Our next meeting will be Tuesday, February 11, 2014 at 7PM in the dining room of the Bristol Senior/Community Center, 240 Stafford Ave., Bristol.
We will begin with a short business meeting, then refreshments and a silent auction, followed by our program.
Our program for the evening is entitled “5 Years at the Spinelli Prospect, Glastonbury, Connecticut,” by Harold “Fritz” Moritz and Tony Albini. The small Spinelli pegmatite in Glastonbury, Connecticut is famous for samarskite collected in the 1930s, and many classic specimens from that era can be found in museums and old collections. After sitting idle for more than 80 years, the samarskite-rich portion of the deposit was mined again beginning in April 2008, when Tony received permission from the owner to collect there. Because of its radioactive nature, prospecting for samarskite was done with gamma-ray scintillometers to locate subsurface crystals and diamond blade power saws to surgically remove them. Packed with plenty of photos, both from in the field and of carefully prepared crystals, this presentation will detail the history, geology, and fantastic new mineral finds recovered by the 5-year specimen-mining effort. We believe this effort has resulted in the best samarskite crystals preserved anywhere.
Hope to see you there!
