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Symposium LIVE Links

Our symposium will be live from 9 AM Saturday morning (Pacific Time) on Zoom:

https://events.zoom.us/e/conference/preview/-UcOhR1fSqqAxffw1KXTxw

You will need to register on the site, but there is no charge. We recommend registering early and joining each of the Webinars as they start.

The schedule for Saturday:

9:00 am
Welcome and introductory remarks
Jessica Robertson and Julian Gray

9:05 am
Rare Earth Elements – An Overview of REE Occurrence, Importance, and Mineralogical Interest
Mandi Hutchinson

10:15 am
Cascade Crystals: An Introduction to Crystal Localities of the Cascades
Randy Becker

11:15 am
Rare-earth and rare element mineralogy of the Golden Horn Batholith – new research into a globally unique alkaline system
Markus Raschke

12:15 pm
MORNING SESSION ENDS

2:00 pm
REE as activators of striking luminescence in minerals: Examples in apatite, fluorite and calcite
Glenn Waychunas
Virtual presentation

3:00 pm
Rare Earth Element Minerals
Brent Thorne

Sunday Morning

8:00 am
FM BUSINESS MEETING

9:00 am
Pikes Peak or bust – from golden past to rare earth future?
Markus Raschke

10:00 am
Closing Remarks
Jessica Robertson

10:05 am
SYMPOSIUM ENDS, MAIN FLOOR CLOSES

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Rare Earth Minerals begins 10/20/2023!

Our 2023 symposium, Rare Earth Element Minerals will start Friday afternoon. Setup begins at noon. Exhibits and main floor dealers open at 5:00 pm. Satellite dealers in the north hall of the hotel open when they wish.

We will again be live-streaming our talks on Zoom, and if the tech all comes together, on Facebook and YouTube.

We recommend using Zoom because it will allow for questions. There is NO charge for watching the talks online, but we are happy to accept donations if you find it of value.

Of course, the entire, in-person experience is much more fun with dealers, auctions, displays, and “giant crystal that got away” stories. You can register here: https://pnwfm.square.site/
or at the event.

We will post a link to register for the virtual Zoom event on Friday evening, so stay tuned!

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2023 Symposium – Call for Exhibits

Display some of your collection!

The heart of a mineral show is always the display cases. Everyone looks at them, studies them… even drools over them! Please consider displaying part of your collection at this year’s symposium. We have 12 cases and only a few are spoken for at the time of this notice. Some things to consider:

  • Cases are not required to be “on theme.”
  • You do not need to have museum quality specimens to make an interesting display!
  • The best guideline is to put together a display that YOU would stop to look at.
  • This year’s theme may be better suited to micro-mineral specimens so consider getting creative: Perhaps add photos or an in-case slide show?
  • Cases are bolted together after you place your display inside. We will have security sleeping in the room with the cases on Friday and Saturday night.
  • The case dimensions are 43-1/8” wide x 22-1/2” deep x 27-3/8” high. The fronts slope in at the top. You can find detailed instructions on our web site:
    https://pnwfm.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/ShowCaseInstructions.pdf
  • We have a variety of case liners available, so you do not need to make your own.

Contact Bruce Kelley – bruce.kelley@gmail.com to reserve a case.

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2023 Symposium Registration is now open

Rare Earth Minerals

Online registration is now ready to go!
https://pnwfm.square.site/

Some notes on this year’s symposium:
1. The Red Lion hotel does not currently offer food service. There is still no official banquet service but we have a caterer contracted to provide our Saturday evening meal. More details soon…

2. Some presentations will be live speakers and others may be recorded and projected on the big screen. We are planning to live-broadcast the entire symposium for those unable to attend.

Stay tuned for more details in the next few weeks.

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Washington Pass collecting trip – CANCELLED

Hello PNWFM Members. We had been hoping that the fire situation in the North Cascades would be resolved in time for the Washington Pass trip, but an August “fire season” is again our reality. With the closure of Highway 20 we have made the decision to cancel our event. We hope to try again next year and explore the possibility of holding the field trip earlier in the summer when fire risk is not so high. 

In the meantime Markus has offered to analyze any of your unknown Washington Pass or related mineral. He would perform EDX and XRD as needed and share the results at the PNWFM Symposium in October. Please contact him at markus.raschke@colorado.edu if you wish to send him material for analysis.

Thank you for understanding, and we’ll try again next year.

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CANCELLED – Washington Pass Collecting Trip – Aug 25-27, 2023

It’s been several years, but PNWFM is pleased to announce that we will be returning to Washington Pass this August, the weekend of August 25. Please join us for this weekend field trip to a fascinating spot of interesting geology. The field trip will be led by Markus Raschke.

To help the novices Markus will provide handouts and an introduction into Washington Pass geology. We also plan a short evening presentation on the exotic minerals including an update on recent research on some of the exotic minerals. The usual evening prospecting with UV light for zektzerite is of course a must. We aim to visit the talus field of Liberty Bell one day, and some road side localities the other. 

A note on logistics: Our past “clean up” events at the pass were coordinated in loose partnership with the Forest Service arranging for our group to have campsites near each other, but Forest Service policies have now changed and require much more formal and extended volunteer commitment and procedures than our small group can support at this time. Therefore, we’re revising our tradition into more of an independent camping and geological field trip experience. The campground is first-come, first-served, so while we can attempt to group our camp sites close together, we may end up a little dispersed. If you plan to attend or have questions about logistics, please contact Markus at Markus.Raschke@colorado.edu. A second note: as of this email, portions of Highway 20 on the west side are closed due to fire, but Washington Pass is still accessible from the east side. Cross fingers that fire will be out by August 25, and we’ll keep watching to see if plans need to change.

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2023 Symposium – Save the dates!

Rare Earth Element Minerals
October 20-22, 2023
Kelso, Washington

Live in Kelso and Online
Saturday and Sunday: Presentations by national experts in Rare Earth Element Minerals
Saturday Evening Banquet
Floor and Room Dealers
World Class Mineral Displays
Auctions and Camaraderie

Event registration coming soon!

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Seattle Mineral Market – THIS Weekend! (5/20/23 – 5/21/223)

PNW Friends of Mineralogy will have a prominent presence at this year’s Seattle Mineral Market. Stop by our booth, flanking the main entrance:

  • Learn about Friends of Mineralogy and join the PNW chapter
  • Get info about our October symposium – Rare Earth Element Minerals
  • Join our summer Washington Pass cleanup
  • Grab some merch with our brand new logo!
  • Silent auctions
  • Educational displays
  • Kids’ activities

Display and photo: Jessica Robertson

2023 Seattle Mineral Market
May 20 & 21, 2023
Hangar 30 Building @ Magnuson Park
7400 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115
Saturday 10:00AM-6:00PM
Sunday 11:00AM-5:00PM
https://elementalendeavors.com/seattle-mineral-market