Number 64 March 2014 The Russell Society is a society of amateur and professional mineralogists which encourages the study, recording and conservation of mineralogical sites and material. Registered Charity No. 803308 The Russell Society Website www.russellsoc.org So Much From So Few Clicks! RUSSELL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER Russell Society Newsletter Number 64 March 2014 CONTENTS: Page No Society Health and Safety Policy ...................................................................... 2 . Editorial ................................................................................................................. 3 From the President ............................................................................................. 4 Society Notices Obituary: Don Alderson ........................................................................... 5 Obituary: Brian Atkins ............................................................................... 6 Obituary: Roy Frankum ............................................................................ 7 Obituary: Arnie Neale ................................................................................ 7 Remembering Bob King: Reflections on a life ...................................... 8 Greetings and a request from the new Journal Editor ....................... 16 Events to look out for in 2014 and 2015 ................................................ 17 Russell Society scavenger hunt at the Bakewell Rock Exchange ..... 18 50th Anniversary of Sir Arthur Russell’s Death ....................................... 18 “Stop Press” Items ...................................................................................... 19 News Items Further progress at Hemerdon .................................................................. 20 “Encouraging” initial results from North Pennine drilling project ....... 20 Scottish Gold exhibition in Glasgow ........................................................ 21 Foss Baryte Mine - Request for Information and Specimens ............. 21 Absolute Gem: The fabulous mineral collection of a Welsh Countess 22 Rare Earth Elements (REE): A Geo-Techno-Political conundrum? ..... 22 Mineral Shows in 2014 ................................................................................. 24 Short Reports and Papers A new location for vésignéite in Leicestershire....................................... 25 Vitamins are good for you! - and for removing iron stains ..................... 26 Meeting and Field Trip Reports ................................................................................. 27 to 35 ISSUE NO. 64 - Page 1 - March 2014 RUSSELL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER The Russell Society Health and Safety Policy: Adopted by Council 27th September 2009. • It is the policy of the Russell Society, so far as is reasonably practicable, to ensure that health and safety issues as applicable to the Society have been and will be properly addressed. • All members of the Society are to take reasonable steps for the H&S of themselves and others who may be affected by their acts or omissions. • All members of the Society are to co-operate with the Society, so far as is reasonably practicable, to enable the Society to comply with any duty or requirement imposed on it. • In the event of an accident or injury members of the Society should seek the appropriate medical attention and notify Society officials who will properly document all details. • Any member of the Society can bring to the attention of Society officials any suggestions or ideas which could improve safety and prevent accidents. One of the aims of the Russell Society is to encourage the study, recording and conservation of mineralogical sites and material. Among the various activities undertaken in pursuit of this aim, members make many field visits to sites around the country and attend many lectures and other in- door meetings. The Russell Society promotes a high degree of responsibility amongst its members in the achievement of its aims, especially with regard to Health and Safety (H&S) matters. It has A Health and Safety Policy A Field Leaders Indemnity Form A Risk Assessment Form An Incident Report Form A Guide to Good Practice A Field Visit Check List These documents are to encourage enjoyable and interesting visits and meetings that are educa- tional, involve conservation and recording, and are incident free. They also show the responsible attitude that the Russell Society and its members have to health and safety issues. The views and opinions expressed in this Newsletter are those of its correspondents, and are not necessarily agreed with or shared by the Editors, the Council, the Russell Society or its Members. The accuracy of submissions is the responsibility of the authors or Society branches and will not necessarily be checked by the Editor for validity. ISSUE NO. 64 - Page 2 - March 2014 RUSSELL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER Editorial So here we are, already well into the New Year, with the first Russell Society Newsletter of 2014. I hope all you readers managed to avoid being flooded, blown away or otherwise inconvenienced by the storms around the turn of the year and are enjoying 2014. A new year always means new opportunities – to learn a bit more about minerals and mineralogy, to go out collecting, to visit mineral shows, to attend Society meetings and events and so on. I hope you are all planning an active and productive year. It is clearly important that the Society’s membership supports and contributes actively to its programme of activities and events. On that score a couple of thoughts have recently crossed my mind. Firstly, I notice that Peter Wallace, the long serving Chairman of the South-East Branch has had to step down due to personal circumstances. Peter deserves a lot of thanks from a lot of people for his efforts over the years on behalf of the Branch and the Society generally. Unfortunately, at the last Branch AGM they were unable to identify a successor and so the positions of Chairman and Events Secretary are now both vacant. This has lead to a decision to suspend the Branch programme of monthly lecture meetings until further notice. I think that this is a shame and I can only hope that “willing volunteers” can be found shortly to fill the vacant positions and that the Branch programme can be reinstated as soon as possible. Secondly, by the time you read this we shall be rapidly approaching the Russell Society AGM Weekend, to be held this year from the 11th to 13th of April on the Isle of Portland in Dorset. This is the Society’s major event of the year and we are keen to see it well supported. AGM weekends are always a stimulating and enjoyable experience and anyone who has not experienced one really should do so. If you have not booked to attend what looks like a fascinating and enjoyable weekend it’s probably not too late. Get in touch with Chris Finch or Gary Morse and sign up! On the subject of AGMs, if you are really looking ahead, you should note that the Society AGM weekend in 2015 will be organised by the Wales and West Branch. It’s bound to be a great experience – watch out for more information, for example on the Society website. A sad but regular feature of recent Newsletters has been the number of obituaries of Members and, I’m afraid, this issue is a particularly sad example. In the following pages you will find appreciations of Don Alderson, Roy Frankum, Arnie Neale and Brian Atkins all of whom were well known to many RS Members and who all died last year. As you know, in 2013 we also lost Bob King, the Russell Society’s founder. Bob’s obituary has already appeared in the last issue of the RS Journal (Volume 16, 2013). In this Newsletter you will find a further celebration of Bob’s life, including thoughts and reminiscences from some of those who knew him. As with the last few issues, I shall be circulating an electronic (.pdf) version of this Newsletter shortly after the paper version goes out. Previous e-versions have drawn a lot of positive comment and I would encourage you to look at it – even if you have already read your paper version. In the last e-mail distribution, there were only a few e-mail addresses that “bounced” back as incorrect or inoperative. Clearly our list of members’ e-mail addresses is getting more accurate – but it’s still not perfect. Please ensure that Neil Hubbard, our Membership Secretary, has your current and correct e-mail address. If you are reading this but did not receive an electronic pdf version of the last Newsletter then clearly we did not have a valid e-mail address for you on file. If you have one, please let Neil know it. Notably, in a recent e-mail survey of our overseas members, the great majority agreed to receive only an e-version of the Newsletter in future – although they will continue to receive paper copies of the RS Journal. This is very helpful as the costs of mailing Newsletters overseas was getting to be significant, and we are grateful to them for agreeing this. As you know, Dr. Norman Moles has stepped down from the Editor’s chair of the RS Journal. Many heartfelt thanks must go from all members to Norman for his excellent efforts over an extended period. His place has been taken by Dr. Malcolm Southwood, a long time RS member who resides in the State of Victoria in Australia. This arrangement is made possible by the wonders of modern electronic communication and we are confident that it will work well. Malcolm has written a short article for this Newsletter to introduce himself and explain how he hopes to operate. This should