Experts and featured speakers are the foundation of the event, but the rock hounds and gem lovers converge on Socorro to buy, sell and trade specimens and swap stories about their favorite places to explore. The 2009 event sported nearly 300 attendees. Organizer Virgil Lueth expects another successful event this year.

Click here for the brochure and registration information.

The symposium provides a forum for both professionals and amateurs interested in mineralogy. The meeting allows all to share their cumulative knowledge of mineral occurrences and provides stimulus for mineralogical studies and new mineral discoveries. In addition, the informal atmosphere allows for intimate discussions among all interested in mineralogy and associated fields.

This year's symposium will consist of a day and a half of formal papers presented in 30-minute time blocks. Papers will focus on mineral occurrences from New Mexico, adjacent states and Mexico. A few selected papers may be presented from other parts of the world. An informal pre-symposium social and tailgating session will be held at local motels on Friday, Nov. 12, and will last through the weekend. No formal field trips are planned.

The keynote speaker is R. Peter Richards, who will talk about a famous ore deposit in Canada that is very popular with mineral enthusiasts.

A silent auction, sponsored by the Albuquerque Gem and Mineral Club for the benefit of the Mineral Museum, will be Sunday afternoon, November 14. The auction will be open to the public and all interested may buy or sell. All sellers pay a modest fee to the club to benefit the symposium and mineral museum. More information will be available at the symposium. The student chapter of the Society of Economic Geologists is raffling off a variety of mineral specimens. Tickets are available at the Tech Bookstore and during the Symposium.

In conjunction with the larger symposium, the Mining Artifact Collectors Association is hosting its second annual gathering. The Association is a loosely organized group of dedicated historians and collectors of antique mining artifacts.

The general registration fee for the Mineral Symposium is $30 and $15 for students. Registration includes a copy of the abstracts, two continental breakfasts, and coffee breaks.

A cocktail hour and dinner will be Saturday, November 13, for $20. A cash bar will be available.

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2010 New Mexico Mineral Symposium

Saturday November 13, 2010 8:00 a.m. Registration, Macey Center, breakfast 8:50 a.m. Opening remarks, main auditorium 9:00 a.m. “Blue Ice”: Collecting Halite from Potash Mines 9:30 a.m. Collecting the Michigan Copper Country 10:00 a.m.* Blasting from the Past 10:30 a.m. Coffee break 11:00 a.m. Rare Minerals from the Hansonburg Mining District 11:30 a.m. Sierrita Mountain Beryls 12:00 p.m. Lunch and Museum tour 1:30 p.m.* Collecting Coal Miner’s Carbide Lamps 2:00 p.m.* Paper Treasures 2:30 p.m. Apache Hills Minerals: The Rest of the Story 3:00 p.m. Coffee break 3:30 p.m. The Greater Alma Mining District: A Colorado Mining Legend 4:00 p.m. Geology and Mineralogy of Mont Saint-Hilaire, Quebec 5:30 p.m. Sarsaparilla and suds: cocktail hour, cash bar 6:30 p.m. Dinner followed by an auction Sunday November 14, 2010 8:00 a.m. Morning social, coffee and donuts 8:50 a.m. Welcome 9:00 a.m. Hemimorphite and Wulfenite of Montana 9:30 a.m. The Kearney Mine, 1942–1967 10:00 a.m. Mt. Watson Fluorite, Grant County, New Mexico 10:30 a.m. Coffee break 11:00 a.m. The Mina del Tiro, The Lost Pages 11:30 a.m. Minerals of the Thomas Range, Juab County, Utah 12:00 p.m. Lunch 1:15 to Silent auction, upper lobby, Macey Center,  * denotes Mining Artifact Collectors Association talk.