We know that everyone would love to get together in Kelso next month for a live symposium, but that is just not the world we live in right now. So, this year’s symposium will be in the same Zoom format as last year. This worked to our benefit for this year’s theme: Minerals of Africa! We will have six talks, all presented on Saturday, October 16, 2021. Five talks will be on our Africa theme, and one will be local to the Pacific Northwest. Bryan Swoboda will be working with our speakers to record their talks and will apply his Blue Cap Productions magic to give them the professional polish that he is famous for. We will send a detailed schedule and Zoom instructions in advance, but we expect the start time to be 11 AM, Pacific Time.
The symposium will be presented via the Zoom platform so that all current members of PNWFM and guests will be able to join in. You will be able to ask questions of the speakers via a chat feature. There will be no registration fee for this virtual symposium.
The Minerals of South/Central Morocco
David Joyce (presenter) and Raymond McDougall (contributor). David Joyce has been a mineral collector since he was 12 years old, growing up in rock and mineral bereft Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He left Toronto at 19 years of age to attend the Haileybury School of Mines and upon graduation worked across Canada in the explosives and mining businesses. He later worked for mining and engineering contractors in the field of designing and building mining complexes his last real job was Vice President, Business Development for SNC-Lavalin Engineers and Constructors. David was an adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto for eight years, was past vice-president of the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (CIM), past Chair of the Toronto Branch of CIM, Past President of the Walker Mineralogical Club and a founder of the Young Toronto Mineralogist Club (going 22 years now!). He has also served as director on the boards of several public and private companies.
David Joyce has had a mineral business either full or part time for over 35 years and that is now his occupation. He is also a song writer/musician and has released a compact Disc recording, “Nuggets and High Grade” of his mineral collecting and Mining-related songs. He recently released a popular music video entitled “Diggin’ in a Hole”.
DANGERS IN LONG GRASS: Mineral Collecting in the Republic of the Congo
Demetrius Pohl has been collecting minerals ever since, when, as a young boy on a camping trip with his family to the tungsten and moly mining areas of New England in New South Wales, Australia, he found a topaz crystal in Oban creek. He still has it. After a false start in architecture, he switched to geology earning a Ph.D. from Stanford in geochemistry. His career yo-yoed between industry and academia with a stint as associate curator at the American Museum of Natural History, and teaching at Columbia, but most of his career was spent in mineral exploration in Australia, South America, and Africa. With college friends he started his own mineral exploration company focusing on Africa and South America. Fortunately, this venture was sold after more than 20 years and some successes, to some optimistic investors in London and he is now retired, restoring old houses, tending his mineral collection, and trying to travel with his wife, Chris.
The Kalahari Manganese Field: South Africa’s most famous mineral locality
Bruce Cairncross obtained his Master degree from the University of Natal in 1979 and, after working for Rand Mines Ltd coal division, joined the University of the Witwatersrand obtaining his PhD in 1986. He then joined Rand Afrikaans University (RAU) Geology department, where he served as Head of Department for 14 years, from 2003 to 2016, during which time RAU merged with the Witwatersrand Technikon to form the University of Johannesburg (UJ) and he is currently Professor of Geology at UJ. Bruce has written 11 books on southern African minerals and gemstones and published over 150 articles on the same topics. He serves on the Editorial Board of The Mineralogical Record and Rocks & Minerals and many of his articles have featured in these two publications. He is an accomplished photographer and has won local and international awards for his mineral photos.
Minerals, Mines and Geology of Namibia
Bruce Cairncross
The Evolution of Ruby Sources in East-Africa
Wim Vertriest graduated from the Catholic University of Leuven (KULeuven) in Belgium. He obtained a masters in Geology in 2014, specializing in ‘Geodynamics & Geofluids’ and gained his FGA and GG diplomas. Since joining GIA in 2015, Wim has participated in GIA Field Expeditions to numerous gem mining areas around the world focusing on ruby, sapphire, and emerald. He has (co-)authored articles on new gemstone localities, updates on existing mining localities, in-depth gemological studies, and treatment experiments. In his role as manager, Wim is overseeing the field gemology department and is in charge of GIA’s colored stone research collection in Bangkok.
Rocks, Minerals & Geology of the Pacific Northwest
Leslie Moclock (presenter) and Jacob Selander (co-author). PNWFM members know Leslie Moclock for her museum curatorship and displays and presentations at our last few symposia. She earned an MS in geology from the University of California–Davis, where she taught field and laboratory geology. She held the position of curator at the Rice Northwest Museum of Rocks and Minerals in Hillsboro, Oregon, for five years, where she enjoyed many opportunities to bring science to the public. Many of you know that she was working on a new book, and it has arrived! In “Rocks, Minerals, and Geology of the Pacific Northwest” she and co-author Jacob Selander present the minerals and geology of our little corner of the planet in a fresh and geologically interesting way:
https://www.amazon.com/Minerals-Geology-Pacific-Northwest-Timber/dp/1604699159