Evan Jones

BIOGRAPHY:

Longtime mineral collector and dealer Evan Jones, son of well-known mineral author Bob Jones, started collecting minerals at age nine and with his father visited museums, attended mineral shows, went on collecting trips and met mineral dealers and collectors from a very early age. A graduate of the geology program at ASU in Tempe, Arizona, Evan has been a full time mineral dealer since 1986. First employed by Kristalle, then by Bitner’s mineral wholesalers in Phoenix, he is currently co-owner of the fine mineral dealership Unique Minerals, with collector Marc Miterman. Unique Minerals can be seen at all the the major mineral shows in the United States.

Evan's collection of Arizona minerals is considered one of the finest in the world. He has attended every Tucson Gem & Mineral Show since 1981 and won several awards including Walt Lidstrom, Miguel Romero and Dick Bideaux trophies. Evan helped organize the TGMS “Arizona Mineral Treasures" Arizona Centennial exhibition at the 2012 Tucson Gem & Mineral Show, organized the first Arizona supplement to the Mineralogical Record magazine "Mineral Collections in Arizona", helped design the Arizona minerals section of the Alfie Norville University of Arizona Gem & Mineral Museum in Tucson, is a founding member of the Arizona Mineral Minions group and is currently on the board of the Flagg Mineral Foundation.

Evan has written articles for Mineralogical Record, Rocks & Minerals, LAPIS, Mineralien-Welt magazines and given talks around the United States on the subject of Arizona and Mexican minerals, mines and history. He recently was awarded the Best Article of 2021 in Mineralogical Record magazine by Friends of Mineralogy for his article on the Milpillas Mine in Mexico. Evan is happily married to his loving wife Melissa who runs the Big Apatite Cafe during the Tucson Gem & Mineral at Mineral City.