Mining has been in my family for generations. My great grandfather, Thomas do Costa (later changing the family name to Fraser) immigrated to South Africa from the United States of America in the late 1800's. Although our family is speculative as to Thomas's early years in South Africa we believe that he was involved in diamond or gold mining as were most immigrants at the time. Both my grandfather and my father spent most of their working lives on mines. I spent the first five years of my life in the small town of Orkney, a small gold mining community west of Johannesburg and then four years in the copper mining town of Phalaborwa. In 1968 my father took a mining job in Peru and our family moved to Cerro de Pasco, a mining town in the Peruvian Andes.

My grandfather Sidney, my father Robert and me in the middle. Circa 1960. South Africa

Cerro de Pasco is at an altitude of 4300 meters above sea level and about 300km from the Peruvian capital, Lima. It was here at the age of 9 that my interest in minerals, rocks and fossils developed. My science teacher brought several different rocks to class and I recall that he explained that some had formed as a result of the action of super heated water or as a result of volcanic activity. This simple introduction by my teacher sparked an intense and passionate interest in the earth; I wondered about its age, its formation and why fossils of marine organisms could be found at 4000 meters above sea level.

The Andes Mountains of Peru - flight from Lima to Iquitos with Mt. Yerapaja in the background.

View of Cerro de Pasco town. Circa 1970

My father would bring me rocks from the mine and I recall that my first really neat mineral was a fist-sized specimen composed of cubic crystals of galena. Jannet, Ricardo and Jorge Rivera were friends and neighbours and their father Nelson was the mine geologist. I would visit Nelson and present him with a box of rocks to identify. He would patiently write down the mineral names and describe their formation in detail. Very soon I had a sizeable collection, which began to clutter up my bedroom leaving me very little space to move. Within a few months, I moved the collection to a larger vacant room at the back of our house. This was done at the insistence of my mother who had fallen over the bolder in my bedroom that contained one of the best Jurassic ammonites I had collected. In the room at the back of the house there was ample space in which I created a mini-museum with each specimen meticulously labeled and catalogued. (For more information on the minerals of Peru, see reference: Mineralogical Record July-August 1997, Vol28, and No.4, or click here).

The Cerro de Pasco area has extensive limestone deposits, dating to the Triassic period, in which shell fossils are to be found. My brother, Sidney, had a particularly keen eye for finding fossils so I'd convince him to join me in searching the surrounding hills for fossils. One of the first fossils Sidney found, which is still in my collection, is a well-preserved shell of the species Myophoria Pascoensis. When it was first found we could not remove it from the rock matrix so we had to go back some days later and remove using a chisel and hammer. We removed it with such care that it took us several hours to do so in fear of it breaking apart.

Myophoria Pascoensis, a common species of fossil shellfish found in the Triassic limestone of the Cerro de Pasco area.

Through the experience of collecting fossils I learned of the immense age of the earth (see Articles on the Age of the Earth) and this subject is still of great interest to me. Our family returned to South Africa in 1973 to settle for a brief period at Witkop Mine near Zeerust and a year later in Johannesburg. I brought most of my mineral and fossil collection back to South Africa. My parents still remind me of the crate containing my rocks that weighed close on 600 kilograms and the removal company asking my dad if we were moving rocks!

The mining town of Cerro De Pasco, as it is today

Cerro De Pasco town and open pit mine as seen from Bellavista Village

Typical landscape of the Peruvian highlands - a tree-less landscape of numerous lakes and amazing geological features such as this Caldera in the background

Left: Gratonite, a rare Lead Arsenic Sulphide mineral and type locality species of Cerro de Pasco, Peru.
Right: A cluster of Pyrite crystals from Cerro de Pasco Mine.

Revoredite, a rare arsenic sulphilde, type-locality mineral from Cerro de Pasco Mine. X-Ray Diffraction analysis shows that the mineral is amorphous. The original label I have indicates that the mineral contains trace amounts of the rare earth elements.

