Mineral Section

of the Rochester Academy of Science

Feature Article

If you missed Bob Morgan's talk at the 2003 Tucson Mineral Show or at the section meeting in the spring of 2003 (or just wish to see it again), here is your chance! Bob has graciously made his slides and narration notes available for viewing on the Web. Thanks, Bob.

Amazing Pyrite Shapes of Huanzala, Peru

Other Club Events

Annual Rochester Mineralogical Symposium
This world-renowned event takes place each April at the Radison Hotel on Jefferson Road.

Science Exploration Days  This annual event at St. John Fisher College each May provides us with an opportunity to demonstrate, talk about, and give away minerals to area Junior and Senior ) high school students.  
This year's dates are Wednesday May 12 and Thursday the 13th, 2010.

June Picnic as guests of the Rochester Lapidary Society.

Annual ADK Outdoor Expo put on by the Genesee Valley Chapter of the Adirondack Mountain Club at Mendon Ponds Park Beach Area. We will have a booth advertising our club to the public. This year's event is on Saturday June 12, 2010.

Annual Gem, Mineral & Fossil Show  Co-sponsored with the Rochester Lapidary Society at Minett Hall at the Monroe Co. Fair and Expo Center.
  2010 Dates:
    Saturday October 23 – 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
    Sunday October 24 – 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Annual Club Holiday Party  In December each year.  A special year-end get together and pot-luck dinner.

 Articles

The October 2007 meeting featured Dr. David Bailey, Associate Professor of Geology at Hamilton College, who gave an interesting talk about the Kimberlitic Rocks of New York.   For a summary of this talk, click here!

Barton & Hooper Garnet Mine Field Trip

Contacts
Mineral Web site
and General Information – mineral(at)rasny.org
Field Trip Coordinators – mineraltrips(at)rasny.org

Officers for 2010
President — William Pinch – mineralpres(at)rasny.org
Vice President — Nancy McCann                                                                      – mineralvp(at)rasny.org
Secretary — Andrea Hart McMahon
                       – mineralsec(at)rasny.org
Treasurer — Paul Dudley
Curator — William Pinch

Directors
    Chuck Hiler
    Stephen Busschaert
    Jesse Sackett

Our Newsletter: RocKester News

Soliciting contributions for the next issue...
Link to e-mail the editor

List of Items in our Club Library

Events Schedule

Monthly Club meetings are generally on the third Tuesday of each month at the Brighton Town Hall, 2300 Elmwood Ave., Rochester NY.  Our December meeting will be elsewhere, and occasionally we may need to change the date or meeting locations.  This site will list any such changes or updates.

There is no meeting in April due to all the mineralogical excitement created by the Rochester Mineralogical Symposium.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010 - MONTHLY MEETING - 7:30 p.m. at Brighton Town Hall, 2300 Elmwood Ave., in the Downstairs Meeting Room.   Dr. Asish Basu, U of R Professor, Earth & Environmental Sciences Dept., will speak on Eruption of Nyiragongo Volcano in the West African Rift Valley.  Door prizes and refreshments; visitors welcome.  E-mail mineral@rasny.org for more information.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010 - MONTHLY MEETING - 7:30 p.m. at Brighton Town Hall, 2300 Elmwood Ave., in the Downstairs Meeting Room.   Daniel Robertson, member and MCC Professor, Chemistry & Geosciences Dept., will be talking about "Wearing & Talking Green . . . Minerals for St. Patrick's Day."  Door prizes and refreshments; visitors welcome.  E-mail mineral@rasny.org for more information.

April 15-18 Rochester Mineralogical Syposium

Friday April 30 RAS Spring Lecture - 7:30 in the Main Auditorium of the Brighton Town Hall, 2300 Elmwood Avenue.  Dr. Steve Chamberlain will give a talk on the color-change Diaspore from Turkey that was featured in the Early Fall 2009 issue of the RocKester News.   Steve's article is now available here as either an HTML or PDF file.

Saturday October 23 & Sunday October 24 – Rochester Gem, Mineral, Fossil & Jewelry Show Click for details.

Field Trips

A benefit of Mineral Section membership are the club-sponsored field trips.
An advance headcount is required for field trips, and you must be a member to receive field trip details.  

To sign up for field trips, or if you have an idea for a field trip, contact mineraltrips(at)rasny.org.

If you are not currently a member here is a link to the RAS membership form

2009 Field Trips

Field trip information will be made available to members through our newsletter and via e-mail.

2008 Field Trips

Saturday, May 10th - Penfield Quarry (Dolomite Products Co., Inc.), Minerals that may be found here are Fluorite, Selenite, Dolomite, Calcite, Sphalerite, Celestine, Gypsum & Fossils.

Saturday, May 17th - Herkimer "Diamond" Mine, Herkimer, NY for quartz crystals..

Saturday, May 24th - "Diamond" Acres, Fonda, NY for quartz crystals.

Saturday, June 7th - LaFarge Lockport Quarry, Lockport, NY for dolomite, calcite, selenite, celestine.

Sunday June 22 - LeFarge Quarry in Dundas, Ontario,  for celestine, brown fluorite, marcasite, and calcite.

Saturday, June 28th - Syracuse area.  Rochester Lapidary Society (RLS) field trip. .

Thursday, July 3rd - Sunday, July 6th - RLS field trip to Bancroft, Ontario, Canada area.  

Saturday, July 19th;  Barton Garnet Mine, North River, NY. Garnet, gneiss, feldspar, hornblende.  Gift shop. Children's sluice.  We'll get into public Pit #1 where no tools allowed & pending safety inspection after the snow melts, Pit #8/9 where tools are allowed. We'll stop at the closed Hooper Mine at the end of the day.

Saturday, July 19th, Lafarge, NA at Lockport (Quarry) -  Minerals usually found there include: Pink-tinged dolomite crystals, calcite crystals, celestine, gypsum (selenite & massive), anhydrite, and marcasite.

Saturday, August 2nd or Sunday, August 3rd –; Spring Creek, Alden, NY depending on people's preference, for fossils, pyritized fossils & nodules and septarian nodules. 11a. m.

Saturday, August 16th & Sunday, August 17th - Lewis & St. Lawrence Counties.  Drive up Saturday.  Exact collecting sites to be determined.  If you have a tent & camping gear, free shower-less camping will be available in Potsdam.

Saturday, August 23rd - Please note the field trip to Bower Powers farm for uvite, quartz & apatite on the www.efta.biz Web site(click on 2008 Field Trips.)  This trip is sponsored by the St Lawrence County Rock & Mineral Club.  

There will be no September field trips to Meckley's Limestone Products, Inc. Quarry in Mandata, PA due to a change in their insurance company - Field trip groups are no long allowed in the quarry.  Since trips to National Limestone Quarry were always held in conjunction with trips to Meckley's, they are canceled unless members contact the Field Trip Coordinator and express an interest in going to National for wavellite, calcite & strontianite.

Saturday, October 11th & Sunday, October 12th - Dolomite Products Co., Inc., Walworth Quarry, Walworth, NY. Power Tools allowed. Personal Protective Equipment: Hard hat, safety glasses, sturdy footware, long pants. Gloves recommended.

Tentative Date: LaFarge Lockport Quarry often holds a fall open house on a Saturday morning in late October.

For more information on field trips, contact mineraltrips(at)rasny.org