SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 Volume 92 Number 5

410  Crystals from the Lena Goldfields, Bodaibo Area, Eastern Siberia, Russia: Exceptional Hoppered Octahedra and Pseudomorphs after Pyrite

Gold crystals, Russia, p. 410 John Rakovan, Volker Lüders, Andreas Massanek, Gert Nolze FEATURES 426 The Minerals of Palabora, Limpopo Province, South Africa Malcolm Southwood, Bruce Cairncross

Palabora, p. 426

405 Chips from the Quarry 409 Letters 454 Connoisseur’s Choice: Tsumcorite, Tsumeb Mine, Namibia Bruce Cairncross 464 Who’s Who in Mineral Names: Bryan K. Lees (b. 1957) Robert B. Cook Scovil exhibition, p. 405 466 The Where of Mineral Names: Tsumebite, Tsumeb Mine, Namibia Bruce Cairncross 473 Through the ’Scope: The Year in Micromounting—2016 Was a Year of Shock, Quintin Wight 485 In Memoriam: William Wallace Pinch (1940–2017)

DEPARTMENTS Robert Lavinsky, Robert Downs 489 Museum Notes 491 Internet Directory for the Earth Sciences 493 Coming Events William W. Pinch, p. 485 ABOUT THE COVER: variety aquamarine, muscovite, cassiterite, 9.2 cm high, Mt. Xuebaoding, Pingwu County, Sichuan, . Steve Smale specimen, Jeff Scovil photo. See Chips from the Quarry column, beginning on page 405, for details about the Jeff Scovil photo exhibition currently at the Huangshi Geo-Science Museum in Hubei Province, China. In Memoriam

As he told Chamberlain and King (1981, p. 51) about his early days: In some sense the collection began in 1947 when I was given a box of specimens from the Cooperstown Museum. Before that I had been in- trigued by the fossils found on my aunt’s farm in West Bloomfield, New York, but it was the minerals I col- lected and those I saw at the Smith- sonian Institution in 1952 that fired my imagination. Bill worked his way up, wheeling and dealing in minerals and invest- ing his salary from a paper route as a teenager. He attended the University of New Mexico but never graduated, in- stead returning to Rochester where he was employed by Eastman Kodak, the William Wallace Pinch local tech giant. There he developed a great working knowledge of X-ray (1940–2017) analysis and then used that knowledge to study his personal collection as well. illiam Wallace Pinch was PhD in the field, and he participated Most people, when hearing Bill talk born in Hornell, New York, in so many discoveries (seventeen new about minerals and mineralogy, logi- on 15 August 1940 and species) that among amateur mineralo- cally and safely assumed that he was Wpassed away in Tucson, Arizona, on 1 gists he was very well published, with indeed a PhD mineralogist. April 2017 at the age of seventy-six. As quite a few peer-reviewed scholarly Bill grew a magnificent, broad, his daughter wrote in a touching obitu- articles. globe-spanning collection numbering ary posted on Facebook (7 April): more than ten thousand specimens of He was a world-renowned miner- significance, plus another ten thousand alogist, loving husband, father, and lesser duplicates; all of this is a story in grandfather. He is survived by wife itself, documented elsewhere (Cham- Jacquelyn, daughter Megan, son Mi- chael (Karina), and granddaughter berlain and King 1981). His collection Elise. Pinch was a larger-than-life became one of the major references collector of many of earth’s rarities of the day because he recognized and including not only minerals but also sought research-quality specimens and gems, fossils, shells, botanical, and type material. The collection was sold rare books. to the Canadian National Museum of She wrote these words reflecting that, Nature in the 1980s, after which Bill unlike for so many collectors, he was built his second (current) and also quite blessed with a family that appreciated significant collection. He knew that the and recognized his passion for miner- future of mineralogical knowledge was als as an integral part of who he was. not going to be found in books but in As parents ourselves, we see that this the integration of large databases with praise reflects Bill as a person. measurements from definitive samples. Bill was a self-made man, in both His collection provided important ma- minerals and life in general. His life terial to the emerging mineralogical story could be (and is) a full-length tale, databases such as Mindat and RRUFF. well told by Steven C. Chamberlain and Bill spent the later part of his life as a Vandall T. King in the March/April The March/April 1981 issue of Rocks & major contributor to the RRUFF proj- 1981 issue of Rocks & Minerals (pages Minerals that featured a lengthy article ect at the University of Arizona with on Bill Pinch and his collection. The 49–65) that is well worth reading. He cover photo is a , 7.6 cm high, from the Downs lab. taught himself mineralogy to the point Kongsberg, Norway. Bill Pinch specimen Chamberlain and King wrote (1981) where most people assumed he had a and photo. of Bill, typifying his philosophy of both

