In sharing ideas about these subjects I will, because of space limitations, provide short but meaty encapsulations. I will draw abundantly from resources on the web. To complement my input, I will usually provide links to the subject for your further exploration. In a lighter vein, I plan to frequently include the rich lore of mining and of mining men, of prospectors, and of Lost Gold and Silver Mines and of the historic mines, particularly in the Southwest and Mexico.

To begin, what is a mineral? Drawing from the site, Webmineral, I find a number of definitions cited from scientific literature.  To synthesize: “a mineral is a naturally occurring homogeneous solid with regularly ordered crystalline structure and a definite chemical composition. They can be distinguished from one another because of these definite characteristics”. Knowledge of these ideas are powerful tools in identifying a mineral specimen. The mineral’s chemical composition leads directly to its color, internal atomic arrangement, and crystal form. For example, the beautiful Rhocochrosite crystal from the Sweet Home Mine in Colorado, shown above, is manganese carbonate, having the chemical formula MnCaCO₃. Its deep red color is due to its manganese content and its rhombohedral form comes from the internal arrangement of atoms.

Because of the importance of chemical and crystallographic relationships in defining a mineral, I’m providing a link to an introductory course to minerology and crystallography offered by the Open University, a long known and excellent United Kingdom source of quality courses offered, at no cost, to world-wide users. I encourage you to open the link and scan the topics offered, as well as the internal links to tools for accessing a comprehensive body of reference material.

I hope you will share your questions and comments with me, submitting them to our “Ask An Expert” feature.

In my next post, I’ll share with you ideas offered by the most senior of collectors on how to build your own collection. Those ideas will include: collecting one mineral species; collecting many; collecting from one locality; collecting worldwide; where to find bargains and much more.

Until then, have fun learning about minerals and collecting.

Today my main topic is the mineral Wulfenite which has a strong association with Arizona. Lead mines, in which Wulfenite has been found, are numerous, with some of them offering such beautiful examples of the mineral that they have become classic localities. Among these are the Rowley Mine and the Glove Mine.   More photos of Wulfenite

Wulfenite, having lead in its composition, is found primarily in lead mines and is widely distributed among Arizona mines as shown on the map of occurences: Map

There are 137 of these mines, with distribution from North to South and East to West. An article by the former Curator of the Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum, Jan C. Rasmussen, identifies eight mines noted for the aesthetics of the Wulfenite specimens found in them, and describes the physical and historical geology of the region, as well as the geochemistry describing the mineral deposition. The author also includes photos of specimens from each mine in this downloadable pdf document.  Arizona Wulfenite by Jan C. Rasmussen

The wide range of yellow to red colors is notable among Arizona specimens. However, for completeness sake, Wulfenite specimens come not only in shades of red, orange, and yellow – as this one in figure #2, from the Glove Mine – but they can also be made black by manganese inclusions, such as the one in figure #3. Other grey to black inclusions of such ore minerals as metal sulfides would have a similar effect.

The beautiful yellow to red colors of Wulfenite deserve mention of their origin. I will paraphrase the explanation in this post by Fred Haynes

Since lead molybdate is colorless or white:  the color must arise from another metal with the same valence as lead. Trace amounts of vanadium, manganese, chromium, and titanium are the source the colors. These elements do this by absorbing the violet, blue, and green parts of the visible spectrum.  Some of the crystal forms evidenced by Wulfenite range between tabular, through blocky, to highly elongated as shown by examples in the Atlas of Crystallographic Forms of Wulfenite and the vast gallery of photographs at its Mindat site, which I linked to at the beginning of this blog. Just click on the icons in the atlas to view these forms. Some of the basic forms evidenced are modified by beveled edges and corners which add to their interest.

