“It is amazing that this small (25 miles long by 10 miles wide) batholith of the Spruce Pine Mining District lying in Mitchell, Avery and Yancey Counties is a world-class mineral deposit, and so important an ingredient to making the products we use daily,” says Alex Glover, whose 45-year career in the mining industry reflects a rock-solid list of geological credentials. “We often take for granted the role minerals play in the quality of life we enjoy today.”

Modern-Day Minerals

The U.S. Geological Survey describes a batholith as a type of igneous rock that forms when magma rises into the earth’s crust but does not erupt onto the surface. But the Spruce Pine, NC, Mining District isn’t just any old mass of cooled magma. The 380-million-year-old feldspar, mica and quartz deposits found in these three neighboring counties run most of our modern-day conveniences.

“Almost everyone uses products every day derived from the Spruce Pine Mining District,” Alex says. “Even more amazing is how it took colliding continents and millions of years to place this valuable resource in western North Carolina.”

“If you came to Mitchell County you wouldn’t have a clue as to the importance of this area to the entire world,” says Mandi Polly, who worked in quartz operations for 21 years before her role as executive director with the Mitchell County Chamber of Commerce.

“Think what would happen if the world couldn’t produce computer chips! This district supplies the production of fiber optic cable, solar components and many products in our daily lives. I honestly don’t think,” she grins, “that the majority of people in this area even realize the significance of our mines!”

Mineral City From the Ground Up

“Spruce Pine, NC, has mining deep in its roots and is known as The Mineral City,” she says. In addition to historic old mines like the Hoot Owl, the region has gem mines and the Mineral Museum of North Carolina. It is host to the NC Mineral and Gem Festival (now in its 64th year) and the 36th annual Grassy Creek Mineral and Gem Show.

A neat local side note she adds is how Spruce Pine Quartz supplies the sand for the Masters Golf Tournament, “because it’s so white and pristine.”

Early Mining Fame

Some of the oldest original mines — the Clarissa, Ray and Sinkhole — are believed to have been resourced hundreds of years earlier by First Nations in search of decorative mica for ceremonial events and, after Massachusetts Bay Colony recognized wampum as currency in 1650, for monetary exchange.

Alex says local lore recounts how word of North American mica mining by Native Peoples drew Hernando DeSoto to Spruce Pine in the 1540s, in search of mineral wealth he presumed would be gold and silver. But the only “silver” DeSoto found was Muscovite mica.

Wedgewood & Spruce Pine, NC

Two centuries later and an ocean away, English ceramics maker Josiah Wedgewood heard about feldspar and kaolin being mined by the Cherokee, from pegmatite deposits in what would become Macon County. The softer (Mohs 6) feldspar, in opaque shades of white to gray to rose, easily broke along flat faces (in a process known as cleavage) in comparison to irregular, curved breaks created by the conchoidal fractures of harder (Mohs 7) quartz.

Wedgewood had five tons of this “Indian clay” shipped to Staffordshire to use in the creamcolored earthenware that so entranced King George III’s wife, Queen Charlotte, that Wedgewood was granted permission to style himself, “Potter to Her Majesty” and call his fine pieces, Queen’s Ware. The feldspar clay had come from what would be incorporated in 1855 as Franklin, North Carolina. It was dubbed the Gem Capital of the World after discoveries like the 64.83-carat Carolina Emperor, the largest emerald ever found (2010) in North America.

Rubies & Sapphires

Baltimore gem prospector William E. Dibbell was a century ahead of his good instincts when it came to the rubies and sapphires the region would one day prove to yield but, at the turn of the 20th century, he did see untapped potential in the residual feldspar being discarded by mica mines like Flat Rock.

So did the Golding Sons ceramic plant in East Liverpool (Ohio), who liked Dibbell’s ceramic-grade feldspar so much that they wanted more, leading to the creation of the Carolina Minerals Company of Penland and the opening of the Deer Park Mine to satisfy the appetites of ceramic plants in Trenton, Wilmington and Liverpool.

The 1940s were a game-changer. Until then most of the work, especially the ore separation of minerals (feldspar, mica, quartz) was done by hand or crude machinery. Between 1944 and 1949, a chemical separation process jointly developed by feldspar mining companies, the Tennessee Valley Authority and North Carolina State University Minerals Research Laboratory, led to a high-capacity process still used today known as ‘Froth Flotation,’ that separates feldspar and quartz as well as mica and iron (mostly garnet) from rock and ore.

Not-So-Hidden Gems – Feldspar

“Modern-day mining methods, research, plant production, safety, and product development have enabled the extraction and use of these high-purity mineral resources from the earth to enhance our quality of life,” says Alex.

It’s that extraordinary purity that makes the natural treasures from Spruce Pine, NC, so valuable.

Feldspar makes up roughly 65% of the igneous pegmatite in Spruce Pine, NC, and is an important source of aluminum, potassium, and sodium for making glass – from windshields and computer screens to baby bottles and light bulbs.

“Feldspar is the most abundant mineral on the earth’s surface and crust, but its purity as an ore is rare,” he says.

Spruce Pine, NC, feldspar has come a long way from Wedgewood ceramic teacups. Today, feldspar serves as a flux to fuse or melt other ceramic ingredients at a lower temperature, cementing the crystalline phases of other ingredients together while imparting improved strength and durability. “Its special qualities allow ceramic manufacture of pottery, plumbing fixtures, electrical insulators, tile, dinnerware, planters, and structural ceramics to name a few.”

Mica in Spruce Pine, NC

If feldspar composes 65% of the local pegmatite, mica accounts for another 10% of deposits. Originally used in heat-resistant glass for wood and coal stoves (isinglass), and insulating World War I and II radio tubes, the same properties are used today as a reinforcing plastics and oil well drilling fluid additive, in specialty component electrical insulation, metallic flake automobile paint and cosmetics.

The flat particle shape of the silver-to-white variety called muscovite mica lends itself to drywall joint compound and sheetrock joint cement.

“Muscovite’s flat particle shape and light color allow it to serve as an anti-shrinking agent,” Alex explains. “It applies as a smooth, damp putty, but because of mica’s flat particle shape, it interlocks the mud as it dries, thus reinforcing a filled area without shrinkage and also serving as a fire retardant within drywall joints.”

In the early years of production, the quartz composing 25% of this pegmatite was treated as discarded waste but now it is the most valuable component of the region’s three major minerals. “Froth Flotation enabled better separation of the three minerals, especially the quartz,” he says, thus ensuring that Spruce Pine Quartz ranks among the most important strategic minerals in the world today. Its lower-purity quartz is used as industrial white sand and valued for use on such fine golf courses as Augusta National Course in Georgia, host of the Masters Tournament. More recently, it has been incorporated into the development of quartz countertops for the home.

Down to the Roots

“It’s important to know that even before computers were a concept, mining was a very important part of Mitchell County’s economy and history,” says Mandi. “The quartz business helped my family as I was growing up. My husband’s work in rocks and sand supports our family. My son-in-law works in the quartz business. So it is definitely supporting future generations!

