The British Micromount Society is a national organisation, founded in 1981. The aims of the Society are to promote contact between micromounters in the UK and encourage the development of micromounting as a branch of mineralogy through the publication of a regular newsletter, occasional field meetings and symposia. The Society publishes the British Directory of Micromounters – now in its 10th Edition, and maintains a National Reference Collection of Micromounts, available for postal loan to members. The Society has also developed a range of Occasional Papers on topics of interest to amateur mineralogists. There are local groups in Norfolk, Sussex, West Midlands, Cornwall, The North West Group in Bolton, and the South East Group in London. These meet at regular intervals and all members are welcome to attend any of the branches. Details in the About link.
Read MoreA message from Roy Starkey about the 2025 symposium. Dear All Firstly, thank you to everyone who attended the event in 2024. The 2025 Symposium will take place at Salwarpe Village Hall on 12 – 14 September. Full details will be published in the Newsletter and as promised I am contacting everyone again to let you know that reservations for the Holiday Inn are now open. You can register for the so-called members discount rate when you book. Currently the best available rate for a standard double room or twin-bedded room is £73 per night for two people including breakfast. Follow this link to make your booking. Remember to double check and select the correct dates for your stay! Remember that the key to getting the best rate is to book early, and that if you are attending alone, a useful saving will be available if you are able to share a twin room with a fellow delegate (effectively halving the already competitive overnight rate). Roy Starkey Hon. Life President British Micromount Society
Read MoreThe British Micromount Society, of which I am a member, and also the webmaster, publishes three newsletters per year (usually). Apart from the latest six newsletters, all of the newsletters are available in the Newsletter Archive. They are all scanned pdf files, and there isn’t a way to search the archive for a particular subject. A contents index has been created (and includes issues 1 through 113). So better than nothing at all. But then I thought, why not create a Chat Bot for the newsletters. And I have now done so. All newsletters from 1 to 116 are included. The BMS Chat Bot can be found here. Give it a try. You will get “Hi there. I am the British Micromount Society Chat Bot. What can I assist you with today?” How about trying out some of the following prompts in response: What can you tell me about Penberthy Croft? What can you tell me about the Richard Barstow collection? Tell me about the Symposium. Just remember that The BMS Chat Bot may not necessarily always provide totally accurate or complete information because a) It’s an AI Chat Bot after all(!), and b) the quality of the source documentation (extraction of text (OCR) from scanned pdfs). Apologies in advance! Below: Torbernite, South Caradon Mine, St. Cleer, Cornwall. Width of view 2mm. Photo and specimen Tom Thomson. Featured on the front page of Newsletter 114.
Read MoreThe last missing newsletter, Issue 82, has now been added to the Newsletter Archive.
Read MoreThe latest BMS newsletter, number 119, contains an article by John Chapman on 3D imaging of minerals. There is only one image in the newsletter, a pyromorphite from the Susanna Mine, Leadhills, Scotland. A further selection of minerals are included below. Note that you will need red/cyan glasses to be able to appreciate them. David Roe has a stock of these. At the end of this page, there are a couple of photos of John’s setup. Details of each specimen are included in the photos.
Read MorePhotographic Competitions There will be three photographic competitions this year. Entries must be emailed to David Ifold no later than Thursday 31 August. Please submit your entries early so that any problems can be resolved. We welcome photographic entries from members who are not able to attend the Symposium in person. All entries will be combined into three separate pdf files, one per class. These will be emailed to members so that every member with an email address will be able to submit votes for their three favourite images prior to the Symposium. The results will be announced following the AGM on Sunday morning. The three classes are as follows. A competition open only to those members that have never won a BMS photographic competition before. To encourage participation the subject may be anything to do with mineralogy or geology. The mineral topaz. A red mineral. Maximum of two entries per class, per member. Winning entries will be published in the BMS newsletter and will be made available to both Steve Stuart and Steve Sorrell for the publications they edit. Copyright will be credited to the photographer. Mineral Competitions The theme for the Micromount Competition this year is hematite and entries may be from any location worldwide. Entries must be mounted in a standard box and either be glued or on tack. Maximum of two entries per person. The Micromineral Competition is restricted to British specimens only (including Northern Ireland but not Eire) and is judged on ‘wow factor’ only, […]
Read MoreThis year’s symposium will be held at a new venue (Salwarpe Village Hall, Salwarpe, near Droitwich, Worcestershire. WR9 0AH). The hall is easy to reach from the M5 motorway and has ample car parking with step-free access to the hall. The Symposium will start at 09:00am on Friday 15 September, 2023, and end at around 12:00 on Sunday. As advertised in the Newsletter, the BMS will cover the cost of the venue hire for 2023 meaning that attending the Symposium itself will essentially be free of charge, with only a small cost for teas and coffees (and lunch if required). Further details on refreshments and booking lunch will be provided nearer the date, maybe £15/head). The new arrangements mean that delegates will be able to book to attend for one day, two days or the whole weekend without penalty. We very much hope that this will encourage some of our friends who we have not seen in recent years to consider coming back to the Symposium. If you have not attended the Symposium before, please be assured that you will be made most welcome. The BMS membership includes many knowledgeable people who will be very happy to share their expertise with newcomers. The weekend includes a range of practical sessions, talks, exhibits, swap sessions, specimen and equipment sales, an auction in aid of BMS funds on the Saturday and the ever-popular ‘grab table’. Please note that delegates are responsible for booking and paying for their own hotel accommodation. Many delegates […]
Read More16th, 17th and 18th September 2022. Everything is in place for our Forty First BMS Symposium to take place at the College Court Conference Centre, Knighton Road, Leicester. It will be great to get back to a real event meeting friends in person and talking about minerals which we can share and enjoy together. Everyone is looking forward to the weekend. For those wanting the extra day of mineral chat and socialising, we will start to assemble at the Conference Centre on the afternoon of Thursday 16th September and there will be the opportunity to join other delegates for an evening meal. The Symposium will officially start first thing on the Friday morning as further delegates arrive. We have the usual Oak Room booked where we can set up our microscopes and put out material for viewing and sharing with the other members. Ample space will allow for the usual range of micros and hand specimens to be displayed, exchanged and sold. After two years of Covid it is likely that the traditional “Grab Table” of “excess to requirements minerals” will be more than usually laden. Buffet lunches and evening meals will be available on the Friday and Saturday. As usual, a range of experts will be on hand to identify minerals or give advice on almost any mineralogical subject from UK locations to specimen photography. A number of talks are planned. As always, Nigel Hoppe will provide a microscope cleaning service. And of course there will be the usual […]
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From David Ifold… I am writing my first letter to outline our plans for the 41st BMS Symposium which takes place as a real event in Leicester at The College Court Conference Centre this September starting 9.00AM on Friday 16th September and finishing lunchtime Sunday 18th September. Since the outbreak of Covid 19, the world of Conference Centres and Hotels has changed. College Court has now re-opened but is run directly by the owners Leicester University through their own conference business. The original staff that we once knew at College Court have long since gone. Booking a conference venue this year has not been easy. A number of members including Jeanette Inkin and Martin Stolworthy have kindly made enquiries on our behalf but the main stumbling block has been that most conference venues today have very strict contracts with penalty clauses that can apply even twelve months before the event! We have decided to go back to College Court as they have offered us the most favourable terms. The Russell Society have used College Court for their ASM the first weekend of April and a number of us attended that function and so we will be able to judge how well they have restarted their business. Our booking gives members a number of options with the possibility of delegates joining or leaving us at their convenience. We of course hope you will be with us for the whole weekend! The Symposium will officially start Friday 16th September at 9.00AM with […]
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