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The Club will provide cups and napkins for the refreshments. Those volunteering to provide refreshments need only provide sufficient drinks, ice, and snacks, such as, cookies, cakes, crackers, or donuts. Please see Hazel
Goode to volunteer.
If you enjoy the refreshments, please be prepared to take a turn in furnishing them. NOTE: if you volunteer to bring refreshments, please do so. If, however, you are unable to attend for whatever reason, call Hazel Goode, Lowell Baker, or Arvil Marion.
September
10-12, 2010, The Thirty-ninth Annual Gem and Mineral Show. As
information to those that are not already aware, the theme mineral for
the 39th Show is copper and copper minerals. So start
thinking about all those varieties of copper minerals you have hidden
away to proudly display at this years Show.
Dues
are payable on or before January 1, 2010.
A membership can be found on the membership tab. Please make it easier on all by renewing early and
use the form. A new
membership list will be part of the February Bulletin. Please complete
the application form with particular attention to the phone number,
e-mail address and your interest in helping with the Show. If you do not
wish to help with the show, mark the no
box on the form.
Forsyth Gem and Mineral Club December
31, 2009
Balance
on 1/1/ 09
$ 456.16 Receipts: Available
Funds
$
1,689.78 Disbursements: Insurance
$ 500.00 P.O. Box
94.00 Picnic site
45.00 Speaker Cost
86.31 Copies
79.92 Web Site
51.48 Total
Expenditures
$ 970.71 Balance,
12/31/09
$ 719.07
Copper (pronounced /kɒpər/,
KOP-ər)
is a reddish chemical
element with the symbol Cu (Latin:
cuprum) and atomic
number 29. It is an
extremely ductile
metal
with very high thermal and electrical conductivity
second only to silver as a conductor of electricity and heat.
Pure
copper is rather soft and malleable and a freshly-exposed surface has a
pinkish or peachy color. It takes a high
polish, and it readily forms alloys with almost all metals. Copper found
in the free metallic state in nature is called "native
copper." and is found throughout the world as a primary mineral in
basaltic lavas. The greatest known deposit of copper is in porphyries
formed by volcanic
activity in the Chile's Andean Mountains. The name copper comes from the
Latin word cuprum, which means "from the island of
Cyprus." Copper is mankind's
oldest metal, dating back more than 10,000 years. A copper pendant
discovered in what is now northern Iraq goes back to about 8700 BC.
Archeologists have recovered a portion of a water plumbing system from
the Pyramid of Cheops in Egypt. The copper tubing used was found in
serviceable condition after more than 5,000 years. Relatively easy to
mine and refine, people discovered methods for extracting copper from
its ores at least 7,000 years ago. Neolithic
humans about 10,000 years ago first used native copper
as a substitute for stone. The Egyptians and the Sumerians invented
metallurgy, first reducing ores with fire and charcoal about 4000 BC.
Copper was intentionally alloyed with tin as bronze about 3500 BC. This
harder metal was so universal in early history that one period is known
as the Bronze Age. Copper is
easily worked and is remarkably ductile. It can be cold-rolled down to
one one-thousandth inch in thickness, and, by cold drawing, its length
can be increased as much as 5,000 times. Hence it is an ideal metal for
making wire. Today, copper
is primarily obtained from the ores cuprite (CuO2), tenorite
(CuO), malachite (CuO3·Cu(OH)2), chalcocite (Cu2S),
covellite (CuS) and bornite (Cu6FeS4).