“As of 2022, according to the NC Department of Commerce, mining corporations are the second-twelfth-largest employers in Mitchell County. The mining companies are not only crucial for supplying many jobs but are also very active in the communities. Many serve on boards, help with local schools, sponsor sports teams and host events, support nonprofits, and give back, through volunteer hours and countless other projects.

“This is where I choose to stay and raise my children and grandchildren. We truly are – all pun intended — a hidden gem. Spruce Pine, NC, hasn’t been called The Mineral City by chance. Because that is who we are, down to our roots.”

This story about the Spruce Pine, NC, mining district previously appeared in Rock & Gem magazine. Click here to subscribe. Story by L.A. Sokolowski.

The post The Spruce Pine, NC Mining District first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.

In Montana, gold and silver drew those looking for wealth to these remote realms. In the 1860s, prospectors found a smattering of gold in the waterways, although silver quickly drew more attention. By the following decade, it was silver that launched the mining empire of future moguls, William A. Clark and Marcus Daly, who segued into copper as the silver market cooled.

With technological advancements in mining and smelting, copper gained momentum beginning in the early 1880s. A pivotal moment was when Daly visited a newly blasted shaft in the Anaconda Mine, and after examining the black rocks containing the copper ore chalcocite, he reportedly proclaimed that Butte would be “the richest hill on earth.”

His pronouncement became a reality. According to the Mining History Association, in 1896 Butte produced 26 percent of the world’s copper supply and 51 percent of the United States’ needs as one smelter alone produced two million pounds of copper every month.

An International Metropolis

Butte is currently home to around 35,000 people, however, Aubrey Jaap, the director of the Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives, says that “(Butte) really peaked before and during WWI.”

By 1917, the population reached 100,000 with approximately 450 mines in operation. Nearly unlimited work opportunities drew immigrants from throughout the world with the note-worthy saying, “Don’t stop in America, go straight to Butte!” There were so many ethnicities that no-smoking signs within the mines were typically displayed in 16 different languages.

Butte was ethnically diverse and bustling with energy. It was a cosmopolitan city when much of Montana was not much more than cow towns. With the abundance of drive and expertise, the architecture of the growing city reflected the ambitions of its residents. International cultures lead to world-class restaurants and active civic organizations. At its height, Butte was a city that never slept.

Hardscrabble Life

This prosperity came with a price as wealth was built on the backs of the miners and their families.

“It wasn’t an easy place to live,” said Jaap. “There were no trees because they needed timber for the mines and to feed the furnaces.” With the smoke and pollution from the continually churning smokestacks, it was the image of industrialization.

“There was noise in town all of the time,” said Jaap who noted residents were accustomed to the constant hum of commerce. “What was scary was when it stopped,” she said because this typically meant a tragedy in the mines.

Deepening Mine Shafts

Initially, mining began with a pick and shovel, with explosives expediting the process while evolving into utilizing a windlass for shallow depths, and then a whim where a horse walked around a pivot to hoist up men and materials. As the mining shafts deepened, headframes, many that still dot the landscape, stood up to 200 feet tall to transport ore and workers sometimes over 5000 feet deep.

It was another world working underground. Extreme conditions took their toll. Jaap noted in the early days the men would emerge from the hot conditions of the mine soaking wet from sweat, water used in dust abatement and natural water within the mine itself. During the winter, temperatures rarely climbed above freezing and often hovered around -40°F. When the men came out of the mine in wet clothing into the bitter cold, they often succumbed to sickness, including pneumonia. This was resolved in later years by a dry room where they could change into dry clothing at the end of their shift.

Men had to work in pairs as a rudimentary safety system. They typically worked 12-hour shifts. Before electricity, candles and oil lamps were used for light.

Initially, the men shoveled all of the material in the carts, and while a man could push a single cart once filled, a horse could pull up to five. Horses and mules spent years in the mines before their own poor health, or death, was their ticket to the upper world once again. This practice continued until pneumatic locomotives, and eventually, electricity supplied the power. The last horse was brought up from the Emma Mine in 1937.

A Dangerous Profession

There were lots of ways for injury or death in this profession. Besides the taxing working conditions, breathing stale air and dust caused a condition called silicosis or “miners consumption.” Constant exposure to heavy metals contributed to cancer and inflammatory diseases and accidents were common.

Working with explosives was also dangerous. After drilling holes, miners placed a stick of dynamite in each using a piece of wood to carefully push it into place. This is where the common phrase, “Tap ‘er light,” came into being. Fuses were grouped 12 to 15 in a bundle. Workers had roughly eight to 14 minutes to get away from the blast zone once it was lit.

Even equipment that was supposed to make life easier could be deadly. The mucking machine, which was brought on board to save the men from shoveling, could decapitate miners.

It’s estimated that over 2,000 men died in the mines.

North Butte Mining Disaster

On June 8, 1917, during the height of production with well over 14,000 men working around the clock to supply the copper needed for World War I, 410 men descended into the Speculator Mine for the night shift. A cable falling to the 2400-ft. level created a cascade of events that left 168 men dead.

Just before midnight, four men lowered into the shaft to retrieve the five-inch diameter electrical cable that was being installed to create a fire alarm system. What they didn’t realize was when the electrical cable fell it tore the protective lead exterior of another nearby cable, exposing the paraffin-coated paper used for insulation. When one of the worker’s carbide lamps accidentally touched the cable, it ignited immediately. The mine shaft became a “mighty geyser,” and the sound of the disaster woke residents. Flames and toxic smoke turned the levels into a smoke-filled maze, killing or trapping nearly half of the men.

Personal Stories

Quick thinking during the disaster saved lives. For example, Mannus Duggan, a 25-year-old nipper (a worker who sharpened and made sure the men had their tools), sealed himself and 25 others behind a bulkhead made of timbers and their own clothing, while J. D. Moore, a shift boss, did the same with seven others. Even though oxygen – and time – ran out for some of the men most of them in these situations survived. Duggan was among them, but he ultimately succumbed to the toxic gases when he returned to the shaft to look for lost companions.

Throughout the ordeal, both men wrote to their wives, including Duggan’s missive: By the time all the men were rounded together Friday night we were all caught in a trap. I suggested we must build a bulkhead. The gas was everywhere. We built a bulkhead and then a second for safety. We could hear rock falling and supposed it to be the rock in the 2400 skip chute. We have rapped on the air pipe continuously since 4 o’clock Saturday morning. No answer. Must be some fire. I realize the hard work ahead of the rescue men. Have not confided my fears to anyone, but welcome death with open arms, as it is the last act we all must pass through, and as it is but natural, it is God’s will. We should have no objection.

A Labor Dispute

The incident ignited a simmering labor dispute. Grievances against the Anaconda Copper Mining Company and conflict with the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), a socialist organization that effectively crushed the unions several years prior, made the timing right for a fight. The Speculator Mine disaster was all it took to incite violence, including lynchings, resulting in calling in federal troops and the passage of the Montana Sedition Act, which clamped down on any speech or actions contrary to the war effort. In the end, workers received few benefits, while the unions never regained their full power.