In 1986 I graduated as an analytical chemist and after my studies I pursued a career in the South African mining industry, working primarily in the precious metals and tungsten carbide industries and later in the field of analytical instrumentation. Although I never formally studied towards a degree in geology or mineralogy, these sciences continue to interest me. Mineral collecting still remains a passionate hobby of mine. The hobby turned into a business and I started Online Minerals in April 2002. I love minerals for their aesthetic beauty, their scientific value and because, simply, collecting is great fun! I believe that it is the greatest hobby in the world! I have met many amazing people through this hobby, many. Like most mineral collectors I am however concerned that fewer and fewer young people are interested in mineral collecting and fear that perhaps it is a dying hobby.

Here I am looking at fossil ripple marks in the ancient rocks making up the Waterberg Mountains in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. October 2002

I do not have a specific area of interest in minerals so I do not restrict myself to collecting certain species or localities. My personal collection consists of approximately 2000 specimens of mainly cabinet sized specimens, thumbnails and miniatures. They are mostly from different parts of the world with about half from southern Africa with most from the Kalahari Manganese Field. I do however have my favourites, such as the wonderful minerals from Mexico, Tsumeb and Peru.

I have been fortunate to visit several different mines for the collection of specimens. These include; Vergenoeg Fluorite Mine, Moepe Mine, Palabora Mine, Pering Mine and N'chwaning Mine.

I have visited the Vergenoeg Mine several times with mineral enthusiasts, Bruce Cairncross, Jens Gutzmer, Henk Smit and Wolf Windisch. This site has revealed a number of rare minerals. Blue azurite with white gearksutite and kaolonite is found with malachite in a large pocket in the oxidized zone. We have also found botryoidal or 'globular' fluorite associated with iridescent goethite, siderite and meta-autunite.

I had the opportunity to go underground at N'chwaning II Mine in the Kalahari Manganese Field, a mine that has produced spectacular mineral specimens over a number of years.

Bruce Cairncross, Allan Fraser, Paul Balayer at the headgear of
N'chwaning II Mine about to descend with the night shift, Kalahari Manganese Field, Hotazel, South Africa,
November 2004.

Left to right: Jens Gutzmer and Allan Fraser at the copper mineralization pocket at Vergenoeg Fluorite Mine, May 2004

One of the beautiful quartz - amethysts from Kwaggasfontein. Specimen size: 10 x 8 cm. Specimen: Colin Corser

Part of my personal mineral collection is kept in three Perspex cabinets that have been designed to be dust free. The remainder of my personal collection is kept in five glass display cabinets and one cabinet designed for thumbnail sized specimens.

My other interests include astronomy (geology of the planets, especially that of Mars) and paleontology. I am intrigued that andesite may have been found on Mars which suggests that the planet underwent plate tectonics at some point in its history. I have a special interest in rocks of Archaean and Proterozoic age (3500 to 570 million years old). This ties up with my interest in isotope geochemistry and the role that the element lead plays in this very precise science (see Articles). Visit my Geo Tour for a tour of some of the areas of South Africa that are of this age. I am fascinated by the role that blue-green algae played in converting the early earth's atmosphere from a reducing one to an oxidizing one. Near my home, one can see the evidence of early life in the form of fossil stromatolites found in the 2.2 billion year old Malmani dolomites. My interest in the 1.4 billion year old Pilanesberg Alkaline Intrusion has resulted in numerous collecting trips to this site for 'herring bone' fluorites and fluorescent minerals.

The rocks I am standing on are deposits of volcanic ash and in the background one can see the ridges making up the 1.4 billion year old Pilanesberg Alkaline Intrusion.

I am actively involved in the Witwatersrand Gem and Mineral Club (www.wgmc.info). I am the past chairperson of the club and am the editor of the South African Lapidary Magazine.

I live about 25 km north of the center of Johannesburg in the suburb of Fourways. Ornella, my wife assists me with Onlineminerals although she is full time employed. Ornella was born in Rivoli, Italy and her parents immigrated to South Africa when she was very young. She has been a great inspiration to me and I am forever thankful that our paths crossed more than 20 years ago. She holds a PhD in Metaphysics and in her spare time does counseling work.

Most of all, I hope that you enjoy my web site and stop to visit it from time to time. It has been a great pleasure setting it up and if you feel I should improve the site in any way please let me know. If there are any particular minerals you wish me to search for in my travels, I will do my best in sourcing them for you.

Allan Fraser
January 2005