens of new material available.  Some striking specimens of fluorite with or without hubnerite from Peru and some exceptional specimens from Panasqueira, Portugal.
 
 

A simply stunning specimen of apatite from Panasqueira with crystals to about 5 cm across.
 

A 6 cm specimen with violet colored crystals of apatite.
 

A 15 cm specimen crystal of pink fluorite with quartz from Huanzala, Peru.
 

A 15 cm specimen with fluorite, hubnerite and quartz.
 
 
Elsewhere at the Hotel Tucson there was a few Chinese dealers open.  I found one selling some interesting stalactitic fluorite from Li Jiang Mine, Yunnan Prov., China.
 

A 13 cm specimen of colorless fluorite in stalactitic form.
 
And in another room I found a Chinese dealer trying to promote these carvings as natural... If you see brownish colored fluorite in spherical form they are mineral carvings - not mineral specimens!!
 

I can't even begin to understand why anyone would want to do this to a rock...
 
 
Ok, this is the first taste of what's new here in Tucson.  Much more to come over the next couple weeks. 


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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