Albuquerque Gem & Mineral Club

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Albuquerque Gem & Mineral Club

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The club is a 501c3 non-profit charitable organization dedicated to the advancement and enjoyment of the Earth Sciences and associated subjects.

What we are: We are a group of people with a variety of common interests revolving around earth sciences. Our ages range from young children to senior citizens. Our expertise ranges from scientists to citizens and students of many fields. Lapidary work, faceting, mineral collecting, mining, and fossils are just some of the earth sciences we are interested in. What we do: We seek to further our knowledge of the various earth science related fields through a guest speaker program, the exchange of information between club members, and hands on experiences such as field trips and junior club activities. Affiliations: The Albuquerque Gem & Mineral Club falls under the umbrella of the Rocky Mountain Federation of Mineralogical Societies, which falls under the umbrella of the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies.

10/20/2026

Don't forget! Our monthly general meeting is Thursday (Oct. 22) at 7:30 p.m. at Monte Vista Christian Church, located at 3501 Campus Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM 87106.

Our program will be given by Dan Mira, a civil engineer, on the minerals of Maramures, a Romanian county in northern Transylvania. Dan’s talk will describe the geology, history, minerals and the culture of the mining area.

Photo by James St. John - Sphalerite (Herja Mine, Baia Mare, Romania), CC BY 2.0

10/16/2026

The Old Abe Mine and the Rise and Fall of White Oaks

In the 1890s, White Oaks, NM, transformed into a bustling boomtown driven by the legendary Old Abe Mine - one of the region's richest hard-rock gold producers.
Beyond the tens of thousands of ounces extracted, the camp's history is shaped by colorful local legends, a tragic 1895 mine fire, and the railroad bypass that ultimately sealed its fate.
Discover the rise, heartbreak and quiet legacy of this historic gold district.

To read the story, https://agmc.info/2026/10/05/the-old-abe-mine-and-the-rise-and-fall-of-white-oaks/.

10/15/2026

Albuquerque Gem and Mineral Club
💎 𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗟 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗞: Rosasite 💎

✨ 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗤𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀:
• Description: Rosasite Group.

Rosasite is a secondary mineral found in the oxidation zone of copper-zinc deposits.
• Formula: (Cu,Zn)₂(CO₃)(OH)₂
• Crystal System: Monoclinic
• Hardness: 4.5
• Name origin: Named in 1908 by Domenico Lovisato after its discovery locality, the Rosas Mine, Sulcis, Sardinia, Italy.
• Fluorescence: Does not fluoresce

🔍 Learn more: https://www.mindat.org/min-3447.html

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Left photo: Intergrown, velvety, botryoids of rich blue-green rosasite undulate their way inside the curve of a limonite vug. A few, scattered, glassy and gemmy, colorless calcite crystals, to 2mm across are perched on the rosasite. This is a VERY RICH specimen for this normally rare species, and it forms here a very thick layer (to 1 cm), almost unheard of for the locale. Locality: Ojuela Mine, Mapimí, Municipio de Mapimí, Durango, Mexico.
📷 Photo Credit: Robert M. Lavinsky
via Wikimedia Commons
⚖️ License: CC BY 3.0

Right photo: Rosasite is relatively uncommon from the Mina Ojuela of Mexico. This aesthetic specimen features two, nearly separated vugs richly lined with botryoids of blue-green rosasite on nicely contrasting carpets of goethite in the sturdy gossan matrix. Numerous small vugs on the back of the piece are invested with rosasite. Locality: Ojuela Mine, Mapimí, Municipio de Mapimí, Durango, Mexico
📷 Photo Credit: Robert M. Lavinsky
via Wikimedia Commons
⚖️ License: CC BY 3.0

10/08/2026

Albuquerque Gem and Mineral Club
💎 𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗟 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗞: Jasper 💎

✨ 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗤𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀:
• Description: Historically, the name has long been used for an opaque to slightly translucent, generally red or brown to variably coloured, impure chalcedony or microcrystalline chert, usually containing abundant fine inclusions of hematite, iron hydroxides and other minerals. It is typically associated with banded iron formations.
It has also been used informally by lapidarists for many other opaque lapidary materials, including some igneous and sedimentary rocks.

