| | Report (issue) | Contents 4 Map: Notable Opal Localities 50 BY BRUCE PAUL GABER 6 The Opal Enigma: Science, History...and Pins Afire: Play of Color in Opal BY MAX WEIBEL Sparkling Opal in Ancient Bones: Precious Relics...vibrant with opal pattern and color. In this extreme close-up of a Lightning Ridge black opal, the field...approximately 3 mm wide. Opal courtesy Jenni Brammall BY ALEX RITCHIE 52 An Opal Glossary of Terms BY...BY SI AND ANN FRAZIER BY PETER HUBER 64 Opal from Mexico: Unsurpassed Fire BY JURGEN SCHUTZ 18 Perfect | | | Journal (issue) | Albuquerque, New Mexico. August 4-6 — Burro Race, Apple Valley, California. August 5-7—Cowboys' Reunion Rodeo...Reservation, Albuquerque, New Mexico. August 18-20—Cache County Rodeo, Logan, Utah. August 18-20—Rodeo, Vernal...Vernal, Utah. August 24-28 — San Bernardino County Fair, Victorville, California. Late August — Hopi Snake...Devil's Canyon EXPLORATION By RANDALL HENDERSON Opal Miner of Rainbow Ridge FIELD TRIP By NELL MURBARGER...write for Desert 45 Hard Rock Shorty of Death Valley 45 Just Between You and Me, by the Editor . | | | Journal (issue) | DEATH VALLEY JEEP TRAILS by Roger Mitchell. Although a system of paved roads covers Death Valley National...pages, $2.95. A GUIDEBOOK TO THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA by Russ Leadabrand. Illustrated with good photographs...C. Likes by Dorothy Robertson NOODLING IN VIRGIN VALLEY THE COVER: Utah's Capitol Reef National Monument...beheading of at least 13 victims in the Nahanni Valley; and many other equally bewildering happenings...desert city of Desert Hot Springs in the Coachella Valley of California. The cover shot this month features | | | Book | ties and forms of quartz gems other than agate, opal and its varieties, and petrified wood a great favorite...tell abot1t otl1er Cttiartz varieties st1ch as the opal, jasper, ancl petrified wood; a11d to give l1in1...chryso1)rase, tigereye, and common and preciot1s opal. In the gen eral 01)inion of n1ost collectors, chalced...irort1m, the present-clay city of Tre,,es. Along tl1e valley of tl1e ~Ioselle River passecl the Ro111a11 legions...ra11ge ancl l)enetratecl a valley rt1nni11g l)arallel to the Moselle Valley to join r f • • Fie. | | | Journal (issue) | MineShaft Thundereggs • LavaCap Thundereggs • Hidden Valley Jasper • Moonshine Jasper • North Ridge Plume...Rabbit Thunderegg MineShaft Thunderegg Hidden Valley Jasper Lava Cap Thundereggs Lori Lytle Coleman...“B” Grade Welo Opal New Right now we have a great supply of “B” grade rough Welo opal on hand… too great...great. so we REALLY need to sell some opal! large multi-grade opal parcel just in from famous Coober Pedy...Moss Drive, P.O. Box 740252 Houston Texas, TX 77074 USA Tel : +1 832 641 5014 ; +234 803 715 8372 Fax : +1 | | | Journal (issue) | Governors National Speleological Society • so Virgin or Virgen? . . . Washington, Utah Desert: In "Lost...I notice Desert uses the modern spelling of the Virgin River. I spell it Rio Virgen, the way it appeared...Smith's men, and not by the Spaniards after the Virgin Mary. Escalantc called it "Sulphur River" because...Rodeo, Deming, New Mexico. October 10-12 — Greenlee County Fair, Clifton, Arizona. October 11-12—Annual Liars...(formerly on New Year's and Pegleg Smith Gold Borrego Valley, California. page 16.) ConEve) Trek. I See October | | | Journal (issue) | cactus Just beauty alone meets the eye. Death Valley through the ruins of the old Harmony Borax Works...National Monument, New Mexico. July 4-5 — Round Valley Rodeo, Springerville, Arizona. Number 7 COVER...A. Lowman of Covina, California POETRY Death Valley Ruins and other poems . . . . 2 CALENDAR July...Death Valley Encampment announcement . 