From Underground to Open Pit Mines

After WWI, underground mining shifted to more expedient open-pit mining. Created in 1954 by the Anaconda Company, the now infamous Berkley Pit, absorbed entire suburbs as the company expanded the operation. When copper prices fell in the early 1980s, the new owner, Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) ceased operations. In 1983, they removed equipment and shut off the water pumps, creating the now 1000-foot-deep, highly toxic, lake.

Ironically, the same metal-laden, acidic water that eats metal flooded the world beneath the town and provides an unusual benefit. Jaap said, “Actually, the water preserves (the timbers), but it makes (the mine shafts) inaccessible.”

The Berkley Pit is now a Superfund Site and a must-see point of interest in Butte, but mining still is the heart of the town. Jaap said the Continental Pit, the former location of Columbia Gardens that once provided a green respite for Butte families, is where silver, zinc, and copper are mined.

A lot of things we do today have a cost,” said Jaap. “For Butte, it’s really visible.”

Residents are proud of their heritage of bringing these important minerals to the world. “The Butte people and their families worked really hard and they take pride in it,” said Jaap. And well they should.

This story about the Butte, Montana, previously appeared in Rock & Gem magazine. Click here to subscribe. Story by Amy Grisak. Photos courtesy of the Butte-Silver Bow Archives.

The post Butte, Montana: Copper Mining first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.

Mapimi Minerals

Fortunately, there have been occasions in the last few decades when a source was found whose speci­mens far exceed any known examples of the species, and those deserved the des­ignation of “classic.” Mapimi, Mexico, yielded two species that deserve being called classics: adamite and legrandite crystals ranging from one to three inches, which diverged on a reddish-brown limonite matrix.

One such specimen that I was particularly familiar with was brought to Arizona by Benny Fenn in the 1970s. The legrandite was impressive, though the crystal spray was on a big—really big—chunk of reddish-brown limonite. The limonite matrix was a distraction. It was infused with silica, so it was difficult to break and trim. The owner finally decided to remove the legrandite carefully, trim the matrix to a good size, and replace the yellow spray by gluing it back in its original spot.

As exciting as the sporadic appearance of quantities of fine yellow legrandite specimens through the 1960s and ’70s was, the 1979 find confirmed legrandite as a classic.

Legrandite Sets Mina Ojuela’s Reputation

A pocket opened in 1979 yielded a specimen I named the Aztec Sun. This amazing speci­men is clearly the most famous legrandite of all, and it solidified Mina Ojuela’s reputation as something special.

Jack Amsbury, the mineral dealer who brought the specimen out of Mapimi, called me when he got back to the United States and invited me to Tucson to see this amazing specimen. The specimen was bought from Jack by our friend Miguel Romero. After Miguel’s death, his collection—including the Aztec Sun—was scheduled to go into the University of Arizona mineral collection. Because of some unfortunate circumstances, however, the collection was sold, ending up in a museum in the Near East.

Admiring the Aztec Sun

The Aztec Sun, the best legrandite ever found, is about five inches across and is composed of two complex crystal clusters that form opposing fanlike sprays. This beauty was joined four weeks later by another huge legrandite from the same pocket area. It is a single, narrow, diverging crystal cluster measuring nearly a foot long. At last report, it was in the New York Museum of Natural History.

The remarkable specimens of adamite and legrandite, both found in quantity at Mapimi, leave no doubt that this old silver mine will go down in collector history as a source of classic specimens.

This story about adamite and legrandite previously appeared in Rock & Gem magazine. Click here to subscribe. Story by Bob Jones.

The post Adamite & Legrandite from Mapimi first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.

When the war ended, mines powered down, leaving countless miners jobless, miners who knew the underground workings and minerals without an opportunity to use their skills. Surplus war materials like Jeeps were sold and military veterans, among others, combined the availability of four-wheel-drive vehicles with the opening of more federal lands and headed into the great outdoors, and the mineral collecting hobby grew rapidly. This rapid growth created a ready market for minerals, which prompted Mexican miners to go back to work, with some even forming mineral collecting consortiums.

Mexican Rocks & Minerals in High Demand

Instead of mining metal ores, the miners mined mineral specimens of every variety. Mineral dealers located close to the border became a ready market for access to minerals from Mexico. As miners realized they could make a living underground, the flow of minerals from Mexico’s mines became a flood by the early 1950s.

The volume of minerals coming out of Mexico was so great that some dealers became wholesale marketers operating in or near border towns like El Paso and Tucson. This interest provided Mexican miners a ready outlet for their efforts. In a short time, dealers and collectors began driving to Mexican mining towns to buy directly.

Wholesale dealers like Tucson’s Susie Davis sold minerals by the flat and never lacked good stock. Miners catered to visitors but always kept the better specimens under the bed. People who visited the Tucson Show by 1960, especially show dealers, planned ahead and drove to Mexico after the show to restock.

Today, with the growth in illegal activities and a slowdown in mining, the halcyon days of rockhounding in Mexico are more past than the present. Solo trips are less encouraged than in years past.

Mina Ojuela

In spite of some difficulties collecting in Mexico today, there are still plenty of fine Mexican minerals available, which is a testament to the huge quantity of specimens that poured forth in the last half of the 20th century. Miners are still working underground, and once in a while, a big hit happens.

Among the most active mines during the heyday was Mina Ojuela, Mapimí, Durango. It is credited with producing some of the world’s finest examples of species like adamite, legrandite, and koettigite. It soon became the darling of Mexico’s mineral business 50 years ago, along with Santa Eulalia, Zacatecas, and San Luis Potosi. There are several mines around Mapimi, but Ojuela was the first in the Durango area. Over time, underground tunnels eventually interconnected the mines, so a miner might be digging in one mine but credit his find to Ojuela often to keep secret where he actually found the minerals.

Mina Ojuela’s Specimens

Mina Ojuela was discovered in 1598 by Spaniards looking for riches. The ore vein they spotted was high on the wall of a limestone canyon, which created a problem. Reaching the ore was tough enough, but to actually mine the ore presented a major elevation challenge and an amazing feat of effort.

Mina Ojuela’s reputation as a specimen producer is due to the number of species it produced. The variety of species reads like the index of a mineral book. Until Mina Ojuela, adamite was a non-descript hydroxide zinc arsenate of modest color and crystal size.

The type locality was Chañarcillo, Chile. The ancient silver at Lavrion, Greece, produced decent adamite as well, but it was not until the brilliant green crystal sprays of adamite from Mina Ojuela came out in huge quantities that adamite was a must-have mineral. Its crystals are in a fan-like shape or fat ball-like crystal clusters, single crystals and sprays all on a contrasting dark brown iron oxide matrix. The quantity found here was astounding.

