1. style and fashion
2. jewelry

BOULDER BUSTER Volume #49 Issue # 3, 2014
HELL’S CANYON GEM CLUB
Serving the Valley for
62 YEARS
P.O. BOX 365
LEWISTON, IDAHO 83501
PURPOSE OF HELLS CANYON GEM CLUB, INC.
The purpose of this nonprofit, social club is to promote the rock hound hobby by providing opportunities for the collection, working and
displaying of gems and minerals, as well as educational programs in the field of geology.
MEETINGS: 2nd Friday of each month
Board Meeting 6 pm Regular Meeting 7 pm
VISITORS ARE ALWAYS WELCOME
Dues: Adult [per person] $15.00; Junior [under 18] Free with a responsible adult membership.
2014 BOARD OF DIRECTORS
President
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
Past President
Steve Rand
Mel Wilks
Marylou Northrup
Marilyn Sharp
Linn Enger
208-791-2325
208-301-3939
208-743-6944
509-758-4218
208-746-4957
1st Year Trustee
Richard Peterson
1st Year Trustee
Jerry Blemka
2nd Year Trustee
Betty Wilks
2nd Year Trustee
Torch Yates
Federation Director
Jeremy Giard
Federation Delegate
Gail Giard
HELLS CANYON WEBSITE: http://www.hellscanyongemclub.com
WEBMASTER: Rick Westerholm: hcgemclub@yahoo.com
208-276-7077
509-758-7384
208-301-3939
208-743-3358
509-758-2581
509-758-2581
===================================================================================================================================
HOW TO FIND OUR MEETING PLACE
Page 1
BOULDER BUSTER Volume #49 Issue # 3, 2014
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
Hello Rockhounds
Here it is just around the corner from spring. It is time for the rock auction on March 15th, So donate some
treasure’s for the club to sell or sell your own with 30 percent going to the club. The setup start at 9 a.m. at LCSC
with the auction beginning around 1:30. So come on out and enjoy.
At the last meeting the club renewed the mineral lease on the crystal claim so lets make some use of it this year, as
of now still no word on the garnet lease.
So come on out and enjoy the meeting on March 14 and bring some treasure’s to share.
===================================================================================================================================
February 14 board meeting, 6:30pm
Steve Rand opened board meeting. Officers present were:Steve Rand, Mel Wilks, Marylou Northrup, Marilyn Sharp,
Linn Enger, Jeremy & Gail Giard, Jerry Blimka, Richard Peterson, Betty Wilks & Torch Yates..
Minutes were approved.
Marilyn Sharp gave treasurer’s report. Jerry Blimka made a motion and Torch Yates seconded it to pay bills. Motion
passed.
Linn Enger gave a report on the projector. He found an Epson printer for $360 but is still doing research.
Marilyn reported that when all bills were in we did make a profit on last year’s show.
Marilyn Sharp made a motion , seconded by Mel Wilks to set the junior budget for the year at $150. Motion passed.
Mel Wilks got an email on the garnet claim. Nothing really has changed. No official word has been received. Jerry
Northrup suggested contacting our Idaho legislators about the claim. He was appointed by Steve to do that.
The club auction was set for March 15 from 9:00 to 5:00 at Lewis Clark State College.
We canceled just the accident part of our club insurance as all members are supposed to have their own insurance.
Meeting adjourned
============================
General Meeting 7:00pm
New member: Lorraine Stoops
Clubs spring auction was announced. March 15, Lewis Clark State College. Members may sell their own things if
they give a 30% commission to the club. We decided to give hourly door prizes at auction.
Motion was made by Jerry Northrup, seconded by Bud Betz to pay the bill on our crystal claim this year. Motion
passed. Lets try to organize a trip to the claim this year.
Rick Westerholm is trying to set up a field trip to the gravel pit on Feb. 23. Meet at 9:00 @ Walla Walla Community
College. Sign sheet if you are interested. At time of writing, 2 Sunday trips have been snowed out and Rick is still
trying.
