OVMC November 2026 Meeting – Mineral Rings: A Personal Fascination
November 12 @ 5:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Meeting Location: Canadian Museum of Nature in the Theatre downstairs
5:30 PM Mineral Identification and Swap Shop
“Rock Doctor” Clinic: Starts at 5:30, ends at 6:30 PM. Members are free to bring in a reasonable number of samples or specimens to be identified by the expert mineralogists in the club.
“Swap Shop”: Calling all collectors! The OVMC Swap Shop is open for all members (adults and children). Mike and Tara will have several treasures to trade including small crystals, fossils, polished rocks and the occasional plastic dino! Donations towards the Swap collection are appreciated! Local and international samples accepted. No large samples please.
Join us and win door prizes!
6:30 PM Meeting
Speaker: Frank Ruehlicke, Retired manager, CPA and current President of the Canadian Micro Mineral Association
Topic: Mineral Rings: A Personal Fascination
Frank Ruehlicke has been collecting minerals since childhood focusing primarily on microminerals. Favorite minerals include pyrite, native copper as well as the many colorful minerals from oxidization zones. Favorite localities include Lavrion in Greece, Grübe Clara in Germany, and Michigan’s Copper Country. Frank is President of the Canadian Micro Mineral Association (since 2013) and has served on the executive of the Walker Mineralogical Club in Toronto and the Kitchener-Waterloo Gem & Mineral Club. He is retired and now lives in Nova Scotia with his wife Tracey and their rescue potcake dog Butterscotch.

Collectors discover many fascinating properties, characteristics and curiosities in the mineral world. Early on in Frank’s collecting journey, he became aware of boulangerite rings from Madoc Ontario. He was fascinated by the idea that a mineral could form as a ring. That fascination has continued to this day. In this presentation, he will share his fascination with mineral rings. The presentation reviews the minerals that form as rings, the localities they are found at, and some thoughts on how they might form.

Boulangerite needles, rings and a tube.
Rogers Mine, Madoc, ON


