Remembering Dick Graeme
The Science of Mineralogy in Arizona, and especially Bisbee, Arizona, has lost a giant in the field with the passing of Richard Graeme this past May(1941-2021). Richard was a dear friend and had unparalleled knowledge of the mines, mining, geology, and mineralogy of the Bisbee copper deposits.
Born in Bisbee, he spent his early life as a collector. He knew all the old-timers whose knowledge he sought. As soon as he was physically able, he spent time in mines and dumps looking at local collections. He undoubtedly handled more Bisbee specimens than anyone else. His in-depth knowledge was so great you could hand him an unknown specimen from any mine in Bisbee and he could identify the mineral, which mine it came from, (very likely) the mine level where it occurred, and even the time period when it was mined. As an example, I had a specimen of massive black sphalerite which fluoresced a nice orange. I knew it was from Bisbee, but that was the extent of my knowledge. He immediately identified the mine, and stope, where it had been mined. He even told me how the miners could distinguish the sphalerite in the dim recesses of a mine tunnel from identical-looking copper sulfide veins within it. By simply drawing a rock pick across the face of the tunnel face the sphalerite would spark and the sulfide would not!
I met Dick when I was contracted by the Arizona Mining Association to write an article on copper mining in Arizona. This gave me carte blanche to visit a number of operating mines in the State including Bagdad, Superior, Pima, Morenci, and others. As Bisbee was already a closed operation, we had to contact someone there who knew the mines of Bisbee; and Dick Graeme became my contact. They could not have made a better recommendation. I contacted Dick and the photographer, Jeff Kurtzeman, and drove to the town of Warren where Dick and his family resided. They were most gracious, and we spent the day talking about the miles and miles of tunnels and shafts that had been the sources of copper minerals at Bisbee. Dick knew every shaft, every level, and could describe in detail which mines yielded which species. For example, the Southwest was the better source of malachite ps azurite, the Irish Mag had the bet azurites, etc. He could do this because he had not only worked underground for over ten years, but he had made a study of each mine and its mineral suites. His personal collection reflected this with examples of every common species along with many uncommon and rare minerals.
On a later visit, when working on an article about Arizona minerals, Dick and Nina gave me a wonderful black and white drawing of Bisbee’s famous watering hole, The Brewery, where miners hung out. I still treasure this part of the Jones collection, along with water-colored drawings of Arizona mines by George Bideaux.
By the time I met Dick he was already advanced as a company official and ended up as Superintendent of Mines. He attended the University of Arizona under the guidance of Professor John Anthony and earned a Bachelor of Science in Geological Engineering in 1972. In turn, this enabled him to become a Resident Geologist, granting him total access to
the mines of Bisbee. His close friends George and Richard Bideaux and Syd Williams were among the most active and knowledgeable mineral experts in Arizona. When we talk about Bisbee, we have to remember there were miles and miles of tunnels, many of them dug by hand in the early days, and Dick knew them all. This is because after getting his degree, he returned to Bisbee and worked for 25 years. Dick partook in underground rock hunting which began around 1950. His discoveries were frequent, and in one case, he found an unknown in 1959 in the closed Copper Queen mine. Following the discovery, it was studied by Sid Williams of Phelps Dodge. In 1975, it was recognized as a new species named Graemeite, a hydrated copper tellurite. The Copper Queen first mine opened in Bisbee in the 1880s and was one of the great specimen producers. Dick found the graemeite when he was only 18 years old, having been born in 1941. By age 18 he was already a skilled collector, having started collecting at age six! With so much experience, Dick understood the Bisbee deposits probably better than anyone. One day when we were standing on the oxide dump of the Copper Queen mine he gave a sweeping gesture over the Mule Mountains where most mines were and said, “If I had fifty thousand dollars I could open a new vein there!” With that, he pointed out an area where the entire surface of one slope was obviously deeply depressed. He explained this was evidence the underground had collapsed as weathering had probably attacked an ore body and the limestone, creating surface evidence of mineralization worthy of investigation. On a second visit to Dick and Nina’s, I met their young twin boys, Doug and Richard IV, born a few years earlier. They are two wonderful youngsters who, when they were old enough, followed their father’s footsteps through the myriad of tunnels and passages. They called their experiences collecting with their father as “adventures” and they really were. It was not unusual to search in old tunnels, skirting around the edge of a bottomless shaft, to reach a collecting site. Or collecting a crystal pocket while hanging over the side of a vast stope to reach the specimens. Once the mines were closed, the town developed an underground mine tour for tourists at the old Copper Queen. Carol, my granddaughter Kiera, and I decided to take a look during one of our visits to Bisbee. To my surprise, young Doug was one of the guides on the tour. I found it interesting that Doug, in his early twenties, knew more about the Copper Queen mine than our other guide, a grizzly old, retired miner. A few years later the amazing underground limestone caverns, in the Whetstone Mountains, were discovered. I
became an advisor to Kartchner Cavern State Park Board as they were developing the Caverns. Our job was to raise funds to help develop educational materials for schools. We visited the caverns before they were ready for the general public, and one of our guides was Doug Graeme. His brother Richard, incidentally, had followed my career and was a schoolteacher and both are experts on Bisbee’s mines and minerals!