Nothing new has been found about a new building for the club. A man representing the grange talked about the
possibility of building another building behind the grange. Lots of discussion followed. The grange man also told
about a program in late September called Riverfest that would include all kinds of vendor booths, events, food, etc.
for the valley. Details will come out later in the summer.
Bruce Borgelt gave another part of his program.
Show & Tell—Merlyn Brusven showed beautiful jewelry he had made. Jerry Northrup showed a collection of
Montana moss agate & his book “The River Runs North”. Also reminded everyone to mark their calendars for the
Multi-Federation field trip in Terry, Montana July 31, August 1,2,3, 2014 along the Yellowstone River.
Door prizes were given out.
A cake from the club and valentine cookies from Torch Yates & Marylou Northrup were shared.
Meeting was adjourned.
(submitted by Marylou Northrup).
Page 2
BOULDER BUSTER Volume #49 Issue # 3, 2014
1. Show Chairman
}
2. Show Treasurer
} Marilyn Sharp
1-509-758-4218
3. Dealer Chairman
} Gail Giard
1-509-758-2581
4. Advertising Chairman
}
5. Displays Chairman
}
6. Demonstration Chairman
}
7. Floor Plan Chairman
} Rick Westerholm
8. Silent Auction Chairman
}
9. Kids Corner Chairman
}
10.Admissions Chairman
}
1-208-746-2101
11.Security Chairman...............}
Please come to the meeting prepared to
sign up for one of these jobs. If we can't
fill all these spots then maybe we should
start thinking about not doing a show.
Page 3
BOULDER BUSTER Volume #49 Issue # 3, 2014
2014
NFMS CALENDAR
ITEMS
NFMS Mid-Year Meeting
Hosted by Lakeside Gem & Mineral Club
Benton County Fairgrounds
Tri-Cities, WA
April 26-27, 2014
---------The Multi-Federation Field Trip:
Terry, Montana
July 31, August 1, 2, 3, 2014
We are having a great response to the Terry Fieldtrip, have been getting lots of questions and signups.
At the time of this printing all of the RV parks in Terry are full (34 spaces) The Hotel/ Motels are full (48 rooms) We have
lots of RV dry camping and Tent spaces. But if you want a Motel or RV space you will have to make reservations in Miles
City, Mt. about 37 miles away ( 30 minutes) drive.
Four Full days of fun, 3 days of fieldtrips. The present plans call for 3 trips per day to the Yellowstone River for 3 days, 2
trips to the hunt for cretaceous sea fossils and I am working on one per day to trip for Dinosaur fossils.
For more information contact Doug True, Fieldtrip Chair,
(406) 670-0506, or email dtruefossils12@yahoo.com
----------
NFMS Annual Meeting
Hermiston, Oregon
August 15-17, 2014
For more information contact Mike Filarski
stonemorlin1@netscape.net or Judi Allison jall@eotnet.net
=================================================================================
Oregon Sunstones
reprinted from an February, 1987 Oregon Geology article by Ron Geitgey, DOGAMI
Oregon sunstone, also known as heliolite, is a transparent feldspar with colors ranging from water clear through pale yellow, soft
pink, and blood red to (extremely rare) deep blue and green. The color appears to vary systematically with small amounts of
copper and may depend on both the amount and the size of individual copper particles present in the stone.
Pale yellow stones have a copper content as low as 20 parts per million (ppm) (0.002 percent), green stones contain about 100
ppm per million (0.01 percent), and red stones have up to 200 ppm (0.02 percent) copper. Some of the deeper colored stones
have bands of varying color, and a few stones are dichroic, that is, they show two different colors when viewed from different
directions.
