NOC NEWS - June 2016 1

NOC GEM & MINERAL SOCIETYNEWS

Vol. 35 No, 6 June 2016

President’s MessageNOC Club Activities

Board Meeting - 6 p.m. 3rd Wed. at La HabraCommunity Center (none in Jul & Aug)Field Trips - June 18 -Himalaya Mine Tourmalines

by Ofelia Warthen

ProgramsJ une Speaker - Don Warthen on The World Use ofDiamonds.

Refreshments

Loretta and Linda Chu will bring an Ice CreamSocial to the June meeting

Date: Wed. June 8Time: 7:00 p.m.Place: La Habra Community Center101 W. La Habra Blvd.

Members in the News

HAPPY BIRTHDAY and have a wonderful day allof you who were born in June.

Sofia Castillo

Your gemstone is Pearl or Moonstone orAlexandrite or Agate.Your flower is Rose or Honeysucle

Hello Everybody, By the time you read thismessage, our 32nd “Jubilee of Gems” annual show,will already be in the process of enjoyment. EveryMember comes together and help set up a fabulousshow! Friday night is our opening show time withScholarship to be presented to two highly acclaimstudents, Haoyu Yun , from Sonora High and AustinKempker from La Habra High. I want to thank every member that come togetherand help make this show, one of our greatest! Specialthanks to Richard and Nancy O’Connor for theirsupport and taking charge of our Friday NightOpening. There will be many more “thank you’s” afterthe show.

2 News - June 2016

Shows and Events

www.mdgms.net

2016

JUNE 3, 4, & 5: LA HABRA, CANorth Orange County Gem & Mineral SocietyLa Habra Community Center101 W.La Habra Blvd.Hours: Fri. 5 p.m. - 7 p.m.; Sat & Sun. 10-5Don Warthen (626) 330-8974Cell (626) 826-9538odwarthen@verizon.netnocgms.comJUNE4 - 5: GLENDORA, CAGlendora Gems & Mineral SocietyGoddard Middle School859 E. Sierra Madre AvenueHours: Sat. 10 - 5; Sun 10 - 4Contact: Bonnie Bidwell, (626) 963-4638Email: Ybidwell2@aol.comJUNE 25 - 26: CULVER CITY, CACulver City Rock & Mineral ClubVeterans Memorial Auditorium4117 Overland Blvd (@Culver Blvd, Near the 405& 10 Freeways)Hours: Sat 10 - 6; Sun 10 - 5Contact: Janice Metz, (310) 850-4398Email: janicemtz@yahoo.comWebsite: www.culvercityrocks.orgSEPTEMBER 16 - 18: PLACERVILLE, CA77th CFMS Show & ConventionHosted by El Dorado County Mineral & GemSocietyEl Dorado County Fairgrounds100 Placerville DriveHours: Fri - Sun 10 - 5 dailyContact: Barbara Terrill, 530 676-2375Email: info@rockandgemshow.orgWebsite: cfmsinc.orgOCTOBER 8 - 9: TRONA, CASearles Lake Gem & Mineral SocietySLGM Show Building13337 Main StreetHours: Sat 7 - 5; Sun 7 - 4Jim and Bonnie Fairchild, (760) 372-5356Email: slgms@iwvisp.comWebsite: www1.iwvisp.com/tronagemclub

OCTOBER 15 - 16: WHITTIER, CAWhittier Gem & Mineral SocietyWhittier Community Center7630 Washington AvenueHours: 10 - 5 dailyContact: Frank Winn, (626) 239-5457Email: rkhndfw@gmail.com

May Meeting Minutes5/11/2016La Habra Community CenterPresident - Ofelia Warthen had Opened meeting at7:00PMFlag Salute -Membership Chair - Linda Mencken23 members in attendance - 4 GuestMinutes Approved for April 13, 2016We watched a movie on “What is a rock” .Break – Snacks were provided by Linda MenckenReturn to meeting –Sign up May 28-30th field trip -Wiley wells. May 20th

Barstow BLM land management. Field trip Chair Richard Sprowls.Raffle Drawing - by Beth SmithShow meeting- Don WarthenWe will be handing out the checks to this year’srecipient’s on our NOC Gem Show Opening on FridayNight June 3r

PM President- Ofelia Warthen called the meetingAdjourn.Minutes by Secretary – Teri Heuer - Please contact TeriHeuer for comments, corrections or feedback or foranything @ terishelp@yahoo.com Subject Line: NOCMember…(so I know to look at it right away) or text/call

NOC NEWS - June 2016 3

What is all this about closing down the desert?By Don Warthen

The U.S. National Monuments are a series of structures or areas deemed to be of national importance and thereforeafforded protection by the state are part of a country’s cultural heritage. These national heritage sites are often calledsomething different per counties and are listed by national conservation societies.President Obama designated three new “National Monuments in the California Desert. The “Sand to Snow”, the “CastleMountains National Monument”, and the” Mojave Trails National Monument” encompassing nearly 1,800,000 acres ofAmerica’s public lands.

