Category: Program Meeting

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Gem Pegmatites of Southern California Subject of March 15 Virtual Program Meeting with Walt Lombardo

Zoom Meeting starts at 7:00 p.m., Tuesday, March 15, 2022

Walt Lombardo, Owner & Founder of Nevada Mineral & Book Co., located in Orange, Calif.

Southern California is known worldwide for the production of gemstones and mineral specimens from the granite pegmatites in San Diego, Riverside & San Bernardino counties. Some of the more well-known gem minerals are Tourmaline, Garnet, Aquamarine, Morganite, Kunzite, Quartz, Topaz and Lepidolite. Most notable are the Pala and Mesa Grande mining districts, which supplied beautiful tourmalines to the last Dowager Empress of China in the early 1900’s, and continue to produce world-class gems and mineral specimens today. Our program speaker this month is Walt Lombardo, a geologist with over 35 years experience related to mining and mineral exploration. Walt’s talk will include discussion of the regional geology which made these deposits possible, history of mining in Southern California, some of the more important mines, and the gem minerals that they produced.

Meeting starts at 7:00 p.m. If you’d like to join us, write marcia.pls.emails [at] gmail [dot] com to request a Zoom link.

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PLS Explores “The Inner Beauty of Caves” by Mary Pat Weber

Program Meeting, Tuesday, February 15, 2022; 7:00 pm via Zoom.

Photo courtesy of Mary Pat Weber

A cave is more than just a hole in the ground.  These spectacular creations are natural laboratories for preserving fossils, recording past climate, and providing habitats for unique and rare animals.  Due to their global importance physically, culturally, and ecologically, 2021 was designated the International Year of Caves and Karst. As a geologist, Mary Pat finds caves fascinating and takes every opportunity to tour them.  Join us Tuesday night to explore this intriguing subterranean world that includes some of the major show caves of the Western U.S. You can leave your high boots and flashlights at home – this meeting’s virtual!

Meeting starts at 7:00 p.m. If you’d like to join us, write marcia.pls.emails [at] gmail [dot] com to request a Zoom link.

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January 18 Virtual Program Meeting Explores Crystals

Pictured above: Actinolite, Quartz point, Axinite. Can you identify the other four?
Photo credit: PLS member Elizabeth Weston

Our Tuesday, January 18, 2022 Program Meeting will be held via Zoom. PLS member David Lacy will provide the evening’s presentation as an overview of Crystals and Crystal Forms.  We will look at the differences between geometrical (ideal) crystal forms and some of the crystal habits in nature, where geometric forms meet the real world.  We will check on just what are the characteristics of a crystal, what is a crystal habit, symmetry in crystals, and the seven crystal systems met in nature.  Some mineral specimens will be visually shared to demonstrate real-world crystal habits. Meeting starts at 7:00 p.m. If you’d like to join us, write marcia.pls.emails [at] gmail [dot] com to request a Zoom link.

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Tuesday, Nov. 16 Virtual Program Meeting Explores the Chixculub Impact Event with Paolo Sanchez; 7:00 p.m.

Pasadena Lapidary Society’s very own future geologist/geophysicist, Paolo Sanchez, will present “Traces of Extinction: The Search for Rocks and Minerals at Chixculub” for our November program meeting. For those wondering what the heck ‘Chixculub Impact Event’ is, think meteor meets dinosaurs. Paolo will present his current ongoing research examining tektites derived from Chixculub and what their respective chemistries tell us about the minerals and lithologies associated with the impact event, with the potential of understanding the lithology of the meteor itself.

Earlier this year, Paolo was awarded the California Federation of Mineralogical Societies’ (CFMS) Robert O. Deidrich Memorial Fund Scholarship for school year 2020-21. He’s been studying geosciences at UC Berkeley, working his way up to a PhD and possibly obtaining a career as a professional researcher.

There will be no Rock of the Month discussion for this meeting.

The Tuesday, Nov. 16 program meeting starts at 7:00 p.m. via Zoom. To join us, send an email to (new email address!)… marcia.pls.emails[at]gmail.com in advance, using ‘PROGRAM MEETING’ in subject line, and request the Zoom meeting link. We’re looking forward to seeing Paolo – and hope to see you virtually as well!

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Tuesday, Oct. 19 Virtual Program Meeting Focuses on Urban Rockhounding in Tucson; 7:00 p.m.

Among some of our favorite rockhound travel guides are Dick and Mary Pat Weber. For the Tuesday, October 19 presentation, Mary Pat will take us on a Practical Guide to Urban Rockhounding in Tucson.

In a few months dealers, buyers, and collectors will gather together for the largest rockhound  event in the world.  You will find great bargains relating to all aspects of our hobby offered by vendors from all corners of the globe.  If you can’t find it in Tucson, it probably doesn’t exist anywhere.  According to Mary Pat, you will run out of money long before you cross off all the items on your wish list.

With over forty shows from which to choose, it can be a bit confusing for the first-timer.  Mary Pat will offer practical advice for navigating though the “Tucson experience” to make it both efficient and fun.  This program is jammed packed with photo highlights of the biggest club show in the world, including specimens from world class museums such as the Smithsonian and other private collections. If you’ve been thinking about visiting Tucson for the rockhound shows but have yet to, here’s a chance to see what they’re all about.