Another mineral found at Mapimí is olivenite, hydrate copper arsenate. The only difference between olivenite and adamite is the metal within; in one, it’s copper, and the other, zinc, which are compatible and can easily replace each other. Adamite is green thanks to a trace of copper in it. When copper replaces even more zinc, it is cuproadamite. Russian scientists went further in 2006 and found that if enough copper replaces zinc in some cuproadamite, it forms a new species, zincolivenite. Is your cuproadamite really zincolivenite? Ask Mother Nature.

Mexican Rocks & Minerals

The specimen-producing mines of Mexico are all known. The Spaniards started them out as silver mines and some produced wonderful silver sulfosalt minerals like acanthite, polybasite, tetrahedrite, tennantite and bournonite, all collector minerals. These same mines did not gain a reputation for producing native silver specimens except for Batopilas mine, Sonora. The vast majority of the silver mines had the metal argentiferous galena, sulfosalts, and other collector minerals in the deposits. These old Spanish silver mines became major sources of fine collector minerals for decades in the 20th century as local miners became skilled mineral specimen miners.

The Batopilas mine, Chihuahua, produced fine native silver specimens in some quantity when opened in 1632 by the Spaniards, who found the local native people working it. Even today, this mine is known among collectors for its fine twisted wires and crystals of silver. Spaniards were only interested in mining the silver, so other minerals were bypassed, leaving them for collectors who followed.

Sonora & Chihuahua

Each of Mexico’s states is known for a particular mineral species. Sonora is famous among the lapidary crowd for agate. Among collectors, wulfenite from Sonora and nearby Chihuahua is well known. Chihuahua was made famous by National Geographic in 1921 when it featured the giant selenite crystals in the Cave of Crystals/Cave of Swords. It revisited the site again in the 1990s. This second visit was broadcast on television as the selenite cave had the world’s largest selenite crystals — 40 feet long!

Zacatecas & San Luis Potosi

The state of Zacatecas has certainly produced superb collector minerals including azurite, galena, sphalerite, chalcopyrite and other metal ores. And, of course, silver species and gold have also come from here.

San Luis Potosi is very well known among collectors due to the superb poker chip calcite specimens it yielded in recent years. These specimens rival the historically important calcites from Germany. Quantities of large and sometimes colorful danburite crystals still come from here now and then as well.

Sinaloa

In recent years, Sinaloa really caused a stir among collectors when the mine at Choix produced large quantities of colorful botryoidal smithsonite. Specimens up to a foot across were mined, and the color range seemed endless, from white to pink to yellow, blue, and green in various tints. Many of the Chiox smithsonite was easily mistaken for the famous blue specimens from Kelly Mine, New Mexico.

The range of collector minerals from Mexico in the last 75 years is simply amazing. From gorgeous Las Vigas amethyst crystal groups to recent Milpillas mine azurites to rare silver sulfosalts and everything in between, these finds enhance mineral collections worldwide.

The millions of mineral specimens brought to grass in Mexico have played a huge role in the growth of this hobby throughout the world in these last decades, and there is no end in sight.

This story about Mexican rocks and minerals previously appeared in Rock & Gem magazine. Click here to subscribe. Story by Bob Jones.

The post Mexican Rocks & Minerals Collecting first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.

For almost a century, the Pulsifer Quarry was the source of some of the finest purple apatite specimens and gemstones ever found. However, no apatite was found there for decades following finds in 1996. Many assumed that the Pulsifer Quarry was extinct. But in the summer and fall of 2022, renewed activity at the quarry resulted in a new find of beautiful purple apatite specimens, with the promise of more to come.

About Apatite

Apatite is included on many blue gems and minerals lists. It is not one mineral species. It is a group of calcium phosphates with either fluorine, chlorine, or hydroxyl groups, respectively known as fluorapatite, chlorapatite, and hydroxylapatite. Fluorapatite is the most common species and includes the material from the Pulsifer Quarry. It is also the one most people are referring to when they say “apatite.”

Apatite occurs in a variety of geological environments but can be well developed in granitic pegmatites. It may be colorless, white, brown, green, yellow, blue or purple. In apatite, the purple color is caused by manganese. Purple apatite is found in a number of localities around the world, including several in Maine. “Royal purple” refers to a rich hue of purple. Royal purple apatite only occurs in a few localities and the Pulsifer Quarry is widely considered the best.

Pulsifer Quarry

Pulsifer Quarry was first worked by landowner, Pitt Pembroke Pulsifer in 1900. He found thousands of crystals, including one known as the “Roebling Apatite.” Weighing just over 100 grams, it is now housed at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. The quarry was worked off and on by several individuals through the twentieth century. In 1972, Irving “Dudy” Groves obtained ownership of the property and the mineral rights, which, on his passing in 2005, passed to his widow, Mary Groves, who still owns them.

The Pulsifer Quarry is located on aptlynamed Mt. Apatite, in Auburn, Maine. Actually a hill rather than a mountain, Mt. Apatite hosts several quarries that have produced interesting minerals. The “Eastern Quarries,” which include the Hatch, Greenlaw, and Maine Feldspar Quarries, are owned by the city of Auburn. The “Western Quarries,” including the Keith, Dionne, Wade, Raines, and Hole-in-the-Ground (Groves) Quarries, as well as the Pulsifer, are owned by Mary Groves. All of these sites are complex granitic pegmatites, for which Maine is famous.

Besides apatite, these localities are known for tourmaline (schorl and elbaite), garnet (almandine and spessartine), quartz, beryl and a host of rarer species, such as gahnite. Even though they are within a couple hundred meters of each other, the development of minerals in the Western Quarries varies. For example, purple apatite can be found at the Hole-in-the-Ground Quarry, but it does not have the same richness of color as the Pulsifer Quarry apatite.

Quarry Finds

Small-scale mining has been done periodically in recent years at the Western Quarries, including the Pulsifer. While no apatite was found between 1996 and 2022, the Pulsifer Quarry was not entirely unproductive. In 2007, the “Stuck Steel Pocket” was found. It consisted of several large beryl crystals embedded in quartz. Though fractured, these crystals yielded several thousand carats of gem-quality aquamarine.

The Pulsifer Quarry, like the other quarries in the region, has a “garnet line” or “garnet seam.” This is an almost continuous layer of almandine crystals a few feet above, and parallel to, the lower side of the pegmatite body. Most of the garnets in the seam are under a centimeter and are generally not gem quality. Below the garnet line, the formation consists mostly of graphic granite.

Above the line, it consists of blocky feldspar, quartz, mica books, and sometimes, pockets containing well-formed crystals, such as apatite. On one wall of the Pulsifer Quarry, the garnet line dips, indicating a thicker zone of coarse pegmatite, which seemed more likely to contain pockets. It was in this area that activities were concentrated in 2022.

A Personal Account

Dudy Groves, in addition to mining at the Pulsifer Quarry, built the Poland Mining Camps, located in the town of Poland, Maine, not far from Mt. Apatite. He envisioned the Camps as a place dedicated to amateur rockhounds. Mary Groves continues to operate the Camps today.

Mary does not operate the Camps by herself. She has many friends and family members who help. Tony Wielkiewicz conducts mining operations at Mt. Apatite, including drilling, blasting and excavator work. In 2022, he was assisted by Tom Derocher, while Tom’s wife, Kim Derocher, helped recover specimens and feed everyone. Also helping in 2022 were longtime rockhound guides Dan Namowitz, David Bechtel and Gary Bucklin.

Dan and David assisted Tony in all phases of mining, while Gary documented the new find. Later in the season, experienced miner Cal Birtic also lent a hand. My association with the Camps has evolved over many years from customer to part-time helper. My role in the present operation was to serve as an extra pair of eyes and to write about the discovery.

It should be noted that the current mining venture at the Pulsifer Quarry is not a part of Poland Mining Camps’ regularly scheduled collecting trips. In this case, given the considerable expense involved, ownership of most specimens is being retained by the Camps.

I was at the site for parts of August and September of 2022. In August, Tony conducted several small blasts to remove rock above the zone in which he thought pockets might occur. Increasing mineralization could be seen, including bluish cleavelandite, large muscovite mica books, black tourmaline and small amounts of lepidolite. On August 8, following a blast, I spotted a cluster of large beryl crystals in the newly exposed rock. It had been fractured by the blast, but I was able to recover most of it, and later reassembled a fair portion of it. While not gem quality like the Stuck Steel Pocket, it made an interesting large specimen, 28 cm long, weighing about 4.5 kg.

But it was not common beryl that everyone wanted. It was apatite. On August 10, I was picking through some rocks from a recent blast when something caught my eye – aglint of purple. I picked up a small piece of cleavelandite. Checking under a loupe revealed a small (3 to 4 mm), broken bit of apatite, the first one seen at the Pulsifer in 26 years. I held it up and said, “We have purple!” It was clear that Tony was heading in the right direction.

Significant Finds

The first complete apatite crystals, dozens of them, were found on August 13. Mary’s grandson and his girlfriend were there that day and dubbed the zone “Lucky 13.” The name stuck. A number of small pockets containing apatite were opened during the next few weeks. Some pockets were lined with deep yellow muscovite crystals, while others were openings among blades of cleavelandite or quartz crystals. Any of these minerals could serve as a matrix on which apatite crystals could be found, while other apatite crystals were found free of matrix.

A pleasant surprise was a large gahnite crystal. Gahnite is an uncommon member of the spinel group, consisting of zinc aluminum oxide. This crystal is a dark blue-green octahedron measuring about 5 cm across. The nearby Hole-in-the-Ground Quarry is famous for gahnite, but crystals from that quarry usually have a distinctive brown micaceous coating, which the specimen from the Pulsifer Quarry lacked. A few additional smaller specimens were also recovered.
Another interesting find was a pod of pink lithiophilite about 20 cm across. A phosphate mineral, it was recovered with great delight by Jim Nizamoff, a geologist who specializes in phosphates. He came to the quarry from time to time with permission to collect Also found was a pocket containing smoky quartz crystals, along with a few apatites and cookeite stained by manganese. That pocket was roughly tubular, and extended some 30 to 40 cm. A number of quartz crystals up to 15 cm long, some with complexly crystalized faces, were recovered.

The last large smoky quartz crystal from the pocket was firmly attached to the pegmatite. During work to recover it, ground water was seeping from the rock face. Initially, the water ran perfectly clear. After a little more probing, however, dark reddish-brown water began to ooze out of the face near the crystal. This was manganese-rich material often found in pockets containing apatite. The quantity of manganese material that oozed out indicated that there could be a number of additional pockets nearby. Sure enough, the next week, some very nice specimens of apatite on matrix were found in that area.

Future Prospects

Work at the Pulsifer Quarry continued into early October. Over two months, hundreds of good specimens of apatite were recovered. Also recovered were dozens of smoky quartz crystals, the gahnite, the lithiophilite, some minor spessartine and a few minor pieces of beryl.

The apatite crystals found at the Pulsifer Quarry in 2022 range in size from under 1 mm to about 10mm. Though not as large as some found in the past, many of the new pieces are particularly fine. They exhibit a range of shades of purple, including many that can be considered royal purple. However, a few blue crystals, a rare color at this locality, were also found. The apatite crystals often show complex crystal habits. Some, for example, are 12-sided, rather than the usual six-sided habit. Many of the crystals could be considered gem quality. However, these crystals are absolute jewels as is.

Additional work at the Pulsifer Quarry is planned for the summer of 2023. The mineralized zone was not exhausted before mining was paused for the winter. Given what was found in 2022, expectations are high for additional fine specimens of apatite and other minerals.

This story about apatite previously appeared in Rock & Gem magazine. Click here to subscribe. Story by Bob Farrar.

The post Apatite: New Finds at Pulsifer Quarry first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.

The three specimens considered by most as the world’s finest rhombic rhodochrosite specimens were displayed at the Rock Summit Show in Denver in 2020. The exhibit was labeled “Rhodochrosite Royalty.” Each specimen has a story to tell…

The Alma Queen

The smaller Alma Queen was collected in the 1960s by a rockhound miner who sold it at a show in Los Vegas. The specimen was sold and passed through several hands until it was obtained by noted collector/dealer, David Wilber.

I saw this smaller Alma Queen at a Tucson Show in the 1970s where Dave had it on display. At the time, it was known as “Wilber’s rhodochrosite.”

Colorado collectors had not seen anything like this specimen from the Sweet Home mine and some of them made a serious specimen mining effort at the Sweet Home but were only marginally successful.

Finding the Original Digger

I had collected in the Sweet Home mine in 1957 with no luck, so I wanted to track down the fellow who dug the Alma Queen. I found he was in New Mexico, so Carol and I visited him there. He was more than willing to tell us how he found the rhodochrosite, but the mine was claimed so he would not allow me to photograph him, tape-record him or even use his name. It’s a promise I still honor.

We had a nice visit and he told us the whole story of finding the specimen and how he sold it in Las Vegas.

After a couple of days of digging, he had opened a seam that produced small rhodochrosite crystals and then he hit the Alma Queen. He was hoping the vein would open up even more and planned on continuing to dig, but a friend of his showed up and said the sheriff was coming to chase him out.

Selling the Alma Queen

He left and later planned to sell it in Las Vegas for a big show there. His asking price was $5,000. He ran into Ed Swoboda, a well-known dealer/miner, and settled on a price. Ed bought the rhodochrosites including the Alma Queen.

Ed eventually sold the specimen to someone in Texas but David Wilber had already seen the Alma Queen, as yet unnamed, and wanted it. He tracked down the specimen in Texas and was able to buy it. Dave exhibited the specimen in Tucson where Colorado collectors saw and called it “Dave’s Rhodochrosite.” That exhibit is what caused later successful mining at the Sweet Home mine that brought to light the Alma King and the Alma Rose.

This story about rhodochrosite and the Alma Queen appeared in Rock & Gem magazine. Click here to subscribe. Story by Bob Jones.

The post Rhodochrosite: The Alma Queen first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.

As the dealer chairman, I was responsible for choosing dealers to be in the arena section. I reviewed new applications from mineral dealers who applied for a space in the forthcoming show. One such dealer applicant had enclosed quite interesting photos of large selenite crystals with his application. I gave him a call and during our talk, he told me he had just returned from a cave in Mexico that had selenite crystals as big as trees! Selenite properties as a gypsum mineral make it easily identified and naturally, I wanted to visit the cave. We made a deal. I gave him a space at the show and he arranged an invitation to visit. Little did I know I was about to see the largest natural mineral crystals in the world, These crystals were later featured on a National Geographic TV show and written up in their magazine a couple of years after we wrote the first published article in Rock and Gem.

The Cave of Swords

A few weeks after the show, we met the dealer in Tucson and headed to Mexico. Carol and I were joined by our dealer friends Benny and Elva Fenn. We were familiar with what is mined in Mexico and we drove to the Naica silver mine, Durango, already well-known among collectors for its silver minerals and selenite crystals. The mine had been featured in National Geographic about a selenite cave named the Cave of Swords, much smaller than the crystals we wrote about in Rock and Gem. We did go into the Cave of Swords at the 400-foot level on a later visit to Naica.

The crystals jutting from the floor of the Cave of Swords were up to three feet long in nice sprays. The walls were completely covered by four to six-inch crystals so dense you could not see the rock walls. There were tens of thousands of these small selenites lining the cave opening from floor to ceiling and extending deep into the mountain.

In the early days of the Cave of Swords, crystals were collected by the company doctor and sold to help pay for the treatment of injured miners and for families who had lost someone in mine accidents.

The Big Crystal Cave

Once at the mine to see the big crystal cave, we climbed in a small haulage truck and drove into the mine where the temperature grew warmer as we descended. As we drove along the lowest tunnel, we passed maybe a dozen exposed open pockets of selenite crystals that would have been a thrill for any collector.

We did stop next to a short side tunnel and I could see a set of cement stairs at the base of a small opening in the tunnel wall. I headed for that opening and crawled in on my hands and knees on selenite crystals surrounded by free-standing huge selenite crystals jutting from the walls and ceiling as far as I could see. This was just a preview of what was to come. I was told this cave might be connected to the nearby big crystal cave. As far as I know, no one has explored this entire cave system to determine if the two caves are one huge complex. The intense heat and high humidity in both caves and the size of the crystals jutting up at all angles make it almost impossible to proceed and prove the theory, but it is likely.

Getting to the Big Crystals

We drove another 100 yards or so and came to a short side tunnel painted white and well-lit. On one wall was a huge locked steel door. Our escort had the key, but before he opened the door and allowed us into the cave, our guide explained we could not be in the cave alone. He had to be with us at all times. Then he opened the door and a blast of hot air hit me like a blast furnace door had been opened. The temperature in the tunnel where we parked was 90 degrees but that blast of cave air took your breath away. You had to force yourself to walk into that heat and try to breathe.

My wife Carol, who is a silver metal casting artist used to handling high heat, stood in the cave doorway and simply said, “I’ve seen enough!” and backed out of the smothering heat.

Giant Crystals

The miner stepped into the cave and I followed. I broke out in a sweat and gradually made my breathing more normal. In seconds I was wet from head to toe from sweat. My camera instantly fogged up. I was stunned by my surroundings!

Giant tree-like selenite crystals about four feet in diameter extended from the cave floor to the ceiling about 40 to 50 feet above us. The crystals looked like a forest of trees that had been blasted and uprooted by a hurricane. They were tilted in every direction, an amazing tangle of growth. Some crystals had fallen from their sheer weight since selenite does have perfect cleavage. You could sit astride fallen crystals as if riding a horse.

Between where the crystals touched the ceiling were huge rosettes of selenite crystal groups hanging from the ceiling like chandeliers. I was in the cave for maybe five minutes and I had to bail out and enjoy the cooler tunnel outside. Others in the group were having the same problem. We would walk in and look around for a few minutes and get out. After several visits to the cave, I was able to stay for as long as 10 minutes at a time. Later we learned the cave temperature was a tough 140 degrees with humidity over 90 percent.

We had been at the cave off and on for over an hour and the miner who had gone in ahead of me had stayed in the entire time. When he walked out he looked like he had just stepped out of a shower. All his clothing was soaked. But he was game and we did another round of visiting until we had to leave.

I felt sorry for the guide who was required to go through that hot ordeal. Benny and I each put up $100 and Benny, who is bi-lingual, gave it to the miner who immediately took out a card, wrote a phone number on it, and said to Benny, “You want to go in the cave again, call me, not the office!” Needless to say, Benny and I accepted his suggestion and we visited the cave twice more before the company finally closed the cave so only scientists could visit it.

The Fate of the Crystals

Studies have shown the cave is above the Naica fault. Below the fault is a hot magma chamber. Estimates suggest the crystals took a million years to form first anhydrite crystals then reformed into selenite.

Unfortunately, mining at Naica has stopped which means the pumps that keep the water level down have been stopped. The water level will slowly rise and the cave will eventually flood above the 2500-foot level as it seeks its natural level. The day may come when the selenite crystals will dissolve back into solution. I’m just grateful I was able to spend time with those crystal monsters and share the experience.

This story about finding giant selenite crystals previously appeared in Rock & Gem magazine. Click here to subscribe! Story by Bob Jones.

The post Finding Giant Selenite Crystals first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.

“I am rich Potosí, treasure of the world, king of mountains and envy of kings.”

Although these words on the coat of arms that King of Spain Charles V granted to the city of Potosí in 1557 might seem pretentious, they were actually somewhat understated. By 1600, Potosí, the biggest city in Spain’s Viceroyalty of Peru, was indeed the “treasure of the world” and the “envy of kings.” As the richest silver deposit that would ever be discovered, Potosí would yield a monumental fortune that would impact the world socially, politically, and economically.

Cerro Rico

Potosi’s silver was emplaced within a reddish, cone-shaped mountain that the Spanish fittingly named Cerro Rico (Rich Mountain). This barren, 15,689-foot-high remnant of a 14-million-year-old volcanic dome was mineralized when superheated, silver-and-tin-rich hydrothermal solutions surged upward into the fractured dome.

Upon cooling, ore minerals precipitated in veins, with silver veins overlying those of tin. Because of its shape and low water table, Cerro Rico had an unusually large oxidation and enrichment zone where the original silver sulfide could alter into the silver-chloride mineral chlorargyrite.

This vein-hosted, polymetallic deposit, as geologists now describe it, consisted of a complex network of vertically oriented veins as thick as five feet. Many were extraordinarily rich and graded 40 percent silver by weight. A single ton of this ore, with a volume of just five cubic feet, contained as many as 12,000 troy ounces of silver.

Discovering Silver

When the Spanish learned of Cerro Rico in 1545, they couldn’t believe their good fortune. The ore was not only fantastically rich but extracting silver required only mining, crushing, and simple smelting in crude ceramic ovens.

This operation was nevertheless labor-intensive. The Spanish acquired workers through their “mita” system of recruiting indigenous people for forced labor on a rotational schedule. By 1560, with 3,200 laborers mining, crushing, and smelting ore, Potosí was shipping five million troy ounces of silver per year.

By then, however, the richest and most accessible ores were already gone and silver production had begun to decline sharply. Although enormous amounts of silver mineralization remained within Cerro Rico, it was too low in grade for direct smelting, and no method of large-scale concentration yet existed.

“A Match Made in Heaven”

But Spanish smelter workers in Mexico had just developed the so-called “patio process” by spreading crushed, low-grade silver ore on cobblestone patios (hence the name) and mixing it with mercury, salt, and copper sulfate. The ensuing chemical reaction reduced the ore to metallic silver which formed an amalgam with the mercury. Heating the amalgam then drove off the mercury, leaving behind metallic silver of high purity.

Cerro Rico’s low-grade ores were well-suited to this new recovery method. But the patio process required large amounts of mercury which, at the time, were obtainable only from distant Almadén, Spain.

Then in 1560, in one of history’s most fortuitous coincidences, Spanish prospectors at Huancavelica, 700 miles north of Potosí in present-day Peru, discovered large deposits of cinnabar, the only ore of mercury. The newly founded city of Huancavelica soon had a population of 30,000 residents, most working directly or indirectly to support cinnabar mining and the shipping of mercury.

Pack trains hauled the mercury over rough trails to Potosí where it dramatically extended the life and increased production of the Cerro Rico mines. One Spanish writer described the combination of Huancavelica mercury and Potosi silver as “a match made in heaven.”

“The Treasure of the World”

By 1650, Potosí, with a population of 160,000, was bigger than most major European cities. As the world’s largest industrial complex, Potosí had hundreds of tunnels and shafts, along with 22 artificial reservoirs that provided water power to 120 crushing mills, 60 amalgamation patios, and 6,000 ceramic kilns to heat amalgam and recover the silver.

The center of Potosí, a mix of cathedrals, villas, and imposing colonial architecture, was dominated by the Crown mint which converted silver into 16-pound ingots and millions of crudely shaped, eight-reales coins. These fabled “pieces of eight” quickly became the standard of exchange in world trade.

Between 1545 and 1810, Potosí alone accounted for more than one-third of the world’s silver production, making Spain the richest of all nations and bolstering the economies of Europe and much of Asia. Potosi silver facilitated the rapid expansion of international commerce, bankrolled wars that redefined national borders and was the basis for the development of a modern global economy.

Because of the corrupt Spanish mining system, rampant theft and smuggling, and lost or fraudulent records, historians can only estimate how much silver Potosi produced. The documented output stands at 765,000 troy ounces, but historians agree that the actual figure could approach two billion troy ounces (about 90,000 tonnes).

The Dark Side of Potosi

Conditions within the Cerro Rico mines were horrific. The combination of unventilated underground air—hot, humid, and laden with oil-lamp smoke and rock dust—and the cold, dry surface air meant pneumonia and other respiratory ailments were rampant. These factors, together with the extreme exertion required to break rock manually and haul heavy bags of ore up ladders of frayed rope and rotted wood, inflicted soaring mortality, injury, and sickness rates among the indigenous forced laborers.

Surface workers faced a different but no less deadly hazard—mercury. When ingested, absorbed, or inhaled in sufficient quantities, mercury, its vapors, and many of its compounds are toxic and can cause severe physical and mental debilitation, and even death. Each day, workers in the amalgamation patios and retorting operations were exposed to mercury on a massive scale. Thousands died or suffered severe debilitation because of what was then called “mercury sickness.”

The overall mortality count at Potosí will never be known, but conservative estimates of the deaths attributed directly to mining silver and retorting amalgam over 260 years are far over one million.

Potosi Today

In 1825, after 15 years of revolutionary struggle against Spanish oppression, the great liberator Simón Bolívar symbolically proclaimed South American freedom from a most fitting place—the summit of Cerro Rico. By then, Cerro Rico’s silver ore was pretty much depleted, although sporadic mining continued, mainly for tin.

The nationalized Bolivian mining company Corporación Minera de Bolivia mined tin at Cerro Rico until 1980. But after a tin market crash closed the big mine, hundreds of unemployed miners began to form loose cooperatives, lease sections of Cerro Rico from the government, and engage in unregulated, independent mining.

Today, an estimated 12,000 independent miners associated with 300 small cooperatives work in some 500 individual mines on Cerro Rico in conditions not unlike those of the colonial era. Miners rely on tobacco, alcohol, and coca leaves to get through the long, dark shifts. Accidents, often caused by the collapse of centuries-old tunnels, claim about 20 lives each year. Cerro Rico miners also use the supernatural to cope with their dismal working conditions. El Tío (the Uncle) is their Lord of the Underworld, and representations, fashioned from clay, wood, cardboard, or paper-mâché, are present in every mine. Miners believe that these garishly painted, demonic figures with their horns and bulging eyes if appeased with daily gifts of tobacco, alcohol, and coca leaves, will protect them from injury or death, and lead them to valuable minerals.

The Future of Potosi

After nearly five centuries of continuous mining, Cerro Rico, a relatively small mountain now honeycombed with more than 125 miles of tunnels and shafts, has become geologically unstable. A wide subsidence crater recently appeared near the summit as the mountain began collapsing into itself, triggering fears that a massive collapse could kill hundreds of miners.

In 1987, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) added Potosí and Cerro Rico to its list of World Heritage Sites. But because of its increasing geological instability, Cerro Rico has now been moved to the list of Endangered Heritage Sites.

Despite the mountain’s growing instability, miners find that guiding underground tour groups can be more profitable than mining the remaining ore. This is making Cerro Rico a trendy destination for adventure tourism, where visitors, equipped with rented rubber boots, hard hats, and cap lamps, can explore some of the world’s most historic underground mine workings—but only after leaving gifts for El Tío.

This story about Potosi silver mine history previously appeared in Rock & Gem magazine. Click here to subscribe. Story by Steve Voynick. 

The post Potosi Silver Mine History first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.

An A-Ha! Moment

I first realized the value of a metal detector when I saw an amazing gold specimen labeled “The Dragon.” It was perfectly crystallized, about seven inches high and Bryan Lees, a Collector’s Edge dealer, said it would likely sell for six figures. He said it had been found in the Colorado Quartz mine, near Mariposa, California, by miners using metal detectors.

That got my attention. Bryan made arrangements for me to visit the mine to watch miners using metal detectors to scan the walls of the old tunnels and then attack any spot that responded. That was a few years ago and those guys are still having success finding hot spots in that mine!