The new monuments will link already protected lands, including Joshua Tree National Park, Mojave National Preserve,and fifteen congressionally-designated Wilderness areas, permanently protecting key wildlife corridors and providingplants and animals with the space and elevation range that they will need in order to adapt to the impacts of climatechange.

There are presently about 120 National Monuments in the United States, a little over 70 of which are in the desert ormountain areas. In all the preceding Monuments there has been provisions for cattlemen, hunters, bikers, off road use,shooting, and so on. There has never been a provision for those wishing to collet rocks (Rockhounding)

In the new Monument (which is still under study) the BLM has ask for information from all the rockhound clubs. Pleasenote that no determination has been made about rock colleting at this time. When President Obama proclaimed thesemonuments there was no mention of rock hounding however the BLM has asked for information on where rock houndscollect rocks & minerals, what kind of rocks are to be collected and the roads or paths that are used to get to thecolleting areas.

On May 20th the BLM invited several groups to go on a field trip to visit many of the location within the new monument.There were representatives from several groups including the off roaders, hunters, bird watchers, ranchers, bikers,preserve Route 66, and rockhounds. We started by visiting the Desert Discovery Center in Barstow, this is a veryinformative complex with a lot of educational value. One of the things that I noticed was we were all told to “Stay on thePath” this theme was carried on throughout the trip.

The new Mojave Trails National Monument Stay on the trail

4 News - June 2016

We then moved on to the Amboy Crater, the largest Volcano crater in this part of the desert. The firsttime I visited the Amboy Crater (which was several years ago) we drove to the base of the volcano buttoday the trail is blocked and we had to stop at an observation point, there is a path over some veryrouged terrain where you can walk to the volcano, there is a sign that states that it is about a 3 hour walkover a lava flow & “stay on the path”.

Amboy – the rim of the creator is over one-mile around

The path to the creator.

Ofelia was allowed to pick up a couple of samples of Lava. It seems that lava is not an endangered rock.

NOC NEWS - June 2016 5

Our next stop was at Lavic Siding; this is a prime rockhounding area that we want to keep open. Whenwe arrived there were several rock hounds already there (most did not go to the other areas). This wasthe only area where we were allowed to wonder off the trail and collect rocks. It’s a beautiful site &very educational.

The caravan then went to where a hunting group has been building a system to supply water to the BigHorn Sheep and any other wild animal that may use it. Due to illness Ofelia and I were unable to go tothat site.

The next day there was a daylong meeting with the BLM and all the groups that were present. Thesemeetings are critical as to the future use of the desert. I will write a report on this meeting in the nextnewsletter.

6 News - June 2016

More BLM Field Trip Pictures

NOC NEWS - June 2016 7

8 News - June 2016

Antimony - Commonly used with alloys to createbatteries, Antimony is a grayish metal that can befound in its pure form in nature; this is a very uniquecharacteristic.

Asbestos - Asbestos is a carcinogen and causescancer in those who work closely with the metal, it isused for its fire retardant properties and whenpolished is referred to as “Tiger Eye”.

Barium - Used in x-ray machines, rubber, fireworks,rodent poison, and glass making, Barium is a softand light colored alkaline metal.

Bauxite - This sedimentary rock is a valuablealuminum ore. The aluminum in Bauxite is sucked outby the soil that surrounds the metal.

Beryllium - Noted for its toxicity, Beryllium is analkaline metal frequently used in x-ray machines andlighting. Beryllium also has an oddly sweet taste.

Chromite - Chromite is a hard chromium metal ore,its hardness is second only to that of the diamond,and because of this incredible hardness; chromite hasa beautiful chrome finish when polished.

Cobalt - Cobalt is known to give a beautiful bluecolor to custom glass and is commonly used in invisibleink. This metal is similar to iron; it is very brittle and istypically found in meteorites.

Columbite-Tantalite - Commonly used in the field oftechnology, Columbite-tantalite is found in healthproducts, guns, electronics, and automotive systems.

Copper - Found all over the world, copper is a veryabundant metal. It is used in piping, plumbing, jewelry,currency, and to conduct electrical currents. Copperis an orange-red colored metal with a soft texture.

Feldspar - Found primarily in granite, feldspar is themost abundant mineral on the planet; it is commonlyused in building materials.

Fluorite - Also called fluorspar, fluorite is used influorescent pigment. This gem is very beautiful and ismined worldwide.

