What it is

The Georgia Mineral Society (GMS) is a first-party gem, mineral and lapidary club with its own clubhouse at 4138 Steve Reynolds Boulevard in Norcross, Georgia, in metro Atlanta. The official About page calls it “the oldest and largest gem and mineral society in the Southeast,” founded in 1935, a volunteer nonprofit 501(c)(3) dedicated to Earth-science education. It is a member of the Southeast Federation of Mineralogical Societies (SFMS) and associated with the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies (AFMS). It runs monthly general meetings, special-interest sections (micromount, mineral, gem, fossil, sand, juniors), field trips, a members-only lapidary workshop, and the annual Mother’s Day weekend show. It is not a commercial lapidary supply shop and not a public art school.

Who it’s for

Rockhounds, mineral and fossil collectors, cabochon cutters, and families in the Atlanta / North Georgia area who want a dues-paying club with a clubhouse, monthly meetings, field trips, and access to cutting equipment. Open workshop equipment use and certification are for current club members; visitors may watch.

Why it’s listed

This is a first-party gem & mineral club with a printed clubhouse street address, published annual dues, a fixed monthly meeting time, a dated special-events calendar for 2026, and a free annual show. It is not a scraped directory card and not a rock-shop storefront.

Clubhouse and contact (About, Building Tour and Contact pages, checked 2026-09-29): 4138 Steve Reynolds Boulevard, Norcross, GA 30093-3059, in the Traditions business complex at Beaver Ruin / I-85 / Steve Reynolds Blvd. Role emails use the @gamineral.org pattern (for example [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]). No club phone number is printed on the pages checked.
Annual dues (Membership page, checked today): $15 student (full-time post-secondary, individual only, no hard-copy newsletter option); $25 for one year (individual or family living under the same roof); $45 for one year with printed, postal-mailed newsletter (U.S. addresses only). The electronic Tips and Trips newsletter is free with all memberships. Online PayPal payment and a printable mail-in form are posted.
Meetings (About / Membership pages, checked today): general membership meetings on the first Monday of every month at 7:30 p.m. at the GMS building. Home calendar for September 2026 noted no general meeting on September 7 because of the picnic; Annual Banquet Meeting Monday, October 5, 6:00 p.m. (in-person at GMS).
Lapidary workshop (Workshop Policies and FAQ, checked today): members only for equipment use; visitors may watch. Open workshops are listed as every 1st and 3rd Tuesday. User fee $3.00 per hour; saw cutting also $3.00 per hour in 1-hour increments, saws used by saw supervisors only. Certification requires naming equipment parts, safety, cleaning/maintenance, and completing one instructor-approved cabochon.
Special events 2026 (Special Events calendar, checked today): January 5 January Auction Meeting; May 8–10 Mother’s Day Rock Show; September 19 Annual Picnic & Auction; October 5 Annual Banquet; December 7 Holiday Party (plus juniors and community events).
Annual show (FAQ and Special Events, checked today): Mother’s Day weekend in May; 2026 dates May 8–10. FAQ: the GMS show is absolutely FREE.

These dues, fees, hours and dates are what the official pages showed on the check date, and they can change. Confirm on the live membership, workshop and calendar pages before treating any figure as fixed.

Official URL

https://gamineral.org/

Membership (dues and forms): https://gamineral.org/infomember.html

Building / clubhouse: https://gamineral.org/infobldg.html

Workshop policies: https://gamineral.org/wspolicies.html

About GMS: https://gamineral.org/aboutgms.html

Special events 2026: https://gamineral.org/semain.html

FAQ: https://gamineral.org/faq.html

Contact: https://gamineral.org/contact.html

Location

Clubhouse (checked 2026-09-29): 4138 Steve Reynolds Boulevard, Norcross, GA 30093-3059. General meetings are at the clubhouse on the first Monday at 7:30 p.m. unless a dated calendar exception is posted.

This address is a member club and clubhouse. It is not a walk-in lapidary supply store or a public art-school campus.

Notes

Category is Clubs. GMS is a nonprofit gem, mineral and lapidary membership society. Its lapidary workshop and certification are gated by membership, so it stays in Clubs rather than Workshops. It is not a Suppliers retail shop.
Membership-page dues ($15 / $25 / $45) are the figures used here. The FAQ still summarizes membership as “$25 for a family membership (plus $10 if you want a printed and mailed newsletter),” which does not match the Membership page’s $20 printed-newsletter add-on ($45 total). Prefer the Membership page and confirm live before paying.
Workshop $3/hour fees, open-workshop cadence (1st and 3rd Tuesday), meeting time and 2026 special-event dates are copied from official pages checked on 2026-09-29 and may change.
The clubhouse is described as about 2,400 sq. ft. on the Building Tour page. No public walk-in retail hours are printed.
Role emails are cited as [email protected] patterns from the Contact page; personal volunteer phone numbers are not printed here.
A first-party club logo is saved as georgia-mineral-society.png. It is the gamineral.org link logo (/logos/gmslogo.png, 205×200-class circular mark), retrieved at 110 px PNG and not otherwise edited.
Not affiliated with Lapidary Plaza.
No Lapidary Plaza contact, purchase, booking, or publication action was taken.

FAQ

Q: What does GMS membership cost?
A: The official Membership page (checked 2026-09-29) lists $15 student, $25 individual or family, and $45 with a printed postal newsletter. The electronic newsletter is free with all memberships. Confirm live amounts at https://gamineral.org/infomember.html

Q: When and where does the club meet?
A: General meetings are on the first Monday of each month at 7:30 p.m. at the clubhouse at 4138 Steve Reynolds Boulevard, Norcross, GA 30093-3059, unless a dated calendar note says otherwise (for example the October 5, 2026 banquet at 6:00 p.m.).

Q: Can I use the lapidary workshop?
A: Equipment use is for members. FAQ and Workshop Policies (checked 2026-09-29) describe open workshops on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday, a $3/hour user fee, saw use by supervisors only at $3/hour, and a cabochon certification path. Visitors may watch. See https://gamineral.org/wspolicies.html

Q: Is GMS a lapidary school or a rock shop?
A: Neither. GMS is listed here under Clubs. It is a membership society with a clubhouse, meetings, field trips, a members-only lapidary workshop and a free Mother’s Day show. For public-enrollment classes, see Workshops. For equipment and rough, see Suppliers.