Volume 92, September/October 2017 485 minerals and people (whom he also largest, most well-documented suite collected in his orbit as his collection of Tsumeb rare species ever assembled continued to grow), the following: in one place. (Many specimens are the Bill Pinch acquires mineral speci- best of species and even more are types, mens to acquire knowledge. The crystal structure types, and RRUFF extensive compositional and local- standard examples—an important sci- ity suites in the collection reflect the entific repository.) evolution of his interest in localities, One of Bill’s most consuming proj- associations, and chemical groups. The presence in the collection of ects of the past ten years was to archive so many scientifically important for posterity this collection and then specimens is a result of this quest for publish it on his website: http://www. and delight with knowledge about williampinch.com/tsumeb/. In his own minerals. words regarding the website: One of Bill’s favorite stories told These are a few of my Tsumeb min- over the years was the “story of the erals which I am happy to share with rhodochrosites on my lawn” from the you. There are over 600 specimens in early 1980s. Prosper Williams had just the Tsumeb collection, and as I am able to add more photographs I will. gotten back from Africa, and Bill was Any comments or questions, please hosting a dinner and evening party at feel free to contact me. Tsumeb is, in his home. As Bill told it, he could have my opinion, one of the most impor- bought most of the wonderful red sca- tant mineral localities known with lenohedral rhodochrosites imported, the world’s finest examples of many of the species, both common and then and there (if rhodochrosite were a Warikahnite (an iconic Bill Pinch rare. mineral worth having so many of!). Bill specimen), 4.9 cm high, Tsumeb mine, saw Charlie Key sneak out of the party Tsumeb, Namibia; Jeff Scovil photo. Some of his most famous “finds” at and go meet Prosper’s jalopy on his shows made magazine covers and be- front lawn. Suspecting something was came iconic specimens in their own up when Charlie did not come back cord sum for a mineral collection, and quickly, Bill peeked out the window people were stunned at the price. With and then followed and saw Prosper his broad smile he claimed that his unpacking pointy red beauties onto his wife, Jackie, never questioned any of his grass. After declaring one for himself, purchases since then. Bill moved on; he did the honorable thing and told he and Jackie built their dream home other guests what was on the lawn, and in Rochester and quickly proceeded that very night Prosper sold some of the to build a new mineral collection as best rhodochrosites the world has seen, well. Bill said on many occasions that right there on the grass in Rochester. If he made the right call but had since re- they were more chemically interesting, gretted that so much of the collection they might all have been Bill’s. was in storage and not displayed. He In 1988, Bill decided that, for a va- said on numerous occasions that if he riety of reasons, it was time to sell his had known they would not display it, collection. One of the most important he might not have sold it at the time. reasons was that it seemed there might However good that first collection be a singularly unique chance for it to was, don’t ever think that his second be purchased by the Canadian govern- collection did not also aspire to world- ment as the core collection of the Ca- class status! He was right back in the nadian National Museum of Nature in trenches, trading and buying minerals, Ottawa, and this seemed to Bill such and his current collection numbers in a romantic disposition for the collec- the thousands, with particular empha- tion that the offer had to be taken. In sis on suites of English classics, sulfides, his mind, the chance to preserve what silver-bearing species, Tsumeb and he had built as a legacy for the future Kalahari minerals, classics, plus many was paramount to living with it, and he other subsuites that provided him the did, of course, plan to use a chunk of excuse to rationalize collecting broadly Andyrobertsite and olivenite (the finest the money to buy more minerals and again. Bill was particularly proud of sample of andyrobertsite known), 1.5 cm start over. At the time, the selling price the Tsumeb rarities suite, which con- high, Tsumeb mine, Tsumeb, Namibia; (millions of dollars) was a world-re- tains what we assume must be the Bill Pinch collection, Jeff Scovil photo.

