...September appreciates the 40th Annual Denver Gem and Mineral Show, featuring the Leadville Mining District...

Just in time for the annual show, the USGS Photographic Library is featured in the 2007 September/October Rocks and Minerals Magazine "Chips from the Quarry" section. To view the Photographic Library mineral imagery collection, please visit the following URL: http://libraryphoto.cr.usgs.gov/cgi-bin/search.cgi?search_mode=noPunct&free_form=mineral+specimen&free_form=&free_form=&free_form=

Beginning in 1987, the Denver Gem and Mineral Show, hosted by the Greater Denver Area Gem and Mineral Council, has become one of the world�s most renowned geological events. Every year the council hosts retail, wholesale, and International dealers, whose various types of items sold include minerals, fossils, jewelry, beads, carvings, geodes, magazines and books, rockhounding and lapidary supplies, and so much more! They also entertain a multitude of educational programs through partnerships with the USGS, BLM and other historic and geologic societies.

The nine mineral, lapidary, fossil and bead societies that create the non-profit council strive to promote exhibition, exploration, and education in the earth sciences, along with the discovery, development, and the preservation of fossils, minerals, and mineral deposits for the advancement, encouragement, and the utilization of the principles of the art and craftsmanship as applied to gems and minerals.

This year's events include the Survey's own Dr. Peter J. Modreski presenting "Starting a Mineral Collection." As a geochemist with the USGS for 28 years, his specialties include mineralogy, mineral deposits, gemstones, and igneous petrology. Pete's work has included the study of mines, caves, volcanoes, and geology in Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Hawaii, Poland and Russia. He is the USGS geologic resource specialist for gemstones, as well as abrasives, quartz, beryllium, cesium and rubidium.

For more information on the Denver Gem and Mineral Show, please visit the URL below: http://www.denvermineralshow.com/

To view and order a copy of Rocks & Minerals Magazine, click on the following link: http://www.rocksandminerals.org/