Always on the lookout for a new adventure, my family chose to go to a gem mine two hours away to hunt for crystals and gems. I wasn’t sure what to prepare for, however i was excited nonetheless.
I realised that mines can work with various ways. Some have prefilled buckets of dirt. Pet owners with the mine will require buckets with dirt brought up from the mine and allow you to undergo them seeking gemstones. Some owners will prefill the buckets with some crystals and gems in order that everyone gets to find something.
The mine we visited worked a little differently and is also what is known a fee dig. A cost dig occurs when you have to pay a set amount of cash and may acquire that which you find. Think whether or not this like leasing the land to mine for gems for any given time frame, in this instance, per day.
If we arrived, we brought in our very own five gallon buckets, as instructed on their site. We met pet owners in the main office and paid a set fee for each individual. This entitled us to some bucket’s price of whatever we found and wished to take home.
We descended the hill toward the key digging areas. The folks who owned the mine could bring up dirt from underground, then spread against each other within the digging areas using a bulldozer for visitors to go through.
Using hand tools and shovels, we all got serious and started looking for crystals and gems among the dirt. Not having an identification in geology, I became worried we would throw away something valuable. Don’t worry though, because there were always friendly people around to help out and us from throwing back anything worth keeping.
So that you can improve your experience before going to the mine, use guide books to know what kind of minerals are typically located in the area you are visiting.
Also, bring a field guide together with you by visiting the mine. Gemstones of their natural form look quite unique of the polished or cut versions so many people are acquainted with.
To help you find the smaller gems among the dirt, most mines have a sluice. This is typically a wooden channel with flowing water. You have a scoop of dirt and put it inside a sieve, then set it from the running water. The water will wash away the lesser components of dirt and clay, forgetting rocks that you should pick through.
Take care, though, that smaller crystals with potential value avoid getting washed away, so if you feel unsure if something you have is worth keeping, always ask someone. We wound up finding a number of nice crystals and gems tomorrow with the mine, and so are you able to!
Mike is often a rookie rockhounder that’s starting off in to the realm of crystal and gem collecting. Issues always aspired to find out about collecting gemstones, follow together with Mike’s blog and learn more about how to build your own personal collection.
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