Joined: Fri Jun 25, 2010 12:04 am Posts: 257 Location: Idaho
Hey, wondering if anyone is headed to the sunstone digs this summer? I know - it's nothing like a trip to Tanzania, but for poor working stiffs like me at least it's something...
Any recommendations for mines and fee digs? Any help or comments are welcome!
Allan
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Just looking on the surface is a lot of fun and very memorable, as the desert floor is just littered with (hot) gems. Mostly just the clear/yellowish of course but still a special experience. Beyond that, my family has had great experiences with the Spectrum mine, specifically the conveyor belt. For 200 dollars they crush down some of the gem-rich basalt into the right size and run it past you on a conveyor belt for an hour--you can have as much as you can grab. It is very much like that iconic chocolate conveyor belt from I Love Lucy--a very exciting and fun experience, and well worth the price with how much material we got in such a short time (gain, mostly yellows but plenty of schiller and a few reds or greens). You can do very well digging your own as well, of course. Be warned, though, it was well above 100F one of the times we went, so be sure to take lots and lots of water.
Post subject: Re: Summer 2013 Oregon Sunstone trip?
Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 3:01 pm
Active Member
Joined: Fri Nov 02, 2007 1:13 pm Posts: 89 Location: Chehalis, Washington State
There is a good chance I'll be headed down in August. I'll be heading to the Spectrum, Dust Devil, and Pana if its open, I think the Sunstone Butte mine is closed to fee diggers this year
Post subject: Re: Summer 2013 Oregon Sunstone trip?
Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2014 6:57 pm
Established Member
Joined: Sat Dec 01, 2012 5:27 pm Posts: 41
I spent 10 days digging at the Dust Devil in May 2013. Did one belt run which is approximately 1 cubic yard of pit run. Got a few reds from the belt but me being an Old Potato Farmer from Idaho I love to dig. The Dust Devil will let you dig as much as you want and only pay for what they value as gem quality. I found lbs of clear and a coffee can of red and schiller. I take an electric jack hammer, generator, and 1/2 screen. It is a hell hole, dry, dusty and windy just like the farm. The Dust Devil has some old campers they let people stay in for free. A great bunch of helpful people.
Being a rookie faceter I brought back everything I found on the 1/2 screen but with the cleavage and crack nature of Sunstone allot doesn't always mean much.
If you go plan on very primitive camping with no water available. TAKE lots of water fill up with gas and have good tires. A car can get you there.
Check the mines web sites and follow there recommendation. The public area is a good place to walk and pick but it has had lots of visitors over the years.
It is a great back country excursion but not a place for small children unless you have a good camper. Not a place for tents. You can't drive a stake in the ground and the Dust Devils are dangerous. I pitched a tent my first year and ended up upside down with my cot and stove on top of me. The dust devil completed destroyed my tent.
I will be going out to Jim Allens new mine to dig in October. June and July is just too dang hot for this North Dakota guy. I believe Jim will be having people out for private digs and is a new mine area that is just opening up. The name of the mine is American Gemstone Mining Co and is listed on Facebook.
Post subject: Re: Summer 2013 Oregon Sunstone trip?
Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2014 5:21 pm
Established Member
Joined: Sat Dec 01, 2012 5:27 pm Posts: 41
Jim Rentfrow wrote:
I will be going out to Jim Allens new mine to dig in October. June and July is just too dang hot for this North Dakota guy. I believe Jim will be having people out for private digs and is a new mine area that is just opening up. The name of the mine is American Gemstone Mining Co and is listed on Facebook.
Would like to look into digging there but I don't do face book, I don't care their policy on face recognition for shoppers at stores. Any other web info about it.
Post subject: Re: Summer 2013 Oregon Sunstone trip?
Posted: Sun May 07, 2017 4:34 pm
Established Member
Joined: Tue May 02, 2017 4:54 pm Posts: 42
There is a more economical way to acquire a parcel of some Sunstone anybody. The swapping of stones. It is not necessary to travel anyone to these Sunstone mines if anyone lives very far from there. I know a person who has a lot of Sunstone and anybody has available material for exchange, I can give him the email address of this person.
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