Friday, February 08, 2008

du Monmonier mineral collection unvieled at UA



The $8 million Hubert du Monmonier mineral collection opens to the public tomorrow (Feb 9) but a couple hundred members of the Tucson Gem & Mineral Society and other mineral devotees got a preview tonight at the UA Flandrau Science Center.

The collection is the centerpiece of the UA Mineral Museum. Terry Wallace, the former curator of the museum from 1984-2003, came in from Los Alamos to describe the significance and brief history of the collection. [ above- Venezuelan gold; left- diopside; below- silver]

Terry characterized the 870-piece collection as having four emphases: quartz (350 pieces), gold, silver, and beryls.

[below left - azurite, Bisbee mine; bottom left- tourmalines; bottom right - preview crowd]



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