General Preamble
The primary goal of the Reynolds Cup is to stimulate improvements in analytical techniques and individual skills. The CMS and the organizers of the Reynolds Cup offer this as a service to the scientific community, and depend on the good will and fairness of all involved. The selection of the winners during each competition by the Reynolds Cup Committee of the CMS is final.
The competition is held on a biennial basis and the process is facilitated by a committee set up by the CMS. Two years prior to the competition, the committee chooses a Principal Organizer who is responsible for preparing the mineral mixtures and conducting and judging the competition. So far, the winner of the immediate past competition has volunteered to organize the next event. Should the winner be unable to organize the competition, prior organizers would be willing to continue with arranging the event. Specific guidelines are described below:
Types of Mineral Samples
The actual sample make-up is left to the discretion of the organizer, within the following guidelines:
Samples should be artificial clay-bearing rock mixtures representative of minerals usually found in natural sedimentary rocks or soils. The information about the represented rock type/environment will be provided with the samples.
High-purity minerals should be obtained from private and public collections
Samples should be prepared such that the purity of the minerals used in the mixture is known within 1 wt%.
A repeatable sample splitting procedure should be used and splits should be verified for consistency using XRD and XRF prior to sample distribution.
The Reynolds Cup Committee
The Reynolds Cup Committee organizes the biennial contests, defines general rules and scientific goals, supports the principal organizer, and reports to the CMS council. The committee is set up by the CMS. The first past president of the CMS will serve as an ex officio member. The winner (or leader of the winning group) of the immediate past RC will be the incoming chair for one year and the chair for the next two years. The membership after being the chair is on a volunteer principle. The number of committee members is restricted to six persons. If the number exceeds six members the one with the longest membership since winning will step back.