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traveling to Arkansas.
My family and I are going to Cherokee Village, AR next week and are wondering where any cool fossil of gemstone places, that are open to the public, are down there?
Posted:
Jun 2 2009, 4:18 PM EDT by
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Questions on Diamond hunting in Arkansas
I have been to the Diamond Mine State Park several times. It is large wooded park on the Little Missouri River. There are 59 wooded camp sites some with utilities. The cost is $17 a night to camp. The Park has a museum, a cafe, a pravilon, and a Water Theme Park. There are hiking trails and of course the Crater of Diamonds. The 6th of June is not too late but July and August can be oppressive with heat and humidity. I would reserve all mining to the morning hours. The pipe itself has very little shade and the lamporite is a blue green clay which heats up quickly. Do other activities in the afternoon. You will be allowed to remove one 5 gallon bucket of material per person from the mine. Only two diamonds are found per day so finding a diamond is not a common occurance. To find dimonds; start by touring the museum and viewing the film on diamond hunting. You will need screens to wash the dirt. If you don't have any screens they can be rented at the mine. However, a security deposit is required. Some folks have been walking off with the screens. Dig a bucket of dirt and wash it in the sluice box at the mine. Look of slick greasy feeling smooth stones. Some will be diamond shaped others not.
They will be mostly brown but various colors and clear stones can be found. The average stone is 1/4 carat but larger diamonds are found. If you are a rockhound there is plenty of multi colored jasper and agate at the mine. If it rains go out after the rain and set on a rise and look for a sparkle in the sun light. If you find a larger stone you could strike it rich. Serveral people this year have found large stones. But it not the norm. I have added links to the Crater of Diamonds and other prospecting opportunities on the Arkansas National Directory. Good luck and I know you will have fun. Things to bring : picks, shovels, 5 gallon buckets, screens, bug spray, sunscreen, hats, lots of water, small sandwich bags for your diamonds. A geologist is on site.
Bill
Posted:
May 31 2008, 10:40 PM EDT by
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Arkansas Diamond Trip March the 21st
"Bill you are ruthless! I am sitting here reading about a great southern breakfast and I am eating a stinky green salad! ewwww you mean! lol ;-) Breakfast sounds like it would be worth the trip alone.
But a couple of diamonds would put the icing on the cake for ya. OK.. Back to my salad. lol
Paul
" Notice I did not say GRITS. I am not that Southern. Arkansas is west of the Mississippi. Nor did I mention boiled peanuts or chitlings.(which are Pig guts) I also left out possum which is a greasy big rat. O I am sorry Paul I forget you are eating. Billie Ann is packing a Cajun lunch but I will refrain from describing the unbelievably Great food she is bringing. There are plenty of picnic tables under bottom land hardwoods. If I find the BIG ONE I will come to Washington and take the WIKI bunch for a steak diner.
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Posted:
Mar 17 2009, 7:23 PM EDT by
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Traveling to Diamond Crate in Arkansas from Atlanta
Hello Everyone, we are RVing from Atlanta to Arkansas and need some help with stops on the way. I would like to know of any family treasure hunting across Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, and Arkansas that we might be able to stop on the way. Thanks in advance... Lynn
Posted:
Mar 22 2008, 1:27 PM EDT by
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Crater of Diamonds on NBC News
Check out this story on NBC Nightly News about the Crater of Diamonds mine in Arkansas. Our Cash and Treasures crew visited this same mine. This is also the same mine where Marvin Culver discovered a 4 carat diamond. Copy and paste the link into your Web browser. Check it out!
Posted:
Jan 2 2008, 10:33 AM EST by
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Diamond prospecting and exploring Colorado/Wyoming
If you want to take an adventure tour this year that is UNIQUE come with Dan Hausel and I to the state line district.
This field trip is the most affordable geology adventure of it's kind offered this year in the United States! July 22-25... don't miss out on this one!
We provide the lodging, meals, and lectures. We'll show you where to look and what it is you are looking at! More DIAMONDS here than in Murfreesboro Arkansas!
