The A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum participated in the 73rd Annual Greater Detroit Gem, Mineral, & Fossil show held at Macomb Community College in Warren from Oct. 13 to 15, 2017. The show was sponsored by the Michigan Mineralogical Society.
Ted Bornhorst, executive director of the museum, installed two exhibits that were prepared by Chris Stefano, associate curator. One of these exhibits was titled “Supergene Oxidation: Making Colorful Minerals out of Dark Minerals” and fit with the show’s theme, “The Dark Side of Gems & Minerals.” The second exhibit was titled “Clay Canyon, Utah Variscite Nodules from the George B. Robbe Collection.” Robbe was a 1913 alum of Michigan Tech and was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University in 1961. His mineral collection was donated to the A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum in 1967. His personally-collected variscite suite is among the finest from this notable locality.
On Sunday Oct.15, the museum held a silent auction in collaboration with the Michigan Mineralogical Society and Bornhorst gave an invited lecture titled “Cubic Pyrite Crystals from Navajún, Spain.”