🔍 Learn more: https://www.mindat.org/min-2082.html

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Left photo: A fragment of jasper, a red amorphous silica. Origin: Brazil
📷 Photo Credit: Eurico Zimbres
via Wikimedia Commons
⚖️ License: CC BY-SA 3.0

Right photo: Jasper is a colorful impure form of agate. Agate is a cryptocrystalline (crystals too small to be seen even by a microscope) variety of quartz. These varieties are divided more by character than by color. These different varieties are often used as semi-precious gemstones and for decorative purposes.
📷 Photo Credit: Shannon Heinle
via Wikimedia Commons
⚖️ License: CC BY-SA 3.0

10/01/2026

Albuquerque Gem and Mineral Club
💎 𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗟 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗞: Actinolite 💎

✨ 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗤𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀:
• Description: Actinolite is an intermediate member Actinolite-Tremolite Series. Tremolite is defined as having an Mg/(Mg+Fe2+) ratio ≥ 0.9; actinolite has a ratio of 0.5–0.9 and ferro-actinolite has a ratio of less than 0.5. The name actinolite has been retained f...
• Formula: & #97₂₃;Ca₂(Mg₄.5-₂.5Fe0.5-₂.5)Si8O₂₂(OH)₂
• Crystal System: Monoclinic
• Hardness: 3
• Name origin: Named in 1794 by Richard Kirwan from the Greek ακτίνα ("aktina") for "ray" and λίθος ("lithos") for "stone" in allusion to the fibrous nature of the original specimens.
Type locality not known.
• Fluorescence: Does not fluoresce

🔍 Learn more: https://www.mindat.org/min-18.html

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Left photo: This piece of actinolite has deep-green, beautifully-striated crystals with silver terminations. The largest crystal is about 2.8 cm. Otjiwarongo District, Otjozondjupa Region, Namibia
📷 Photo Credit: Robert M. Lavinsky
via Wikimedia Commons
⚖️ License: CC BY-SA 3.0

Right photo: Actinolite mineral
📷 Photo Credit: Ingo Wölbern
via Wikimedia Commons
⚖️ License: CC BY-SA 3.0

09/24/2026

Albuquerque Gem and Mineral Club
💎 𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗟 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗞: Vanadinite 💎

✨ 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗤𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀:
• Description: Apatite Group. Apatite Supergroup. The vanadate analogue of Mimetite and Pyromorphite. Forms a solid solution series toward Mimetite (in nature up to approximately V:As = 1:1 - Mimetite-Vanadinite Series) and a complete series with Pyromorphite. Baker ...
• Formula: Pb5(VO₄)₃Cl
• Crystal System: Hexagonal
• Hardness: 2.5 - 3
• Name origin: The name reflects its vanadium content.
• Fluorescence: Does not fluoresce

🔍 Learn more: https://www.mindat.org/min-4139.html

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Left photo: A very rare turn-of-the-century specimen of yellow vanadinite, previously thought to be an entirely different species and given the name of "endlichite," from the Silver City silver mining district.
📷 Photo Credit: Robert M. Lavinsky
via Wikimedia Commons
⚖️ License: CC BY-SA 3.0

Right photo: Cluster of reddish brown tabular vanadinite crystals from the ACF mine, Mibladen, Morocco
📷 Photo Credit: Ivar Leidus
via Wikimedia Commons
⚖️ License: CC BY-SA 3.0

09/23/2026

Don't forget! Our monthly general meeting is tomorrow (Sept. 24) at 7:30 p.m. at Monte Vista Christian Church, located at 3501 Campus Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM 87106.

Our program will be given by Jeff Self and Donna Ware, who have been digging for aquamarine, phenakite, fluorite and other minerals on Mount Antero, Colorado, for 40 years.

