Pretoria Gem and Mineral Club

Transcription

1 LY Pretoria Gem and Mineral Club Affiliated to the Federation of Southern African Gem and Mineralogical Societies June 2013 Pretoria Rockhound Digest Pretoria Gem and Mineral Club Clubhouse: P.O. Box No. 29, 26 th Street, Menlo Park, Pretoria Menlo Park 0102 Saturdays 11:00 15:00, Thursdays 18:00 21:00 South Africa website: Chairman: Treasurer: Jeanne Wentzel, Secretary: Di de Villiers Vice-Chairman: Guido de Beer, Editor : Heidi Naudé, g_debeer@mweb.co.za heidi.naude@za.bosch.com Programme Highlights June 2013 *** Swop & Sell and Social 1 June *** Outing: Natal Mineral Society & Pietermaritzburg Club Jozini June Amethyst Geodes from Jozini (photos courtesy of the Toprock website (left) and the Mindat website (right)) *** Silversmithing Course 15 June Early Announcements *** Pretoria Club Vivo Outing (details pg. 4) 3 7 July The opinions expressed in this newsletter do not necessarily reflect those of the PGMC Committee. This newsletter is the property of the Pretoria Gem and Mineral Club; articles/photos may not be re-produced without the written permission of the Editor.

2 Page 2 PGMC Programme for June 2013: (as at ) Date Event Time Contact Details 1 June Swop & Sell and Social Lapidary and Silversmithing Workshops open Duty Members 6 June Silversmithing Workshop open 18:00 21:00 8 June Committee Meeting Lapidary and Silversmithing Workshops open 14: Duty Members 13 June Silversmithing Workshop open 18:00 21: June Outing Natal and PMB Clubs Jozini See page 5 of the NL 15 June Silversmithing Course booking essential! Lapidary and Silversmithing Workshops open :00 15:00 Duty Members 20 June Silversmithing Workshop open 18:00 21:00 22 June Lapidary and Silversmithing Workshop open 11:00 15:00 Duty Members 27 June Silversmithing Workshop open 18:00 21:00 29 June Lapidary and Silversmithing Workshop open 11:00 15:00 Duty Members 1. Duty Roster June and July 2013 June Open 11:00 am Heidi Heidi Bernard t.b.a. t.b.a. Duty Team Heidi Naudé Linda Stone Barry Vermeulen Hester Hattingh Stella-M.Laredo Jean Schutz Willem Vorster Marion Blair Karl Gribnitz Zelda Carey Close 15:00 pm Heidi Committee Bernard t.b.a. t.b.a. July Open 11:00 am Fay t.b.a. Bernard Dieter Duty Team Nico Roux Fay Pierides Nick Raftopoulos Karin Mayerl Will v/d Berg Beatrice Enslin Dieter Heinichen Linda Stone Close 15:00 pm Fay Committee Bernard Dieter Please check the dates assigned to you and organize stand-ins for the date/s you are not available. Details of duty members have been distributed to all with the March newsletter. Please forward confirmed changes to Lex Krabbendam.

3 Page 3 2. Membership Fees for 2013 Payment can be made at the clubhouse (Saturdays only) or directly into the club s bank account at ABSA Bank, branch code , acc.no Remember to give your name as reference, to ensure the correct allocation of the payment. The fees for 2013 are as follows: R 420 R 380 R 60 R 30 Principal Members Pensioners (over 60 s) per additional Family Member Joining Fee (new members only) 3. Swop & Sell and Social, This month s Swop and Sell will be a big one Piet and Elize Smith will bring their surplus stock and other hobby related items, which they cannot take with to their new home overseas. We will start as usual from onwards see you all there. Dealers are also very welcome to sell their stock on this day. Afterwards we will light the fires and have the monthly bring-and-braai and socializing. Gemstones Stolen!!! Please look out for any strangers offering you Gemstones they could be stolen property! Toprock in Ashburton has recently lost a beautiful Ajoite Floater Crystal (63x77x90 mm) valued at ± R 7000 and the Johannesburg Geological Museum has lost various gemstones (rough and facetted), such as Rubies, Sapphires, Topaz, Aquamarine, Tourmaline and Opal to greedy thieves. Please report any suspicious offerings immediately. 4. Silversmithing Course The next course is scheduled for 15 June 2013 (10h00) at the clubhouse. Please contact Bernard Strydom or Tobias Beyers regarding the course subject, course fee and material required. Please remember that you need to book in advance for each course with them as space is limited. 5. Faceting Classes Members interested in faceting classes may contact Helmut Schönberger at too make the necessary arrangements.