This is not the only “strike” I’ve seen made using a metal detector. My son Evan lives on a hillside that has an old gold mine on it. He has used his metal detector to find enough pieces of gold ore worth processing.

Metal Detecting in the Richmond Basin

In Arizona, a couple of fellows were rock hunting with metal detectors in the Richmond Basin silver mining district north of Globe, Arizona. They hit it using metal detectors!

Silver nuggets had been collected by the Apaches hundreds of years ago and in the 1800-1900s silver mines operated here. The nearby town of Globe was so named because a large rounded chunk of native silver reminding them of a globe was found near there.

Tiny nuggets of native silver were still found in Richmond Basin, so a couple of them decided to check it out. They walked the washes in the entire Basin with their detectors.

They found one or two small heavy, dull black rocks of tarnished native silver. They decided to get serious and organized a small group of collectors with detectors to check the entire area including the surrounding open desert.

Striking Silver

They found several more small silver nuggets before their efforts paid off when they found two large masses of native silver each weighing in at over 100 pounds. The pieces were less than two feet underground.

The pieces had weathered out of an as yet unknown vein of silver and been buried by years of weathering.

Finding these two masses of silver would make anyone jump for joy. But the best was yet to come. One of the fellows was about done for the day and was scanning the ground as he walked to his vehicle when signals stopped him in his tracks. He was getting wide-ranging signals from something big. This time, they dug down less than two feet and uncovered a mass of silver you only dream about. The silver mass they exposed was almost three feet long, well over a foot wide and many inches thick. The find of a lifetime!

Once exposed and wrapped for protection, it took five guys hours to haul this treasure across the rough desert to a vehicle. When they finally weighed it on the scale, it hit an amazing 417 pounds!

Now that’s what I call a successful day in the field with a metal detector. What’s it worth? You tell me!

This story about can metal detectors detect rocks previously appeared in Rock & Gem magazine. Click here to subscribe! Story by Bob Jones.

The post Can Metal Detectors Detect Rocks? first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.

A Learning Curve

According to Frank, the lessons were tough from the start.

“When we started, we knew absolutely nothing about rocks,” he recalls. “All we knew was that there were valuable gems all over the world to be found and people would buy them.”

Their learning curve began in April 2020 when the couple visited a pay-to-dig mining spot for the first time. The pair spent two months mining quartz crystals at Ron Coleman Mining in Arkansas and fell in love with the pursuit.

“We sold all of our belongings in four days and hit the road to become full-time YouTubers and gem miners,” he recalls. “All we had was a tent, the money we made from selling our belongings, two dogs, two months’ worth of crystals that we planned on selling, and a newfound passion for mining – we didn’t have a part-time job or a plan B.”

With scant options, the pair learned fast about how to recognize what gems, minerals and fossils they wanted to mine, where to find them and how to make sure their digs were legal.

“The more rare and valuable, the better,” says Frank.

Pay-to-Dig Sites

Mostly they mine pay-to-dig, also known as fee mining sites, where people like the Stallings can pay a fee – as much as $190 per person per day –to dig, pan for gold, wash for gems and split rocks to find fossils. These sites are scattered all over the country and their locations can be found online. Successful miners can legally keep whatever they find and sell it.

“The sites dictate what we are collecting, and digging at pay-to-dig sites allows us to legally sell what we find, ” Frank says.

Reservations are preferred at pay-to-dig sites and check-in at the mining office is a must, he advises.

Public & Private Land

On public lands, which are collectively owned by people in the U.S. and managed by government agencies such as the National Park System, explorers may legally prospect, but may only collect material if the land is unclaimed or is a designated rockhound area. If the area is designated a rockhound area, prospectors may collect what they find, but are not allowed to sell it.

“If it is public land, we use internet resources to check if the land has active mineral claims to respect the claim boundaries,” Stallings explains. If it is a designated rockhound area, we read the rules (that must be followed) online.

By contrast, private lands are owned by individuals, businesses, or some other non-governmental organization, and require the permission of the landowner or claim holder. Those who want to prospect there must obtain permission from the land or claim owner.

Know Before You Go!

Long before that ever happens, the Stallings research potential prospective dig-sites online and consult claim maps that pinpoint the boundaries of privately-held land or claimed land to avoid stealing any resources that may be buried in the earth.

“If it is a claimed area, we stay off the claim perimeters to avoid claim-jumping, also known as stealing,” Stallings explains. “If it is private land, (a person) could do research to contact the land owner, but we personally just stay off private land.”

Fabulous Finds

Since they began prospecting, the Stallings have mined museum-quality gems from several locations including honey calcite crystals in Okeechobee, Fla, $15,000 worth of Herkimer diamonds in Herkimer, NY, wulfenite crystals from the Red Cloud Mine in Yuma, Ariz., solid turquoise nuggets in Tonopah, Nev., and blue-green Smithsonite in Magdalena, NM. They’ve also discovered an entire agatized petrified tree in Holbrook, Ariz.

“Nearly every location we visit, we find gems worth $500 or more,” says Frank.

As a result, Frank, 29, and 24-year-old Kyndall Stallings have built a tidy business from their explorations.

They clean, prep, and ship the treasures they find from their bus while they are on the road. Sales come from the weekly gem shows they host on one of their Facebook sites, and through online stores, they maintain on eBay. Meanwhile, they cultivate their business by sharing on-the-spot videos of their excavations on their YouTube channel and on one of their sites on Facebook. They also share their adventures on their website thatcampingcouple.com.

Making a Living

“Our main income source is our gem sales,” Frank says. “About 10 percent of our income comes from social media, and the rest is from selling our hand-collected gems.”

Still, the way the couple has chosen to make their living is not easy, Frank points out.

“When we started, we barely made any money for an entire year – we went broke several times and had times where we couldn’t afford gas or important bills,” he recalls. “Even now that we make more money, we still put every penny we make back into mining gems and traveling to the next collecting site to grow our business.”

These days, their work still demands long hours all day every day involving not just mining, but preparing their finds for sale, marketing them, and filming and editing videos for their social media and website outlets.

On The Road Realities

Meanwhile, recent economics have also added new challenges.

“To be successful, we have to find noteworthy pieces at each location to accommodate rising gas prices and travel expenses, as well as entertaining our social media following,” he says.

Then, of course, there are the hours of windshield time, and forfeit of even the most simple creature comforts.

“We sacrifice certain comforts, like being far from family and friends, and not being able to shower on a daily basis,” Frank admits.

Still, there is an upside too, he says, including being self-employed and trading the outdoors for a cubicle in some office building.

“Also we get to work together as a married couple, travel, see the country, and find extraordinary, beautiful gems,” Frank says. “Most importantly, we get to really live and experience what life has to offer – in the end, it’s worth it.”

This story about how to rockhound from an RV appeared in Rock & Gem magazine. Click here to subscribe. Story by Pat Raia.

The post How to Rockhound from an RV first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.