Rhodochrosite – The Inca Rose Stone

Science /

Among our many Exhibits in the Rice Northwest Rock and Mineral Museum is our popular Rhodochrosite specimens. Rhodochrosite is also known as Inca Rose Stone, Raspberry Spar, and Manganese Spar. Rhodochrosite is a manganese carbonate (MnCO3). The carbonates are a group of minerals that contain the anion group CO32-, and are subdivided into the calcite, aragonite, dolomite or hydrated carbonate subgroups. Rhodochrosite belongs to the calcite subgroup. These carbonates are known for having rhombohedral symmetry, which results in the formation of rare rhombohedron shaped crystals. The name rhodochrosite is derived from the Greek for rose-colored. Rhodochrosite is most commonly pink or red, but may sometimes occur as yellow, grey or brown crystals. Pink and red colors occur when the rhodochrosite has a high manganese content, but some substitution of iron in place of manganese causes other colors. Its density also depends on the amount of manganese present, with a lower density associated with low iron content.

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Lithographie Shares Her Rice NW Museum Visit on Facebook

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In July 2013, Gloria Staebler, known as Lithographie on Facebook, visited the Rice Northwest Museum of Rocks and Minerals at the request of Raymond Lasmanis, former Natural Resource Scientists at the State of Washington. Gloria reported on her trip and shared her beautiful photographs in a Facebook article and gave us permission to share her visit with you. If you visit our museum and write up a social media or blog post, we’d love to share it with our museum fans. Please use our contact form to send us a link. And thanks for sharing the Rice Northwest Museum with your friends, family, and fans.

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Rice Museum Awarded People’s Choice Award for Best Attraction in Washington County

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We are honored to announce that the Washington County Visitors Association of Oregon awarded a new “People’s Choice” award to the Rice Northwest Museum of Rocks and Minerals for best attraction. The award was presented to the museum’s executive director, curator, and board members in an awards luncheon hosted by the Washington County Visitors Association (WCVA) to honor businesses, front-line employees, and leaders for their continued dedication and influence on Washington County’s tourism industry. Since 1996, the Rice Northwest Museum of Rocks and Minerals has been proud to be a cherished educational resource dedicated to the preservation and instruction of mineralogy and geology in Washington County, Oregon, as well as the Pacific Northwest.

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Rare John Veevaert Collection of Benitoite at Rice Northwest Museum

News /

The Rice Northwest Museum of Rocks and Minerals is proud to announce the John Veevaert Collection of Benitoite will be on exhibit June 27th, 2012 until March 18, 2013. This is the first time a portion of the Veevaert collection has been on public exhibition. Benitoite is a cyclosilicate. Cyclosilicates are also known as ring silicates because the silicate components in their structure are linked together in rings. Benitoite has hexagonal symmetry, so it can form perfect dipyramidal (double pyramids) crystals. The name benitoite comes from San Benito County in California, where the first specimen was discovered in 1907. Benitoite is most commonly sapphire blue with hints of violet, but may sometimes occur as colorless, white, pink, reddish-brown or greenish-gray crystals. Benitoite is white when powdered (white streak), and has a vitreous luster. Its hardness ranges from 6 to 6.5 on Mohs scale. It sometimes occurs as twinned specimens. It fluoresces bright blue in short-wave ultra-violet light. This has proved to be a particularly useful property for identifying benitoite when mining. Benitoite is commonly found with neptunite and natrolite. A relatively rare mineral, benitoite has been found in California, Arkansas, Montana, Czech Republic and Japan. Gem quality benitoite is only found in California. Benioite was declared Californias State Gem in 1985. There are 55 specimens in the exhibit, representing only 20 percent of Veevaert’s entire collection, assembled during the past thirty-two years via field collecting and purchases. There will be a variety of themes in the exhibition including the twinning of benitoite and neptunite, localities in addition to the Benitoite Gem mine (found in Japan, Arkansas, and California), four specimens showing the range of “straight from the mine” look to a finished specimen with stages in between, odd habits and rare crystal faces for benitoite, faceted benitoite and uncut gem rough, exceptional specimens, and an idealized wooden crystal model made in Germany. Specimens in Veevaert’s collection range from micro-sized to some in excess of 30 cm, but those in the museum display average about 8 cm. The museum is open to the public Wednesday through Sunday from 1-5PM. Members admission is free. Adults are $8, Seniors $7, Students under 17 are $6, and children 4 and under are free.

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Special Malachite Lapidary Exhibit from Congo on Display

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We are excited to feature some malachite lapidary work from the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire) in our Lapidary Arts Room for only the month of March 2012. Make time to visit this rare and special collection at the Rice Northwest Rock and Mineral Museum. On loan from the Ziemer Family, the collection was built between 1975 and 1976 after Mr. Raymond Ziemer was given some pieces as a gift from a local tribe. Carbonates are a group of minerals that contain the anion group CO32. They can be subdivided into the calcite, aragonite, dolomite or hydrated carbonate groups. The mineral malachite belongs in the hydrated (OH-bearing) carbonate group. It is a copper (Cu) bearing mineral and has the chemical formula Cu2CO3(OH)2.

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Rice Northwest Museum Featured on Grant’s Getaways

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The Rice Northwest Museum was featured recently on Travel Oregon’s Grant’s Getaways program for KGW-TV (Portland) as a “Gem Of A Museum.” The video and article by Grant McOmie explores the Williamette Valley’s unique geological history, and how the Rice Northwest Museum of Rocks and Minerals not just preserves that history but helps you understand its beauty and magic. Gigantic, glacial Missoula Lake (in what is now Montana), backed up by an ice dam several miles wide and half a mile high, burst through its western wall and raced across the plains and valleys between Montana and the Pacific Ocean. Geologists say some five hundred cubic miles of floodwater and icebergs roared across the Northwest, carrying away anything and everything in its path. As the ice flowed, it broke into thousands of pieces, and many of the pieces ended up stranded along the flood route. These œerratics a geological term that describes a rock found a considerable distance from its place of origin “range from pebble- to baseball- to car-size boulders that still dot the Willamette Valley. …Theres more geologic drama based at one of the most interesting historic homes of the Portland area; a home that houses one of the most magnificent collection of rocks and minerals in the region. The Rice NW Museum of Rocks and Minerals has been a drawing card for rock hounds for more than forty years “ it provides even the casual visitor a stunning visual treat. To read the article and see reviews of the museum from Travel Oregon and Trip Advisor, see their Rice Northwest Museum Of Rocks And Minerals highlights and reviews.

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Rice Northwest Museum of Rocks & Minerals
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