14 July 4-6—Reno Rodeo and Livestock Show, Reno, Nevada. NATURE...Desert's r e a d e r s 27 Hard Rock Shorty of Death Valley 28 From h e r e a n d there on the desert 29 | | | Journal (issue) | number packed six of ing public? us off to Beatty, Nevada, where we MR. AND MRS. E. N. JONES found our first... him our next stop was the volcanic Red House, Nevada tear field written about in the September, 1950...Smith Lost Gold Trek and Liars' Contest. Borrego Valley, California. January 1—New Year's Grand Slalom...SLACK GIST FIELD TRIP Fossil Leaves From an Ancient Nevada Forest 12 By HAROLD O. WEIGHT CONTEST Picture of...One of the amazing formations found in Nevada's Valley of fire north of Las Vegas. This weird stone structure | | | Journal (issue) | on the Desert contest story, was born in Happy Valley, now North Broadway, Los Angeles. While he was...tractors and doing other jobs in the Coachella Valley area. He now is employed by Desert Steve Ragsdale...photographed the Navajo shepherdesses in Monument Valley for this month's Desert Magazine cover, has traveled...Festival, Flagstaff, Arizona. August 8-10—Pecos Valley Horsemen Annual Show, New Mexico Military Institute...15-17—Quay County Sheriffs Posse Rodeo, Tucumcari, New Mexico. August 15-17—Fifth Annual Tesuque Valley Horse | | | Journal (issue) | 16-18—Valley of the Sun Trap Shoot, Papago Park, Phoenix. Arizona. Feb. 16-22—Riverside County Fair and...Vaqueros, Tucson. Arizona. Feb. 22-28—Maricopa County Fair, Horse Show, Mesa, Arizona. Feb. 22-29—Invitational...— Maricopa County Fair, Mesa Civic Center, Mesa, Arizona. Feb. 24-Mar. 4 — Imperial County Fair, El Centro...other p o e m s LOST MINE Black Nuggets in the Valley of P h a n t o m Buttes By JOHN D. MITCHELL They... BEHLE 20 FICTION Hard Rock Shorty of Death Valley 22 CLOSE-UPS A m o n g those w h o write for | | | Journal (issue) | EVE1 DESERT CALENDAR Mar. 30-31-Apr. 1—Coachella Valley Annual Rock Show, Fair Grounds, lndio, California...Cottonwood Springs, California. Mar. 31-Apr. 1—Imperial Valley Gem and Mineral Society and Lapidary Guild annual...Chamber of Commerce, Yucca Valley, California. Apr. 6-8—Salt River Valley Championship Skeet Shoot, Papago...Arizona. Apr. 14-15 — Sierra Club Camping trip to Valley Wells, California. Tour American Potash and Chemical...Eldred D. Wilson in his report on Southern Yuma County, DESERT MAGAZINE Tiny crystal-lined geode from | | | Journal (issue) | Elko, Nevada. June 30-July 1—Sierra Club members will climb San Jacinto peak from Strawberry Valley. Toni...Livestock Association holds its annual rodeo at Reno, Nevada. COVER July 1-4 — Frontier Day Roundup, Prescott...Cochiti Indian Pueblo, New Mexico. July 15-16—Round Valley rodeo at Springerville, Arizona. July 21-22—Members...Lost Loma Gold, by KARL HUDSON 8 . . . . Death Valley '49er Encampment for 1951 . 13 . 14 On Black...the editor CLOSE-UPS Hard Rock Shorty of Death Valley 39 About those who write for Desert 39 . | | | Book (edition) | Trails, Gem Trail Journal, The Rock Collector's Nevada and Idaho, and others. The author is a trained................. MAP 4, LOOKOUT, ADIN, STONECOAL VALLEY COUGER NECK ......................................................................... STONECOAL VALLEY ..................................... WILSON PETRIFIED...PENTZ QUARRY SONOMA COUNTY . HUMBOLDT COUNTY EEL RIVER BEAR CANYON CREEK TRINITY COUNTY 8 9 9 9 9 10 II...................................... 20 21 LAKE COUNTY .............................................. | | | Book (volume) | beds, excavations, etc.Selenite roses. BRULE COUNTY AREA: in the Oacoma zone of the Pierre Fm. On Elm...gray Barite rosette up to 5 or 6 inches. CAMPBELL COUNTY MOUND CITY, W to the Missouri R., regional hillsides...tributary gravels, etc.petrified wood, wood opal. CORSON COUNTY LITTLE EAGLE: area ridges, slopes, stream...stream beds, etc. petrified wood, wood opal; along the Grand R. though entire Co., regional banks, breaks...wood, wood opal. 438 A Location Guide for Rock Hounds in the United States CUSTER COUNTY AREA: The | | | Book (volume) | chert, translucent chalcedony, jasp-agate and common opal, rivaling in beauty the Arizona agatized wood. This...ASHTABULA COUNTY CONNEAUT, area pits, quarries, rd. cuts, etc.