Many stones appear to be perfectly transparent at first, but when they are viewed in just the right direction, a pink to red metallic
shimmer flashes from within the stone. This effect is called "schiller" or "aventurescence" and is caused by light reflecting from
minute parallel metallic platelets suspended in the sunstone. When viewed along their edges, the platelets are invisible to the
naked eye; when viewed, however, perpendicular to their surfaces, they reflect light simultaneously from each platelet, creating
a mirror effect. Earlier studies of the Lake County feldspar suggested that the platelets were hematite (iron oxide), but the most
recent research concludes that they are flat crystals of copper metal.
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BOULDER BUSTER Volume #49 Issue # 3, 2014
The terms "sunstone" and "heliolite" (from Greek helios, meaning sun, and lithos, meaning "stone") have been used for at least
two centuries for feldspars exhibiting schiller. The Lake County occurrence was first reported in 1908, and the presence of the
schiller effect was the original reason for naming the stones sunstones. For decades, however, the term "sunstone" has been
used for these Oregon gem feldspars both with and without schiller.
Oregon sunstones are a calcium-rich variety of plagioclase feldspar named labradorite, a common mineral in basaltic lava flows.
All three known sunstone occurrences are in small basalt flows that superficially resemble basalt flows elsewhere in the state
that contain large feldspar phenocrysts or megacrysts. However, feldspars in those flows are typically cloudy to opaque and
relatively small compared to those in the sunstone flows, which are clear, glassy, and can be up to 2 or 3 in. in one dimension.
No detailed information has been collected on the geology, petrography, or chemistry of the known sunstone flows, so no
meaningful comparisons can be made between them or with other flows in the area. The sunstone flows appear to be small; the
Lake County occurrence covers about 7 sq. mi., and the two Hamey County occurrences are probably less than 1 sq. mi. each.
Considering the regional geology and the wide separation between the flows, it is probable that there are more sunstone
occurrences in the area.
Sunstones are mined from the soil and partially decomposed rock formed by weathering of the lava flows. The surface debris is
dug with pick and shovel and sieved through a quarter-inch screen, and the sunstones are separated from rock fragments by
hand. In some local areas, the lava flows are weathered to a depth of several feet, and good stones have been recovered from
pits dug into these zones. Hard-rock mining techniques have been used on unweathered parts of the flows, but the sunstones
are often shattered along with the lava, and recovery of large unbroken stones is difficult.
Except for part of the Lake County occurrence, all three producing areas are held by mining claims and are not available for
collecting without permission of the claim owners. About 2 sq. mi. of the Lake County flow have been withdrawn from mineral
entry and established by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) as a free public collecting area. This sunstone area is
located off the northeast flank of the Rabbit Hills about 25 mi. north of Plush and 80 mi. northeast of Lakeview. Maps, directions,
and information on road conditions are available from the BLM District Office in Lakeview.
Varieties of feldspars used as gemstones are valued for their colors or optical effects. Being typically translucent to opaque, they
are normally cut in rounded forms or cabochons. Transparent gem feldspars, particularly calcium-rich varieties, that can be cut
as faceted stones are rarer. Occurrences of transparent labradorite have been reported from Arizona, California, New Mexico,
and Utah, but few gems have been produced from those areas. Oregon sunstones are uncommon in their composition, clarity,
and range of colors, and they occur in sufficient abundance to permit sustained production of faceted gems.
===============================================================================================
Sunstone Mining in Oregon
By Alexandra Arch (edited from—1859 Oregon Magazine, 1/1/2011) http://1859oregonmagazine.com/sunstone-mining-in-oregon
Red sunstone in the rough. / Photo by Joni Kabana
Don Buford and Terry Clark at their Dirt Devil mining camp outside of Plush, Oregon. / Photo by Joni Kabana
Outside of the tiny southeastern Oregon town of Plush, sunstone mining camps are a post-apocalyptic setting in the
vast empty desert of Rabbit Basin. Here, rusty RVs huddle with mechanical shovels whose elbows bend high into the
desert sky. Buckets of backhoes tuck their knuckles into the dirt and create piles that will, one day, back-fill the holes.
Over an ancient lake bed, the wind exercises gale-force gusto on this high plateau.