On Building a Collection:  In my first blog I stated that I would provide some insights on how to build a collection that would maximize your enjoyment. Rather than paraphrase their content I’ve provided links, below, to the websites which offer sound advice on subjects ranging from the aesthetics of a specimen through pragmatic How To’s, to how to build a collection on a budget. I hope these ideas serve you well in the process of building your collection

Desirable to mandatory specimen attributes: http://farlang.com/how-to-build-a-mineral-collection

Pragmatic advice: http://www.johnbetts-fineminerals.com/jhbnyc/articles/advice.htm

Pragmatic advice including building upon locality, one species, etc:

http://www.mcdougallminerals.com/blog/seven-keys-to-building-a-great-mineral-collection/

AND http://www.minerals.net/resource/Organizing_Mineral_Collection.aspx

Building a collection on a budget: http://www.treasuremountainmining.com/index.php?route=pavblog/blog&id=133

A short personal note:  Shortly after I began collecting, I learned of a mineral dealer named Jack Filer who, with son Russell, dealt in mineral specimens and were located close to my home. Frequently, on a Saturday, with or without money in my pocket, I would go over to visit Jack. Even without purchasing anything, I was welcome to visit, ask questions, eagerly sop up information and hear their stories of mining and collecting, and so wonderfully allowed to hold and pore over specimens, as well as help Jack in curating his collection. All of this was an incredible privilege. I include these remarks not only to reminisce, but to also point out the importance and joys of having a mentor who knows a lot about minerals, communicates well, particularly in question-answer form, and who really cares about you and your education about minerals. Jack and Russell started me out in becoming the collector I remain today. I will always be grateful for them.

Perhaps the lost mine tale that most of us are aware of, is that of the Lost Dutchman Mine [Ref 2]. One, of 62, hand drawn maps of its supposed location, made available in Reference 3, is shown in Figure 1 and orients it with respect to the prominent geological landmark, Weavers Needle, shown in Figure 2.

Two roots for the of name of the lost El Naranjal Mine have been attributed to its location near a grove of trees with oranges (naranjas) or to the orange color of the gold in its ore [Ref 3]. It is supposedly located at the bottom of canyon (Barranca) beside a river and near an abandoned hacienda.

Among many of the discussions about this mine, Treasurenet suggests that proof of the its existence lies in an old road sign naming the road to the mine in Sinaloa and in records found in Guadalajara, which were found by a British consul, describing production in the millions in the 17^thCentury [Ref 4]. In another posting,

TreasureNet, [Ref 5], suggests its location fits that of an 1800’s lost, and very rich gold mine, in the region of the lost Tayopa silver mine [Ref 6], and in another post [Ref 7] that its location lies in the state of Durango.

Ref 1. http://www.thegeozone.com/treasure/arizona/index.jsp

Ref 2.  http://treasure-hunting-information.com/?page_id=2641

Ref 3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naranjal_mine

Ref 4. http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/tayopa/36414-el-naranjal.html

Ref 5. http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/tayopa/273860-can-el-naranjal-possibly-found-tayopa-complex.html

Ref 6. http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/tayopa/36414-el-naranjal.html

Ref 7. http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/treasure-legends/487274-update-mine-el-naranjal.html

Today my main topic is the mineral Wulfenite which has a strong association with Arizona. Lead mines, in which Wulfenite has been found, are numerous, with some of them offering such beautiful examples of the mineral that they have become classic localities. Among these are the Rowley Mine and the Glove Mine.   More photos of Wulfenite

Wulfenite, having lead in its composition, is found primarily in lead mines and is widely distributed among Arizona mines as shown on the map of occurences: Map

There are 137 of these mines, with distribution from North to South and East to West. An article by the former Curator of the Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum, Jan C. Rasmussen, identifies eight mines noted for the aesthetics of the Wulfenite specimens found in them, and describes the physical and historical geology of the region, as well as the geochemistry describing the mineral deposition. The author also includes photos of specimens from each mine in this downloadable pdf document.  Arizona Wulfenite by Jan C. Rasmussen

The wide range of yellow to red colors is notable among Arizona specimens. However, for completeness sake, Wulfenite specimens come not only in shades of red, orange, and yellow – as this one in figure #2, from the Glove Mine – but they can also be made black by manganese inclusions, such as the one in figure #3. Other grey to black inclusions of such ore minerals as metal sulfides would have a similar effect.