Take a look, then call me to make your reservations! 303-884-9404
http://www.learngoldprospecting.com/index.cfm?var_file=fieldtrips/2009/gem-gold-fieldtrip.cfm
Let me know you found us on the Travelchannel.com site...
Happy Trails,
Johnny Walker the Adventure Guide
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Treasure Hunting
It seams their are a alot of places to go hunting for treasures but you keep on giving re-runs of the same shows. For example up in the mountains of Colorado next to the town of Cripple Creek their is another town called Victor. This town was burnt to the grown and rebuilt back in the cowboys and indian times. Everthing that was burt in this town was put in one area, that area is now a dump site for the town but the old area of the dump site is known only to a few including the worker at the dump site, if you get my drift. I have seen people return with the old jugs and bottles with different colores from this site. Another place to go after a storm is the treasure coast of Florida. How about the Diamond State Park in Arkansas, or safire and ruby hunting in Montana and Noth Carolina. How about gold hunting in Georgia or North Carolina, or the topaz in Texas. It seems that there are far more places to go.
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Posted:
Feb 14 2008, 6:54 PM EST by
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PHOTO FINISH
The hugh crystal is from Ron Coleman's crystal mine near Hot Springs Arkansas. Arkansas produces more Quartz Crystals than and other state. On their web site they have a video of removing an even bigger cluster from a vug. I found the novaculite in a quarry near Mount Ida, Arkansas.The same quarry has wavellite, varasite and tourguise. You saw my Tourquise picture? Novaculite is a very hard micro-crystalline quartz that is mined for whet stones. Novaculite can put a razor edge on a knife. When I sent back the cabs I wll send a knife shapener made of Novaculite. The Arizona wood was collected near the Petrified Forest National Park on private land. It weighs about 35 pounds and has been slabbed on a 36 inch slab saw. On the National Directory I have posted Arizona Petrified Wood Locations, and on the Arkansas National Directoty there is a link to the Coleman Mine with the cool video. Thre are a number of quartz crystal mines around Hot Springs. I have a good deal of Western Material that I will take pictures of.
Bill Reynolds
Posted:
May 13 2008, 3:18 PM EDT by
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Road Cuts are a Tourist Attraction
I made a fast trip to Hot Springs Arkansas this last weekend. My niece was having open heart surgery. Every thing went well and she is recovering fine. Billie and I could not resist a new road cut near Silver, Arkansas on HWY 70 west of Hot Springs. The highway department is building a new bridge at Lake Ouachita. It was a great find, We picked up a great deal of Rhomboid shaped calcite crystals with some nice Quartz crystals embedded in the calcite. We were just a few mile from Mt Ida which is the quartz crystal capital of the US. If you have never been there and you are traveling through the state it is a must stop. There are a number of fee mines in the area and I know a few spots not on the fee circuit. Massive gem quality crystals have come from this area. If there are some mid west folks on the WIKI maybe we could explore for treasures? Tom you are coming this way soon?
Bill
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Posted:
Sep 27 2008, 11:26 PM EDT by
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WHY HAVENT WE SEEN ANY NEW TREASURE HUNTS?
Jim, there are hundreds of sites across his nation. I hope people will start sharing their knowledge. I have posted a number of sites on the National Directory in the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and South Dakota.
Bill
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Posted:
Apr 19 2008, 9:56 AM EDT by
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New Mexico
"Link to the forum: http://discussions.travelchannel.com/eve/forums/a/cfrm/f/4451970458
The other link is to a thread in the forum. You need to read all of the posts in that thread as the first post isn't really true.." I have spent some time going from link to link to link, and think I have found a lot of good information. So much that I hardly know where to start. I guess I'll just jump in feet first and see where I get to. I'm leaving Beaver Dam, Ky on the 24th of May and plan on maybe stopping in Arkansas for a day or two if there's somewhere I can dig there. I found a link to the Coleman Crystal Mine and also the Crater of Diamonds State Park. If anyone has been there, I would be interested to know what can be found. I've never been treasure hunting before, so any helpful hints would be much appreciated.