Gold - Gold is a very recognizable material used injewelry, electronics, and many household appliances.Gold is valued for its flexible property and wide rangeof uses. In recent trends, triton, palladium, and evenceramic rings have begun to take the place of gold asa popular material in jewelry.

Gypsum - This is a soft mineral with many differentuses. Gypsum is typically used in drywall and may bereferred to as ‘sheet rock’. Gypsum is also found inconstruction materials and garden fertilizers.

Halite - Also called sodium chloride or salt, halite hasmany different uses. It is valued for its ability topreserve and season foods, melt ice, and soften water.Halite is also used to make some varieties of acid.

Iron Ore - Valued as a crucial part of civilization, ironore has been used for thousands of years to maketools and weapons, more recently it has been usedwhen building structures and vehicles.

Lead - Associated primarily with lead poisoning, thismetal has a negative connotation. Lead can beabsorbed by the skin or inhaled, causing healthproblems. At one time, lead was used in pencils,cutlery, and paint.

Lithium - Commonly used in batteries and bipolarpersonality medication, lithium is also a popularmaterial in the electric car industry.

Manganese - Paired with iron, this metal can take onmagnetic properties. It is commonly used in steelmaking.

Mica - Mica is valued for its sparkly property andgives rocks a bit of shine. Mica is very malleable andwas used in early glass making.

Molybdenum - A more mysterious element,Molybdenum uses nitrogen and is very important tothe life cycle.

40 Common Minerals Tungsten,Silver, Fieldspar and More

NOC NEWS - June 2016 9

Nickel - Used in everyday life, nickel is found incurrency, cutlery, and jewelry. It can also be combinewith alloys.

Perlite - A product of volcanic rock, Perlite is a lessdense property found in most potting soils andgardening additives.

Platinum - Valued for its rarity, platinum is used injewelry. However, technology also utilizes the metalsunique properties.

Phosphate - This complex element is necessary forsupporting life.

Potash - also referred to as potassium, potash is usedin fertilizers and is important to the human bodybecause it helps to regulate pressure within the body’scell walls. Potash is also a main ingredient in soap.

Pyrite - Also called ‘fool’s gold’, looks like gold butis much less valuable. Pyrite is found in granite rocksand was used by Native American Indians as areflective surface. More recently, it is used in surfacedisinfectants and inks.

Quartz - This is the most plentiful mineral on theplanet. Quartz is included in the same rock family asagates, flints, onyxes, and jaspers and is valued forits use in glass and watch making, and concrete; it isalso used in silicon semiconductors. Quarts is alsoreferred to as silica.

Rare Earth Elements - Known for their ability to createnuclear power, rare Earth elements include: cerium,neodymium, samarium, gadolinium, dysprosium,erbium, thulium, lutetium, lanthanum, praseodymium,promethium, europium, gadolinium, holmium, terbium,and thulium ytterbium.

Silica - Silica is used primarily to remove the moisturefrom the air in desiccants. Sandpaper and glassmaking also utilize silica.

Silver - Commonly used in jewelry and currency,silver is one of the select precious metals. Silver isalso sometimes used in medication because of its anti-microbial features.

Sodium Carbonate - Also called trona or soda ash,sodium carbonate is used in paper and glass making,and in many detergents and laundry softeners, it hasthe ability to balance out pH levels in such products.

Stibnite - Found in fireworks, glass making, andrubber, stibnite is an ore of antimony. Romania is themajor supplier of the world’s stibnite supply.

Sulfur - Sulfur has a very distinct spell. It is one ofonly a handful of minerals that can be found in itsnatural form in nature. Sulfur is a major component inacid rain, fruit preservation, and wine making.

Tantalum - A common ingredient in vacuumequipment, military goods, and aircrafts, tantalum hasa very high melting point.

Titanium - This extremely strong metal is very strongand commonly used in human prosthetics and surgicalimplants.

Tungsten - Tungsten has a very high melting point andis valued for its strength and durability. Tungsten istypically used in welding and the making of sawblades; it is also used in tungsten rings and weddingbands.

Uranium - This radioactive element is a primaryingredient in x-rays, fuel, military weapons, and cancertreatments.

Vanadium - Used to regulate blood sugar and musclegrowth, vanadium is found in many foods andsupplements to promote healthy bone growth.

Zeolite - Also called the “stone that dances”, zeoliteis found in kitty litter and waste processing systems,because it has the ability to absorb ammonia andreduce unwanted smells.

Zinc - Zinc is used to control diabetes, fight thecommon cold, and correct muscle degeneration. Zincis an important part of the human diet and a deficiencymay result in eye, pallet, and digestion problems.

10 News - June 2016