A Day with the Gem Mine – Hunting Down Crystals and Gems

Always looking for a fresh adventure, our kids decided to search for a gem mine two hours off to seek out crystals and gems. I wasn’t sure what to prepare for, but I was excited nonetheless.

I realised that mines can work with various ways. Some have prefilled buckets of dirt. The owners in the mine will take buckets with dirt mentioned through the mine and allow you to proceed through them searching for gemstones. Some owners will prefill the buckets with some crystals and gems to ensure everyone reaches find something.

The mine that we visited worked just a little differently and it is what is known a cost dig. A fee dig occurs when you make payment for a set amount of money and will take home what you find. Think when it like leasing the land to mine for gems for any given period of time, in this case, a day.

Once we arrived, we earned our own five gallon buckets, as instructed online. We met the owners with the main office and paid a set amount for each person. This entitled us to a bucket’s importance of whatever we found and wished to get hold of.

We descended the hill toward the main digging areas. The people who owned the mine will bring up dirt from underground, then spread it out within the digging areas employing a bulldozer for visitors to proceed through.

Using hand tools and shovels, we all got smart and commenced looking for crystals and gems amongst the dirt. Without having an identification in geology, I was worried that we would throw away something valuable. Don’t worry though, since there were always friendly people around suggest and keep us from throwing back anything worth keeping.

As a way to boost your experience before going to the mine, use guide books to understand what form of minerals are normally perfectly located at the area that you are visiting.

Also, bring a field guide together with you when you visit the mine. Gemstones within their natural form look quite unique of the polished or cut versions most people are informed about.

To help find the smaller gems among the dirt, most mines will have a sluice. This is normally a wooden channel with flowing water. You have a scoop of dirt and place it inside a sieve, then set it within the flowing water. The water will wash away smaller bits of dirt and clay, forgetting rocks that you should pick through.

Be cautious, though, that smaller crystals with potential value aren’t getting washed away, so if you feel unsure if something you have is worth keeping, always ask someone. We appeared finding many nice crystals and gems that particular day with the mine, so are you able to!

Mike is often a rookie rockhounder who’s describing in to the world of crystal and gem collecting. Issues always wanted to find out more on collecting gemstones, follow in addition to Mike’s blog and learn much more about developing your own personal collection.

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