|
|
Post by saskrock on Jul 17, 2008 2:20:09 GMT -5
Just wondering if anyone has been to Crystal Park Mineral Collection Area in Montana? I am planning on going near there in a few weeks and was wondering if it would be a place that would keep a 9 and 10 yr old interested? Also do you know how much it costs?
|
|
|
|
Post by yogibear on Jul 17, 2008 9:04:00 GMT -5
Collecting is free but they appreciate donations. It is a claim by the Butte, MT. rockhounding club. Butte Mineral and Gem Club #305 Butte, Montana Meetings: Fourth Tuesday except July, Aug. & Dec. at Continental Gardens Contact: Chloe Young 406-494-3648 Also you might wnt to go to Gem Mountain mine near Phillipsburg. www.gemmtn.com/Depending on how you go to the Butte area you might want to stop here also. www.sapphiremine.com/yogibear |
|
|
|
Post by mamaduke on Jul 17, 2008 9:38:28 GMT -5
if you go fill the gas tank first and take lunch and drinks. there is nowhere to stop for MILES Watch for cows in the road. I found some crystals there a few years ago,I personally prefer Gem mountain and am going back in August. Found lots of sapphires. The book Rockhounding Montana by Montana Hodges lists 91 collecting sites for more information. I also went to the Spokane Bar near Helena and found nothing for a whole days work. Enjoy your trip. Linda
|
|
|
|
Post by Basketweaverz on Jul 17, 2008 10:20:54 GMT -5
I just love Crystal Park. Bring lots of bug spray, black (deer) flies can be fierce. Best digging is over the top above the restrooms. DH and I have found lovely scepters about half way between the restroom and the back fencing. Look for a place that looks undisturbed. Hard to find undisturbed ground since this site has been dug so long. We use a half inch screen and watch the tailing pile for anything small that sifts through.
Watch around you often. We like wildlife and have seen deer, elk, moose, coyotes and something we couldn't identify. Might have been a badger or something like that. After digging and getting hot and dirty, go to Elkhorn Hot Springs and soak. Heavenly!!! It is developed and they charge a nominal fee.
|
|
|
|
Post by dixieeuhedrals on Jul 18, 2008 21:15:25 GMT -5
I have read a lot about this location . I have also seen a guy in Tucson that had many hundreds of nice crystals from there . From what I have read , anyone that puts forth some efforts will find lots of nice crystals . The amethyst scepters have smoky phantoms . Really nice stuff . Easy to find , plentifull gem quality crystals ? ? ? How could you go wrong !?
|
|
|
|
Post by saskrock on Jul 19, 2008 9:31:09 GMT -5
Well Crystal park is now a for sure stop. Thanks.
Gem mountain looks neat, can you expect to get much out of their $14 bucket or do you need to get one of the bigger packages?
|
|
|
|
Post by Basketweaverz on Jul 19, 2008 10:13:14 GMT -5
Gem Mountain is a Cash & Treasurers type of place, I think. We stop there for 1 bucket when we are in the area but don't make a point to go there. Mamaduke has had better luck than we have!! Lots of little blue sapphires and most are fractured. Fun to screen and pick but 99% are just fun to find. We paid extra once to sift minerun and got less than in the buckets.
Your kids will love it. Worth stopping for the fun of the search. Have a great time.
Basket
|
|
|
|
Post by saskrock on Jul 19, 2008 13:42:08 GMT -5
Thanks, don't suppose you have ever been to Ruby Reservoir? It sounds like a good spot for garnets.
|
|
|
|
Post by Basketweaverz on Jul 19, 2008 18:06:46 GMT -5
Yep, been there--done that. Lots and lots of garnets. Need a screen with fine mesh unless you are going for the big, big ones. You can also use a gold pan. We went to the north end of the reservoir and it was a windy afternoon. Sort of cold (we woke up to snow on 6-22 at Crystal Park that morning). Didn't stay any longer than it took to fill a babyfood jar with little red garnets. You should have better and warmer weather and a much better time. We have garnets locally in the river valley just south of where we live, so weren't too interested. Just stopped to see what Ruby R. had to offer, also, it was cold, cold, cold.
Basket
|
|
|
|
Post by saskrock on Jul 19, 2008 19:30:25 GMT -5
I think I have another stop on the trip. thanks for the info. The gold pans are already packed. How do you screen for them are they bigger than the sand/rock they are in so they get caught in the screen or what do you do?
|
|
|
|
Post by Basketweaverz on Jul 19, 2008 20:16:46 GMT -5
Some of our club members had screens that they had used at Crystal Park. They shoveled the sandy shore material into their screens and picked out bigger rocks and waste and underneath were little garnets. Those diehard crystal diggers have a rocker system with graded screens from 1 inch down to 1/4 inch piled one on top of the other with ropes. A shovel load of material falls through each grade of mesh and very little of anything escapes!!! A pull on the rope swings the whole thing and sifts the material from one to the other. about all that falls out the bottom is dust!!! LOL
DH and I used gold pans, it was too cold to work in the water with screens. You will do fine with pans.
Our junior club has spent a week two different summers in the Crystal Park/Ruby R./Butte/Anaconda area. The first year one of the Butte club members met us each morning and guided us to a different dig site. What a great way to learn a new area. Calvert Hill has big, green, muddy epidote crystals. Good for sample but I don't think they polish. I never tried, just collected some to be able to say I had them. For history, go to Bannock or Bannack which is south of Crystal Park. It was the home of the Plummer Gang and was the first capitol of Montana. A well-preserved ghost town that kids (and big kids) love. Go to Berkley Pit in Butte. It is the hole where the open mining was done. It is not as impressive as it once was because it is filling with meltwater. But the color of blue from the copper you won't believe.
Basket
|
|