The beautiful yellow to red colors of Wulfenite deserve mention of their origin. I will paraphrase the explanation in this post by Fred Haynes

Since lead molybdate is colorless or white:  the color must arise from another metal with the same valence as lead. Trace amounts of vanadium, manganese, chromium, and titanium are the source the colors. These elements do this by absorbing the violet, blue, and green parts of the visible spectrum.  Some of the crystal forms evidenced by Wulfenite range between tabular, through blocky, to highly elongated as shown by examples in the Atlas of Crystallographic Forms of Wulfenite and the vast gallery of photographs at its Mindat site, which I linked to at the beginning of this blog. Just click on the icons in the atlas to view these forms. Some of the basic forms evidenced are modified by beveled edges and corners which add to their interest.

On Building a Collection:  In my first blog I stated that I would provide some insights on how to build a collection that would maximize your enjoyment. Rather than paraphrase their content I’ve provided links, below, to the websites which offer sound advice on subjects ranging from the aesthetics of a specimen through pragmatic How To’s, to how to build a collection on a budget. I hope these ideas serve you well in the process of building your collection

Desirable to mandatory specimen attributes: http://farlang.com/how-to-build-a-mineral-collection

Pragmatic advice: http://www.johnbetts-fineminerals.com/jhbnyc/articles/advice.htm

Pragmatic advice including building upon locality, one species, etc:

http://www.mcdougallminerals.com/blog/seven-keys-to-building-a-great-mineral-collection/

AND http://www.minerals.net/resource/Organizing_Mineral_Collection.aspx

Building a collection on a budget: http://www.treasuremountainmining.com/index.php?route=pavblog/blog&id=133

A short personal note:  Shortly after I began collecting, I learned of a mineral dealer named Jack Filer who, with son Russell, dealt in mineral specimens and were located close to my home. Frequently, on a Saturday, with or without money in my pocket, I would go over to visit Jack. Even without purchasing anything, I was welcome to visit, ask questions, eagerly sop up information and hear their stories of mining and collecting, and so wonderfully allowed to hold and pore over specimens, as well as help Jack in curating his collection. All of this was an incredible privilege. I include these remarks not only to reminisce, but to also point out the importance and joys of having a mentor who knows a lot about minerals, communicates well, particularly in question-answer form, and who really cares about you and your education about minerals. Jack and Russell started me out in becoming the collector I remain today. I will always be grateful for them.

In sharing ideas about these subjects I will, because of space limitations, provide short but meaty encapsulations. I will draw abundantly from resources on the web. To complement my input, I will usually provide links to the subject for your further exploration. In a lighter vein, I plan to frequently include the rich lore of mining and of mining men, of prospectors, and of Lost Gold and Silver Mines and of the historic mines, particularly in the Southwest and Mexico.

To begin, what is a mineral? Drawing from the site, Webmineral, I find a number of definitions cited from scientific literature.  To synthesize: “a mineral is a naturally occurring homogeneous solid with regularly ordered crystalline structure and a definite chemical composition. They can be distinguished from one another because of these definite characteristics”. Knowledge of these ideas are powerful tools in identifying a mineral specimen. The mineral’s chemical composition leads directly to its color, internal atomic arrangement, and crystal form. For example, the beautiful Rhocochrosite crystal from the Sweet Home Mine in Colorado, shown above, is manganese carbonate, having the chemical formula MnCaCO₃. Its deep red color is due to its manganese content and its rhombohedral form comes from the internal arrangement of atoms.

Because of the importance of chemical and crystallographic relationships in defining a mineral, I’m providing a link to an introductory course to minerology and crystallography offered by the Open University, a long known and excellent United Kingdom source of quality courses offered, at no cost, to world-wide users. I encourage you to open the link and scan the topics offered, as well as the internal links to tools for accessing a comprehensive body of reference material.

I hope you will share your questions and comments with me, submitting them to our “Ask An Expert” feature.

In my next post, I’ll share with you ideas offered by the most senior of collectors on how to build your own collection. Those ideas will include: collecting one mineral species; collecting many; collecting from one locality; collecting worldwide; where to find bargains and much more.

Until then, have fun learning about minerals and collecting.