The Collector's Edge Team

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(303) 918-5112

My fascination with minerals started later than most collectors. In my youth, I was heavily into salt water aquariums and orchid growing. My basement was full of fish tanks and grow lights. I had wandered into a couple local rock shops out of curiosity, wondering why people would buy rocks. Though I found them interesting, I did not catch the bug until I happened to walk into a shop with a beautiful Peruvian rhodochrosite specimen. Despite several attempts, they would not sell it to me. This deepened my resolve to find a specimen like this somewhere.

 I started going to local shows in Denver in 1994 and in early 2005 I found myself in the offices of Collector’s Edge. I purchased a couple specimens from Bryan that day, which started a long friendship with the man who would someday become my boss. Who Knew! Every day is a new adventure here and I could not be happier working with my coworkers and customers who share the same passion as me.

1998
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(303) 915-4645

My path to joining Collector’s Edge started in Ouray, Colorado when I was on a family vacation and we stopped in the Columbine Mineral Shop, owned by a longtime friend of the Company, Ben Kueling. My Mom & Dad bought a geode from Mexico for me and the mineral collecting seed was planted when it was opened. Several years later, my first collecting experience was at the Red Cloud Mine in 1983 with Ray Grant and other students from Mesa Community College where I was a student. Upon finding my first 1” red wulfenite specimen, I was hooked. I went to Red Cloud thereafter every chance available where I was encouraged to find more specimens from selling the pieces I collected. After a few trips to the mine, I concluded I needed better tools and subsequently purchased a cobra drill and some explosives. The mineral collecting passion was ignited and my mechanized mining experience blossomed.

I spent the next 15 years field collecting all over the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico, living the field collecting “dream”. Every time I visit a show and see the minerals I collected on display, I think back to that first wulfenite crystal that stared it all.

In 1998 I was offered the job as Mine Manager of the Sweet Home Mine. Most mineral collectors know the story of the Sweet Home, so what field collector could say no to that offer?! Since joining Collector’s Edge, I have traveled the world digging and buying mineral specimens. The last 12 years have predominately been in China, where I have visited dozens of mines and nearly every province in the country. This has been an incredible experience and an opportunity few collectors ever have, and I get paid to do it! I estimate I have personally collected as many as 300,000 individual specimens with a cumulative estimated value in excess of $50 million dollars. The experience and opportunities I have found with Collector’s Edge, combined with the friendship of my like minded colleagues, makes it even better.

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(720) 550-3795

My first exposure to minerals began when I was three years old and Mom was cleaning the neighbor’s decorative rock with the washing machine. As I got older, I had a curiosity for those strange and fascinating crystals. Grandma would bring me rocks from the gift shops that she visited in her travels. Years later, Grandma gave me a rhodochrosite specimen that her Mom had collected from the Silverton, Colorado area.

During my high school years, my friend Phil and I would prospect for gold on the American River above Auburn, California, where we would find gold flour, flakes and a few nuggets. But my prospecting really took off when I found the “digging club” when I was at the Colorado School of Mines. There I met many likeminded prospectors. If we had an extra $15 for fuel, we went out digging somewhere, rain, snow or sun, the weather didn’t matter.

One summer, Ryan Bowling and I were prospecting when we met Paul Gefner and Byron Weege, during the time of their great discoveries on The Rocket claim. Also that summer, I had the excellent opportunity to learn from Dave Wilber and his selective eye for display. I was also influenced by Bill Hawes. Bill had just finished working on the Alma King and the Alma Rose, and introduced me to Bryan Lees. I began to work part time for Bryan, who imparted his knowledge into the mix. By the end of that first summer, I took a break from school and started to learn full time.

The small mountains of beautiful minerals that move through the lab each year are a great treat to study but the real excitement are those special projects, such as helping design the “Rhodo Stope” at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. I have had the honor of working on such famous specimens as the 44 pound leaf gold that is on display at Ironstone Vineyards in California; the “Gold Dragon” from the Colorado Quartz Mine; and the “Gold Pocket” from Colorado Quartz Mine. One special project that really pushed me to improve my skills were the emeralds from Zambia which required careful extrication from the quartz.

It has been my pleasure to work with and learn from the crew at the Collector’s Edge, both past and present. Simply put, there are so many that I have learned from and worked with over the years and I am thankful for the knowledge I gained from them. The satisfaction and the experience I have enjoyed here at Collector’s Edge would not have been possible without the people I have met and worked with over the years.

2004
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(303) 278-9724 Ext 15

I started working here at CEMI part-time in 2004, first helping Steve with paperwork so he could dedicate more time to selling minerals, amongst other various duties.  It was fun to unwrap minerals which we received from different parts of the world.   I worked my way up to full-time employment in 2010, where I began doing the company’s Accounts Payable and numerous other office duties.  It is so nice to be able to see such pretty mineral specimens daily and to work with such a great group of people.

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Phone: (303) 278-9724 Ext. 13

March 2022
(303) 278-9724