Anyone notice anything funny about this article?

Posted: Aug 22, 2008 9:03 pm

Taken from my hometown online newspaper

Rare crystals unearthed in Red River Floodway excavation
Last Updated: Friday, August 22, 2008 | 11:33 AM CT
CBC News

Selenite crystals, also known as gypsum rosettes, are being unearthed as the Manitoba government expands the Red River Floodway. (Marcy Markusa/CBC)Rock and mineral enthusiasts are combing excavations sites for the Red River Floodway expansion to locate rare selenite crystals that can be worth hundreds of dollars.

Selenite crystals, also known as gypsum rosettes, can be found anywhere in the world, but the type found at the floodway is unique to the area, Jack Bauer, president of the Mineral Society of Manitoba, told CBC News.

The crystals are very soft and not suitable to be made into jewelry, but they are favourites of mineral collectors worldwide. Some specimens can be worth hundreds of dollars, Bauer said.

"Actually, they are quite sought after around the world," he said. "The Winnipeg floodway is quite famous around the world for it, and a lot of people aren't even aware they exist."
Each crystal unique

The crystals form underground in clay when water carrying selenium, a naturally occurring mineral, evaporates under certain conditions, Bauer said. The resulting rosettes are a crystalline form of the same gypsum material used to make the drywall found in many homes.

"When they do grow, each crystal is actually unique, just like a snowflake," Bauer said. "No two are alike. They'll be close, but never the same."

The crystals are typically found about six metres underground, but the excavation underway to expand the Red River Floodway has left them much closer to the surface.

Members of the public are not allowed into the excavated areas, but the mineral society and the Winnipeg Rock and Mineral Club made arrangements with the Manitoba Floodway Authority to be allowed to dig up the crystals.

The society will either sell the rocks or donate them to museums, Bauer said.

The Red River Floodway expansion project is widening "Duff's Ditch" around the city of Winnipeg to protect the city from higher water on the river. The $665-million project, expected to be completed by 2010, requires the excavation of some 21 million cubic metres of earth from the floodway channel.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba.../2008/08/22/manitoba-mineral.html

Posted: Aug 23, 2008 7:42 am

lol is there no end to Jack talents.

Posted: Aug 23, 2008 7:53 am

Imagine having the name Jack Bauer and then 24 coming along.

Posted: Aug 23, 2008 5:25 pm

BWAHAHAHA!!!