PLS member Mona Ross will provide October’s Rock of the Month talk on one of the world’s rarest gemstones, Grandidierite.

The Tuesday, Oct. 19 program meeting starts at 7:00 p.m. via Zoom. To join us, send an email to joenmar1[at]verizon.net in advance, using ‘PROGRAM MEETING’ in subject line, and request the Zoom meeting link. Hope to “see” you there!

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Caltech Professor George Rossman takes a look at Chinese Andesine Feldspar for Tuesday, Sept. 21 Zoom Program Meeting

A variety of faceted andesines in table-down orientation.

There’s a controversy brewing over a new and beautiful red transparent gem out of the Democratic Republic of the Congo as well as Tibet or an unspecified location in China. Caltech Professor of Mineralogy George Rossman will discuss his research on this red copper-carrying feldspar at our September program meeting.

The Tuesday, Sept. 21 program meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. via Zoom. To join us, send an email to joenmar1[at]verizon.net in advance, using ‘PROGRAM MEETING’ in subject line, and request the Zoom meeting link. “See” you there!

Image borrowed from: http://minerals.gps.caltech.edu/manuscripts/2011/Chinese_Red_Feldspar_I/Index.html

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Tuesday, August 17th Virtual Program Meeting Focuses on Geology of California’s National Parks

Our friends Dick and Mary Pat Weber return to take us on an armchair journey to explore the Geology of California’s National Parks for the main presentation of our Tuesday, August 17 Program Meeting.  Some of the finest examples of geologic features in the Western U.S. are on display in the national parks of our beautiful Golden State. They contain a vast array of different land forms and underlying lithologies (rock types) that have been shaped by nature in different environments ranging from cold and wet in the highest mountains, to the extreme heat in the driest of deserts.

The Tuesday, August 17 program meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. via Zoom. To join us, send an email to joenmar1[at]verizon.net in advance, using ‘PROGRAM MEETING’ in subject line, and request the Zoom meeting link. We’ll be looking forward to ‘seeing’ you online.

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Mining for Koroit Boulder Opal ‘Down Under’ with Gene McDevitt, subject of July 20 Virtual Program Meeting

We’ve got an exciting feature presentation slated for Tuesday, July 20, 2021 when Gene McDevitt, explorer, entrepreneur, lapidary artist takes us on an armchair trip to Queensland, Australia for Koroit Boulder Opal mining. In addition to Koroit Opal, Gene cuts and wholesales other interesting stones such as Mooka Jasper (Mookaite), Noreena Jasper, Tiger Eye, and Rutilated Quartz, among others.

Gene McDevitt, Professional Miner and Cutter. Koroit opal miner since 2001. Photos used with permission from Gene McDevitt.

The Tuesday, July 20 program meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. via Zoom. To join us, send an email to joenmar1[at]verizon.net in advance, using ‘PROGRAM MEETING’ in subject line, and request the Zoom meeting link. This virtual rock hunting journey is not to be missed… hope you can join us!

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Deep Earth subject of Tues., June 15 Virtual Program Meeting

Join us Tuesday, June 15 for a journey through the deep Earth, with Dr. Krista Sawchuk. The deep Earth, which encompasses the mantle and core, makes up 99% of our planet. Because we can’t physically go to the deep Earth, scientists employ a variety of techniques to learn more about it. Dr. Sawchuk will share what we do know about the deep Earth and how her research on the behavior of minerals at high pressures and temperatures is helping us learn more about the chemistry of the mantle.

Dr. Sawchuk recently graduated from UCLA with a PhD in geochemistry. Her dissertation research focused on the high-pressure behavior and chemical reactions of volatile-bearing minerals in Earth’s mantle. Since graduating, she started a postdoctoral research
position at Los Alamos National Lab in New Mexico where she continues her high-pressure research. In her spare time she enjoys mineral collecting and curating her personal mineral collection.

The Tuesday, June 15 program meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. via Zoom. To join us, send an email to joenmar1[at]verizon.net in advance, using ‘PROGRAM MEETING’ in subject line, and request the Zoom meeting link. We hope to “see” you there!

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Obsidian Featured Presentation for Tuesday, April 20, 2021 Program Meeting; 6:30 p.m.

Obsidian is a popular lapidary material to collect and cut. Join Pasadena Lapidary Society at the April general meeting, as lapidary artist Terry Wilson takes us on a virtual trip to Davis Creek and other obsidian collecting locations, updating us on collecting site regulations. Terry will share tips on how to inspect the obsidian in the field and back at home. She will also demonstrate how to line up, slab and cab the material to bring out the best of their unique optical properties, including how to cut a cab exhibiting the cat-eye effect.

Obsidian with Silver sheen banding.
Snowflake Obsidian

The April Rock of the Month will be presented by geologist, Dick Weber.  Dick will take us on a tour of a hidden treasure: the Petrified Wood museum of Nebraska.

Join us virtually for the April 20 Tuesday night meeting by RSVPing to joenmar1[at]verizon.net for a Zoom meeting link, using ‘PROGRAM MEETING’ in subject line.