486 ROCKS & MINERALS right in this new collection that Bill was A Sampling of the More Than Two Dozen so proud of. We believe that if he had to pick one specimen to save in a house “Pinch Papers,” fire—after he had already rescued the Many in Collaboration with the Downs Lab family dog—that it would be the andy- robertsite pictured here (and here Bill, watching us write this over our shoul- Bindi, L., R. T. Downs, P. G. Spry, W. W. Pinch, and S. Menchetti. 2012. A chemical and ders would chuckle and insert a lengthy structural re-examination of fettelite samples from the type locality, Odenwald, south- correction: NO! It is andyrobertsite on west Germany. Mineralogical Magazine 76:551–66. calcioandyrobertsite, you dummy. Two

Bindi, L., and W. W. Pinch. 2014. Cameronite, Cu5-x(Cu,Ag)3+xTe 10 (x = 0.43), from the different species. Do not forget to men- Good Hope mine, Vulcan, Colorado: Crystal structure and revision of the chemical tion that. It is the type, structure type, formula. The Canadian Mineralogist 52:423–32. and Raman type too, and that is very Cabri, L. J., A. Rosenzweig, and W. W. Pinch. 1977. -group minerals from On- important. And it’s the only specimen in verwacht: I. Pt-Fe-Cu-Ni alloys. The Canadian Mineralogist 15:380–84. existence. Don’t forget to mention that, Cooper, M. A., F. C. Hawthorne, W. W. Pinch, and J. D. Grice. 1999. Andyrobertsite and either.) calcioandyrobertsite: Two new minerals from the Tsumeb mine, Tsumeb, Namibia. Mineralogical Record 30:181–86. Bill usually laughed or chuckled Downs, R. T., W. W. Pinch, R. M. Thompson, S. H. Evans, and L. Megaw. 2016. Yangite, when he told the story of how he and luck acquired two of his best known PbMnSi3O8·H2O, a new mineral species with double wollastonite silicate chains from the Kombat mine, Namibia. American Mineralogist 101:2539–43. Tsumeb pieces—because he got them 2+ Hawthorne, F. C., Y. A. Abdu, N. A. Ball, and W. W. Pinch. 2013. Carlfrancisite: Mn3 only because “Bill was Bill,” and the 2+ 3+ 3+ 5+ 5+ 5+ (Mn ,Mg,Fe ,Al)42(As O3)2(As O4)4[(Si,As )O4]6[(As ,Si)O4]2(OH)42, a new ar- luck of discovery was not luck at all but seno-silicate mineral from the Kombat mine, Otavi Valley, Namibia. American Miner- based on his vast mental warehouse of alogist 98:1693–96. random mineralogical trivia and his Kampf, A. R., S. J. Mills, and W. W. Pinch. 2011. Plumboselite, Pb O (SeO ), a new ox- 3 2 3 keen eye. He literally saw both of these idation-zone mineral from Tsumeb, Namibia. Mineralogy and Petrology 101:75–80. specimens sitting on a shelf, mislabeled Kampf, A. R., S. J. Mills, M. S. Rumsey, M. Dini, W. D. Birch, J. Spratt, J. J. Pluth, I. and available to the public for sale at a M. Steele, R. A. Jenkins, and W. W. Pinch. 2012. The heteropolymolybdate family: Structural relations, nomenclature scheme and new species. Mineralogical Magazine mineral show. Because Bill was Bill, he 76:1175–1207. immediately knew that the association Kampf, A. R., H. Yang, R. T. Downs, amd W. W. Pinch. 2011. The crystal structures and was unusual and the morphology was Raman spectra of aravaipaite and calcioaravaipaite. American Mineralogist 96:402–7. off, and so he bought them—know-

