Museum volunteers make tiny finds in the mineral collection

Bolton Museum & Archive Service currently has around 400,000 items in it's collections which includes broad categories such as Egyptology and geology or fine art and entomology.

Within each of these subjects are a bewildering number of specialist areas. For example, there are 25,000 individual specimens in the Geology collection alone. Many were collected over 100 years ago, since when much of the science has changed. New species have been discovered, new identities established. Even the most dedicated geologist would be hard pressed to examine and identify each one. To help the process along it is often necessary to get the advice of outside experts or to enlist the help of knowledgeable enthusiasts.

The Russell Society

Recently, members of the North West branch of the Russell Society have been enlisted as volunteers exactly for this purpose.

The Russell Society are currently working through the mineral collection checking every specimen for so-called  "secondary" minerals, minerals associated to the main, obvious species. This is a painstaking job that regular staff do not have the time to do, so we are delighted to have these enthusiasts working with us. They have identified several mineral species not previously noted at Bolton, all of which make the mineral collection more useful for staff and researchers.

Mineral discovery

An example is the discovery of tiny spherical crystals of a mineral called Flurapatite.

The specimen, from Prenteg, near Porthmadog in Wales, had been purchased in 1977 to show larger crystals of a mineral called Anatase. It was only when the new volunteers were taken on earlier this year that these hidden gems, less than a millimetre across, were revealed.

Having been spotted by Harry Critchley, Keith Snell and David Hardman, the identity was confirmed by Tom Cotterell at the National Museums and Galleries of Wales. Fluorapatite (or apatite-[CaF]) is the Fluorine-rich version of apatite.

In addition to Harry, Keith and David, we also have Christine Critchley and Anne Snell working with us. Alan Dyer and Oneta Wilson have just finished assessing our Zeolite collection.

The NW Russell Society members currently give us a day of their time each month. The work of these volunteers is greatly appreciated as it helps to increase the value of the collections and build on the reputation of the service as a whole.

For more on the Russell Society, visit their website at www.russellsoc.org

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