4 Page 4 6. Natal Gem & Mineral Society and Pietermaritzburg Club Outing to Jozini, There will be an outing to the greater Jozini area again hosted by the Natal/PMB clubs. These areas are not covered by our club and therefore new to many members. The Baobab Inn, Mkuze will be the central meeting point for all outing departures; accommodation consists of self-catering chalets (no fridge); please book directly with Elske Meyer, Tel or baobabinn@gmail.com. The preliminary program is as follows: Friday, (afternoon) small crystals Saturday, Jozini Amethyst mine, visit Paulos who also sells Amethyst and Agates Sunday, Agates and visit to Mkuze Monday, Fossils at Jozini. A bring-and-braai is planned for Saturday evening. If you decide to come please advise the outing leader Craig A Bear accordingly ( Craig.A bear@durban.gov.za), thanks. 7. PGMC Outing to VIVO, Minerals to be collected include Agates, Azurite, Carnelian, Copper related minerals, Corundum, Dragon Stone, Garnets (new site), Messina Quartz, Papagoite and Unakite. We have to pay a fee to go onto the Corundum site. This will be collected at the farm. I am negotiating for more sites and places to visit. It will be advisable to wear correct clothing, there may be some snakes crawling around! We will stay on the farm Dankbaar of Arrie and Sannie Kruger. This farm is situated near Alldays. Accommodation: Rooms: R200,00 p.p.p.d. sharing; children under the age of 18 may stay free of charge. Linen and towels will be provided; bathroom facilities will be shared. Camping and caravanning: R75,00 p.p.p.d.; children under the age of 18 free of charge; please bring an extension cord; bathroom facilities will be shared with the people staying in the rooms. In all cases a 50% deposit is required (AJ Kruger, ABSA Bank, Acc. No , branch: Pietersburg, ref. your name and surname). The balance to be paid in cash on arrival. The following facilities are available: Braai and a fully equipped kitchen (gas stove, fridge, freezer, cutlery, crockery), cold store, tables and chairs. How to get there: From Polokwane (Pietersburg) take the R521 to Alldays. Turn right on to the Bronbeek Road. This road is about 1,5 (1½) km before Alldays. Then look out for the 22 km and 23 km concrete markers. Between the 22 km and 23 km markers turn to the right at a sign board indicating Arrie en Sannie Kruger. Travel down this road, fenced on the one side with game fencing for 8 km. When approaching the farm house you will see the MTN tower. Booking: Call Sannie Kruger at (015) or to book your accommodation. After you have booked, contact me and provide your name, surname, cell number and your booking details. I will need the same information for all the people accompanying you. You can contact me on my cell phone only at after 13:30 on weekdays or during the day on weekends. You can also SMS the above information to me. Please note: The closing date for bookings and payment of the deposit is Monday, I have booked an outing to Makgabeng, an archaeological site, for Sunday. We will see beautiful San paintings. There are more than 800 Khoisan and Sotho art sites. The Makgabeng Plateau is west of the Soutpansberg, rising 200 meters above the bushveld. It covers an area of 250 square kilometers, most of it is uninhabitated. The cost will be R300 for the whole group. We will have to use high clearance vans/bakkies, 2x4, or 4x4 vehicles. See you all at Dankbaar! Linda Stone (Outing Co-Ordinator)

5 Page 5 8. GIA Presentation, (Report and photos Heidi Naudé) PGMC hosted the Gemmological Institute of America (GIA) for an extremely interesting presentation about their company and its activities in Africa and then an in-depth talk on Synthetic Diamonds and their treatment. Leslie Milner, a diamond grading professional at GIA, kindly agreed to stand-in for Tom Moses, who had to cancel on short notice. He explained how diamonds grow in nature and how the process is copied by man, since 1955 already. Apart from our club members, many diamond specialists and jewellers attended this presentation and these professionals pointed out that the general use of the word synthetic is incorrect, because a lab-grown diamond is definitely not a synthetic diamond, since only natural ingredients are used to create such diamond, unlike the synthetic process. Once Leslie got the presentation on track again, he explained the various treatments of diamonds, such as HTHP, CVD, Nano-Polycrystalline. These treatments create beautiful stones in all colours, much shorter then Mother Nature is able to do. However, with the right knowledge and tools even novices can identify many of the treated or man-made diamonds. After the presentation, Leslie handed the microphone to our Bernard Strydom, who briefly introduced the clubs activities and invited all present for a tour of our facilities and a light lunch. Many attendees followed this and we had many interested and genuinely surprised parties at the club house. We thank Martha du Plessis, Lex and Bernard for coordinating this event for us. Left GIA HQ in USA Right HTHP man-made diamonds Left Bernard and Leslie Right - Visitors at the Club Left Willem s cabochons drew some interest from the jewelers Right more visitors checking our facilities

6 Page 6 Competition entries to be in by Saturday 23rd November, The competition this year will require an entry fee per stone entered of R50.00 ($6.00) nonrefundable per person contact the organizer for deposit details. Competition to be open to ANYONE WHO WISHES TO CONTRIBUTE TO RAISING THE STANDARDS OF GEM CUTTING IN THE REGION AND BEYOND Note: Southern Africa includes all countries bordering South Africa as well as Zambia/Malawi/Tanzania. Purpose: The idea behind this challenge is firstly, for everyone to have fun. We want to encourage participation with a view to improve the (novice) or hobbyist standards of excellence in stone cutting in our region. Everyone is invited to enter, as indicated above, regardless of skill levels. As the saying goes unless you are challenged, you will not necessarily improve. The judging panel will consist of veteran cutters from various backgrounds to ensure that the entries are judged fairly. The last competition was indicative of this impartiality as both the faceted and cabochon winners weren t from Pretoria. The final panel will be announced in due course. In the next months leading up to the competition we will be publishing articles of interest related to the challenge and reminders as D date approaches, so as to keep the level of interest and enthusiasm high. So, now you know it s happening, prepare to start cutting We look forward to your entries. From the panel s chair - Fay Pierides. Entry Forms and detailed competition rules are available from Fay directly, please send your request via to pierides@mweb.co.za. Cerussite, cut by Helmut Schönberger Cabochon Winners, previous competition The opinions expressed in this newsletter do not necessarily reflect those of the PGMC Committee. This newsletter is the property of the Pretoria Gem and Mineral Club; articles/photos may not be re-produced without the written permission of the Editor.