Origlieri, M. J., R. T. Downs, W. W. Pinch, and G. L. Zito. 2009. Stibioclaudetite, AsSbO3, ing in his heart that he had gloriously a new mineral from Tsumeb, Namibia. Mineralogical Record 40:209–13. beautiful examples of new species, even Origlieri, M. J., H. Yang, R. T. Downs. E. S. Posner, K. J. Domanik, and W. W. Pinch. before having them analyzed. He might 2012. The crystal structure of bartelkeite, with a revised chemical formula, not have known what the chemistry PbFeGeVI(GeIV O )(OH) ·H O, isotypic with high-pressure P2 /m lawsonite. American 2 7 2 2 1 would be, but somehow he saw what Mineralogist 97:1812–15. others did not, and in each of these Roberts, A. C., M. Bonardi, J. D. Grice, T. S. Ercit, and W. W. Pinch. 1989. A restudy of magnolite, Hg4+O , from Colorado. The Canadian Mineralogist 27:129–31. two pieces, he bought the world’s best 2 3 example of a Tsumeb rarity for a fair Roberts, A. C., D. C. Harris, A. J. Criddle, and W. W. Pinch. 1986. Cameronite, a new -silver telluride from the Good Hope mine, Vulcan, Colorado. The Canadian price and left the rest of us begging for Mineralogist 24:379–84. scraps. Only Bill could do this, and do Tait, K. T., F. C. Hawthorne, J. D. Grice, J. L. Jambor, and W. W. Pinch. 2004. Potassic- it twice. And with a discount, no less, if carpholite, a new mineral species from the Sawtooth batholith, Boise County, Idaho, he is to be believed (and we do believe U.S.A. The Canadian Mineralogist 42:121–24. him). Tait, K. T., H. Yang, R. T. Downs, C. Li, and W. W. Pinch. 2010. The crystal structure of Knowing Bill as we did, we think he esperite, with a revised chemical formula, PbCa2(ZnSiO4)3, isostructural with beryl- would rather see his thoughts engraved lonite. American Mineralogist 95:699–705. here in print than more photos of his Yang, H., R. T. Downs, S. H. Evans, and W. W. Pinch. 2013. Scottyite, the natural analog favorite minerals, so we will try to share of synthetic BaCu2Si2O7, a new mineral from the Wessels mine, Kalahari manganese field, South Africa. American Mineralogist 98:478–84. a few. Bill relayed to all who would listen some cardinal ideas for his col- ———. 2013. Terrywallaceite, AgPb(Sb,Bi)3S6, isotypic with gustavite, a new mineral from Mina Herminia, Julcani mining district, Huancavelica, Peru. American Miner- lecting, copied here in his own words alogist 98:1310–14. (Chamberlain and King 1981, p. 55): ———. 2014. Lavinskyite, K(LiCu)Cu (Si O ) (OH) , isotypic with plancheite, a new 6 4 11 2 4 ● “Keep your best specimens no mineral from the Wessels mine, Kalahari manganese field, South Africa. American Mineralogist 99:525–30. matter what the offer. You may never get an equally good speci- Yang, H., W. W. Pinch, and R. T. Downs. 2009. Crystal structure of argentopyrite, ❑ men in the future, and you'll re- AgFe2S3, and its relationship with cubanite. American Mineralogist 94:1727–30. gret the trade.”