“You should see it when it’s windy!” jokes Don Buford, 63, his rotund form clad with dirt-streaked clothing and his
long white beard sailing sideways as he climbs down from a backhoe. The rigorous outdoor work over the past
twenty years has weathered his face and cracked his hands. The sun has bleached his shirt and the earth has faded
his jeans.
Buford’s digging machine comes to a rest among other pieces in the colony within the Dust Devil Mine compound.
To a casual observer, though there would be no accidental tourists this far out of nowhere, the Dust Devil compound
would appear the last standing vestige of a civilization that has long since succumbed to wind and sand. The closest
services are forty-five minutes west in tiny Lakeview.
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BOULDER BUSTER Volume #49 Issue # 3, 2014
“We are electricians, welders, mechanics and engineers,” offers Terry Clark, 62, a thin man with deep lines etched in
his face, who co-owns and operates Dust Devil. “Out here, we have to be jacks of all trades.”
However different physically Buford and Clark may be, their lives are closely linked. Both were irrevocably changed
by combat in Vietnam, have their favorite rocks stashed in their pockets and can’t help but tell stories late into the
night. And they love digging sunstone in the high desert.
Buford and Clark first visited the area in 1991 to collect rocks for a teen-age kids’ group. They were taken by the
beauty and opportunity. A year later, they scooped up abandoned mineral claims and eventually set up a mining
business with hand tools and long weekends. Becoming more serious about their mining, they renovated an old
school bus and installed a belt over which they could wash and sort the rock material. These days, the operation
comprises 340 acres and employs an optical sorter to increase production.
The greatest pleasure for Buford and Clark and the handful of other miners living and working out in these nowhere
camps in southeastern Oregon high desert, though, is finding a perfectly ribboned piece of Oregon sunstone. “Every
day is like Christmas out here,” booms Clark. “When you uncover the stones, you are the first ever to see them …
stones which are unlike any other.”
There are two main regions where Oregon sunstone is mined. One is about twenty-five miles outside of Plush in
Lake County, an area that includes numerous dig-for-fee opportunities at private mines as well as a public collection
area that requires no permit. There is also a private commercial mine located in northwest Harney County called
Ponderosa that actively distributes Oregon sunstones both nationally and internationally as well as another private
mine in the southeastern part of the county that is not a commercial mining operation.
For many rock enthusiasts, the Dust Devil mine has been ground zero for Oregon sunstone, a labradorite sub-group
of the abundant feldspar mineral. The semiprecious stone can be found in several parts of the world in yellow and
transparent colors. Among the feldspar family, only the Oregon sunstone flaunts an impressive—and coveted—array
of colors from champagne to salmon, blue to green to red and sometimes a combination of colors. What further
distinguishes it from its international relatives, is the tiny platelets formed inside the stone that creates a dynamic
inkwell of color in the stone called “schiller,” which creates an ever-changing incandescent effect in light.
“With the schiller and its many manifestations, you have more variety from one mineral from one mining location than
any other gem in the world,” says Steve Douglas, sunstone miner who owns Douglas Fine Jewelers in Bend. “What
jewelry designer couldn’t get excited about a palette like that?”
Despite its local consumer appeal, the Oregon sunstone’s place in the larger gem industry is still a mystery. Data
concerning the amount and the value of sunstone that is mined every year is elusive. The Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) doesn’t keep track of value of sunstone removed from claims or from the public collection area,
according to field geologist Steve Flock.
The extracted rough is only a fraction of the stone’s potential value once it is cut and polished. Unlike diamonds,
whose retail value can be fairly determined from the rough stone, there is no equivalent measure for sunstone
because the color and quality of the gem varies so much, according to Douglas. The top grade rough will sell for
$10-$15 per carat, he says. It’s the cutting of the colored material that adds value. Because of the irregular shape of
rough sunstone crystals, the average yield after cutting is a low 12 to 15 percent of the rough stone. Douglas
circumvents the network of industry intermediates by digging the stone in his own mine, adjacent to that of Dust
Devil, and taking the stone from mining, to cutting and polishing to retail sales in his own store.
