NEWSLETTER No 76

“Goodbye dear friend”

CONTENTS.

A personal tribute to Max Wirth. Roy Starkey 3 Linarite from the UK, a personal account. Steve Rust 8 BMS goes to Sussex. John Pearce 15 Yakandandah to Siberia in 2006 Part 2. Chris Jewson 18

G Clamp Splitter Geoffrey Deverell 21 Field trip to Ecton Hill Martin Stolworthy 23 Thoughts from inside a black box. David Roe 25

From the Editor MFG & Bob Snowball 26 Branch report from Sussex John Pearce 27

OFFICERS—CONTACT DETAILS.

CHAIRMAN Martin Stolworthy Homeview, 1 Richmond Place, Lyng,

Norwich, Norfolk, NR9 5RF.

VICE-CHAIRMAN Richard Belson 11 Waldermar Avenue, Hellesdon,

Norwich, Norfolk, NR6 6TB.

SECRETARY Phil Taylor Dunvegan, 96 Kingsfield Road, Kintore,

Inverurie, Aberdeen, AB51 0UD

MEMBERSHIP

SECRETARY

Pearl Freeman 12a Allingham Court, Haverstock Hill,

London, NW3 2AH.

TREASURER Alan Edwards Thistledown, Common Road,

Brunstead, Norfolk, NR12 9ES.

NEWSLETTER EDITOR &

SYMPOSIUM ORGANISER

Martin F Gale 2 Coles Cottages, Rectory Road,

West Tilbury, Essex, RM18 8UD.

SYMPOSIUM ORGANISER Greg Towning 7 Denver Road, Topsham, Exeter,

Devon, EX3 0BS.

SYMPOSIUM ORGANISER

(Displays Etc)

Rob Selley Flat 3, Over Garage, Paynters Lane,

Illogan, Cornwall, TR16 4DJ.

MEMBERS CHANGE OF DETAILS. Steve Rust has a new Email = rust_s@sky.com. Rob Selley now has a new phone No 01209 844748

��MOST IMPORTANT THE EDITOR (Martin F Gale) has a new Email m.f.g@sky.com ��

There will be a new membership directory out very soon With any other changes not mentioned.

BREAKING NEWS

Some sad news has leaked its way to me. Les Fox one of the people behind the

famous Bakewell rockswap show has died after a short illness. The BMS sends its

condolences to his family and a full write up will follow at a later date.

A PERSONAL TRIBUTE to MAX WIRTH

1919 - 2008:

by Roy Starkey

Max was born in Wallasey, England on 23rd September 1919, but grew up in Switzerland, and from a

young age went exploring and climbing in the mountains with his elder brother John (8 years his

senior). Max became a keen mountaineer scaling peaks with ice-axe and ropes, and hunting for “stones”

- so began his interest in collecting crystals.

After serving in the Swiss Army he took his PhD in Zurich. He met Hazel, his wife-to-be, whilst she

was visiting their joint cousins in Switzerland, and they were married in 1948 at St.Martin in the Fields,

London. Max spent the early part of his career working for the Electric Light Co. at which time they

lived in Oakley Court, a very grand Victorian mansion and now the Oakley Court Hotel, in Windsor

(http://www.oakleycourt.com).

A career opportunity with BP took them to a new life north of the Border and a home in Dollar, not far

from the Alva Silver Mines. Max worked on a wide variety of research topics during his career with BP

(and its predecessor organisations) at Grangemouth. He is named on a patent granted on surface active

agents from paraffinic and napthenic hydrocarbons.in 1953 ( as the then Anglo-Iranian Oil Co.ltd). In

1955 he was granted a further patent on surface-active agents, (company now BP Co. ltd). He then

started work on acetic acid esters with several more GB patents being granted. The next patent was

granted in 1960 on conjugated isoprene type olefins (company name now British Hydrocarbon

Chemicals ltd). Several more patents followed along similar lines of research i.e. olefin / diolefin

production, until 1969. His research then diverted into biological effluent treatment from phenol plants

whereupon two more British patents were granted in 1972 and 1974 respectively (company now called

BP Chemicals ltd.) In all, he co-authored around 20 Great Britain patents, along with 6 German and 6

American patents.

During his time at Grangemouth, in the mid 1960’s, Max and Hazel had a purpose-built house

constructed on a fabulous plot at the top of Parley Hill, Culross, with breathtaking views across the Firth

of Forth. To visit Max & Hazel in Culross was a real treat, and Hazel always took great pride in

showing visitors around the extensive and beautifully maintained south-facing ornamental and kitchen

gardens. After retiring from BP, Max was able to devote much of his time to his love of mineralogy, of

which more later.

Max’s son Richard (Dick) Wirth, a professional architect, was also an accomplished balloonist and co-

owner / director of Thunder Balloons Ltd. (England). He was winner of the FAI Montgolfier Award for

1982, but was tragically killed in a ballooning accident in Albuquerque, New Mexico in October that

same year.

A special project in Mexico caused BP to recall Max to go and act as “trouble-shooter extraordinaire”,

and he made several visits to Mexico over an eight month period during the mid 1980’s. This gave him

the opportunity to visit the late Miguel Romero Sanchez whose fabulous collection was featured in the

Mineralogical Record (Panczner, W.D. (1985) Miguel Romero and the Romero Mineralogical Museum.

Mineralogical Record, 16 129-136.) and part of which is now housed in Tucson, at the University of

Arizona Mineral Museum.

Max & Hazel moved to Bowness on Windermere, Cumbria in early 1987 where they had friends, and

to enjoy the milder Cumbrian weather. This provided Max with many new opportunities to go mineral

hunting – the Caldbeck Fells and Shap being almost on his doorstep, he was in his element.

His wife Hazel suffered her first stroke in 1991 which left her with limited movement down one side,

and Max was her devoted and constant companion until her death in September 2002. He is survived

by his daughter Rozanne who lives in Spain, and grand-daughter Rachel, presently studying in the USA.

Max had a huge sense of fun and a naturally enquiring mind. He greatly enjoyed reading New Scientist

in his spare time, and submitted the following question, which was published in, “The Last Word”, on

12 October 1996 (Issue 2051) –

“ Eggsactly: Why are most eggs egg-shaped?”

One correspondent answered – “Eggs are egg-shaped for several reasons. First, it enables them to fit

more snugly together in the nest, with smaller air spaces between them. This reduces heat loss and

allows best use of the nest space. Second, if the egg rolls, it will roll in a circular path around the

pointed end. This means that on a flat (or flattish surface) there should be no danger of the egg rolling

off, or out of the nest. Third, an egg shape is more comfortable for the bird while it is laying (assuming

that the rounded end emerges first), rather than a sphere or a cylinder. Finally, the most important

reason is that hens' eggs are the ideal shape for fitting into egg cups and the egg holders on the fridge

door. No other shape would do. Alison Woodhouse , Bromley, Kent. - I’m sure that Max enjoyed that

answer !

Max was a regular contributor to the BMS Newsletter, Russell Society Newsletter, Journal of the

Russell Society and UKJMM, and was a member of the Editorial Board for the BMS Occasional Papers

Series. His work is referenced no fewer than 79 times in the forthcoming publication, “Minerals of

Britain and Ireland” by Andy Tindle. Max was also an enthusiastic supporter of the internet database

Mindat.com, and had contributed 14 photographs to the on-line resource.

Shap Quarry in Cumbria held a special fascination for Max and he spent many hours examining

material from this locality under the microscope. As a result of this he undertook a collaborative

research programme with David Green of Manchester Museum, which lead to the publication of the

definitive account of the specimen mineralogy of this famous locality in UKJMM. The value of Max’s

expertise and input to this study is formally acknowledged in the Museum’s Annual Report for 1999-

2000.

Max developed a real expertise in the optical identification of mineral grains, and was author of BMS

Occasional Paper No.2 Determining the Optical Properties of Minerals. Mention of this was made in a

review by Frank Ince in the International Journal “Elements”. He was a member of the British

Micromount Society (BMS) from its early beginnings, joining in late 1982. BMS Newsletter No.7

(March 1983) saw the first of many contributions from Max. He wrote “British Micro Localities No.3

Loanhead Quarry”, and later provided a correction to say that a specimen originally identified as ?

phillipsite had been examined at the RMS and turned out to be a variety of thomsonite. He also alerted

members to the collecting potential of nearby Gateside Quarry – famous for fossils with cavities in-

filled by sprays of strontianite and aragonite.

In BMS Newsletter No.8 June 1983 – he provided a short article “Simple guide to Flash Photography”

– including formulae to calculate the correct exposure factors, but rounded off in typical Max style “if

all this is too much for you – I find about 25cm for 10x and 12cm for 40x magnification usually works

fine !”

Mary & I met Max for the first time at Wanlockhead in July 1983, having corresponded for a year or so

as a result of starting the BMS. We enjoyed an excellent day out, collecting leadhillite at Whyte’s

Cleugh, before heading off to Culross for an overnight stay. As we were leaving Wanlockhead Max

apologised that he “didn’t drive very fast”, and then proceeded to disappear into the distance at

breakneck speed across southern Scotland as we did our best to stay on his tail – our first introduction to

the dry wit that characterised Max!

At the BMS Symposium in Oct 1983 Max gave an excellent and most informative presentation on the

use of paper chromatography – demonstrating that the technique can be used to distinguish between

pyromorphite and mimetite.

His entry in the 3rd Edition of the UK Directory of Micromounters in March 1984 indicated that his

interests ranged worldwide, but with a special interest in Scotland and zeolites. He offered skills in

optical and chemical testing, and with characteristic precision stated his collection to consist of 422

micromounts !

Max was Joint-Leader for the BMS May Day Field meeting to Leadhills and Wanlockhead in 1984,

and travelled all the way down to Devon the following year to join in what was probably one of the

most enjoyable of all the BMS May Day Field meetings. Loanhead Quarry was a favourite locality for

Max and I made several visits there with him and his great friend, the late Kemp Meikle, over the years.

Max was a regular visitor to the Royal Scottish Museum (now Royal Museum of Scotland) and on one

occasion that I accompanied him we called in to see Alec Livingstone with a specimen for

identification. Obviously familiar with Max’s penchant for the rare, obscure and very small, Alec asked

dryly – “can you see it ?”

Max took on the role of Curator of the BMS Ref Collection in 1985 – a job which he relished for much

of the next twenty years. The tenacity and professionalism which he showed in building this collection,

in mounting the specimens, and labelling and cataloguing them, was exemplary. The Collection

contains 205 specimens contributed by Max, encompassing 100 species from 65 locations. He provided

regular updates on recent acquisitions in almost every BMS Newsletter from 1985 through to 2005, also

compiling a valuable list of literature references for many of the localities / species featured in the

Collection. We owe Max a great debt of gratitude for the legacy which is the BMS National

Micromount Reference Collection – a unique resource which is made available to members and

researchers alike.

In August 1986 I persuaded Max (then aged 67!) that we should make a trip to the Knoydart Mica

Prospect – one of the most remote localities in Scotland. We had a truly memorable trip, and spent two

nights on Knoydart before returning to Mallaig.

Max absolutely adored a technical / scientific challenge. He taught himself to write programs for the

Sinclair Spectrum, he worked in Assembler to speed up his Atari personal computer, and built a lapping

machine with drive gears made from chipboard and dowels set around the edge. He developed and

taught others techniques in optical mineralogy for grain slide identification, chromatography and micro-

chemical testing, and above all, he lived life to the full and enjoyed every moment.

In BMS Newsletter 34, the then Chairman, John Pearce, cited a remark made by Max in a letter “The

present state of the BMS is a happy one. It is like a forum in the Roman sense – an informal meeting of

kindred spirits – to argue, boast, compare and even learn. We should at all costs avoid over-organising

the Society.”

Max’s dry humour was never far away, and this extended to his writings for the BMS Newsletter, as for

example, his piece in Newsletter 43 (Feb 1996), – “Interesting LACK of additions to the BMS

Collection nos ??? to ??? January 1996” – “I usually write up the latest batch of 50 specimens but I have

only received 34 specimens since the Symposium in 1994. Are specimens just drying up or are too

many separate collections sprouting ? Never mind, I have been promised more specimens …. for years

!”

At the 22nd BMS Symposium – (Sept 2003) Max lead a workshop with Don Blake and Nigel Hoppe

on “Identifying Minerals with the Polarising Microscope”. They had put a great deal of thought into

what they were going to teach, and about 10 members participated in the workshop.

Pay attention please ! Max demonstrates grain slide preparation at the 22nd BMS Symposium.

Max last attended the BMS Symposium in 2004. With advancing years, he found that the travel took its

toll, and the general background din detracted from his enjoyment and ability to hear the speakers. He

resolved to remain in Bowness and to entertain visitors whenever they were passing through. I made a

point of calling in on Max whenever we were in the Lake District, or travelling to or from Scotland and

we’ve had many happy exchanges over the past few years.

In 2005 Max finally relinquished his role as Curator, passing the baton to Maria Justamond. His final

contribution as Curator was a summary of “Additions to the BMS Ref Collection 2396-2426”, noting

that “Max would like to thank all contributors for keeping him entertained for the past twenty years.”

My last meeting with Max was in the Westmorland General Hospital on 5th April. Although very frail,

Max was still alert and able to enjoy a slide show of my recent trip to Tucson – asking questions and

readily recalling the names of minerals and localities. He passed away peacefully in his sleep on 22

April 2008.

A formidable scientist and great amateur collector, there are many people who have been touched by

Max Wirth’s generosity, his intellect and his sheer sense of fun. My two children always enjoyed

calling in to see him, or when he was a guest in our home. We shall miss him greatly, but always

remember the shy quiet man with the impish sense of humour and dead-pan expression – goodbye Max,

and thanks for everything.

Max with Brian Starkey at Hartsop Hall Mine – October 2002

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LINARITE FROM THE UK

A PERSONAL ACCOUNT:

by Steve Rust.

Eaglebrook Mine.

Many collectors have fine micro examples of linarite in their collections, from a number of

UK and world locations. It is easy to understand why. Who would not like to have in their

collection a fine azure blue bladed radial micro-crystal group of linarite, contrasted against a

background of white quartz.

The known history of linarite has been traced back to at least the early 19th century. It

would appear that James Sowby was the first to publish a picture of linarite in his book of

1809, although he called it Crystallized Blue Carbonate of Copper. It would appear that the

sulphate content of linarite was not recognised.

But it was not until 1839 the species was given the name linarite by professor Ernst

Friedrich Glocker, from it’s type location at Linares, Jaen province, Andalusia, Spain.

Linarite PbCu2+(S04)(OH)2. is usually found as thin bladed monoclinic crystals, and has

stubby crystals with little development of the prism faces; thick chunky crystals are also to

be found. Colour is from light to deep azure blue. It usually occurs in lead and copper

deposits, while this is true it is a very general statement. Linarite can also be found in

many other ore deposits, which might have only small amounts of primary lead and copper

minerals, from which Linarite can form.

In the United Kingdom some of the best macro examples of linarite have come from

Redgill Mine and Roughton Gill mine. Classic specimens of thick bladed crystals of linarite

to 2.5 cms long were collected from Roughton Gill and Redgill mines in the 19th century.

Fine examples are in the NHM London collection, and a few museums around the world.

Redgill Mine: A Martin Stolworthy Specimen.

Comparible specimens to those from the Caldbeck Fells are also collected in the same

period from the Leadhills-Wanlockhead mining district. Where Linarite was found in

crystals to 1cm. From this classic mining area good micro-specimens can still be found.

Old Glencriff Mine.

Excellent specimens of linarite are also noteworthy from the Meadowfoot Smelter slags

were fine deep azure blue micro crystals to 2mm were found, with a number of other Cu, Pb

supergene minerals.

Meadowsfoot Smelter.

Wales! Well what can be said about linarite from particularly mid-Wales. It almost seemed

in the early years of the BMS; if you went to any mine dump it was going t produce linarite

specimens. This was not true, and usually entailed a lot of investigation before hand. Only

the most noted locations are represented here.

Certainly the most prolific site for fine micro crystals of linarite has been the Eaglebrook

mine. In the early years of micromount collecting it was relatively easy from here.

Producing not only find linarite, but a number of supergene copper, lead zinc and

manganese crystals. Linarite from this location has been found a excellent micro crystals to

2mm+.

Eaglebrook Mine.

About 2 kms to the north is Esgair Hir Mine, at this location while linarite is far rarer.

Specimens are of a comparable quality to those from Eaglebrook. Excellent linarite

specimens have been found as carpets of divergent micro crystals covering areas to

1.5cms+.

Esgair Hir Mine

At the Geufron Mine occasional fine linarite micro’s are found as single scattered bladed crystals to

1mm with anglesite and cerrusite in quartz cavities. And occasionally as flat radial groups of crystals to

4-5mm diameter on partings in mudstone.

Dylife Mine here many of the linarite crystals are broad almost tabular to 1.5mm. Forming singly

crystals and small groups. The more usual bladed habit is also found here.

Dylife Mine.

Frongoch Mine a location where I have done a lot of work, I still go back once in a while.

Linarite is comparatively uncommon in the supergene paragenasis probably rarer than

susannite. Even so it does produce some rather nice crystal examples, as broad to elongated

bladed forms to 1mm.

Frongoch Mine.

At Cwmystwyth Mine very good micro linarite crystals sprays to 2mm have been found.

Penrhiw Mine has produced some fair examples of radial linarite crystals to 4mm diameter,

with ramsbeckite and schulenbergite in a partly oxides ankerite-quartz-mudstone veinstone.

At Nantymelen Mine the dumps have been much depleted; but what is left still comes up

with the odd rare specimen of linarite. The mine has an honour of producing some

of the largest crystals from Wales, occasionally up to 4mm.

In north Wales linarite has been found at the Llangynog mine. Fine deep azure blue bladed

micro crystals of linarite are sometimes found lining or scattered in cavities.

Llangynog mine.

Waterbank Mine, Ecton. Fine linarite from this mine forms in single crystals and rare radial

group to 1mm.

Waterbank Mine.

Linarite from Penberthy Croft Mine is rare. When it has been found, it is commonly in thin

to thick bladed crystals to 2mm covering areas to be rare 2cms. Some crystals have a

particularly fine deep azure blue colour.

There are many other locations in the UK for linarite, this has been just a personal snapshot.

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BMS GOES TO SUSSEX

by John Pearce

To celebrate Sussex Mineral and Lapidary Society having its own BMS branch, BMS

members were out in force at this year’s Sussex Mineral Show on Saturday 17th November

in Haywards Heath.

Elsie Hansford, inventor of the Micromount viewing carousel, and Peter Wallace mounted a

superb exhibit with 4 work stations, each consisting of a stereomicroscope and a carousel of

magnificent microminerals, all carefully mounted so that there should be no need to adjust

the microscopes. Behind the four microscopes were display boards with exquisite

photographs of micromounts supplied by David Whipp and beautifully printed and mounted

on white card by Elsie. As you walked into the main hall, the display made a great

impression (Fig. 1). It was magnificent and visitors queued to peer down the microscopes

all day. Peter Wallace is seen (Fig, 2) helping one of the younger visitors.

Fig 1: The BMS Display. (Many Thanks go to John Hall for his photo’s, in this article.)

Fig 2: Peter Wallace helping on the BMS display

BMS president Roy Starkey was not only this year’s judge for the Mineral Competition,

with the theme of Cornish and Devon minerals, but he also gave the keynote lecture on The

Magic of Microminerals to an audience of over 60 visitors (Fig. 3). His talk indicated some

of the advantages of collecting micros, the processes involved between collecting in the field

producing a boxed micromount. He then showed a variety of his own micromount

photographs, before finishing with some photographs, using the combination technique,

from David Green’s collection.

Fig 3: The BMS president Roy Starkey who gave a superb keynote lecture.

Former BMS secretary, Shirley Adrian was one of five people to be invited to display some of her

excellent minerals in the Cornish and Devon Minerals Competition, while Mark Oddy managed the

competition.

Somewhere between one of the blacked-out dressing rooms and a very large storeroom, BMS vice-

chairman Richard Belson and chairman Martin Stolworthy were involved in the most magnificent UV

fluorescent mineral displays ever to be mounted in the UK. This involves Richard hiring an enormous

pantechnicon and bringing down three large UV cabinets and all the bits that go along with them from

the outer kingdom of Norfolk. Jean Terry and Graham Bell were press-ganged into helping on the UV

display. UV minerals have been displayed for many years at the Sussex Mineral Show, but it remains

one of the most popular attractions.

Ivor Thurgood, this year’s winner of the BMS photographic competition, gave the second talk, Mineral

Collecting: the first 50 years. He really did not look old enough to qualify for this, but a photo of him,

dressed as an 11 year old schoolboy collecting his first quartz, was convincing. A very different and

nostalgic sort of talk.

Meanwhile Peter Hay was managing the Club stand, John Hall was photographing the BMS display

and Pam Pearce was collecting deposits from the dealers.

Former BMS treasurer and micromineral specialist Neil Hubbard was dealing as Midland Minerals.

Former BMS chairman, John Pearce, was the overall organiser of the Show and spent a lot of time

introducing the three speakers and keeping them to time as well as trying to keep everybody happy at

the Show.

Next year will mark the 25th Anniversary of the Sussex Mineral Show (Saturday 15th November 2008 at

Haywards Heath), so do book your flights to Sussex early to avoid disappointment

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YAKANDANDAH to SIBERIA in 2006

PART 2

by Chris Jewson.

Derby (not Darby) is an amazing little town. It is famous for having the second biggest tidal range in the

world. It is the Baobab (tree) capital of Oz. The ultimate souvenir from Derby is a carved baobab nut.

The Aboriginals decorate these nuts with wildlife scenes and charge enough to buy the next cask of

wine. Derby is about to undergo some rapid change as it is to be the centre for the new diamond mining

industry; the deep water port is ideal for bringing in large equipment. Currently it makes a living from

tourism; day trips to Windjana Gorge (fossil coral reef) and Tunnel Creek National Parks as well as the

amazing Horizontal Waterfall.

Next was Broome, just 130 miles down the road. The town is a victim of it’s own success, it is

absolutely chocka with people in the winter as all the grey nomads escape the cold down south. To me

the town is like St.Tropez, a place for yuppie types in their designer gear in chic eateries charging

exorbitant prices. However, the Malcolm Douglas Crocodile Farm tour is excellent; you’ll never get

closer to big saltie and live, hugely impressive and informative.

South from Broome is the 80 mile Beach. This is where the Great Sandy Desert runs out to the sea.

There are not too many points of access to the beach, but if you like very long walks and shell collecting

there is no better place that Wallal Downs, super spot and excellent fishing.

Just another 100 miles down the road is Port Hedland. This is the shipping terminal for the iron ore

from the monster BHP opencasts inland at Newman which are linked to Hedland by a 280km private

railway. The guided bus tour of the port is a must and good value at £12. The logistics are incredible,

they load a 180,000 tonne ship in 30 hours and there are 4 ships loading 24/7/365. This year they will

export 130 million tonnes and next year they aim to do 170 million.

I’d been given the name of Geo at Whim Creek Mine 60 miles south of Hedland. The mine is famous

for wonderful Wulfenites and copper secondaries so I thought I’d give them a ring and see if I could

visit/collect. My luck was in; the mine was on a shutdown week to the Geos were happy to invite me

along. I didn’t actually get to collect in situ, there was so much material outside the Geo’s office that I

soon collected a bag of gorgeous bits. The other outstanding memory of the site was the large Cyanide

lagoon used for copper recovery, unfenced, open to the elements.

South east of Hedland is Marble Bar; this formal gold mining town holds the record as the hottest place

in Oz over 14 days. These days not a lot happens here but there is talk of the Comet gold mine

reopening soon. The Marble bar, just outside the town, isn’t marble; it’s a vein of jasper. The town Pub

is famous as a quintessential outback watering hole, wonderful atmosphere. I got chatting to the local

Police Sergeant one evening and asked him how big his patch was; 40,000 square miles— yes forty

thousand! The UK is 93,000 square miles. He has 4 constables and a part-time Abo tracker to help him

look after just 9,000 people most of whom work at various mines.

On south on the back road to Newman, a gorgeous run on a good dirt road through lovely country.

Newman is a company, (BHP) town; it exists solely to house workers for the iron ore mining and

support services. The daily coach tour of the mine operations was the best £8 I spent. Mount Whaleback

was 1,400 feet above the ground level, it is now 1,500 feet below. The pit is 3 1/4 miles long x 3/4 mile

wide and is due to expand to 1 1/4 miles wide x 2,500 feet deep. It is a very impressive hole. The scale

of the operations is absolutely staggering, they have a fleet of forty-two No.240 tonnes dumpers

working 24/7/365 feeding the enormous crushing plants making product for railing to Port Hedland.

The ore produced is so rich (69% pure) that a good welder can weld the lumps together. The ore has to

be mixed with Limonite to reduce the grade to 65% for the smelter. The Mount Whaleback ore body

originally contained around 1.6 billion tonnes land is estimated to last another twenty plus years.

After Neman it was on to Tom Price to have a look at the similar sized RTZ iron ore operation. They

are doing similar tonnage but from a bigger and shallower pit which doesn’t quite have the impact of

Mount Whaleback but is nevertheless very impressive. The town got it’s name from the America

Geo/Entrepreneur who worked for years with Lang Hancock, the land owner, to persuade the Aussie

Government to grant permission for the mine. He died just four hours after hearing that permission had

been granted. Tom Price is the base for visits to Karajini National Park; an exceptional area of

spectacular gorges, wildlife and scenery best visited on one of the tours. Shake their bus to bits on the

corrugations rather than your wheels!

From Tom Price west to Exmouth on the coast road; a long and not very scenic run with very

expensive fuel. Exmouth was originally created as quarters for the nearby American Ultra Low

Frequency submarine communications base. These days the town is the centre of a thriving tourist trade

based around the spectacular Ningaloo Marine Park. The area offers great fishing, surfing, whale

watching and wildlife. There are numerous coves with white sand and warm turquoise water, excellent

for snorkelling and chilling. No food outlets anywhere but you are likely to come across daddy Emu

with the chicks or a bush turkey (bustard) wandering along the beach. This area is a bit of heaven on

earth, truly, go soon; it is changing fast as is Coral Bay a couple of hours south where I did a wonderful

glass bottom boat trip before swimming with Manta Rays.

Back to Route 1 at Minilya Roadhouse where I found a roadtrain with 90 tonnes of Ampho en route to

Argyle Mine unattended at the car park. From there it was down to the horticultural town of Carnarvon

where most of the fruit and veg for Perth is produced. A couple more hours and hang a right for

Denham, Monkey Mia, Shell Beach and the Stramotilites at Hamelin. Denham suffers from too many

tourists and unfortunately has developed a take it or leave it attitude. It is the only place to stay if you

want to visit Monkey Mia. I went and saw the dolphins twice; luckily there wasn’t a big crowd either

time. It is only some of the females who come to the beach, never any males. They come to the beach

when they want to not at a signal. The literature says they come to interact with humans but I felt they

just came for the food, they left as soon as the last fish was given out. Shell Beach next, the shells are

almost all a clam about 1cm across. The foreshore is on average around 50m top to bottom. In places

the shells are 30m deep and this extends for 110km; a lot of shells deposited over lots of years, made me

feel very insignificant. The Stromatolites at Hamelin Pool are interesting mainly for their rarity value;

they are not much to look at but they are credited with producing the chemicals which gave the world

the atmosphere which made life on land possible.

Heading toward Perth it is a must to visit the Pinnacles (World Heritage site) near Cervantes. I was

very surprised at how large the site was, it takes an hour at least to drive slowly around the site on the

marked trail. The pinnacles were formed by water percolating through cracks in a hard calcrete layer

and dissolving the soft sandstone beneath. The shapes and shadows are spectacular in low angle

morning or evening light.

Perth is a city about which everything has been said; it is modern, vibrant, not too big and

spectacularly situated. A boat trip from the city down the river to Freo (Freemantle) is a must as is a

visit to Kings Park for the views of the city and down the river.

The south west corner of Oz is rather different; extensive forests, lots of green fields and cattle,

reminded me very much of Worcs/Hereford area. Busselton to Augusta is one of the best wine growing

areas in Oz centred on Margaret River. I was hoping to make the acquaintance of a vineyard owining

widow hereabouts but no such luck; so had to settle for a couple of very impressive show cave visits.

That’s life!

Turn the corner at Cape Leeuwin and head east through the great Jarrah and Karri forests and arrive at

the trading port of Albany which was the last working whale catching station in Oz. Today it is all

whale watching and wood chip exports. Onward eastward to Esperance which officially has the best

beaches in Oz but not a lot else, all the same, a busy little town. Cape le Grand National Park east of

town is another must for its’ granite coast and white sandy beaches.

Northward for Norseman. This small town is named after the horse who kicked over a stone and

discovered gold. The resulting mine has been worked for over 100 years and has not created a lot of

prosperity but some truly impressive spoil heaps.

Can’t come all this way without visiting Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie (Kal). Coolgardie is pretty much a

ghost town these days, the mines are closed but I’m told that there is some half decent collecting from

some of the dumps. Main Street must be 70m wide at least. It was necessary to be that wide so that the

bullock trains could be turned.

Kal, on the other hand is a thriving place, mainly due to the operation of Superpit (opencast Gold) and

numerous other Nickel and Gold mines in the area. Superpit is pretty impressive from the viewing area

on the rim, but, compared with Newman it’s a scrape in the ground. I wanted a small sample of gold in

matrix but had to settle for a tiny speck by panning a bit of dirt on Telecom Hill on the edge of town.

The recently opened Mining Centre compliments the town Museum wonderfully as it houses the big

exhibits, does underground trips; lots of hands on stuff for the kids and even a gold (brass actually)

smelting display. A great place where you can easily spend a most enjoyable day. I called in at the Kal

School of Mines and was made most welcome. The Curator gave me a conducted tour of their mineral

museum, interesting but could do with a bit of an update. No visit to Kal would be complete without a

run out north of town to visit some of the old gold mining ghost towns. For the most there isn’t a lot left

to see, it’s the atmosphere and the cold beer in the few pubs that survive. The Nickel mines are

impossible to get into for collecting but you can fossick around on the bunds of overburden surrounding

most of the sites but don’t expect to find too much.

With the van serviced it was time to head back to Norseman and get ready for the Nullabor crossing. It

is necessary to be fully fuelled when leaving Norseman as the first five fuel stations going east all

charge rip off prices. It is said that the name Nullabor comes from the Latin Nul Arbor; no trees. The

fact is that there is only a twenty-five mile stretch over in south Australia which is without trees. It is

long old run and includes what is claimed to be the longest stretch of straight road in the world at 90

miles. Just over 100 miles into south Australia I’d been told to take the turn to he Head of the Bight to

see the whales. What a treat, three Southern right females with calves less than 100 yards from the base

of the cliff. They were just relaxing and hardly moved for a couple of hours. Lots of film. The rest of

the run to Ceduna was without incident. I’d decided to visit Port Lincoln as it has the reputation of

having more millionaires per square mile than anywhere else in Oz. These folk have made their money

from sending live tuna to Japan, crayfish and prawns. The Eyre Peninsular is a major grain growing area

and the run up to the east coast was pretty boring. The least said about Whyalla the better, it’s where the

Aussie steel industry started and is still an industrial centre. I took a diversion up to Iron Knob, the

original Aussie iron ore mine, it’s long since shut but some of the locals scratch a living doing tours of

the pit. The following day I made Port Augusta and completed the Big One; it was a ghastly day, 43C

and a gale of wind whipping up a dust storm, it just had to be endured. Luckily it was a north wind so

blew me along down to the Cornish Triangle.

The Cornish Triangle is formed by Moonta Kadina and Wallaroo and is very proud of it’s Cornish

heritage not to mention it’s pasties. Lots of mining related things to see in the area especially Moonta

Mining Museum but nothing to collect these days unfortunately. After a couple of days it was time to

head for Burra 100 or so miles north east and more Cornish connections with the copper mining. It was

here that I made contact with a self taught miner who currently works a most interesting gold mine out

in the back blocks. After a trip around his mine he showed us his five head of stamp used to crush the

Goethite vein material. He occasionally produces some beautiful gold specimens, like, dendrite gold

with Anatase. Get in the queue!

From Burra it was off to the coast and then slowly along to places like Mount Gambier, Robe and Port

Fairy which are some of the earliest settlements in Victoria and retain lots of original buildings. The

Aussies do value what short history they have since white settlement. Soon after Warrnambool you join

the Great Ocean Road. This road was constructed by unemployed soldiers after the First War. It is a

cornice road along a magnificent coast which drops steeply into the sea. It is reckoned to be the second

most scenic road in the world and is very photogenic. It is on this stretch that you can see the Twelve

Apostles, London Bridge etc rock features which have resisted erosion by the sea. This drive is a must if

you are this way. So it was that I eventually arrived back in Melbourne, cleaned up the van and sorted

myself before arriving back in Cornwall on 4th November in need of a good bit of R&R.

A few facts and observations to tidy things up. I was on the road of almost six months during which

time I covered 29,753kms (18,447 miles) and used 3,501 litres of petrol (770 gallons) which cost and

average of £2.93 per gallon. By driving at around 50mph most of the way, I averaged 23.96mpg. I did

the trip travelling alone which was very interesting; lots of folk come and chat. I stayed in campgrounds

on the majority of nights but did a fair bit of bush camping. It was not necessary to carry huge food

supplies as there are shops in every little hamlet. I opened a bank account with Commonwealth Bank

and used their Debit card or EFTPOS as it is known, to pay for most things; only once was the shop not

connected to the system. I didn’t carry a mobile phone as there wasn’t a signal in most of the places I

went to. Australia is a very law abiding society and at no time did I feel threatened; you would be very

unlucky to experience any problems outside there. What you will experience is lots of kindness and

hospitality. Oh yes, Yacandandah is a beautiful village near Beechworth in Victoria and Siberia is a

ghost town north of Kalgoorlie.

If anyone would like any info about Oz that I may be able to help with, don’t hesitate to be in touch.

G CLAMP SPITTER

by Geoffrey Deverell

Over the years I have made a number of rock splitters, both large and small, and all have been of the

conventional design, namely massive construction, two side pillars, a sliding cross bar plate holding the

lower knife and a substantial screw to apply pressure. All in all a fair bit of work. Having been asked

several times if I would make such a splitter for others. I have tried to design one which could be made

using fairly basic hand tools and materials which are not too difficult to obtain. Every study failed in

that I could not avoid the use of a lathe, while getting materials was not easy. Recently I placed an order

with Axminster Power Tools which included a pair of their heavy duty 4 inch G clamps and on receipt I

was impressed with how “heavy” these were. They had drop forged steel frames and rolled square

section threads – once again my thoughts turned to the hand made splitter. I was aware that the use of G

clamp as a splitter was not new and these particular clamps seemed well suited for this purpose, but I

must say now once again the design foundered on the need for a lathe. I simply could not avoid this in

the area where the screw, which of course rotates has to retain the non-rotating upper knife. However,

having come so far I continued the study while at the same time keeping the lathe use basic and simple

functions.

When using the conventional splitter one of the problems was always how to from the irregular forms

of the rocks being split (a tetrahedron shape is almost impossible) and exacerbated by any slackness or

play in the sliding elements of the framework. Such side loads can be considerable and at times one

simply has to back for that reason I thought it wise to limit it’s use to trimming of micro specimens.

But “I had started so I would finish” (where have I heard that before). The final result is in essence a G

clamp being held vertical between blocks of wood, which also support the, lower knife-all quite straight

forward and easy to do. The difficult part is at the other end where the screw passes through the clamp

head. The outside diameter of the screw was lightly skimmed to remove the diametral variability of the

rolled thread. A pair of steel collars, of a slide fit on the screw, were fitted into two wood blocks one

located each side of the clamp head thereby controlling side play of the screw. The upper knife has a

spigot which is also a slide fit within a hole drilled down the axis of the screw, with the thrust being

transmitted through a steel ball to minimise friction.

The remaining problem was to ensure that the upper knife went up and down with the screw, there was

not enough material for the conventional approach of an offset cross pin engaging in a groove, but I had

seen springs being used. I did not fancy winding some tension springs so while it hurt my engineering

soul I utilised rubber bands; dreadful but they work. Incidently not any old G clamp will do it must have

a body of drop forged steel and a square, or buttress, form thread. Cast iron bodies can crack, or

malleable iron can bend.

In conclusion if anybody wishes to have a go, on receipt of an A4 size S.A.E. I will send drawings and

advise on construction, but please do not ask if you do not have access to a bench drill and a lathe (mine

is a Myford ML.7) these are essential.

Send S.A.E. to Mr.G.J.Deverell, Mylor, Church Hill, West End, Southampton, Hants. SO30 3AT. Tel

0238 0473400.

Geoffrey's G Clamp Rock Splitter

�����

REPORT OF A TRIP TO ECTON HILL.

FRIDAY 21st SEPTEMBER 2007.

by Martin Stolworthy.

Present: Martin Stolworthy, Richard Belson, Bob Snowball, Martin Gale, Robbie Selley, Ulrich

Wagner, Sigrid Teige, Theiry Dreyer, William Peraud

I am not quite sure whose idea it was, but someone thought it might be a good idea to take our European

friends for a quick field trip to collect a few samples before the Symposium.

The nearest place to Leicester we could think of was Ecton Hill in Staffordshire.

Robbie had driven up from Cornwall and Ulli & Siggi from Germany had all managed to meet up at

Martin G’s place in Essex without mishap.

With many frantic calls it was agreed that the Essex lot would meet Thierry & William at a service

station near Leicester on the M1.

Meanwhile further to the east, Dick collected me and we zoomed off to wake Bob up at Fakenham.

Once under way, a phone call to Martin gave us the reassurance that the Essex contingent were making

good progress through the roadworks on the M1 near Luton and they were on course to meet Thierry &

William, and hopefully would be on time to meet the Norfolk lot at the appointed meeting place at the

front of Ecton Hill in good time.

From L to R Robbie, Thierry, Ulli and William safely arrived at Ecton Hill

Then the vagaries of the A17 road from Norfolk soon made it clear that our journey would not be very

fast. Slow moving lorries and farm equipment turned a relatively easy 3 hour trip into nearly 4, and we

arrived at Ecton to see the rest of the party waiting patiently for us.

After a quick introduction to William and greeting our other friends again after nearly 12 months, we

made our way around to the Back of Ecton, neatly squeezed the four vehicles into the area for parking,

and made the short walk to Waterbank Mine. Bob stayed in the car (which turned out to be a very wise

choice).

It had been several years since any of us had been, and we were not sure what to expect. As it soon

became apparent, not much had changed. There was some evidence of recent collecting activity, and we

pointed out the locations on the dump that had previously produced material.

From L to R Martin G, Robbie and Thierry.

Thierry and William were soon down into the layer, which contains the right sort of material and were

pulling out rocks with plenty of blue and green on the outside (we await their report on what was

found). Martin gave me his camera, saying take some photos for your report of this trip. This I duly did

and having no collecting equipment meant I did not have to get dirty either. The rest of the group were

exploring the site and Siggi was happy with her camera.

William getting down to the right level and hopefully finding something.

Looking down the valley I could see the clouds gathering, and we tried to find some sort of shelter

from the imminent rain. The only place on offer, was the remains of a wall from one of the old mine

buildings, and a plank of wood that some earlier person had used for the same reason perhaps!

From L to R Robbie, Siggi, Thierry, Martin G and Ulli all sheltering from the incoming rain.

The clouds soon turned to rain and the less enthusiastic of us made for the shelter of the wall. During a

lull in the rain I made a hasty retreat back to the car, soon followed by Martin G.

At this point we decided to call it a day, and with the new venue at Leicester in mind Martin G and

myself decided to head off, leaving Dick to guide the others when they had got wet enough.

It seemed that in spite of the weather everyone had enjoyed the short!!!! deviation, and all re-assembled

at the Stoneycroft Hotel later for a very pleasant evening leading to an even more enjoyable Symposium

THOUGHTS FROM INSIDE A BLACK BOX.

by David Roe

As one of the last surviving “proper” micromounters, my endangered habitat threatened by global

warming and the onward march of the blue tack juggernaut, I have plenty of time to consider the

vagaries of micromounting. I will now gracefully pass on a few thoughts to the varied apostates and

unrepentant blue tackers of the BMS.

Firstly let us consider the cruel vagaries of the EU. You may have noticed it has stolen our rights –

given to us by the Magna Carta - to breathe in toluene while we labour over our rocklets. I assume this

is the explanation for the changes to my Evostick impact adhesive. Not only has it lost some of its

soporific qualities but it also seems to string in an enthusiastic fashion and appears (subjectively at

least) to have rather less adhesion – presumably because of the replacement of toluene by a less toxic

hydrocarbon. How this will affect the micromounts in the long term is also of concern particularly as I

have noted that the previous formulations were prone to embrittlement over longer periods of time. I

was slightly shocked (in a maiden aunt sort of way) as I recently sorted through a number of

micromounts from the 1980’s by the not infrequent parting of rock and stick.

Now that I have broached the subject of rock and stick divorce I will mention an occurrence with cork

pillars. I have been an enthusiast for these wood replacements as I felt they might be good at absorbing

shock and also they have a higher aesthetic appeal than the traditional wood. However I had the

misfortune to drop a mature specimen on its side and at first glance it appeared that the adhesive and

mineral bond had sheared. Closer examination showed it was actually the cork snapping across the cone

about 2mm from the adhesive. Not sure if this might presage the night of the zombie corks but we

need to keep an eye on this potential for schism.

Some of you may remember (but probably not) that I announced to the world that I had patented the

David Roe Pharmacosiderite test. This involved taking the suspected bottle green specimen and placing

in a plastic box which had been recently painted with Tamiya Matt Black. Within hours the colour

changes from green to cider brown which has caused me no little anguish as I prefer green to brown

Pharmacosidertite. I suspect it might be the isopropanol alcohol in the paint. I was therefore surprised

and pleased to find Sainsbury Do It All were selling 100ml pots of Humbrol “All Crafts” acrylic

liquorice paint. Although it is of doubtful use with confectionary it does give an attractive matt black

(albeit with a slight brown tint) which I find very relaxing for viewing. It is water based and this makes

it much easier to remove from fingers, brushes and inadvertently coated minerals. Highly

recommended and no adverse effect on the Pharma.

Returning to Pharmacosiderite: I have found that the gentle application of a dilute solution of Ascorbic

Acid (Vitamin C) seems to permanently reverse some cases of browning. Some time in 2008 I am

hoping to carry out a large scale survey and so eradicate brown pharma blues.

A thought (well two for the price of one) arising from spending no little time sorting through 20 year

old micromounts. Firstly - they knew how to do a proper job back then! Secondly the mysteries of post

adhesive growth. Around 10% of the micromounts are affected – although I suspect some minerals are

more prone than others. The growths seem to be of two types. The first consists of microscopic white

hairs appearing to grow out of the stick - the hairs usually topped with a small white ball. Then there is

the more obviously explicable wondrous webs (presumably extruded by increasingly frantic mites or

spiders that seem to have found an ecological niche on Pyromorphite and Strunzite). I was so

infuriated by the ruination of my Gravel Hill Strunzites that as a desperate last resort I decided to try

acetone – it seems to have worked a treat.

A final thought on why one mineral is a favorite and another is not. I recently spent several hours

breaking up a half brick size lump of Camborne Vean Mine chlorite (slipped to me back in 2002 by the

bewhiskered vugher from Kernow). When I finally ended up with a very large number of 5mm cubes I

was delighted by my two micros of breathtakingly small Anatase (they are so small that one

inadvertently stops breathing to reduce shake at 50X) and a tiny Monazite and Apatite. All miniscule

but providing hours of fun on a rainy evening. Later in the week I started cracking up some Phoenix

Mine material collected by William Dagnam back in the 60’s – hand size specimens riddled with vughs

containing beautiful glistening Olivenite crystals, vugh after vugh. After less than an hour I lost interest

– like having to eat a plate of sticky cream cakes. A moral for our times perhaps.

FROM THE EDITOR

It is only now that I am able to pick my body up from the floor after a dead faint. What caused me to

faint, well unbelievably I had news from a certain Robert Snowball, saying, “I HAVE SOMETHING

FOR THE NEWSLETTER”!!!!!!. This is totally unprecedented in the annuls of time. Surely other

members can let me have snippets like this. Anyway, back to the news from Bob. It seems that the very

rare mineral joaquinite - (Ce) has been found in minute quantities at Mont St.Hilaire, Canada. The

yellow/pale orange monoclinic crystal has a chemical composition of,

Ba2NaCe2Fe2+(Ti,Nb)2Si8O26(OH,F).H2O

For more info please go to the Alkali - Nuts website at http://www.saint-hilaire.ca/en/joaquin.htm

Many thanks for this info Bob!!! (big article from little acorns perhaps, or am I dreaming)

BMS SUSSEX BRANCH - MICROMOUNT STUDY EVENING.

by John Pearce.

12 enthusiasts met on Friday April 18th to explore a range of microminerals from Cumbria (excluding

the Caldbeck Fells). The specimens were from the collections of the BMS, SMLS Merritt

Microminerals, John Hall and Peter Hay.

It’s interesting how specimens and locations bring back many happy memories. It must be around 30

years since SMLS started to collect in this part of the country. We used to stay for a week on a

campsite near Ullswater, which was central for day expeditions to:

The Caldbeck Fells, the Egremont area, Nenthead and Weardale, Leadhills and Wanlockhead. Those

were the days!

John Hall had not only organised the session but produced, as usual, details on each specimen, which

covered both points of interest and descriptions of the crystals. I have listed some examples below,

from the BMS Reference Collection, which illustrate how useful and interesting these guides can be.

683 Barytocalcite Blagill Mine

Alston

Colourless crystals with complex angled terminations,

typical of this locality. A barium calcium carbonate,

trimorphous with alstonite and paralstonite. Named from its

composition containing barium and calcium.

754 Brookite Shap Granite

Quarry

(pink)

In the cavity with the pink feldspar crystals there is a superb

bladed crystal of dark-brown brookite with well-developed

striations. At the base of the crystal are smaller brookites

interspersed with bipyramids of bluish-black anatase. There

is also a nice anatase on the edge of the cavity that shows re-

entrant faces around its middle. Brookite and anatase are

polymorphs (chemically identical) of titanium dioxide,

brookite being orthorhombic and anatase tetragonal in crystal

symmetry. Named for Henry James Brooke (1771-1857),

English crystallographer and mineralogist.

There was one micromount specimen, which had, and which needed, directions so you had a chance of

finding the crystals.

1671 Allanite Shap Granite

Quarry

(pink)

Using the paper arrow nearest the edge of the specimen look

beyond the edge into a cavity with a large faintly yellow

pyramid of scheelite. At the side of this and pointing up

towards the viewer is a very dark brown fissured crystal of

allanite, it helps to tip the specimen so the length of the prism

can be seen. A rare calcium aluminium iron silicate

hydroxide that contains rare earth elements. Named in 1810

by Thomas Thomson for Thomas Allan (1777-1833),

Scottish mineralogist, who first observed the mineral. The

other arrow indicates more cavities containing scheelite

crystals.

The theme for our next meeting on Friday 17th October 2008 will be lead minerals.

BRANCH NEWS

Branch Meetings for 2008

Midland Branch: Sunday 26th October – “Titaniums”. Sunday 14th December – “Minerals of Devon

& Somerset”. The venues will be confirmed nearer the dates. For further info, members can contact me,

Maria Justamond:- Tel:- 01939 251 474

North West Branch: We meet every other month. For further details contact Harry Critchley on 01204

694345.

Norfolk Branch: We meet every other month. For further details contact Dick on 01603 413003.

South East Branch: The dates booked are Sunday 3rd August, Sunday 16th November. The Meetings

are held at, The Ringway Centre, 268,Baring Road., London. SE12 ODS. For further details contact

Peter Wallace on 01689 828104.

South West Branch: The dates booked are Saturday 7th June, Saturday 6th September and Saturday

6th December. The meetings are held at Liskeard Public Rooms, 3. West Street., Liskeard. Meetings

start around 1pm. A charge of £1 ph covers room and tea/biscuits. Visitors are most welcome. For

further details contact Nigel Hoppe on 01872 571137.

Sussex Branch: Next meeting is on Friday 17th October in the Age Concern hall, Haywards Heath

7.30 to 10.00 p.m. For further details contact John Pearce on 01444 233958.

FOR SALE/SWAP

If you have anything to fill this spot then please let me know for entry into the next newsletter. This

spot would be more suited to members who swap regularly or have items that are for sale but not

urgently so. Items for sale will need to be confirmed just before printing of the newsletter, as I do wish

to list sold items as the newsletter is out every 4 months-ish.

AGAIN PLEASE NOTE THE EDITOR HAS A NEW EMAIL

m.f.g@sky.com

PLEASE READ BELOW

Please let Martin F Gale have contributions as soon as possible. Articles or reports on PC disc are welcome -

preferably saved in RTF - rich text format or MSWord. Articles sent by E-mail can either be “attached” or be part of

the body of the E-mail message. Clearly printed documents are acceptable and can be scanned and read into the PC.

Hand-written items should be as clear as possible, please, paying particular attention to the spelling of site and mineral

names. Colour photographs are welcomed, in fact encouraged. Please send all photographs in Jpeg format. As I use

MS Publisher please do NOT justify or add bullets etc as it takes me ages to switch it all back to basic. The best way to

send an article to me is write it in MS Word with no fixed formatting and where you want a photo added in the text

write photo 1234 etc and send in a different file the photos full size and in jpeg format titling them photo 1234 etc to

correspond with the article and lastly please do not put in any tables.

E-Mail: m.f.g@skycom