Fellow Geologists and Rockhounds,

Thanks for stopping by Mindat profile. So, who is Alan Scalone? Besides being a father and, yep, a grandfather, I am an amateur geologist, passionate rockhound and owner of a corporation Kidz Rocks, Inc. I am also the co-founder of a corporation ClickN KIDS, Inc. that teachers children and adults all over the world how to read and spell English.

I have been passionate my entire life about teaching and helping children. It is one of life's greatest joys to see a child's eyes light up when they have learned something new. Us rockhounds know well what happens when you show a young child a pretty rock - their eyes light up in amazement and it fosters their curiosity about the world around them and a love of learning. Hence, the very reason I started Kidz Rocks company, to teach children about the wonderful world of rocks and minerals.

My interests in mineralogy began in earnest back in 1979 as an engineer for Honeywell in Arizona I joined the Honeywell Pebble Pickin Posse rock club ... and began my quest for pickin pebbles. The state of Arizona contains a wealth of mineralogy to discover and going out on weekend rockhounding trip with the club was great fun for my young daughters.

In the early 1980's I acquired silversmith equipment and crafted some very fine jewelry as gifts for family members using some of the rocks I found, cut and polished. After moving to California in 2009 I revived my interests in discovering and exploring mineralogy in the Southern California region.

I especially enjoy researching old mining records to identify obscure mines not well know today, working to locate them on topo maps and then hiking out into the field to actually locate and explore the location. I NEVER go into the old mines though! It also serves as my form of physical exercise ... hiking a mile up a mountain toting 40 pounds of tools,pick axing for 4 hours and hiking out with 100 pounds of rocks ... hard core work out, fresh air, peace and quiet and some cool rocks to share with the children I teach.

I am not much for going out to the well known location with rockhound groups but I do welcome contact from a like minded fellow amateur geologist to join up for an occasional weekend hike an hound. Contact at alscalone at earthlink dot net. Also, I would be willing to part with some of the minerals I show from my personal collection for the right price if you see something you would really like to add to your personal collection.

If you have read this far, I thank you and my only hope is that you enjoyed the read!