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Denver Gem And Mineral Show


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9 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

What show is that going to be Chris? The one in Sparks?

Steve -
Its the American Mining and Exploration show (the organization was formerly the Northwest Mining Assn.) its more a commercial oriented mining show, but the magazine attends to pass out free copies. Its not really oriented to individual prospectors but more exploration and mining companies. A few mineral dealers attend to sell nice specimens. You attended the show with me a few years back. See:
https://www.miningamerica.org/2017-annual-meeting/

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7 hours ago, Joe Fortunato said:

Glenn,

Thanks for posting the pics from the Denver Gem and Mineral Show. I have a story to tell about one of the pictures that you posted. It is about the wire gold specimen in photo #41. I am not absolutely sure this is the specimen but based on it's uniqueness and the area where it was found, I am fairly sure it is the one. If this is indeed that specimen, it was dug by my first nugget hunting mentor and his two detecting partners nearly 20 years ago. My friend and mentor, Ken, and his partners Larry and Jim had been granted permission to detect  on Farncomb Hill, near Breckenridge. They had a great number of finds over a span of several years. As one might expect, they were very secretive about the location due to the success that they had. I did not know Ken at the time that he and his partners had found the specimen that they named "The Birds Nest". Ken told me the story in 2003, I had joined a local prospecting club, The Gold Prospectors of the Rockies. Ken was on their board of directors and one of the first people that I met ( I am the current vice president of the club ). Ken is living outside the US now, but does come back to visit family every few years. The last time he was in Denver, he offered to show me the place where he and his partners found their gold, so I picked him up at his daughters home and off to Breckenridge we went. The area is under claim and closed to prospecting, but were aware of that before hand.We walked the ground that had surrendered some of it's golden treasure. The area was given a name back in the 1800's,  and based on photo #41, I would say they hit it right on the head. It is called "The Wire Patch". You may be surprised to know that they sold "The Birds Nest" not long after they discovered it !!! 

Again, thanks for posting

I hope that our fellow forum members enjoy the story about this amazing Colorado gold specimen.

Hi Joe,

I and my wife know Ken O., Larry B. and John V. We showed them the location where Ken found that specimen and as you say the rest is history. Unfortunately Ken sold that specimen to quick and he could of got a lot more for it than he did. We saw John V. and his mining partner Glenn G. at the show and caught up on recent and past finds in Colorado. Lots of amazing finds are still being found if you know where to go.

 

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Great pics, Glenn!  Thanks for that.

I also would have liked to have known about this display before I went to the show (first weekend).  I never saw it.  I do wish the promoters of these shows (Tucson included) would do a better job explaining/detailing things like where (how about a decent map!), when, and especially what is in the different locations.  At Tucson they had over 50 venues but who the hell (I sure didn't) knew what was in each.  In Denver, I think most of the show was right at I-25, I-70 intersection area but what was in each of those buildings seemed to require walking and viewing every booth.  And it's kinda hot there in early September...  Worst is having to put up with all the jewelry, etc. to try and figure out where the raw stuff is.   I'm not that interested in a polished skull.

I was with my sister and looking for telluride ores.  At one booth we went into (in the Mart) my sister asked one of the proprietors (young woman) if they had any Coloradoite.  She said she needed to ask the main guy who is (according to her) a miner in Colorado and knew everything about Colorado ores.  She came back chuckling but was frank:  "he said there is no such thing."  My reply:  "well, I guess we're in the wrong booth, then."

Fortunately my sister was more persistent and asked another rough looking guy in the same booth if he knew where we could get tellurides.  He gave us the name of someone in the Miners' Co-op -- outdoor section of the show with many *real*(?) miners selling their hard earned wares.  After getting directions we went in search of the recommended person but turns out he wasn't at the show this year.  However, the Miners' Co-op people are tight nit and we were directed to a booth (run by Jack McGee and Laura Seymour) where not only did they have several gold telluride specimens, but many were mined by Jack himself deep below Cripple Creek.  Good guy and very knowledgeable.  I was able to buy a couple specimens (one roasted and one not).  In passing I told him about the "Coloradoite doesn't exist" episode and his response was:  "well, then he'd better contact the School of Mines and tell them, becasuse they'll be surprised to find that out!"

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