Posted:
Apr 11 2008, 1:00 PM EDT by
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Road Trip...
Hi there,
A friend and I are going on a road trip from North Carolina to California via I-40. We will be passing through Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, Oklahoma, north Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and southern California. I have been charged with finding interesting stops along the way and was wondering if anyone knew of some good hunting spots on that route.
Thanks for any advice!
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Posted:
Dec 28 2008, 7:30 AM EST by
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Anyone Hunt Diamonds In Wyoming?
"Turns out we were filming very close to there chasing diamonds. Sybil Creek drainage (may be the same drainage, but we would have been to the area on the right (another lamprolite area). I saw Hausel at the geology station at the University, but didn't know who he was at the time." I hear that geologist from a Canadian mining company are looking for pipes in not only Wyoming but also Minnesota. I have been to the Arkansas diamond mine on several occassions. There are several lamprolite pipes in the area. At one time the State of Arkansas considered selling the mine to Canadian investors. The public out cry was such that Bill Clinton ,who was the governor, backed away from the deal. Extensive boring was conducted and the conclusion was that the mine did not have a high enough percentage of gem grade diamonds. I must admit that I go there not to hunt diamonds but to find cutting material (multicolored jasper and lace agate" If you go for diamonds you must be focused on the work at hand. It takes some real digging, hauling, washing and inspecting to find a diamond. There is a pay off for the committed miner. A friend of mine Jim Archer made a living mining diamonds. He worked half a day at the mine and a half a day on his front porch looking through the gravel. The most attractive diamond I saw at the mine was one of Jims. It was a lovely shade of green.
Posted:
May 31 2008, 4:20 PM EDT by
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Labels on specimens -
"How do you know they were mislabeled? Was the seller knowledgeable? Did the mislabeled location affect the price? I would let him know.
Bill" Location generally does affects the price. A Fairburn agate has a much higher price than a common Brazilian agate. Fluorite from Illinois brings a much higher price than Fluorite from China. An Arkansas saw diamond brings far more than an African diamond for the same quality and size. By the way an Arkansas diamond is generally worth more if left uncut. Since I have family up your way we will need to get together to hunt treasures in Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana.
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Posted:
Nov 3 2008, 9:45 AM EST by
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Gold and Diamond prospecting field trip
Plans are coming together ! This summer our field trips to Wyoming are going to be the TRIP YOU'LL ALWAYS REMEMBER!... Learn everything you ever wanted to learn about finding diamonds! Fully escorted field trips into the wilderness of Wyoming, Expert lectures, incredable history, lost treasures, and YES more diamond bearing kimberlite than Murfreesboro, Arkansas!
We stay at nice guest ranches and hot springs hotels, We know where the best meals can be found!
YES... you keep all the gold and diamonds you find.
Take a look at http://www.LearnGoldProspecting.com or give us an email or call... a very limited number of special gem hunters will be able to go on each tour. Dates and Rates coming soon...
Happy Trails,
Johnny the Adventure Guide
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treasue hunting in kansas near bonner springs
my children are really into treasure hunting.it makes their world very magical fo them. i was hoping to find some places where wwe can go as a family and search. i remember as a little girl searching for arrowheads in streams. does anyone know of any places like this near me. we would like to look for anything crystals rocks arrowheads , just something to fascinate us with. i heard arkansas has some good places to dig for your own crystals.
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Posted:
Dec 15 2007, 10:21 AM EST by
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WELCOME CANADA
No matter what anyone clicks on your page it takes you there. Click Arkansas it takes you to Arkansas. Click Diamond it takes you to diamond it ties the whole data base together. I thought you planned it that way? II was impressed. Tell me you planned it that way. I need to hear it.
Bill
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Posted:
Mar 12 2009, 11:04 PM EDT by
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Crater of Diamonds State Park. AR
So much fun and so addictive is a day at the diamond mine in Murfreesburo, AR Our family of 10 spent the better part of a day there and if I didn't live in California I think that I would be there all the time. While we didn't stirke it RICH in Diamonds we did get lots of other treasures in the form of pictures of grandkids and adult kids having a great time look for the BIG ONE. SO if your in California or a little closer take time to go to Arkansas and look for your retirement diamond.