⎯cone-in-cone Calcite. CLERMONT COUNTY MILFORD...CLINTON COUNTY WILMINGTON, area of Todd’s Ford, a mineral deposit⎯Hematite. COSHOCTON COUNTY AREA, townships...CUYAHOGA COUNTY CHAGRIN FALLS (on Geauga Co. line), area quarries⎯oilstone. DELAWARE COUNTY DELAWARE...nodules⎯Pyrite (crystals sharply cubic). FRANKLIN COUNTY COLUMBUS, area countywide exposures of blue clay | | | Book (volume) | chert, translucent chalcedony, jasp-agate and common opal, rivaling in beauty the Arizona agatized wood. This...ASHTABULA COUNTY CONNEAUT, area pits, quarries, rd. cuts, etc.⎯cone-in-cone Calcite. CLERMONT COUNTY MILFORD...CLINTON COUNTY WILMINGTON, area of Todd’s Ford, a mineral deposit⎯Hematite. COSHOCTON COUNTY AREA, townships...CUYAHOGA COUNTY CHAGRIN FALLS (on Geauga Co. line), area quarries⎯oilstone. DELAWARE COUNTY DELAWARE...nodules⎯Pyrite (crystals sharply cubic). FRANKLIN COUNTY COLUMBUS, area countywide exposures of blue clay | | | Book | W©lli� TI� The bustling, dusty town of Coober Pedy. Opal worth many millions of dollars is mined here each...IV 1.OPAL - WHAT IS IT? .......................................... . 2.MODERN HISTORY OF OPAL ........4 3.THE OPAL FIELDS ............ . .. ............................... 7 4.TYPES OF OPAL ............ .......... . ....... ...... 22 8.CUTTINGSEAM OPAL ........... .... . ......... .... ...... . ... ...CUTTINGBOULDER. MATRIX AND FOSSIL OPAL . ... .................. 42 10.THE MAKING OF OPAL DOUBLETS .. ..... ... | | | Book (edition) | Natural orange spine! Opal with one-colored flash Black pearl Fire opal, water opal or n1oonstone Avent...Avent urine glass Fire opal Chlorastrolite Nephrite and chlorastrolite Peridot from Hawaii Aventurine feldspar...Feather gypsun1 Flame spine! Flash opal Giogetto Girasol Goldfluss Gold opal Green starstone Greens tone Hawaiite...pearls Paste Pigeon-blood agate Pipe stone Prase opal Rainbow agate Red Sea pearls River agate River pearl...in1itation Carnelian Red siliceous clay Stained green opal Iridescent agate Coral beads Water-worn agate pebbles | | | Book (edition) | 85 Value of Gemstones 126 Tourmaline Group Fire Opal 168 . | 85 Description of Gemstones 130 Spodumene...Zircon Petrified Wood 164 166 Opal Species 190 Azurite Precious Opal 166 —49 Malachite 194 Lesser-Known...Cape-chrysolite Cape-ruby Ceylon diamond } Ceylon opal Copper lapis German diamond German lapis Gold topaz...Green prehnite Pyrope (garnet) Colorless zircon Opal-like glimmery moonstone Azurite Rock crystal (quartz)...Xonotlite amorphous Amber Glass Moldavite Obsidian Opal Petrified Wood Strass x Properties of Gemstones | | | Book (edition) | 94 Beryl 96 Chrysoberyl 98 Prasiolite 1 Common Opal 1 1 18 154 Nephrite 156 Jadeite 120 Rose...Hiddenite 114 Kunzite 114 Quartz 116 Opal 150 Precious Opal Fire Opal 152 Rock Crystal 116 Smoky Quartz...Brazilian sapphire Ceylonesian diamond Ceylonesian opal German diamond German lapis Gold topaz chalcedony...Bluegreen topaz Pink topaz Blue topaz Colorless zircon Opal-like glimmery moonstone Rock crystal Artificially...Chrysocolla Ekanite Moldavite Obsidian Hiddenite Opal Gaylussite Properties of Gemstones knowledge | | | Book (edition) | - ae : 126 Tourmaline Group 130 Spodumene 166 Opal Species 170 Jade _ Species 174 Peridot Hiddenite...Cape-chrysolite Cape-ruby Ceylon diamond Ceylon opal Copper lapis German diamond German lapis Gold topaz...Green prehnite Pyrope (garnet) Colorless zircon Opal-like glimmery moonstone Azurite Rock crystal (quartz)...Xonotlite amorphous Amber Glass Moldavite Obsidian Opal Petrified Wood Strass 19 Properties of Gemstones...Hedenbergite 5/%-6% Magnetite 5%4-6% Manganotantalite 5%-6% Opal 5%4-6% Rhodonite 54-6% Actinolite 54-6 Allanite |
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