Copper-bearing ores fall into two main classes: oxidized ores and
sulfide ores. The oxidized ores, such as cuprite and tenorite,
can be reduced directly to metallic copper by heating with carbon in a
furnace. The sulfide ores, such as chalcopyrite and chalcocite,
require a more complex treatment in which low-grade ores must be
enriched before smelting begins. Sulfide ores are more important
commercially. Half of the world's copper deposits are in the form of chalcopyrite
ore. Ores are
removed either by open-pit or by underground mining. Ores containing as
little as .15% copper can be mined profitably in open-pit mining, but
underground mining is profitable only if an ore contains 6% to 7%
copper. For many
years, Chile has been the world's largest producer of copper, with the
United States a close second. Other major producers include Canada,
Zambia, Russia, Poland, China, Mexico, Kazakhstan, and Indonesia. After
Arizona, the leading copper-producing states in the U.S. are New Mexico,
Montana and Utah. Most of the
copper produced in the world is used in electrical products; another
third is used in metal products such as pipe, tubing, plumbing fixtures,
hardware, and machine tool products. Most is combined with other metals
to form more than 1,000 different alloys. Important alloys in which
copper is the chief constituent are brasses (copper and zinc), bronzes
(copper and tin), and nickel silvers (copper, zinc, and nickel). Copper is used in
nearly all coinage and remained the second most utilized metal (after
iron) until the 1960s when cheaper and more plentiful aluminum surpassed
it in world production. Copper is also a trace element essential to the
healthy life of many plants and animals,
in which it usually occurs as part of oxidizing enzymes. Paul Revere
produced the bronze cannon, spikes and pumps for the famous ship, Old
Ironsides. Revere was one of the earliest American coppersmiths. Each year in
the U.S., nearly as much copper is recovered from recycled material as
is derived from newly mined ore. An average single
family home uses 439 pounds of copper: There's more than 50 pounds of
copper in an American-built automobile. There's about 9000 pounds of
copper in a Boeing 747-200 jet plane. The Statue of Liberty contains
179,000 pounds of copper. Physical
Properties of Copper Atomic number: 29 Atomic weight:
63.546 Melting point:
1,083 degrees C Boiling point:
2,567 degrees C Tensile strength:
approx. 19,000 psi
Collected and
extracted from numerous internet web sites.
Copper bearing
Minerals (and I may have missed a few)
Every distributor
of diamond products in the USA (except possibly some of the ones noted
at the end of this article) is in the process of announcing or has
already announced price increases of 4 to 15% on every diamond product
they sell. If you will be in the market for diamond lapidary supplies it
might be wise to expedite your purchase. Recent
antidumping order calls into the question the nature of international
trade and competition B
y B r i a n D e l a
h a u t, p r e s i d e n t , M K D
i a m o n d P r o d u c t s The
U.S. antidumping policy as it relates to diamond blades has strayed from
its original purpose of guarding against predatory foreign firms. It is
now little more than an excuse for industries to shield themselves from
competition —
at great cost
to both American consumers and American business. On
September 30, 2009, the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) ordered
the Department of Commerce to begin collection of cash deposit for
imported diamond blades manufactured in China and/ or Korea. These cash
deposits are to be retroactive back to January 23, 2009. What is
important to note is that these cash deposits range from 2.82 to 164.09
percent, depending on the supplier and the country of origin. Given the
current economic downturn and resulting slowdown in the construction
industry, how these cash deposits collected on diamond blades benefit
the consumers and American business is questionable. The petitioners*
who brought this challenge claim the collection of these cash deposits
will guarantee that prices for diamond blades in the U. S. will be
competitive and fair. And who, they ask, could be against fairness? But
such rhetoric bears little relation to the current economic reality.
Rather than promoting fairness and competition, the cash deposits only
work to increase costs associated with the use of these products. What
is especially perverse is that the impact of these antidumping cash
deposits will fall most harshly on construction industry that has
suffered the most in these severe economic times. Competition from
products that are produced by these foreign companies has provided the
construction industry over the years with highly competitive prices that
have made these tools both affordable to the professional contractor and
accessible to the
average consumer. Now as a result, the cost of these tools will move up
sharply with no real benefit in performance or value. One of the curious
things that the petitioners will not give comment to be that the U.S.