Long before Buford and Clark’s Dust Devil claim, the Oregon sunstone had a function, value and allure. The
ancestors of the Northern Paiute and Modoc tribes were likely among the first people to find and use Oregon
sunstone. In addition to using it in barter with other tribes, Native Americans used the stone for burial rituals. There is
also anecdotal evidence they used it in ceremonies to invoke the healing power of the sun.
In the late nineteenth century, ranchers came into Rabbit Basin and cowboys picked up the sunstone, trading it to
local stores and beyond. Eventually, the stones passed under the noses of Tiffany & Co. in New York City. The world
renown diamond jeweler bought claims in the area and coined the term “Plush Diamond” in hopes of marketing the
clear stones. Due to logistical and marketing difficulties, Tiffany sold all its claims in the 1910s and cleared out,
according to some. Buford insists that Tiffany & Co. still held claims into the early 1950s.
Today the BLM owns most of the thirty square miles that comprise the sunstone area near Plush. In Lake County,
there are approximately 370 claims ranging from twenty to 160 acres that surround a 2,500-acre public collection
area. According to BLM data, there were more than 10,000 visitors to the public collections area between 2009 and
2010, or double the number of people who visited in 2000.
Page 6
BOULDER BUSTER Volume #49 Issue # 3, 2014
Mutiny for the Bounty
Naturally, where there are expensive gems, there is risk and danger. Where there is danger, there are guns.
A .44 caliber gun hangs in a Western holster on John Aldrich’s hip. A 56-year-old man with sky blue eyes and a long
brown ponytail, he appears more like a modern-day gunslinger. His wife, Debbie, carries a smaller more practical .38
Special for what she calls “inventory control.” Beyond the artillery, the Aldriches are inviting people who operate
Double Eagle Mining Company, a fee-digging site along a string of mining encampments not far from Dust Devil.
“I’ve never been one for the city,” says Aldrich as he pulls a smoke from his Dickies denim overalls and lights it under
the brim of his sweat-stained hat. His blue eyes flick towards the incoming storm. The business started slowly, he
explains. Many years ago after back surgery, he began faceting—cutting stones to pass the time. Hooked, Aldrich
bought an abandoned claim six years ago and moved to the high desert with his wife and their two Malamutes. After
five months of finding few sunstones with color, Aldrich went down to the pits after his morning coffee, began working
and immediately struck proverbial and literal pay dirt.
Grinning like a kid, Aldrich produced a single 298-carat sunstone he calls, “The Dragon.” The stone has a blue vein
pulsing through it, and the schiller changes colors in every angle of the afternoon light. With a price tag of about
$5,000, it has sentimental value to Aldrich, but the right price would make it less sentimental.
The Dragon was a good omen for the ensuing dig. “It was the tip of the iceberg,” he says. “I still get excited to see
the stone in the pits.”
Double Eagle’s business primarily attracts teenage boys and their families—the future geologists and gemologists of
the world, Aldrich mused. “It’s the same reason that I originally came here,” he says. “People come here and dig up
the sunstone, and each piece has a story behind it, and it becomes an heirloom passed on with the story.”
And stories certainly abound among the mining camps, especially some of the more sordid nature whispered later in
the evening. Some touch on animosity between the mining camps, such as that of Dust Devil and Spectrum where
charges of fraud, non-compliance, claim jumping, being wanted by the law, or worse, fly.
“This is a trade ripe for armed robbery, but the people out here are probably not the ones you should be messing
with,” cautions Buford.
Both Dust Devil and Spectrum claim to be the largest sunstone producers in the area with the best quality of colored
stones and offer a litany of complaints about each others’ business practices or dwindling supply of ore.
“This is the fringes of society in every way,” says Chris Rose, owner of Spectrum mine. “It is a Wild West mentality.