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Posted:
Oct 25 2008, 1:23 PM EDT by
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Travel Ideas
"I've been blessed this year with some left over airline credit from my work that i must book before the end of October. (about $650)
I am looking for ideas for cool or early spring winter rock hunting trips ..I want to go somewhere new and try something ive never done before.. something really cool! :-)
Anyone have suggestions?
Anywhere but the PacNW as i live here and flying would be a waste ;-)
-Jake
" Go to Hot Springs National Park , Arkansas. You will find the nations finest crystal mines where you can take home specimens worth hundreds of dollars. You can dig for really rare gems and specimens 12 miles from Hot Springs at Magnet Cove. There are Novaculite ridges where colorful cutting and napping material can be found. It is a short hour and fifteen minute drive to the diamond mine where if you are lucky you can go away rich. If not you can find lots of lace agate and colorful jaspers in the mine. A short drive west puts you in Mt Ida (35 miles) which has a number of working quartz mines and a rare Wavelite quarry. All that and a great tourist destination with attractions for the whole family. Every thing from hiking, fishing (three great lakes), top rate horse racing track, theme parks, museums, fine dinning, and a world class spa thrown in for good measure. You can stray in a 1890s hotel, new resorts or camp in a number of first class parks. When you get ready to ship your treasure home, you can send 70 pounds priority mail for $7.50. That's how I shipped Tom the last bunch of goodies. Check out what I posted for Arkansas on the National Directory. Most of the sights are near Hot Springs.
Second choice is the Black Hills of South Dakota or North Carolina.
Bill
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Posted:
Oct 29 2008, 9:39 PM EDT by
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Wyoming Giant Opal field
"Thanks, I've really enjoyed my work. I use to lead field trips for prospectors & rock hounds & had a great time showing them what to look for. Great people!
On one trip (which has been affectionately been branded the 'chicken park death march'), I led a group of rock hounds and geologists to look at a diamond prospect in Colorado. I told the 50 to 100 participants to keep their eyes open for the host rock (kimberlite) because I was going to walk them over it without telling them that they were walking over it. Not one saw the deposit, so I walked them back over it to show them what they had missed and how difficult it is to find diamond deposits - and this was one of the better exposed kimberlites. See my site at:
http://kimberlite.pbwiki.com/ for information on kimberlite if you are not familiar with it.
Kimberlites are pretty neat because many have diamonds, and they also have several other interesting rocks and minerals - some are gemstones along with diamond.
Dan" Dan; there are at least five pipes just south of me. I am sure there are more but like you said people do not know what to look for and they are generally small on the surface. All five produce diamonds and the host rocks supply a variety of other gems. The contact zone also produces some great metamorphic gems. About 100 million years ago, an instability in the Earth’s mantle caused the movement of gas and rock to the surface. These volcanic vents rose rapidly through the upper mantle and crust, carrying with it fragments of mantle and crustal rocks and minerals, until it came near enough to the surface to explode due to the release of gases. The host rock is lamproite which also produces diamonds. First cousin to Kimberlite. The massive Australian pipe is lamproite. The Australian deposit is famous for its pink diamonds and currently is the largest diamond mine in the world producing 30 million carats a year. . No pink to speak of in the Arkansas pipes but plenty of yellows, champaign and a lesser amount of white, blue and green. Other gems around the pipes in Arkansas include peridot, garnet, amethyst, and at the contact zone green, blue, and yellow banded agate. The little Missouri river has washed literally tons of jaspers into the diamond region. Next Month's Rock and Gem has a article I wrote about turning abandoned mines and quarries into rockhound parks like Arkansas did with one of the pipes. It is part of the "Green" movement to restore waste land to fun family friendly collecting sites.
Bill
Posted:
Feb 7 2009, 2:54 PM EST by
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