The March/April 2024 Rocks and Minerals magazine cover highlights Zhang’s 2023 Tucson Gem and Mineral Show Lidstrom Trophy-winning goshenite (beryl) specimen, photographed by the renowned mineral photographer Jeff Scovil.
Tom Zhang’s portfolio of mineral images speaks to his own skill and artistry, with many of them showcased in various mineral publications, including two special issues of Mineralogical Record; one focused on thumbnail collections, and the other on locality-specific minerals. Those issues highlight Zhang’s expertise in those areas, resulting from a somewhat constrained collection strategy. His research interests are free to be more expansive, including seeking to understand the intersection of beauty and economy.
“I want to understand how gem-bearing deposits form, but I am also fascinated with their use as resources. Gems can be found in all three rock types, but I am interested in igneous systems and how their formation influences the production of rare minerals as well as their potential economic importance.”
Zhang is working on two projects, one focused on understanding the genesis of rare earth element deposits in 1.4 billion year old carbonatites from Mountain Pass in California, and the second project looking at similar aged ‘A-type granites’ from California to Labrador Canada. A-type granites are different from other granites by their low water content and lack of clear textural or structural evidence of the tectonic influences that produced them. Zhang’s research will look at the trace element chemistry to determine if these important rare element resource hosts are tied to the assembly and breakup of the supercontinent Columbia. Understanding the genesis of A-type granites will also potentially allow Zhang to identify the best model for the geologic and tectonic evolution of Proterozoic rocks in North America.
Zhang’s interest in minerals spans most of his life.
Growing up along the banks of the Yellow River does not provide exposure to many minerals let alone the rocks that they comprise. Supportive parents, both college professors, enabled the typical adolescent interest in the pebbles under his feet to blossom into a hobby that would become his chosen career.
Just about 10 years ago, Zhang talked his parents into taking him to the famous Chinese mineral locality ‘Tongbei’ to look for specimens of spessartine (a type of garnet) on Quartz. He also noticed that the traverse would include the city of Huangshi, home of China’s largest copper mine, and the added possibility of obtaining other specimens from local collectors. Following a successful connection made by his father, Zhang would not only acquire specimens from these significant localities, he would be on his way to becoming one of the youngest and best known collectors in China.
“On the way home, we took a wrong turn and stumbled on a fluorite mine. Among the clusters I bought, one remains in my collection.”
Zhang’s investment in minerals expanded through high school, from publishing articles in Chinese mineral magazines about his collection, to coverage of U.S. mineral shows when he finally was able to visit the U.S.
Getting to the U.S. was Zhang’s ultimate goal, both to study [academically] and gain access to the wider mineralogical community. It started with a chance meeting with Dr. Rob Lavinsky (Rice ‘94), fine mineral collector and president of The Arkenstone in Dallas TX.
Zhang and Lavinsky first met at a mineral show in Shanghai (about the same time Zhang collected his first mineral specimens in Tongbei), and reconnected many times over the next few years.
“The year 2017 was an important one for me. Rob Lavinsky invited me to the Dallas Mineral Symposium, giving me an opportunity to connect with a mineral community I had only read about!”
Among them were scientists from the University of Arizona whom Zhang would ultimately work with on his undergraduate degree.
“Acceptance to the University of Arizona would not only be the beginning of my academic career, but to also grow my network of mineral colleagues and provide opportunities to attend the Dallas, Denver and Tucson shows. I am also a regular MinDat contributor, especially for Chinese minerals.”
Zhang’s current celebrity in the mineral community is not just limited to the Rock and Mineral magazine feature, but is coupled with being the first individual Chinese collector with an invited exhibit at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show, and winning ones of its highest regarded awards.
How he got that invitation is due in-part by his dedication to the field, but equally importantly is about his “eye” for quality- for finding the hidden ‘gems’ in an enormous field.
“My collecting is limited by space and funds so I gravitate to thumbnails or miniatures. These smaller specimens are not only less expensive, but can exhibit clearer, better formed crystals. They also tend to be overlooked.”
Lavinsky has likened Zhang’s “eye” with those of some of the mineral community’s more eminent collectors, where he utilizes his knowledge of mineral associations (normally acquired over a lifetime of study) and other contextual clues to find both unique and quality crystal forms of a mineral.
“My ‘eye’ led me to discover a potential new mineral when I was examining material for the El Dragon mine in Bolivia. It turns out to be a dimorph of molybdenite- not enough for a unique mineral name, but scientifically important enough to write a peer reviewed paper.”
Identifying new minerals aside, bringing awareness to both the beauty and scientific aspects of mineralogy is what motivates Zhang to continue to collect and pursue research in the same field.
For Zhang, it turns out that Tongbei was not only his roots but a segue to his future.
“When I saw Rob Lavinsky’s personal collection for the first time, I recognized specimens from Tongbei, with rhodochrosite associated with the spessartine, not typically seen in China.”
Zhang made the discovery when he volunteered to photograph Lavinsky’s collection during the summers of 2020 and 2021.
“I had heard that Lavinsky never sells anything from his personal collection. But I wasn’t afraid to tell him that if he ever wanted to sell [that one], I would buy it.”
Zhang would repeat the same offer the following year, with Lavinsky’s response promising that he would gift the sample to Zhang in exchange for a productive summer. “I was surprised when he handed it to me on my 20th birthday- and realized that he had lived up to his reputation for not selling things from his personal collection.”
Zhang hopes that through the combined hobby and his research, he will not only share the beauty of these naturally formed treasures of the Earth that EEPS community of geologists collectively study, but make a positive impact globally.