But it is beautiful nature … the sunset, the rainbows. We are ultimately here because of the rocks.”
A tall, muscular man with a tan face and a soft voice, Rose, 44, has owned several large claims in the area for the
last thirteen years and considers his property to be the original Tiffany & Co. mine from 1913. Buford disputes this,
citing another location nearer to his Dust Devil claim to be the original pit. Rose is a long-time rockhound who touts
the buying power of sunstone and its “en vogue” status in the international gem trade, especially in China, Japan and
Germany. He sells it by mail and at gem shows, the biggest of which is in Tucson, Arizona.
“Most of the people who buy from me are small high-end gem and jewelry businesses offering unique, rare and highend gemstones,” he says. “It is a niche market that is best supplied by smaller companies.”
In late 2006, the show “Cash and Treasures” on the Travel Channel featured Spectrum Mine in a segment in which
the host of the show found a 30-carat red sunstone. Thousands of viewers streamed to the mining area to try their
luck. Enabling people to find the rock themselves is a valuable experience, Rose contends. “You can’t manufacture
places to do this in the world,” he says. “You can’t make a mine in China. It’s not Disneyland.”
The story of Oregon sunstone begins in the stark country of the Oregon Outback, an untamed area with trailers,
shovels, backhoes and guns. It ends in places with soft couches, woven rugs, spot lighting and alluring jewelry cases
filled with polished Oregon sunstone, its schiller beaming.
Underneath lamps in the back of his jewelry store in Bend, Steve Douglas takes rough stones he mines from his
claim outside of Plush through a process of polishing, carving and setting. No matter how polished, carved and set
the pieces of semi-precious Oregon sunstone are, they inevitably tell a tale of their rural origin. Perhaps it is the
larger story of the Oregon sunstone—its history, its remote location, and its gun-toting diggers that gives the Oregon
sunstone its luster.
“It’s still a blast for the casual miner to go out and mine their own $1,800 gem,” Douglas says. “We’ve made custom
jewelry for a number of world-class gems found by people that dig for the sheer fun of it.”
Page 7
BOULDER BUSTER Volume #49 Issue # 3, 2014
Sunstone Setting and The Andesine Sabotage
If Dust Devil is largely responsible for the rise in popularity of sunstone, andesine is the gem that nearly killed it.
Several years ago, gemologist Martin Guptill recalls first seeing at a show this “new” colored gem, reminiscent of
Oregon sunstone’s coloring. “The material looked fishy to me,” he says. “It was too uniform. The coloring was the
same in every piece, no rough stones were ever available to see, no pictures of the mine where it originated, and no
clear indication of where it was from nor a particular company that was associated with it. It’s like the old cliché, ‘If it
seems too good to be true, it probably is,’” he says. “That’s when I tried to make some noise.”
Guptill and others speculated that the rock was being heat-treated in order to acquire the Oregon sunstone coloring
and schiller. Retailers, both big and small, snapped up the stone including television shopping networks such as
Jewelry TV. Guptill was one of a few people in the industry to contact Robert James, the founder of the International
School of Gemology in Texas, to investigate the stone.
Guptill prepared some of the rock samples for James’ lab to analyze. When the results pointed to fraud, James
formally blew the whistle. A class action suit against JTV soon followed. The plaintiffs alleged that the retailer
knowingly sold stones that were heat-treated and marketed as a “highly coveted, extremely rare, all-natural,
expensive gem that looks like an Oregon sunstone.”
The lawsuit was settled in the fall of 2008 with JTV never admitting wrongdoing. It was the credibility of independent
jewelers that really got burned, Guptill noted. “Many of them won’t buy sunstone now,” he says. “Just when Oregon
sunstone was starting to get some attention, here comes andesine to spoil the party.”
According to Dust Devil Mine’s Don Buford, the andesine scam cost the industry several million dollars in sales and
for some, cast a long shadow over the future of the stone. With some of their bona fide Oregon sunstones replacing
notorious andesine on JTV, Buford and his partner, Terry Clark, still look to time to heal the wounds of credibility.