manufacturers of diamond blades will surely be the beneficiary of these
higher prices, given the limited U.S. manufacturing capability for all
kinds and sizes of diamond blades. In
fact, very few manufacturers in the U.S. have the production capacity to
produce the variety of diamond blades currently supplied by companies
from China and Korea. In addition, there are many more buyers of diamond
blades in the United States than there are producers — and consumers
will end up paying significantly more than they should. Competitive
pricing will no longer be at the forefront of these products as these
cash deposits take effect. The foundation of free trade has benefited
both the world and U.S. economy by pushing countries to specialize in
the goods and services they produce most efficiently. Just as a consumer
benefits from a sale, each nation benefits from paying less for products
it buys on the world market. The collection of cash deposits as imposed
by the antidumping order will do little to reduce costs associated with
these critically important products used in the construction industry,
and will in turn only cause the overall cost of construction to go up
with no benefit/value to the consumer. ! *Diamond
Sawblade Manufacturers’ Coalition and its individual members:
Blackhawk Diamond Inc., January
2010 RPN www.rentalproductnews.com
Fullerton, CA; Diamond B Inc., Santa Fe Springs, CA;
Diamond Products, Elyria, OH; Dixie Diamond,Lilburn, GA; Hoffman
Diamond, Punxsutawney, PA; Hyde
Manufacturing, Southbridge, MA; Sanders Saws,Honey Brook, PA; Terra
Diamond, Salt Lake City, UT; and Western Saw
Inc., Oxnard, CA. From B
L A D E S & S A W S by way of the Southeast Federation email
From: "Shirley Leeson"
<shirleyleeson@cox.net> American
Lands Access Assoc. All,
can you get this information out to your clubs, please? From:
BlueRibbon Coalition [mailto:noreply@sharetrails.org] ARKANSAS According
to the plan, 31 miles of loop trails will be designated in the area as
open routes on weekends and holidays between May 15 and Sept. 15. At all
other times, the trails will be closed to OHV use. I'll bet
anyone dollars to donuts they don't apply this strict criteria to other
trail users CALIFORNIA: Feinstein Desert Bill Attempts to Reconcile Landscape Protection, Clean
Energy NEVADA
THERE
WILL NOT BE A SCHEDULED DMC FIELD TRIP DURING JANUARY
DMC
Program of the SFMS Field Trip Committee Saturday,
February 6, 2010, 10:00 AM EST Hogg
Mine, Troup County, Georgia An
Official Field Trip of The Mid-Ga. Gem & Mineral Society, Macon, GA
(HOST) and the Forsyth Gem and Mineral Club FEE
SITE The
Hogg Mine was in operation between 1942-1960 mining beryl to produce
beryllium. It has been open to collectors
off and on since the 1960’s. WHERE:
The Famous Hogg Mine outside LaGrange, in Troup County, GA COLLECTING:
Rose quartz, tourmaline, beryl, mica books, & quartz crystal. The
Rose Quartz will star if cut correctly,
and some or the beryl can be gemmy Aquamarine. Pictures
are available at:http://www.dixieeuhedrals.net/content/hogg_mine.pdf FEE: Adults-$17.00 & children under 18 are free. Upon arrival you
will be required to sign a waiver of liability. WHAT TO
BRING: A pick, shovel, rock hammer, chisels, scratching tools, screen,
buckets, and of course plenty of water
and food. There is a PORT-a-Potty on site. Being February, dress in
layers could be cold! We have
been lucky and had beautiful, clear and even warm weather in Feb. but
extra clothes and boots might be useful
if it’s muddy or the weather turns. There are roads and paths. Cliffs,
ditches and new pits have been dug. There is loose material under the
leaves that take little effort to recover. Using a rake to push back the
leaves might be useful and a crack hammer will help to find tourmaline
imbedded in quartz. Directions to our meeting place: From
Atlanta, take I-85 south to La-Grange. Get off on Hwy. 219 also
Whitesville Road (Exit 13) and go south (left) about
2.2 miles from I-85. We will be meeting at Smith’s Corner Store (The
CITGO on the Left) at the intersection at Whitesville
Rd. and Bartley Rd Where
to Stay: Days Inn, 2606 Whitesville Road, LaGrange, Ga. 30240 (also Hwy
219). It’s exit 13 off of I-85. Phone 706-882-8881 for reservations.
At exit 18 (Hwy. 109) on I-85 there are many hotels and restaurants.
Hotels; Holiday Inn Express, Americahost, Jameson Inn, Comfort Inn, and
more. Restaurants; Applebees, Crackerbarrel, Waffle House. Contact
numbers: Jay Batcha phone: 478-784-1965 4220 Cyndy Jo Circle, Macon, Ga.
31216 e-mail address: rocky1s@cox.net:
My
reading of history convinces me that most bad government Results
from too much government.
A
government big enough to give you everything you want is strong enough
to take everything you have! Thomas
Jefferson.
December Christmas
Dinner No
formal meeting was held during the month of December.
However, 44 members gathered at the Golden Corral on University
Parkway for the annual Christmas Dinner. Unfortunately several long time
members and a few new members were conspicuously absent. Everyone
appeared to have a good time with plenty of good food. The Golden Corral
continues to be the most capable at filling our needs in service,
variety of choices and cost. All shared good times and fellowship. Editor
Nature’s Treasures: the monthly newsletter of the Forsyth Gem and Mineral
Club.
Return address: First Class Mail FGMC P. O. Box 21414 Winston-Salem, NC 27120
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MEETING
Kenny
Gay (a geologist working for the state) will present the January program
which will be entitled, "Mineralogy of North Carolina - Past,
Present & Future". Kenny has recently undertaken writing
a book on the minerals of NC. He's an avid collector and a very
knowledgeable speaker, which ought to make this a very good
presentation.
Dates
To Remember:
