Malachite
WARRNAMBOOL GEM CLUB
Close up view of Canadian Ammonite shell
2019 CLUB ACTIVITIES
JANUARY  FEBRUARY  MARCH  APRIL  MAY JUNE  JULY  AUGUST  SEPTEMBER  OCTOBER  NOVEMBER  DECEMBER 2020 JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC
JANUARY The club restarted on the 19th of January. Work has started on a storage unit (thanks to Keith for his efforts on this) and the new silversmithing equipment has arrived and is being unpacked. FEBRUARY The club is up and running again. One of our members recently purchased a beautiful Lapis specimen (3 - 4 kg range), beautifully polished and a great cabinet piece. See the photo below!. Good choice Larry!
MARCH Congratulations to Steven Hinkley on the great results he achieved in the AFG faceting competition at the 2019 Victorian Gemkhana! Steve received first place in the Novice section for a beautifully cut CZ. See the LH photo below. He also did well on a second stone RH photo. This is a great result for his first entry into such a competition! Congratulations must also go to John Honan for his excellent results in the competition and his valuable mentoring of club members learning to facet! John competed in the open section of the competition (which was a level 3 comp.) He submitted three stones: 1. A gamma brilliant cut 94.78 pts 3 rd position Bronze Medallion 2. A Step cut 95.2 pts 1 st position Gold Medallion 3. A Round brilliant cut 83.92 pts 1 st position Gold Medallion
L: Kajol and Therese working on their silversmithing. R: Helen supervising Steve using the torch
Round brilliant cut Quartz
The Step cut Topaz
Gamma brilliant cut CZ
Saturday 30th March: The club held a BBQ at the local Bunnings store in Warrnambool. This is a regular (and gratefully appreciated) fund raiser for our club and many others locally. The day was the coldest so far this year with wind, rain and hail! However, after a quiet start the club members were busy throughout the rest of the day and ended up raising significant fund for the club. Thanks must go to all those members who spent time organising and running the BBQ. Well done! APRIL On Tuesday, 2 nd of April, club President Helen and Vice-President Alan, visited Nullawarre P.S. to do a ‘show & tell’ about gems and minerals for some 35 year 3 to 6 students. We had an enjoyable hour (plus) explaining and showing a wide range of minerals and gemstones, including agates, petrified wood, Australites and peridot from the Western District. Helen showed some of her silver-work/jewellery with gems she had cut set in rings, pendants etc. The feedback from both students and staff was extremely positive. It is good to contribute to the knowledge and interests of local students. April 6th The silversmithing course conducted by our club president Helen, commenced at the clubrooms today. A very busy day with the participants all very occupied with their projects. Rushworth Field trip 14 th & 15 th of April: Seven Warrnambool Gem Club members travelled up to Rushworth on the friday to join up with members of the Goulburn Valley Gem Club plus members from other clubs. Most of us stayed at the ‘Greens bush campground’ in Whroo, south of Rushworth. Only basic facilities (a pit toilet) but clean, quiet and good company. On the Saturday morning we travelled to a nearby locality where some dug for quartz crystals while other searched for gold using metal detectors. Quite a few quartz crystals of varying sizes were found. .Photos Right: Top: Darcey & Lana digging for crystals. Bottom: Darcey’s crystals and ‘Greens campground’.
Above: L: kathleen searching for that gold nuggett. R: Jenni and Larry digging for crystals.
Our members had a good time and received great assistance and advice from the GV club members. In the evening we went into Rushworth with GV members for tea at the local pub. It was a great evening and George has to be thanked for the considerable efforts he put into organising the weekend!
On the Sunday we travelled to Mawson’s Lake Cooper quarry. This is a massive quarry and we are lucky to have access to it. Once again, thanks must go to George and the G.V. club, as well as ‘Mawsons’ for arranging/allowing such trips. After going over the safety rules we travelled to the bottom of the quarry to begin our search for gem material. Due to the dry weather much of the rock was covered by fine dust and needed some water on it to show the colours hidden by the dust. Our members were shown what to look for and began the find material with the help of the more experienced G.V. members. Special thanks to Santa Simeon who found some lovely material and shared it around with a large group of other fossickers. After a successful morning’s fossicking we retired for lunch.
Photos above: Top L: Safety talk R: view of Mawson’s quarry Bottom L: Darcy, Lana, Simeon R: Jenni & Larry
Photos: L George, Alan, Darcey R: a nice find by Lana & Darcey Below: L: Jasper R: ‘massive pyrites’
MAY: Nine club members travelled to the Palmer Rockerama in S.A., which was held from the 3 rd to the 5 th of May. Some camped on site, others stayed in Mannum. It turned out to be a great weekend with the weather varying from cool and windy to warm and sunny. The range of gem material available was excellent, with some great Australian gem rough available as well as imported material. Our club members got a good range of cabbing material including nice cut agate nodules from ‘Agate Creek’, some lovely ‘crazy lace agate from Mexico’, white/green/black Cowell jade, W.A. tiger-eye, opalized and petrified wood, mookaite and a variety of rarer gem materials. The two photos below show L: Kay & Helen purchasing some agates R: A sliced Vivianite nodule displaying the beauty within the plain exterior!
L: Club member Therese, who has been undertaking the silversimithing course at the club has just completed her first ring. She has set one of her cabachons (a piece of ‘porcelain agate’ from Agate creek in Qld) in a silver ring. A great piece of jewellery!
L: Two peices of attractive Mexican Crazy Lace agate purchased by Helen.
June: Below: The photos below show some recent silver work Helen has completed. Top L: Chrysoprase in gold, Top R: Ceylon Sapphire in 18ct gold, Bottom L: Pale Aquamarine in silver, Bottom R: Malachite in fine silver.
July: Thanks to Keith F. and John H. for constructing the new storage unit (Photo at right) located on the right as you enter the club rooms. The unit is storing tables, the vacuum cleaner & other items. The unit was painted by Alan A.
Top row: Two cabochon pendants by Stephen H. Second row: Left : A heart pendant in copper by Gary. Right: This bracelet featuring a lapis lazuli cabochon is Steve’s first effort at producing a bracelet.
August WICKLIFFE FIELD TRIP: On Sunday 25th of August, Warrnambool Club members (Alan A., John C.) joined the Horsham Club field trip to Wickliffe. Members from Ballarat were also present amongst the group that met up at Wickliffe at 10 a.m. On the drive up from Warrnambool I experienced several heavy showers and windy conditions. However, as I got past Mortlake conditions improved with more sun and less rain. When fossicking we only had a few short showers during the five hours we were near Wickliffe.
Above: some of the group at Wickliffe prior to heading out for some fossicking. Bill Gardner of the Horsham club was the trip organiser and did an excellent job. We started off in Wickliffe where we got a look at some examples of the ‘greenstone’ (which was more ‘grey’ than green). The ‘rough uncut material’ did not look all that impressive, but the pieces which had been cut/ground into two ‘cutting implements’ as shown in the two photos below were impressive. The sharpness of the edges showed how the ‘greenstone’ would have been of great value to the local indigenous population. The material also took a good polish.
Bill had organised access to a local farm which we headed to for our fossicking. The first site was in a very green, lush field with some rock/jasper outcrops. We had to walk about 200m and then were able to pick up material off the ground and break pieces from the outcrops. Both Jasper and greenstone were present. After we all had as much as we required, we then had a look along the edge of the road where some banded chert was collected. Below L: Marian at one of the Jasper outcrops Below R: John in foreground amongst the Jasper and ‘Greenstone’ with other fossickers in the background at another outcrop
After lunch at the ‘old shearing sheds’ on the farm we drove over to near another greenstone locality. After walking a few hundred metres we came upon the area which had a number of small ‘quarries’/pits, measuring from 4m to 10m diameter. These ‘quarries’ were developed by indigenous locals as sources of greenstone for axe heads and spear heads. It is believed that material from this locality was traded all around Australia by indigenous people Below: Marion at one of the greenstone pits with a large piece of greenstone in the centre. This rock showed signs of having had material chipped from it over a long period of time.
Overall, it turned out to be a great day’s fossicking and we greatly appreciated the invitation of the Horsham club for us to attend their field trip!
September: On Thursday 19/9/2019, Club President & Vice-President, Helen & Alan, visited the Koroit Primary School for a ‘show & tell’ in the STEM facility at the school. We arrived at 11 a.m., conducting two one-hour sessions with combined grade 3/4 classes. The students were interested and several had the beginnings of reasonable gem collections. A busy two hours but most enjoyable. This is the second time the club has visited the Koroit P.S. for these sessions. Over the last month we have had members undertaking both maintenance and upgrades at our clubrooms. John H. and Alan Altmann have worked on one of the sanding units. Meanwhile, Alan A., Keith Fisher. and Larry Jeal have upgraded the water supply serving our grinders and sanders in the club workroom. This project involved a few solid days of work. It included modifying the machine guards, relocation & replacement of the hoses serving the units, removal of the old plastic taps and installation of new brass ball valves. The new system makes the use of the taps much easier for our ‘mature members’. The cost of the new taps and plumbing were partly met by a grant from the Warrnambool City Council, which also assisted in the purchase of two new sintered 8”, 80 grit, diamond wheels. These two wheels have been installed alongside the two existing sintered wheels. New LED globes have been installed in the spot-lights above the grinders/sanders and should illuminate your work far better. The photo left shows Larry & Keith installing one of the new taps in the workshop. The club was represented by Helen & Alan at the Terang Arts/Craft festival on Friday, the 27 th of September, as part of our club promotion efforts. We had a large table near the entry to the main hall, which held the work of many local artists (photo to left). Despite cool weather, the attendance at the festival was excellent. We spoke to many locals, both children and adults who were interested in gems and minerals. We had a display of Australian gemstones and Helen had her impressive collection of gold and silver jewellery she has made, incorporating gems she has cut herself. We also had a new member sign up on the spot, which was excellent.
On Saturday 2/11/19 nine club members were at the Geelong Gem Show. Due to the central location of the show this year, some members travelled by train rather than driving. The top photo on the left shows a general view of part of the show while the second photo (below left) shows (L-R) Kay, Val &Ted (ex-members who now live in Geelong) and John & Gillian having lunch. Members had a good day out, making some purchases and meeting other lapidaries.
· On Thursday, 14/11/19, Alan, Helen and Christine travelled to the Mt Gambier Gem Club rooms for an opal carving workshop. This was in response to Helen receiving an invitation, a few days prior. It was wet and windy on the way over but we arrived in plenty of time for the 10 a.m. start. There was a good group there, including many Mt Gambier and Horsham club members. It was great to catch up with members of both clubs and see the level of interest in the carving. We were provided with material (opal potch mainly) and a suggestion as to what we could carve with the particular stone we were given. At the end of the day we had all made reasonable progress with our ‘creations’, picking up several handy hints along the way. It is always good to see someone with lots of experience at work. The photos below show the Mt Gambier club rooms and participants working or ‘chatting’ about carving, opals etc. Overall, a great day out!
December: Club members had near perfect weather for the club’s end of year breakup at the Community gardens. Thanks once again to Keith for getting us access to the facility. After a lot of chatting, members got started on a nice range of salads and meat, more than could be readily consumed. The desserts that followed were excellent. Certificates recognising 10, 20- or 30-year membership of the club were presented to members who had achieved the requisite number of years. That included Janice & Keith Fisher, Dianne Wickson, Alan Altmann, John & Gillian Honan, Kay Keen, Diana Brown, John Chivers, Kathleen Brockett and Stephen Hinkley.
Above: L: Lunch at community garden R: Stephen Hinkley who has been a member for 10 plus years (holding his 10 year membership book/certificate), at the club’s end of year BBQ.
2020 WARRNAMBOOL GEM SHOW, JANUARY 11-12 The public came in as soon as we opened the doors on Saturday and we had an excellent crowd throughout the day. Members and traders were kept busy throughout the day which was great for all concerned! Rod was very busy on the lucky dip, resulting the in need for extra ‘lucky dip prizes’ having to be prepared. The club stall did well, selling plenty of rocks, books and plants. The canteen was doing a good job keeping the traders, club members and the public fed! Sunday was quieter for both traders and members with less visitors to the show. This may have been due to the many other events in Warrnambool over the weekend. However, overall the attendance was good and the club made an acceptable profit to support ongoing activities. We also signed up some new members.
The club workshop reopened on Saturday, 25th of January. Welcome to new members Kim, Cathy, Graeme & Shirley. Thanks to Larry, John and Alan who spent several hours continuing repair work/upgrades on the S/S sanding unit to ensure it would drain correctly. Also, the ‘old flat sanding units’ were dismantled and pulleys plus belts replaced so those sanders can now serve as polishing units. The drainage for the older belt sanders has also been improved.On Saturday, 18/1/20, several club members joined Rod & Alan W. up at the Mt Shadwell quarry. There was a Melbourne family and a couple from the USA who were also visiting the quarry for a bit of fossicking. We focused on the western part of the quarry, searching the stockpiles, the slopes and the top of the western wall. Bombs yielding gem peridot are getting ever harder to find. However, some nicely shaped bombs were found along with orthoclase, highly aerated scoria (which will float) and calcite and micro-mount specimens. The quarry has had a large amount of material removed over the last few years with demand from the wind-farms and for road material. As a result, the appearance of the quarry and has changed significantly.
February: Saturday 22nd. Warrnambool Club members joined Ballarat club members at the quarry of a day of fossicking. The weather was excellent with a good turnout of members from both clubs. Mineral specimens including calcites, anorthoclase felspar and olivine bombs were collected. Gemmy bombs were scarce though Stacey found a good one! A band of black scoria was quite productive.
March 6 & 7: On Saturday & Sunday members of the Frankston gem club were joined by some of our club members at the Mt Shadwell quarry.
In February 2020, club members Sharon and David visited the Anglesea area to fossick for Vivianite. The weather conditions were good and they had a successful time searching for the Vivianite. The photo below shows one of the nodules after being cut (external & internal views).
Sharon & Davie have been producing some nice cabbed pieces and ‘freeforms’ from Vivianite they collected in February. The photos below show some of David’s work where he has achieved a nice polish on several pieces!
The photos below show some of Sharons vivaniate cabs.
For much of 2020 the club rooms have been closed due to the Corvid 19 pandemic. Many members have continued their hobby at home using their own equipment and fossicking when that was allowed. Below are some photos of gems and jewellery members have produced this year.
It is with regret that the Warrnambool Gem Club must announce that club member Diana Brown passed away at home on the 16/9/2020. • Diana joined the club in 1990 and as of the end of 2019 had been a member for a total of 30 years. Diana was a significant contributor to the club over that time. • Diana always helped out in the preparation, running and packing up of our Gem Shows. • She always put up her hand to help with the Bunnings BBQ’s. • She pitched in to help with the maintenance and renovations of the club rooms and contributed positively and constructively at club meetings. • Diana was willing to take on the position of club secretary, probably the most important position in the club. She held that position from 1996 to 2005 inclusive. Ten years in a position where she maintained the club’s records meticulously and ensured we were in compliance with government requirements. Diana also acted as assistant secretary for three years from 2014 to 2016. • Diana was made a ‘life member’ of the club in 2006 in recognition of the significant contributions she had made to the club. • Diana’s funeral was a private family service held on Wednesday, 23/9/2020. At the invitation of the family, Kay Keen and Alan Altmann represented the club which also sent flowers and a card. • I was able to speak to Diana on the phone two days before she passed. She was in a positive frame of mind and grateful for the long and healthy life she had enjoyed until last year. She wished to leave a few items for the club's collection and I indicated that we would be happy to have some items from her collection. She is happy that some of her collection will live on at the club. • At the service I discovered that Diana was raised on a farm during the Great Depression and WWII before the family moved into a ‘returned soldiers’ home in Melbourne after the war. Diana and two friends travelled extensively around the world (pre international air travel) via ocean liners. • Diana had 8 children including Matthew who was a member of the club at one stage and Matt Said who was also a member and is now a Geologist working at Mt Isa in Queensland. • At the service I mentioned to some family members the positive/complimentary comments about Diana that I received from a number of club members in reply to the email I had sent out (re Diana’s death). The family were pleased that she had such good friends at the club. • The photos below show Diana at the 2015 Bunnings BBQ & 2018 club 50th anniversary lunch, plus the ‘book mark’ handed out at the service.
Elbaite crystals
WARRNAMBOOL GEM CLUB
Close up view of Canadian Ammonite shell
2019 CLUB ACTIVITIES
JANUARY  FEBRUARY  MARCH  APRIL  MAY JUNE  JULY  AUGUST  SEPTEMBER  OCTOBER  NOVEMBER  DECEMBER 2020 JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC
JANUARY The club restarted on the 19th of January. Work has started on a storage unit (thanks to Keith for his efforts on this) and the new silversmithing equipment has arrived and is being unpacked. FEBRUARY The club is up and running again. One of our members recently purchased a beautiful Lapis specimen (3 - 4 kg range), beautifully polished and a great cabinet piece. See the photo below!. Good choice Larry!
MARCH Congratulations to Steven Hinkley on the great results he achieved in the AFG faceting competition at the 2019 Victorian Gemkhana! Steve received first place in the Novice section for a beautifully cut CZ. See the LH photo below. He also did well on a second stone RH photo. This is a great result for his first entry into such a competition! Congratulations must also go to John Honan for his excellent results in the competition and his valuable mentoring of club members learning to facet! John competed in the open section of the competition (which was a level 3 comp.) He submitted three stones: 1. A gamma brilliant cut 94.78 pts 3 rd position Bronze Medallion 2. A Step cut 95.2 pts 1 st position Gold Medallion 3. A Round brilliant cut 83.92 pts 1 st position Gold Medallion Saturday 30th March: The club held a BBQ at the local Bunnings store in Warrnambool. This is a regular (and gratefully appreciated) fund raiser for our club and many others locally. The day was the coldest so far this year with wind, rain and hail! However, after a quiet start the club members were busy throughout the rest of the day and ended up raising significant fund for the club. Thanks must go to all those members who spent time organising and running the BBQ. Well done! APRIL On Tuesday, 2 nd of April, club President Helen and Vice-President Alan, visited Nullawarre P.S. to do a ‘show & tell’ about gems and minerals for some 35 year 3 to 6 students. We had an enjoyable hour (plus) explaining and showing a wide range of minerals and gemstones, including agates, petrified wood, Australites and peridot from the Western District. Helen showed some of her silver-work/jewellery with gems she had cut set in rings, pendants etc. The feedback from both students and staff was extremely positive. It is good to contribute to the knowledge and interests of local students. 6th The silversmithing course conducted by our club president Helen, commenced at the clubrooms today. A very busy day with the participants all very occupied with their projects. Rushworth Field trip 14 th & 15 th of April: Seven Warrnambool Gem Club members travelled up to Rushworth on the friday to join up with members of the Goulburn Valley Gem Club plus members from other clubs. Most of us stayed at the ‘Greens bush campground’ in Whroo, south of Rushworth. Only basic facilities (a pit toilet) but clean, quiet and good company. On the Saturday morning we travelled to a nearby locality where some dug for quartz crystals while other searched for gold using metal detectors. Quite a few quartz crystals of varying sizes were found. .
Gamma brilliant cut CZ
The Step cut Topaz
Above L: Helen supervising Steve using the torch R: Kajol and Therese working on their silversmithing.
Round brilliant cut Quartz
Photos above: Top: Greens campground Bottom: Darcey & Lana digging for crystals.
Above: Top: kathleen searching for that gold nuggett. Bottom: Jenni and Larry digging for crystals.
Our members had a good time and received great assistance and advice from the GV club members. In the evening we went into Rushworth with GV members for tea at the local pub. It was a great evening and George has to be thanked for the considerable efforts he put into organising the weekend!
On the Sunday we travelled to Mawson’s Lake Cooper quarry. This is a massive quarry and we are lucky to have access to it. Once again, thanks must go to George and the G.V. club, as well as ‘Mawsons’ for arranging/allowing such trips. After going over the safety rules we travelled to the bottom of the quarry to begin our search for gem material. Due to the dry weather much of the rock was covered by fine dust and needed some water on it to show the colours hidden by the dust. Our members were shown what to look for and began the find material with the help of the more experienced G.V. members. Special thanks to Santa Simeon who found some lovely material and shared it around with a large group of other fossickers. After a successful morning’s fossicking we retired for lunch.
Photos above: Top Mawsons quarry, Middle Darcy, Lana, Simeon Bottom: Safety briefing.
A good find by Lana and Darcey.
Above: L: some jasper R: some ‘massive pyrites’
MAY: Nine club members travelled to the Palmer Rockerama in S.A., which was held from the 3 rd to the 5 th of May. Some camped on site, others stayed in Mannum. It turned out to be a great weekend with the weather varying from cool and windy to warm and sunny. The range of gem material available was excellent, with some great Australian gem rough available as well as imported material. Our club members got a good range of cabbing material including nice cut agate nodules from ‘Agate Creek’, some lovely ‘crazy lace agate from Mexico’, white/green/black Cowell jade, W.A. tiger-eye, opalized and petrified wood, mookaite and a variety of rarer gem materials. The two photos below show L: Kay & Helen purchasing some agates R: A sliced Vivianite nodule displaying the beauty within the plain exterior!
Above: Club member Therese, who has been undertaking the silversimithing course at the club has just completed her first ring. She has set one of her cabachons (a piece of ‘porcelain agate’ from Agate creek in Qld) in a silver ring. A great piece of jewellery!
LTwo peices of attractive Mexican Crazy Lace agate purchased by Helen.
June: Below: The photos below show some recent silver work Helen has completed. Top L: Chrysoprase in gold, Top R: Ceylon Sapphire in 18ct gold, Bottom L: Pale Aquamarine in silver, Bottom R: Malachite in fine silver.
July: Thanks to Keith F. and John H. for constructing the new storage unit (Photo at right) located on the right as you enter the club rooms. The unit is storing tables, the vacuum cleaner & other items. The unit was painted by Alan A. PHOTOS BELOW:
Top row: Two cabachon pendants by Stephen H. Second row: Left : A heart pendant in copper by Gary. Right: This bracelet featuring a lapis lazuli cabochon is Steve’s first effort at producing a bracelet.
August WICKLIFFE FIELD TRIP: On Sunday 25th of August, Warrnambool Club members (Alan A., John C.) joined the Horsham Club field trip to Wickliffe. Members from Ballarat were also present amongst the group that met up at Wickliffe at 10 a.m. On the drive up from Warrnambool I experienced several heavy showers and windy conditions. However, as I got past Mortlake conditions improved with more sun and less rain. When fossicking we only had a few short showers during the five hours we were near Wickliffe.
Above: some of the group at Wickliffe prior to heading out for some fossicking. Bill Gardner of the Horsham club was the trip organiser and did an excellent job. We started off in Wickliffe where we got a look at some examples of the ‘greenstone’ (which was more ‘grey’ than green). The ‘rough uncut material’ did not look all that impressive, but the pieces which had been cut/ground into two ‘cutting implements’ as shown in the two photos below were impressive. The sharpness of the edges showed how the ‘greenstone’ would have been of great value to the local indigenous population. The material also took a good polish.
Bill had organised access to a local farm which we headed to for our fossicking. The first site was in a very green, lush field with some rock/jasper outcrops. We had to walk about 200m and then were able to pick up material off the ground and break pieces from the outcrops. Both Jasper and greenstone were present. After we all had as much as we required, we then had a look along the edge of the road where some banded chert was collected. Below L: Marian at one of the Jasper outcrops Below R: John in foreground amongst the Jasper and ‘Greenstone’ with other fossickers in the background at another outcrop
After lunch at the ‘old shearing sheds’ on the farm we drove over to near another greenstone locality. After walking a few hundred metres we came upon the area which had a number of small ‘quarries’/pits, measuring from 4m to 10m diameter. These ‘quarries’ were developed by indigenous locals as sources of greenstone for axe heads and spear heads. It is believed that material from this locality was traded all around Australia by indigenous people Below: Marion at one of the greenstone pits with a large piece of greenstone in the centre. This rock showed signs of having had material chipped from it over a long period of time.
Overall, it turned out to be a great day’s fossicking and we greatly appreciated the invitation of the Horsham club for us to attend their field trip!
September: On Thursday 19/9/2019, Club President & Vice- President, Helen & Alan, visited the Koroit Primary School for a ‘show & tell’ in the STEM facility at the school. We arrived at 11 a.m., conducting two one-hour sessions with combined grade 3/4 classes. The students were interested and several had the beginnings of reasonable gem collections. A busy two hours but most enjoyable. This is the second time the club has visited the Koroit P.S. for these sessions. Over the last month we have had members undertaking both maintenance and upgrades at our clubrooms. John H. and Alan Altmann have worked on one of the sanding units. Meanwhile, Alan A., Keith Fisher. and Larry Jeal have upgraded the water supply serving our grinders and sanders in the club workroom. This project involved a few solid days of work. It included modifying the machine guards, relocation & replacement of the hoses serving the units, removal of the old plastic taps and installation of new brass ball valves. The new system makes the use of the taps much easier for our ‘mature members’. The cost of the new taps and plumbing were partly met by a grant from the Warrnambool City Council, which also assisted in the purchase of two new sintered 8”, 80 grit, diamond wheels. These two wheels have been installed alongside the two existing sintered wheels. New LED globes have been installed in the spot-lights above the grinders/sanders and should illuminate your work far better. The photo left shows Larry & Keith installing one of the new taps in the workshop. The club was represented by Helen & Alan at the Terang Arts/Craft festival on Friday, the 27 th of September, as part of our club promotion efforts. We had a large table near the entry to the main hall, which held the work of many local artists (photo to left). Despite cool weather, the attendance at the festival was excellent. We spoke to many locals, both children and adults who were interested in gems and minerals. We had a display of Australian gemstones and Helen had her impressive collection of gold and silver jewellery she has made, incorporating gems she has cut herself. We also had a new member sign up on the spot, which was excellent.
On Saturday 2/11/19 nine club members were at the Geelong Gem Show. Due to the central location of the show this year, some members travelled by train rather than driving. The first photo (top) shows a general view of part of the show while the second photo (below) shows (L-R) Kay, Val &Ted (ex-members who now live in Geelong) and John & Gillian having lunch. Members had a good day out, making some purchases and meeting other lapidaries.
· On Thursday, 14/11/19, Alan, Helen and Christine travelled to the Mt Gambier Gem Club rooms for an opal carving workshop. This was in response to Helen receiving an invitation, a few days prior. It was wet and windy on the way over but we arrived in plenty of time for the 10 a.m. start. There was a good group there, including many Mt Gambier and Horsham club members. It was great to catch up with members of both clubs and see the level of interest in the carving. We were provided with material (opal potch mainly) and a suggestion as to what we could carve with the particular stone we were given. At the end of the day we had all made reasonable progress with our ‘creations’, picking up several handy hints along the way. It is always good to see someone with lots of experience at work. The photos below show the Mt Gambier club rooms and participants working or ‘chatting’ about carving, opals etc. Overall, a great day out!
December: Club members had near perfect weather for the club’s end of year breakup at the Community gardens. Thanks once again to Keith for getting us access to the facility. After a lot of chatting, members got started on a nice range of salads and meat, more than could be readily consumed. The desserts that followed were excellent. Certificates recognising 10, 20- or 30-year membership of the club were presented to members who had achieved the requisite number of years. That included Janice & Keith Fisher, Dianne Wickson, Alan Altmann, John & Gillian Honan, Kay Keen, Diana Brown, John Chivers, Kathleen Brockett and Stephen Hinkley.
Above: L: Lunch at community garden R: Stephen Hinkley who has been a member for 10 plus years (holding his 10 year membership book/certificate), at the club’s end of year BBQ.
2020 WARRNAMBOOL GEM SHOW, JANUARY 11-12 The public came in as soon as we opened the doors on Saturday and we had an excellent crowd throughout the day. Members and traders were kept busy throughout the day which was great for all concerned! Rod was very busy on the lucky dip, resulting the in need for extra ‘lucky dip prizes’ having to be prepared. The club stall did well, selling plenty of rocks, books and plants. The canteen was doing a good job keeping the traders, club members and the public fed! Sunday was quieter for both traders and members with less visitors to the show. This may have been due to the many other events in Warrnambool over the weekend. However, overall the attendance was good and the club made an acceptable profit to support ongoing activities. We also signed up some new members.
The club workshop reopened on Saturday, 25th of January. Welcome to new members Kim, Cathy, Graeme & Shirley. Thanks to Larry, John and Alan who spent several hours continuing repair work/upgrades on the S/S sanding unit to ensure it would drain correctly. Also, the ‘old flat sanding units’ were dismantled and pulleys plus belts replaced so those sanders can now serve as polishing units. The drainage for the older belt sanders has also been improved.On Saturday, 18/1/20, several club members joined Rod & Alan W. up at the Mt Shadwell quarry. There was a Melbourne family and a couple from the USA who were also visiting the quarry for a bit of fossicking. We focused on the western part of the quarry, searching the stockpiles, the slopes and the top of the western wall. Bombs yielding gem peridot are getting ever harder to find. However, some nicely shaped bombs were found along with orthoclase, highly aerated scoria (which will float) and calcite and micro-mount specimens. The quarry has had a large amount of material removed over the last few years with demand from the wind-farms and for road material. As a result, the appearance of the quarry and has changed significantly.
February: Saturday 22nd. Warrnambool Club members joined Ballarat club members at the quarry of a day of fossicking. The weather was excellent with a good turnout of members from both clubs. Mineral specimens including calcites, anorthoclase felspar and olivine bombs were collected. Gemmy bombs were scarce though Stacey found a good one! A band of black scoria was quite productive. March 6 & 7: On Saturday & Sunday members of the Frankston gem club were joined by some of our club members at the Mt Shadwell quarry.
In February 2020, club members Sharon and David visited the Anglesea area to fossick for Vivianite. The weather conditions were good and they had a successful time searching for the Vivianite. The photo below shows one of the nodules after being cut (external & internal views).
Sharon & Davie have been producing some nice cabbed pieces and ‘freeforms’ from Vivianite they collected in February. The photos below show some of David’s work where he has achieved a nice polish on several pieces!
The photos below show some of Sharons vivaniate cabs.
For much of 2020 the club rooms have been closed due to the Corvid 19 pandemic. Many members have continued their hobby at home using their own equipment and fossicking when that was allowed. Below are some photos of gems and jewellery members have produced this year.
It is with regret that the Warrnambool Gem Club must announce that club member Diana Brown passed away at home on the 16/9/2020. • Diana joined the club in 1990 and as of the end of 2019 had been a member for a total of 30 years. Diana was a significant contributor to the club over that time. • Diana always helped out in the preparation, running and packing up of our Gem Shows. • She always put up her hand to help with the Bunnings BBQ’s. • She pitched in to help with the maintenance and renovations of the club rooms and contributed positively and constructively at club meetings. • Diana was willing to take on the position of club secretary, probably the most important position in the club. She held that position from 1996 to 2005 inclusive. Ten years in a position where she maintained the club’s records meticulously and ensured we were in compliance with government requirements. Diana also acted as assistant secretary for three years from 2014 to 2016. • Diana was made a ‘life member’ of the club in 2006 in recognition of the significant contributions she had made to the club. • Diana’s funeral was a private family service held on Wednesday, 23/9/2020. At the invitation of the family, Kay Keen and Alan Altmann represented the club which also sent flowers and a card. • I was able to speak to Diana on the phone two days before she passed. She was in a positive frame of mind and grateful for the long and healthy life she had enjoyed until last year. She wished to leave a few items for the club's collection and I indicated that we would be happy to have some items from her collection. She is happy that some of her collection will live on at the club. • At the service I discovered that Diana was raised on a farm during the Great Depression and WWII before the family moved into a ‘returned soldiers’ home in Melbourne after the war. Diana and two friends travelled extensively around the world (pre international air travel) via ocean liners. • Diana had 8 children including Matthew who was a member of the club at one stage and Matt Said who was also a member and is now a Geologist working at Mt Isa in Queensland. • At the service I mentioned to some family members the positive/complimentary comments about Diana that I received from a number of club members in reply to the email I had sent out (re Diana’s death). The family were pleased that she had such good friends at the club. • The photos below show Diana at the 2015 Bunnings BBQ & 2018 club 50th anniversary lunch, plus the ‘book mark’ handed out at the service.
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