High-end gem cutter Dalan Hargrave gravitated towards working with Oregon sunstone because the stone was easy
to “work up,” and not too soft for jewelry, but mainly because he was drawn to the schiller.
“The stone is doing something more than what the cutter is doing — it is a nice play of light,” Hargrave says.
Transitioning from a career in goldsmithing to stone carving, Hargrave has won at least ten awards in international
competitions using choice pieces from the Dust Devil mine.
The marketing push from miners behind Double Eagle, Spectrum and Dust Devil, enthusiastic rock hounds and
independent jewelers have put the Oregon sunstone on the map, according to Martin Guptill, a graduate gemologist
from the Gemological Institute of America. “The people who like sunstone are people who are looking for something
different,” notes Guptill. “They don’t walk into an ice cream parlor and order vanilla.” Instead, they are looking for the
one-of-a-kind pieces.
As with many in his field, Guptill started cutting gemstones as a hobby and developed it into a profession. He knew
nothing of the Oregon sunstone until he met Dust Devil’s Buford and Clark at a gem show. It was love at first sight,
and it quickly became his favorite stone to work with.
Unlike other stones that are heavily marketed from the top down, sunstone's demand comes from the ground up. “It’s
a grassroots consumer interest that has sprouted faster than the trade’s interest,” he says. “A lot of jewelers consider
it the red-headed stepchild of gems.”
Because of its rarity and limited supply, Oregon sunstone should bring a higher price. But because of its obscurity, its
value is diminished, according to Guptill. In an informal survey of Pacific Northwest jewelers, only one store had a
sunstone ring in stock and many had never heard of the gem. Jeweler Karla Proud of Exotic Gemstones in Bend,
however, cites notable successes for the stone: a few of the western Ben Bridge Jeweler stores, a chain of seventy
stores throughout the U.S., regularly carries the stone, and Tiffany & Co. has a long-standing order with her for
extremely red sunstone beads—an order that she has been unable to fill yet.
On the whole, larger gem houses, both domestic and foreign, recognize that there is a limited and quite localized
production of the stone that would not meet their demand, Guptill explains. But, for what attention the stone does
receive, the Dust Devil duo are its unlikely chief marketing officers.
Every year, Dust Devil exhibits in the fifty-seven-year-old Tucson Gem and Mineral show and has invited gemcarvers to come to the mine and participate in “dig ins,” events in which the artists are allowed to keep a portion of
what they find for free provided they carve the piece and enter it in competition.
Back on Oregon’s southeastern high desert, where the wind carves a rugged path, Buford and Clark dream of seeing
Oregon sunstone adorn the necks of Hollywood’s biggest stars and of retiring after twenty years in the dirt. They’ve
put Dust Devil mine up for sale and hope to rejoin their wives, as Clark will pursue his hobby of blacksmithing and
Page 8
BOULDER BUSTER Volume #49 Issue # 3, 2014
knife-making while Buford splits his time hitting the road in his RV or sailing. Both hope to stay involved in
rockhounding and mining, but on a much smaller scale.
“The rockhounds, the stone cutters and the jewelry designers are some of the best people in the world,” Buford says.
“We have friends all over the world who we would not know if it weren’t for being in the mining business. We will miss
the excitement of people finding treasure in our pit and finding stones that are different than any we have seen
before.”
Various gem colors of Oregon sunstone
Oregon Sunstone from the Dust Devil Mine
and cut by John Dyer
==========================================================================================
Oregon information on northwest earthquakes.
Very good article!!!
http://www.oregongeology.org/sub/quarpub/CascadiaWinter2010.pdf
St. Patrick’S Day
March 17
If we are not
meant to have
midnight snacks,
why is there a light
in the fridge???
