Sainte-Marie-Aux-Mines 2024

Day 0

In 2024 I left our house early heading to the west so I could cut through Budapest in the direction of SMAM saving me a little distance in my journey of 1145 km. Halfway through I thought it’ll be a piece of cake to slide through Germany as well.. No such luck! The sum of the European Championship, road constructions and accidents equaled in a two hour longer ride than expected but nonetheless I made it to the beloved camping where I set foot (or tent) last year. (If you want to read about my experiences of 2023, please click HERE.)

Fortunately most of my Hungarian collector and dealer friends made it there as well and we had a great kick-off meeting at night: drinking a welcome-pálinka, joking around, negotiating when and what we shall prepare throughout the evenings spent in the camping. I felt it could get any better… at least for Day 0.

Day 1

After a very exhausting 9 hours of constantly wandering around and seeking for the most desirable, at the same time affordable specimens, I came to a very disappointing conclusion which I hoped I can avoid. And it didn’t occur because of poor preparation, sh*tty weather or natural disasters… worse. It was my own fault.

On Day 1 one of my native fellows brought me to the show – both of us were very hyped to be here again! After lending a hand while he was preparing his table I was no longer be able to support him in any meaningful way (maybe if I were as handsome as George Clooney and smelled like gold I could’ve been of use around his stand), so I popped off to look for some of the dealers I knew could have brought specimens which might be of interest for me. (Note: there are always too many of them with good stuff!)

I was confident that spending 4 days at SMAM last year I’ll definitely find my way around the stands. I was wrong. But at least most of those I wanted to find I did find eventually. Some searching here, some negotiating there, scoring some cute minerals every here and there, time flew by really quickly. By the end of the day I managed to get to know some new faces, also old faces with new stuff and new faces with old stuff (and their combinations thereof). I’m very happy with the purchases I made but surprisingly for a Wulfenite collector I did not buy any of this species! And this wasn’t even the most shocking thing of the day for me, but…

At the end of the day, when we were showing our newly acquired minerals I made a quick and very painful calculation which confirmed what I already surmised – I drained my wallet almost completely on the first day of the show! :O

Gorgeous and huge (approx. 4 cm on edge) pink Fluorite crystals on white Albite from the Alps.

Big specimen of "red Baryte" (Realgar included Baryte) from Baia Sprie, Romania.

An absolutely stunning and dramatic Chlorite included Quartz crystal cluster (approx. 10 cm across).

Day 2-3-4

I don’t want to expand the text too much, I’d like to let the pictures do the speaking. I just want to point out how amazing I felt during the whole show. Most of the dealers I approached was happy to share information and show some amazing specimens to me. I also met some of the most talented watercolor mineral artists at the show and had great conversations with them. I was lucky to meet high end dealers from all over the world just wandering around the tents and stands and they were very open-minded to talk to me on different subjects. I also met some already known and some new Young Mineral Collectors and had an amazing time with them – just like last year.

Big specimen, approx. 12-15 cm wide of yellow Calcites hosting transparent purple Fluorites from Llamas, Spain.

Perfect Baryte "pompom" on a big slab of matrix. Approx. 25 cm wide specimen.

Insanely gorgeous Dioptase + Calcite combo from Tsumeb, Namibia. Approx. 3-4 cm high.

Small but perfect smoky gwindel from the Swiss Alps (approx. 4-5 cm specimen).

All in all, SMAM provided a splendid experience in 2024 as well for which I’m eternally greatful for everyone that contributed. Enjoy some pictures I took every here and there. (Just like last year I would like to note that I do not get paid by any of the mineral dealers whose specimens I show you here. I blurred out the prices because I didn’t ask for permission to show you some of their specimens therefore I felt obliged to keep the names of their companies on the picture if I have their labels photographed. I’d say it’s fair. If you know any of them would not want people to publish their specimens, please let me know via email! But this is not an advert for them, these pictures are shown for our delight only.)

Ksenia Levterova's insanely precise, detailed and realistic watercolor picture of a wonderful Elban Elbaite from Italy in the Exhibition Hall of SMAM 2024.

Finally, let me spend a few words on the exhibition (and a few pictures below). Well, in 2023 I enjoyed my frist SMAM exhibition very much. Quite frankly, I did not expect that in 2024 the amazement of 2023 would be reached. Boy, was I wrong! The "Paragenesis" theme exhibition was just splendid. The cases were full of amazing and highly interesting specimens on their own rights but together they also showcased some of the world's most known, most interesting localities. I want to expand my "Merci beaucoup!" to everyone who coordinated, exhibited, lent or otherwise contributed to this knowledge-expanding and memorable exhibition.

This specimen was the highlight for me out of all the amazing specimens showcased on the exhibition - amazing red Wulfenites with yellow Pyromorphite on Baryte blades from La Farge, France.

Last day

On the last day I got up early in the camping to leave for a good field collecting trip. Just like last year I planned to visit the publicly open mine dump of Grube Clara in Wolfach, Germany. As I experienced how limited space is at the dump, I wanted to be one of the first people getting in when the gate opens. Well, if only I were the only one who thought like this! Even getting there 30 minutes early I could already see that a whole lot of people had similar ideas for the day. As time passed, more like-minded people gathered limiting find chances with every new participant.

Queue at the entrance.. too long... just feels too long after such an exhausting week with so long road to travel yet.

As I could already see that the sun will blow throughout the next few hours roasting my beluga-white skin I decided that I might as well enjoy a nice air-conditioned room getting ever-closer to my home – so field collecting was finished for me even before it could’ve started and I left for Hungary. See you next time, Mein Lieber Clara!