Jeff and Donna will be bringing a few flats of Antero specimens that will be available for purchase.

09/17/2026

Albuquerque Gem and Mineral Club
💎 𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗟 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗞: Chalcopyrite 💎

✨ 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗤𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀:
• Description: Chalcopyrite Group. Chalcopyrite-Eskebornite Series.

A major ore of copper. Common in sulfide veins and disseminated in igneous rocks.
Weathering may lead to the formation of malachite, azurite, brochantite, langite and numerous other secondary cop...
• Formula: CuFeS₂
• Crystal System: Tetragonal
• Hardness: 3
• Name origin: Named in 1725 by Johann Friedrich Henckel from the Greek "chalkos", copper, and "pyrites", strike fire.
• Fluorescence: Does not fluoresce

🔍 Learn more: https://www.mindat.org/min-955.html

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Left photo: Crystals of chalcopyrite from Dalnegorsk, Russia.
📷 Photo Credit: V. Slyotov
via Wikimedia Commons
⚖️ License: CC BY-SA 3.0

Right photo: A beautifully-balanced old New Mexico specimen, combining iridescent red-and-gold chalcopyrite crystals with gemmy quartz crystals, on a plate of lustrous sphalerite. Groundhog Mine, Vanadium, Central District, Grant County, New Mexico.
📷 Photo Credit: Robert M. Lavinsky
via Wikimedia Commons
⚖️ License: CC BY-SA 3.0

09/11/2026

Lake Valley and the Bridal Chamber: New Mexico’s Legendary Silver Bonanza

In August 1881, a blacksmith at Lake Valley broke into a pocket of ore so rich it could be cut from the walls with hand tools—the legendary “Bridal Chamber,” a silver-lined cavity that turned a dry camp south of New Mexico’s Black Range into a boomtown of thousands almost overnight. My latest article traces how this geological rarity—yielding an estimated 2.5 million ounces of silver, half the district’s total production—drew big-name investors like poet Walt Whitman and paleontologist E.D. Cope, then faded just as fast when the richest ore ran out, silver prices collapsed, and a devastating fire swept the town. Today, Lake Valley survives as a BLM-managed historic site with a restored schoolhouse and self-guided tour, a quiet reminder of one of the West’s most spectacular—and short-lived—silver booms.
https://agmc.info/2026/09/08/lake-valley-and-the-bridal-chamber/

09/10/2026

Albuquerque Gem and Mineral Club
💎 𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗟 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗞: Cerussite 💎

✨ 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗤𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀:
• Description: Aragonite Group.

Cerussite is a lead carbonate mineral, usually found in the oxidized zone of lead ore deposits. It is a very common weathering product of galena and other lead ore minerals.
• Formula: PbCO₃
• Crystal System: Orthorhombic
• Hardness: 3 - 3.5
• Name origin: Named in 1845 by Wilhelm Karl von Haidinger from the Latin, cerussa, meaning "white lead."
• Fluorescence: Occasionally fluorescent under SW and MW UV lights showing a yellow color. Yellow/white under SW UV light, but less intense.

🔍 Learn more: https://www.mindat.org/min-934.html

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Left photo: Cerussite crystals from Nakhlak mine, Anarak, Isfahan, Iran
📷 Photo Credit: Ivar Leidus
via Wikimedia Commons
⚖️ License: CC BY-SA 3.0

Right photo: Locality: Albion shaft, Ruby Hill, Eureka District, Eureka County, Nevada. An extremely rare and fine cerussite thumbnail from a very uncommon Nevada locale - the Albion Shaft in Eureka County. Two hollow stalactites that look like rabbit’s ears, consist of lustrous, tiny, pastel-pink cerussite platelets.
📷 Photo Credit: Robert M. Lavinsky
via Wikimedia Commons
⚖️ License: CC BY-SA 3.0

Address

P. O. Box 13718
Albuquerque, NM
87192

Website

https://www.agmc.info/

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