The Friends of Mineralogy The Friends of Mineralogy (FM), formed at Tucson, Arizona on February 13, 1970, operates on a national level and also through regional chapters.  It is open to membership by all.  FM's objectives are to promote, support, protect and expand the collection of mineral specimens and to further the recognition of the scientific, economic and aesthetic value of minerals and collecting mineral specimens.

FM has a long association with The Mineralogical Record.  It helps produce locality indexes for specimen mineral localities published in Rocks and Minerals, and is co-sponsor, with the Tucson Gem and Mineral Society (TGMS) and the Mineralogical Society of America (MSA), of the annual Tucson Mineralogical Symposia.  Among its activities it sponsors awards for best articles each calendar year in the Mineralogical Record, Rocks & Minerals and extraLapis English and gives special recognition at the February Tucson Gem and Mineral Show for exhibits which help explain an aspect of mineralogy.

The Friends of Mineralogy is affiliated with the American Geological Institute and the Mineralogical Society of America, as well as with Rocks and Minerals, and The Mineralogical Record.  Both of these magazines provide FM space and publish news of its activities from time-to-time.  FM in turn supports these magazines in various endeavors.

Friends of Mineralogy 2007 Awards

The Friends of Mineralogy presented the awards at the Saturday night banquet of the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show.  The winners at the 2007 Tucson Show were:

• Best Article 2006, Rocks & Minerals, Mark Mauthner and Carl Francis – “Gold Crystal Localities of British Columbia, Canada”.
• Best Article 2006, The Mineralogical Record, Bruce Cairncross & Uli Bahmann – for the "Erongo" issue.
• Best Article 2006, extraLapis English (Werner Lieber Award), Ross Lillie – “The Great Southern Illinois Fluorspar Deposits”.

In conjunction with the Best Article awards, FM presents to Rocks & Minerals, the Mineralogical Record, and extraLapis English each a check for $200.

Friends of Mineralogy 2006 Awards

The Friends of Mineralogy presented the awards at the Saturday night banquet of the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show.  The winners at the 2006 Tucson Show were:

• Best Article 2005, Rocks & Minerals, Martin Jensen – “Fluorite from the Xianghualing Polymetallic Ore Field, Hunan Province, China” (v. 80, n. 1, p. 32-38).
• Best Article 2005, The Mineralogical Record, Berthold Ottens and Guanghua Liu – for a collection of articles on Chinese mineral localities (v.36, n.1, p. 4-80, the "China" issue).
• Best Article 2005, extraLapis English (Werner Lieber Award), Frederico Pezzotta – “The Italian Island of Elba – A Mineralogical Jewel in the Tuscan Archipelago”.
• Best Educational Case, TGMS, 2006 – Individual, Members of Cleveland Mineralogical Society – Synthetic Minerals.
• Best Educational Case, TGMS, 2006 – Institutional, California State Mining and Mineral Museum, California State Parks – JADE

In conjunction with the Best Article awards, FM presents to Rocks & Minerals, the Mineralogical Record, and extraLapis English each a check for $200.

Friends of Mineralogy 2005 Awards

The Friends of Mineralogy presented the awards at the Saturday night banquet of the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show.  The winners at the 2005 Tucson Show were:

• Best Article 2004, The Mineralogical Record, Doug C. Toland – Famous Mineral Localities:  Green Monster Mountain, Prince of Wales Island, Alaska (v. 35, n. 5, p. 383-404, 419-420)
• Best Article 2004, Rocks & Minerals, Jesse Fisher – Fluorite from the Northern Pennines Orefield, England (v. 79, n. 6, p. 378-398)
• Best Article 2004, extraLapis English (Werner Lieber Award), Herb Obodda – Opening Pakistan’s Mineral Market (No. 6 – Pakistan – Minerals, Mountains, & Majesty) 
• Best Educational Case, TGMS, 2005– Individual, Members of the Mineralogical Society of Cleveland – “Surprise Endings”, an exploration of the types of overgrowths and terminations on minerals.
• Best Educational Case, TGMS, 2005 – Institutional, California Academy of Sciences – “Am I Blue?”.  A discussion of the cause of blue colors in minerals and geological materials.

In conjunction with the Best Article awards, FM presents to Rocks & Minerals, the Mineralogical Record, and extraLapis English each a check for $200.

Educational Cases at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show

The Friends of Mineralogy sponsors non-monetary recognition at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show (TGMS) for cases which help explain an aspect of mineralogy.  There is no restriction on the theme, but the case should have some special instructive feature.  In keeping with the high standards of the TGMS, the case should be aesthetically pleasing and contain specimens worthy of the show.  Two certificates are awarded, one for private collections and one for institutions, and the winners are honored at the Saturday night banquet and on a plaque in the FM case.  Instructive cases help the hobby grow and underline its scientific basis.  Exhibitors at Tucson, both individuals and institutions, are asked to consider seriously such a feature for their cases.