Volume 92, September/October 2017 487 ● “You have to acquire duplicates; used on the Mars Rover curiosity. The named in honor of Bill Pinch “in rec- you can't build a collection by get- RRUFF project mineralogical reference ognition of his enormous and selfless ting rid of them.” database currently lists nineteen papers contributions to mineralogy through ● “A major museum, due to lack coauthored by Bill with his favorite the identification of ideal specimens for of funds, may on occasion ex- collaborators including Downs (ten), study, and by making them available to change specimens which should Yang (seven), Kampf (three), and Haw- the academic community” (mineral never leave the museum, and thorne (three). He coauthored papers ogicalassociation.ca/index.php?p=57; then regret it. On one hand this is describing seventeen new species and accessed May 2017). Bill was the first good because it makes fine qual- six revisions of species. He contributed recipient of the award and was particu- ity specimens available. On the far more than these numbers reflect. larly proud of it because others received other hand it is bad because fine Bill seemed to thrive in the Tucson sun the honor and the prize in a tradition quality specimens are difficult to and the intellectual thrill of being in the related to his own interests. The Pinch replace.” academic environment that fit him so Medal will continue to be presented ● “People forget to collect feldspars, well. He became a valued part of the lab every two years at the Tucson Show by micas, and so on. All species are and the RRUFF team. MAC. important.” Bill and Jackie bought a snowbird ● “A collection must be studied. Al- nest in Tucson so they could be there REFERENCES ways re-examine and read about Chamberlain, S. C., and V. T. King. 1981. during all the flurry of mineral activi- The William W. Pinch mineral collec- your specimens. An extensive ref- ties. After the Tucson Gem and Min- tion. Rocks & Minerals 56 (2): 49–66. erence library is essential.” eral Show® wound down, Bill would Sturman, B. D., and J. A. Mandarino. 1974. ● “As Neal Yedlin said, ‘Buy and use come by the mineralogy lab at the Uni- Pinchite, a new mercury oxychloride a good mineral book.’” versity of Arizona, often two or three from Terlingua, Texas. The Canadian Mineralogist 12:417–18. ● And his most repeated advice times a week, for the afternoon with a of all: “I alone determine what handful of “interesting” pieces to show Robert Lavinsky goes into my collection. I col- Dr. Yang, Dr. Downs, and the grad stu- The Arkenstone lect those things that interest me. dents. There were always stories about POB 830460 Some people collect ribbons, but the pieces—where they came from and Richardson, Texas 75083 don't learn anything. They let why they seemed to be of peculiar no- [email protected] the judges and others determine tice, then followed by an examination what they put in their collections. under the microscope and the Raman Robert Downs I continuously upgrade and add spectrometer. 209 Gould-Simpson Building specimens based on my own ideas Having personally handled many University of Arizona about collecting. On the other thousands of species ourselves, there Tucson, Arizona 85721 hand, you've got to be careful of is no one in our experience who could [email protected] who owns what. Besides provid- sight identify minerals better than Bill. ing specimens for the collection, He knew what he was looking at and he collecting produces friends, in- knew when things were strange. Like teresting experiences, travel. . . . all world-class skill sets, it came from Dr. Robert Lavinsky has been a mineral I don't want to be known just for long years of practice and looking at collector all his life (in part motivated the Pinch collection.” pieces. With Bill, those eyes contrib- by a childhood poster of the Pinch col- And indeed, he will be remembered uted not only to the beauty of his col- lection minerals purchased at a science for more than being just a mineral col- lections, but to the science of the future museum). Despite an academic back- lector. His urge to study his pieces led as well. ground in molecular genetics, he is now to a lifetime of publishing in the sci- Pinchite, a mercury oxychloride a mineral dealer (and collector) in Dal- entific community. Bill had an eye! from Terlingua, Texas, was named in las, Texas. He always knew what he was looking his honor. The citation in the naming Dr. Robert Downs is a professor of at and usually its provenance as well. paper reads as follows: “In recogni- geosciences and chairman of the Uni- He found the highest quality crystals tion of Mr. [William] Pinch’s observa- versity of Arizona Mineral Museum. and built a network of colleagues to tions and his generous contributions to His laboratory specializes in mineralogy conduct research. RRUFF is a project many of the major mineralogical mu- and crystallography, hosts and leads the of systematic mineralogy to analyze seums of the world, we have named the massive international project for sys- and produce reliable standards for all mineral pinchite” (Sturman and Man- tematic mineralogy known as RRUFF mineral species so that the results can darino 1974). (http://rruff.info/), and is one of the be used in applied science on earth and The Pinch Medal, issued by the world’s leading labs for identification of even in space—such as X-ray lasers for Mineralogical Association of Canada new species (http://www.geo.arizona. identifying extraterrestrial minerals, as (MAC), was established in 2001 and edu/xtal/group/index.htm).

488 ROCKS & MINERALS