Once the mines of Bisbee shut permanently, Dick moved on to other employment. He became Vice President of Operations at the Golden Queen Mining Company, in Mohave County, California; general manager of gold mines in California, New Mexico, and Alaska, which also included a coal mine in Utah and a copper mine in New Mexico. He later moved to South America where he became President and General Manager of Lumina Copper SAC; Vice President and General Manager of Gold Fields La Cima, Peru; as well as Vice President and Country Manager of Gold fields, Venezuela. For a time, he was also Vice President and head of operations for Gold Fields, Ghana, Ltd. in West Africa.
While Dick was working in foreign lands, Doug and Richard IV continued to collect underground at Bisbee. Using what their father had taught them during years of collecting they explored areas watching for evidence of possible pockets. This really paid off on one trip when they began working on what they suspected had real potential. Little did they know they would be finding one of the greatest cuprite specimens ever to be found at Bisbee.
The pockets they opened were lined with gemmy bright red cuprite cubes along with green malachite, and some uncommon species, which also proved to be a rarity. The cuprites were a clear gem red and there were several crystals under a half-inch nested together. Dominating the pocket was an astounding nearly two-inch by one-inch brilliant red gemmy cuprite crystal on matrix. It was undamaged and certainly the finest cuprite they had never seen. They were able to collect the specimen along with several other smaller gemmy cuprites. The specimen has been judged by everyone who has seen it as the finest cuprite ever collected from the mines of Bisbee. It has been displayed briefly at the University of Arizona Museum during a special evening
when the Tucson Show was on. It has been shown but carefully guarded against bright light, so it is as fresh looking as when it first saw the light of day. On a special visit to the Graeme Family Reference Collection, we were able to enjoy the specimen. The Graeme Family Reference Collection is undoubtedly the largest, most complete collection of Bisbee minerals ever done. The collection is superbly labeled and housed in countless mineral drawers. This collection is readily available to any serious student of Bisbee minerals. It is a prime example of Dick Graeme’s philosophy, which can be expressed in one word “Share.” He willingly shared his knowledge of Bisbee with everyone willing to listen. He taught Richard IV and Doug the same philosophy, so they do their best to help anyone interested in the minerals of Bisbee. Dick Graeme, through his sons, will always be with us thanks to the Graeme family Reference Collection. Dick Graeme shared his knowledge of Bisbee very willingly. When John Anthony, Sid Williams, and Dick Bideaux wrote the Mineralogy of Arizona chapter on Bisbee, Graeme was a very important resource for the authors. Dick Graeme also wrote a number of articles on the mines and minerals of Bisbee for the important collector magazine, Mineralogical Record. I doubt there is a serious collector of Arizona minerals who has not made copious use of these Graeme writings. When the University of Arizona took possession of the Pima County Courthouse, in downtown Tucson, one of the first persons contacted was Dick Graeme because of his knowledge of Bisbee mines and minerals. Serving as an advisor along with his two sons, Doug and Richard, Dick helped create what is now the Underground Mine stope in the new museum. This is just another example of the Graeme philosophy of sharing. The loss of Dick Graeme is really unfortunate. Thank goodness he taught his family to preserve Bisbee and all its legacies.