Mary Fong Walker is the founder of Mineral Nexus with her late husband, Jim Walker, as a place for the mineral community to gather during “Tucson show time”. She is an avid collector of all things interesting: minerals, fossils, meteorites, plants, cacti, art, jewelry, and... the list goes on! Right now she is in the process of deaccessioning their personal collections. “Got too much stuff!” she says. And that’s an understatement! She got into the mineral business when Jim told her “hope you like rocks” on their first date.… it’s all his fault. From there she adventured with him, mineral collecting all over the southwest USA, as well as overseas (Namibia, Burma, Europe, etc.).

Mineral Nexus is ”A place for collectors, by collectors…” A unique concept to the mineral industry. Retired from Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO), Mary’s academics include a Bachelor of Science degree from California State, Long Beach, and Master of Business Administration from UCLA. Mary also participates as the president of the Fallbrook Gem & Mineral Society, and has been an active member for almost 30 years. Working with close friends in the industry, she worked on the deaccessioning and branding of Rock Currier’s Collection after Rock’s death. That collection was brought to auction for a record $4.8 million in sales.

With working in the industry for many years, she has made a point to share information with other collectors. She has been a Consultant on Natural History — minerals, fossils, gemstones, jewelry, artifacts, and meteorites — along with being a consultant on mineral collection disposition strategies for private collectors and institutions.

Mary was a former director of Nature & Science at Heritage Auctions, the largest American auction house and 3rd largest auction firm in the world. She was involved with the auction industry for 20 years as a Consultant to Butterfield & Butterfield, Bonhams, Chait, and other auction houses, as well as a partner in the mineral business that exhibits at national and international geological conventions of geo-scientists and professionals.