Lapidary Websites of Interest
Midwest Faceter's Guild http://www.midwestfacetersguild.org
Mineralogical Society of America http://www.minsocam.org
Fossil News http://www.fossilnews.com
Lapidary Journal http://www.lapidaryjournal.com
The Metalsmith (quarterly) http://www.metalsmith.org
Mineral News http://www.mineralnews.com
Rocks and Minerals http://www.rocksandminerals.org
Museums of interest to rockhounds: www.amfed.org/museums.htm
Page 9
BOULDER BUSTER Volume #49 Issue # 3, 2014
STANDING COMMITTEES
GEM SHOW
1. Bulletin Editor— Ed Shoemaker
1. Show Chairman---
COMMITTEES
2. Membership Chairman---Lon & Marilyn Sharp
2. Show Co-Chairman---
3. Juniors Chairman---Mike Horne
3. Show Treasurer---
4. Field Trip Chairman—
4. Dealer Chairman---
5. Program Chairman ---
5. Advertising Chairman---
6. Show & Tell Chairman---
6. Displays Chairman---
7. Claims Chairman---
7. Demonstrations Chairman---
8. Historian Chairman---
8. Floor Plan Chairman---
9. Library Chairman---
9. Silent Auction Chairman---
10. Sunshine Chairman---
10. Kids Corner---
11. ALAA--(American Lands Access Association)
11. Admissions--12. Security---
==========================================================================================================
NFMS MEMBER cLUBS’ SHOW SCHEDULE
(Partial list)
March 15 & 16
Sat 10–6, Sun 10–4
Northwest Montana
Rock Chucks
Mar 28 - 30, 2014
Fri 10–6, Sat 10–6
Sun 10–4
April 12 & 13
Sat 10–6, Sun 10–4
Rock Rollers Club of
Spokane WA
April 26 & 27
Sat 10–5
Sun 10–4
Lakeside Gem and
Mineral Society NFMS Mid Year Meeting
May 10 & 11
Bozeman Gem and
Mineral Club
Gallatin County Fairgrounds
Building #1, 901 North Black,
Bozeman, MT
Puyallup Valley Gem &
Mineral Club
Swiss Park
9205 198th Avenue East
Bonney Lake, WA 98390
Sat 10–6, Sun 10–4
June 6, 7, & 8
Fri 10–5, Sat 10–5
Sun 10–5
Yakima Rock & Mineral
Club
Flathead County Fgnds Grandstand
Bldg 265 North Meridian Road,
Kalispell MT
Spokane County Fair & Expo
Center, N.604 Havana
Spokane WA
Washington National Guard
Armory, 2501 Airport Lane,
Yakima WA
Benton County Fairgrounds
1500 South Oak Street
Kennewick WA
Joe Berg 406 844 3560 PO Box
5541, Kalispell MT 59903
Contact: David Rapp 509
891 6533
showchair@rockrollers.org
Marti Sondgeroth
marthams@q.com
509 248 6401 evenings
Mary Lou Omstead
509 783 2798
PO Box 6652
Kennewick WA 99336
Jerry Hancock
jaegers@bresnan.net PO Box
11001 Bozeman MT 59715
Nancy LeMay
bees2knees@att.net
253 952-6216, PVGMC
c/o Club Show, PO Box 134
Puyallup WA 98371
info@puyallupgemclub.org
Page 10
BOULDER BUSTER Volume #49 Issue # 3, 2014
Minerals in the U.S.A.
In this word search are the names of minerals found in the United States of America.
The names can run left to right, right to left, top to bottom, bottom to top or diagonally.
When you are done, use the internet and find information and pictures of each mineral.
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Mineral names in this word search:
Copper; Fluorite; Galena; Staurolite; Rhodochrosite; Tourmaline; Garnet; Gold; Silver; Pyrite;
Halite; Benitoite; Neptunite; Wavellite; Quartz; Barite; Diamond; Mercury; Sulfur; Gypsum;
Topaz; Kunzite; Rutile; Trona; Muscovite; Datolite; Calcite; Franklinite.
Page 11