I’ve been dealing in minerals now for about 39 years. In the early part of those years, with one sabbatical, I ran a part-time, mail order mineral business, sending out detailed paper lists of mineral descriptions to collectors and institutions around the world. I don’t send out lists any more but, on my website, I try to offer detailed explanations of specimens and their provenances in a way similar to the way that I did with my lists. It is better now with the website since that technology allows the addition of images and other information to give my clients as much information about specimens and localities, as possible.

My modus operandi in mineral dealing is two-fold: I try to accumulate the best Canadian minerals of all types either by field collecting, small scale mining projects, acquisition of old collections, purchasing of surplus specimens from field collectors, acting as agent for mining companies, etc. Equally, I am very interested in acquiring excellent specimens of sulphides, sulphosalts and native elements from anywhere in the world. These types of mineral specimens have always interested me, due, perhaps, to my interest in mining. In addition, periodically, I acquire old collections or sell collections on consignment. This means some additional variety of mineral specimens.

I have been interested in minerals since I was 12 years old. That interest blossomed into a lifelong interest in minerals both from a professional standpoint and a continued involvement with mineral collecting. I started out as a member of the junior club, the “Rockids”, of the Scarborough Gem and Mineral Club, back in the 60’s. In the past, I’ve been a member of the Scarborough Club, the Willowdale Gem and Mineral Club, the Richmond Gem and Mineral Club, the Sudbury Gem and Mineral Club and for the past 35 years-plus the Walker Mineralogical Club, the oldest mineral Club in Canada. For more on the Walker Mineralogical Club go to http://www.walkermineralogicalclub.com . I have been president, vice president and have held various positions on the council of the Walker Mineralogical Club. For several years, now, I’ve been a member of the Tucson Gem and Mineral Society and volunteer at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show.

I have collected minerals extensively, from coast to coast in Canada, in particular with my collecting partners Daniel Joyce, Ray McDougall and Chris Rayburn amongst others. I am privileged to have lived in a number of places in Canada from Vancouver, British Columbia to St. John’s, Newfoundland. My main goal when field collecting is to uncover a mineral specimen of suitable quality for my personal mineral collection. Of course, I end up with many nice specimens that I can offer to my customers.

Since I now spend half of my years living in a winter home near Tucson AZ, I have become well acquainted with many Arizona mineral localities and look forward to becoming even more knowledgeable about Arizona minerals and localities, in the future.

In 1999, several of us started a club for kids interested in earth sciences. We called the club the “Young Toronto Mineralogist Club” or YTMC for short. We hold monthly meetings with guest speakers from various institutions or other Clubs. As well, we have mineral identification exercises each month (the What’sIt), hands-on activities and monthly “give-aways” of nice mineral specimens that have been donated to the club. In normal times, we meet at the Ontario Science Center and usually have 40 or so members plus their parents attending. Some older members transform into volunteers to help run the club! Usually, the season ends with a barbeque/picnic meeting with pot luck lunch. We are happy that the YTMC has prospered for so many years! If you’d like to learn more about the “Young Toronto Mineralogists Club”, please go to http://www.ytmc.org. The YTMC has been going for over 20 years now!

Another passion that I have is music! Together with my life-partner Carol Teal, we have performed as a duo in the contemporary folk music genre. About two-thirds of the songs that we play are our own compositions with another third being traditional North American songs or contemporary music that we enjoy. We have mostly performed at the “folk music” types of venues at coffee houses, folk festivals, special occasions and assorted special concerts. We have completed three compact disc recordings “Simple Pleasures (2000)” and “Some Things You Do for Love(2005)” and “Has it All been Said Before(2013)”, all compilations of some of our songs.

They are available, if you’d like a copy, for Can/US$15.00. Just let me know and I’ll send you one. If you would like to know more about this aspect of my life go to www.tealandjoyce.ca.

More recently, I released a CD compilation of original mineral collecting, geological and mining songs entitled “Nuggets and Hi-Grade”. You can listen to all of the songs for free in the “Music” section of D. Joyce Minerals at https://djoyceminerals.com/pagefiles/music.asp The CD is available, for purchase from D. Joyce Minerals, through the website, or you can order individual songs through I-tunes. Just search i-tunes for “Nuggets and High Grade” by David K. Joyce

As well, a number of the mineral collecting, geological and mining songs and others have been made into music videos and can be viewed on David K Joyce’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVgJpNT2HMKQTSaHTEROnSw

I am from Scarborough(now part of Toronto), Ontario, originally, although I haven’t lived there since I was 19. At that tender age, I left Scarborough for the north country and graduated from the Haileybury School of Mines in mining engineering technology. I had always intended to work for mining companies when I graduated but, instead, took a job with CIL Explosives Inc. (later ICI Explosives and now Orica Inc.) and worked for that company and subsidiaries for 22 years, moving from coast to coast in Canada taking on various assignments in explosives technical service work as well as various business roles. As well, I was fortunate to travel to many places in the world on explosives/mining related business. I loved it! Later, I was privileged to work for several mining contracting/engineering firms, BLM Service Group, Dynatec Ltd., Aker Kvaerner E & C, finishing my “corporate career” as Vice-President –Business Development for SNC-Lavalin Engineers and Constructors Inc.’s 900+ person engineering and project management office in Toronto. Somewhere in those post CIL years, I was invited to be an adjunct professor in the engineering faculty of the University of Toronto and taught “Explosives and Fragmentation in Mining”, a 3rd/4th year engineering course, for eight years. I really enjoyed teaching at U. of T. and the association with so many bright young men and women.

Graduate –Haileybury School of Mines, 1976
Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (CIM) -Member
• Past Vice President, District Three of CIM
• Past Chair of the Toronto Branch
• Fellow of the Institute
• Recipient of the 2000 CIM Past Presidents Memorial Medal
Past President and Founder, Newmarket Folk Society
Adjunct Professor, Explosives and Fragmentation 1999-2007, University of Toronto, Faculty of Engineering
Walker Mineralogical Club - Past President (twice!)
Past Member of the Board of Directors, The ArtsCan Circle
Past Member of the Board of Directors, Eastmain Resources Inc.
Member - International Society of Explosive Engineers (ISEE)
Member - Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada
Member - BADASS (Barrie and District Association of Singers/ Songwriters)
Founder and organizer of Young Toronto Mineralogist Club(YTMC)
Currently a Designated Campus Colleague, University of Arizona
Currently volunteer at Alfie Norville Gem and Mineral Museum, Tucson, AZ