Moderators help maintain and support the site. They can use all editing tools, manage pages, promote or ban members, and invite others on private sites.
1. At a new site, preform an reconnaissance of the site to determine the best spot to land. Look for anomalies and depressions in the terrain.
2. Once a good spot is found do not abandon it but continue to work it. Most of the best material is below the surface. Generally surface material has been picked up long ago. Dig below the frost line if possible to obtain material with fewer fractures.
3. Learn the local geology in order to know were to look for sites. Always mark specimens as to location, mineralogy and geology. Much of the value of specimens is in the documentation. This is a must and is especially true with fossils. A good ammonite from South Dakota brings a better price than a common one from Morocco. Agates from a Fairburn site is much more valuable than a common Brazilian piece. The value of a piece is what a person is willing to pay. Rarity, beauty, scientific importance add to the value.
4. Share with other rockhounds. That is how to find new sites and to make new friends. The Lost Dutchman would not have been lost if the Dutchman had a friend.
5. Always leave a site better than you found it. Carry your trash out. Fill in holes if the land was undisturbed. Thank the owner if the site is on private property. Bad manners has closed sites to rockhounds across the nation.
My Best Places to Find Cash and Treasure
1. The Black Hills of South Dakota, Colorado
2, Texas, Louisiana
3. Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma
4. Oregon, Washington
5. Alabama, Tennessee
6.Kentucky , Illinois
7. North Carolina
8. Arizona
Mining Engineer More about me...
How I first got into treasure hunting...I have collected since I was a child and I never grew up. I worked as a Chemical Engineer in the mining industry and was able to build a large collection. My collection includes gems, minerals, and fossils. I cut and polish- gems and my wife is a lapidary artist. I have written for "Lapidary Journal"and have been active in different- Gem and Mineral Societies.-------------------------------------
My\ treasure hunting obsession(s): I love the------ agates because each one is unique and the very valuable agates are very rare, Diamonds on the other hand are common (ever women has one) and the------- faceted stones look pretty much the same. Some of my most valuable finds I have donated to museums and universities. I also love working with opal,--- emerald, sapphires, picture jasper and so many-more.-------------------------------------------------------------------
My favorite places to look for treasure: The---------- mountains. The exercise, the views, the cool air, the wild life make the mountains my choose to spend my time. I lived in Jamaica which combined the sea and the mountains.-------------------------------------------------------
My favorite treasure hunting techniques: Join alocal Rockhound or Gold Prospecting Club. This will give you access to many sites and you can learn ahobby that can be profitable.------------------------------------
My treasure hunt toolkit contains... Good rock------- hammers, picks, shovels, 50 caliber machine gun------ ammunition bag (there is a front and back bag), I have saws, grinding wheels, sanding wheels,and other------ lapidary equipment-------------------------------------------------
I'm presently hunting for... Gems and minerals inArkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma because I currently live in NW Arkansas.-----------------------------------------------
My home state: Arkansas is a place of beauty with loads of treasures. The folks in Arkansas are welcoming, hardworking, fun loving, patriotic, reverent, down right friendly people. Arkansas is a land of contrasts from the farm lands and swamps of the Mississippi Delta to the hills and mountains of the Ozarks and Ouachita Mountains. Arkansas has one National Park, Hot Springs, a National River, the Buffalo River, thousands of square miles of National Forest and numerous State Parks including the nations only Diamond mine open to the public. Northwest Arkansas(where I live) has been rated in the top ten places to live in the county and is one of the fastest growing areas of the nation. Within a few miles I can go to a University of Arkansas football game, see a musical at the Walton Arts Center, eat at scores of restaurants from southern cooking, to western style BBQ, Italian cooking at Toni Town, to you name it. I can also fish on Beaver Lake (fifteen minutes away) and collect a variety of minerals and fossils. A 10 foot cephlapod was found in a ditch on the I540 bypass. It was the largest giant squid shell cone fossil of its kind. We live in Springdale which is part of five cities that have grown together to form a metro area of wide diversity. Even though it has grown it is still just a short drive to the mountains and forest of the Ozarks. Give me a call if you are coming this way and I will recommend some places to check out.
MY FINDS
Description of the treasure: Hand crafted piece of Tennessee agate with black onyx beads and sterling silver
Created By: Bill & Billie Reynolds
Description of the treasure: A small sample of a collection of Tri-State mineral Specimens
My Greatest Treasure: My Wife
Description of treasure: Billie Ann and I collect mineral specimens and made jewelry from gemstones we have collected from all over the globe.
Description of treasure: Amethyst Geode
Tuscon Show: Brazil
Appraisal information: $7500
Description of treasure:Alabama Paint Rock
Where I found it: Paint Rock Valley
How I found it: Prospecting with Dewey Moss
Description of treasure: 80 pound piece of Smokey quartz crusted Brilliant Wood Part of a 1200 pound log excavated by myself and Dewey Moss
my name favour Love is the most important in life. write me back my email(favourarisa@hotmail.com) please am waiting for your lovely reply so i we give you my picture soon. thanks yours favour favourarisa@hotmail.com
out of found this valuable.
Do you find this valuable?
No pun intended on my subject of this thread.lol But i am a newbee to it all. I have a few hobbies that i am passionate about but ever since i started hunting arrowheads and artifacts....it is all i want to do. Course my other passions fit in with it as well. Being a Photographer/Fine Artist/graphic Artist, etc. I can just about use all the with my new hobby, if you will. But my question is..I'm from Tallapoosa County in Alabama and I'm need just that point in a right direction for a new kind of hunting area. I have been spending alot of time walking the banks at my parents house on Lake Martin. I come across tons of pieces but not anything solid and complete. ont get me wrong. I enjoy the pieces and the history behind them but i just want so badly to find my first full arrowhead point. Any help you could give me would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time. - Chantz Meadows
out of found this valuable.
Do you find this valuable?
up to 3 years ago I drove a truck in the lower 48 states.My cb handle Was the rest area rock hound I love rocksand I miss the fun of hunting rock and dodging rattlesnakes.I live in Dawsonville,Ga. not much to find around here. I was born in arab, ala.when I go out there i go through Paint rock and I have kin living in the Scottsburg and skyline area can any one tell me a good place to hunt.I knapp Cut and polish stone, wire wrapp but like to hunt my own material . thank you ::bugfuzz 38
out of found this valuable.
Do you find this valuable?
Hi, My dad lives in Joplin Mo, and I'm going to come out and visit him sometime later this year. I was hoping to make it down into Arkansas to hit up one of the quartz mines. I was wondering if you might have any suggestions on which are better, or more likely to get nice pieces out of?
Also, I noticed your photo of Arkansas turquoise from the Mona Lisa mine. Is that mine open to the public?
Thanks, Dave
out of found this valuable.
Do you find this valuable?
