We headed for Murfreesboro today to Crater of Diamonds State Park.  The park was in a lovely setting with lots of shade and we needed it because it was in the high 90s today.  We were armed with water, lunch and our rockhounding tools.  The park opened at 8 AM and our entrance fee was $7.

Diamond hunting is a doggie-friendly sport and Angie was glad to come along.  As long as they are on a leash and are cleaned up after, they are welcome, even in the Visitor’s Center.

 The diamond search area is a field that is routinely plowed so that the dirt is churned up and re-distributed so that you always have a chance to find a diamond.

Diamonds came to the surface here when 100 million years ago, an instability in the Earth’s crust caused this volcanic vent to open up.  Rocks called Lamproite brought the diamonds up and out into the crust.

The color of the diamonds found here are white, yellow and brown.  Examples can be studied at the visitor’s center to help one to learn how to identify them out in the field.

Diamonds aren’t found as often as you would think, only one was found yesterday and about 600 last year.

Not all diamonds are found on the property here.  The visitor’s center has bags of dirt, along with tools, that can be purchased and taken home.  A digging kit can also be rented for a nominal fee with a $20 refundable deposit.  It includes a bucket, sluice screens and a shovel.  Wagons and wheel barrows can also be rented to pull your tools around, but you can bring your own too. 

So… on we went, tools in hand, out to the field!  There are two water washing stations with sluice boxes.

People set up and ran their diamond mining operations all over the place.  It was neat to see.

Some of their holes got really, really big!

We set up on a little shaded island and began our diamond search.  I would have preferred to use the Barbara Bennett method of walking the field and using the sun to look for sparkles… but, Bill insisted that we dig a bucket full of dirt and head for the sluice station.

They were pretty crowded, and this was a weekday.

But we found a spot and set up our gear and our doggie.  This way Angie had shade and stayed nice and cool.

Everyone worked hard to find a gem.

We loaded up our screens and started rinsing.  The soil is a sticky clay, not like the gravel we worked with at Gem Mountain and Hiddenite.  It took a long time to break up the clumps and get down to the rocks.  I told Bill that we should make pottery instead like our friend Gwen!  😉

But we kept at it.
And we got real thirsty.

And then Angie started giving me “the eye” which meant “can we go now?”

So, we packed up and headed back through the fields to the visitor’s center to return our rented tools.

On the way we noticed a marker showing just where one of those real big diamonds was found.

That’s one like this big one that is on display at the visitor’s center.

Other rocks can be found here while looking for diamonds.  Jasper, agate and quartz, among others.

Diamond hunting is great fun but can be hot work.  There’s a water park right on site to cool off or to give the kids something to do while parents mine their future inheritance.

All in all a day of great fun.  We wouldn’t hesitate to come back and hunt some more the next time we’re in the neighborhood.

This is considered America’s only Diamond Mine but apparently diamonds have also been found in Ohio, Colorado, Michigan and Wisconsin.  Just means there is more to discover in America, all the time.

Spent a day at Montana’s Gem Mountain with fellow rockhounds Tom and Debby.  This is the place that was featured on an episode the Travel Channel’s Cash and Treasures.  We got there bright and early before they opened.

The gigunda sized sluice box was just begging for action.

Our friend Tom, who is an expert god panner, checked to see if there were some sapphires in the muck in the bottom of the sluice.

Finally, we got our buckets of gravel that hopefully contained some of Montana’s beautiful sapphires.

We carefully put little shovel fulls of the gravel into our screen.

And washed them in the sluice.  That takes skill, working it from side to side, washing off the dirt and moving everything to the center of the screen.

Then pick out the sapphires.  They look like glass or a little glob of gelatin.

There’s one in there… do you see it?

There it is!

We found a few good ones!

Deb and Tom were wonderful and helped many new gem hunters become proficient so they wouldn’t become discouraged.

So, off we went with our treasures and headed for the little town of Phillipsburg, MT.

On the way, we spotted a herd of elk crossing a hay field.

And headed for the Doe Brothers Restaurant & Soda Fountain.  This was our ambiance.

What a treat!  Huckleberry shakes!

And got some treats at the Sweet Shop.  Bill kept saying that he felt like a kid all day.  Now he really felt like a kid!

Well, we ended up with four flawless, cuttable Montana Sapphires and took them to the Sapphire Gallery in town to have them heat treated, faceted and mounted in a ring.  Sorry we didn’t get pictures of the them before we dropped them off, but when we get them back in about 9 weeks, we’ll show it off.  What a way to remember a wonderful day with two special people.

  We traveled to the town of Spencer, Idaho today. It’s a small mountain town, tucked in the hills.  There are only two mines but they are privately owned, and not open to the public.  But, there are several opal shops in Spencer.

Bob and Susan Thompson own the Opal Mountain Mine.  They are very knowledgeable and friendly and don’t hesitate to spend time with you explaining about how opal is made and how it is worked.  They showed us how they make triplets where a backing of black basalt is applied and a clear domesply is applied to the top to create a dazzling gem.
Their not for sale/ display only specimens are incredible and I delighted in finding some buckets of lesser quality rough to pick through that would make good specimens. We also saw gem quality trimmed rough in jars for those of us who like to try their luck at creating a gem or two.

Bob and Susan explained that some of their specimens are in the Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC.  This one is the largest solid piece they have ever found.  It’s simply awesome. 

Here is a triplet that is surrounded by Montana (yellow) sapphires…

… and a huge triplet opal set in sterling….

… and this rarity.

You can visit Bob and Susan’s website at: http://www.idopalmine.com/  if you are ever in Idaho and passing through Spencer, look them up!

By the way, the mine business is for sale… so if you ever dreamed of having your own opal mine business and don’t mind working REAL hard, here’s your chance!

Wasn’t prepared for the enormous structures that greeted as we pulled in for our visit to the Sterling Hill Mining Museum.

We saw lots of mining cars and equipment.

Got a chance to visit “The Dump”!

Brought Home some fabulous treasure!