wrote legislators, and who signed the petition in the effort to preserve funding for the department, including the museum.  It was an impressive outpouring of community support and surely made an impression on the Governor and Legislators.  It certainly made an impression on me, and I am indebted to you all.  THANK YOU!

Curator's Corner
By Sue Celestian

Prospector's Day Strikes Gold!

The 12th annual Prospector's Day at the Museum was a golden success.  A record 377 people came out for what was a gorgeous day, on Saturday February 22nd.   This is an event that is co-sponsored by the Arizona Mining & Mineral Museum and the Arizona Prospector's Association (APA), a group that meets at the Museum on the third Tuesday of each month and that actively supports Museum activities. 

Outside, visitors panned for guaranteed gold, used metal detectors to hunt for coins (special ones of which could be traded in for gold nuggets), and watched demonstrations of various gold-retrieving equipment.  Prospectors could crush ore samples and blacksmithing was demonstrated 'out by the hoist house'.

A new and exciting demonstration was the stamp mill.  The "Monday Crew" of volunteers had rigged up a small motor, belt and wooden replica of a stamp, for a preview look at how it will work when it is completed (which by the way, will be soon!).  By the October Family Day, it should be operational.

Inside, children and parents alike crowded around the tables where they created bracelets, pet rocks, and their very own collections of 4 minerals or rocks glued onto an informative card.  Skilled craftspeople demonstrated faceting, inlay, wire wrap, and carving.  And many visitors took advantage of the half-price sale on selected items in the gift shop.

As many of you know, the department/museum recently was threatened with elimination, due to the State's budgetary shortfall.   While we do not yet know our fate, we remain hopeful that we will survive.   

I want to thank everyone who e-mailed, called or

Midnight Owl Mine Fieldtrip

On Saturday March 15, the Foundation members were invited to collect at the Midnight Owl Mine by Mardy and Dick Zimmerman.  We met at the confluence of Castle Hot Springs Road and Trilby Wash at 8:00 a.m., but still a long way from the mine!  We all found seats in the 4 wheel drive vehicles of our members, and bounded off over the very primitive road to the claims.

The Midnight Owl mine was originally claimed by Earl and Sidney Anderson.  They mined the pegmatite for beryllium, lithium and columbium-tantalite.  In 1998 the claim became available and the Zimmerman's are the present claim holders.

Abundant at the property are lepidolite, the lovely pink lithium mica, eucryptite, which glows a striking raspberry-red in the SW UV light, apatite, which is blue in sunlight, but glows a golden yellow in SW, and a curious close grained green waxy mineral that is translucent, and carves nicely.  Ray Grant pointed out that the literature provided to the collectors reported such a mineral, and called it mica. I was

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