Discussion: Oh I want to go hunt tourmaline...

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pvjjh	Oh I want to go hunt tourmaline... Dec 19 2007, 1:33 AM EST Great show! Tourmaline is so beautiful and being a novice facetor it would be nice to be able to find the stones then cut them. Oh, to get out of the snow and get warm in southern CA and find tourmaline. Life couldn't get much better...Could it? lol I have to admit, I felt sort of sorry for the camera-men who found the gold nuggets and had to give them to Kirsten. lol You would have probably had to pry that 1/3 oz nugget from my clinched hand before giving that one up. Post reply 8 out of 9 found this valuable. Do you find this valuable? Do you? Keyword tags: tourmaline
goldengirl	1. RE: Oh I want to go hunt tourmaline... Dec 20 2007, 7:21 PM EST Yes, great show and my first introduction to this sport! I'm headed to San Diego next week- is the mine where Kristen found her gorgeous tourmaline stone - turned $12,000 pendant really open to treasure hunters??? I'd love to know where... Post reply 7 out of 10 found this valuable. Do you find this valuable? Do you?
pvjjh	2. RE: Oh I want to go hunt tourmaline... Dec 20 2007, 8:26 PM EST Yes there are several mines (and probably more) close to San Diego. One of the Travel Channel shows, "The best Places to find Cash and Treasures" - I guess an early version of Cash and Treasures (I get confused) has a segment on a mine "Gems of Pala" the Stewart MIne http://www.mmmgems.com/stewart/ you can purchase buckets and search for tourmaline and I think other gems. The recent episode of Cash and Treasures the "Himalaya Mine" http://www.highdesertgemsandminerals.com/html/himalaya_mine_digs.html I think you can work the tailings and find tourmaline. This is where Kirstin found her real nice tourmaline. I believe the underground portions of both mines are off limits. But both are fairly close to San Deigo. I wish I could go! lol Hope this helps and if you do go, please post how you did and what you found. Post reply 5 out of 6 found this valuable. Do you find this valuable? Do you?
NathanBell	3. RE: Oh I want to go hunt tourmaline... Dec 30 2007, 1:02 PM EST "Yes there are several mines (and probably more) close to San Diego. One of the Travel Channel shows, "The best Places to find Cash and Treasures" - I guess an early version of Cash and Treasures (I get confused) has a segment on a mine "Gems of Pala" the Stewart MIne http://www.mmmgems.com/stewart/ you can purchase buckets and search for tourmaline and I think other gems. The recent episode of Cash and Treasures the "Himalaya Mine" http://www.highdesertgemsandminerals.com/html/himalaya_mine_digs.html I think you can work the tailings and find tourmaline. This is where Kirstin found her real nice tourmaline. I believe the underground portions of both mines are off limits. But both are fairly close to San Deigo. I wish I could go! lol Hope this helps and if you do go, please post how you did and what you found." My son and I want to go look for some tourmalines. Where is the best place near San Diego? What does it cost. Can you search in the Himalayan mine area in Julian? There web-site says you cannot due to having to navigate private property. Thank you Nathan Post reply 2 out of 4 found this valuable. Do you find this valuable? Do you?
pvjjh	4. RE: Oh I want to go hunt tourmaline... Dec 31 2007, 12:24 AM EST Maybe you could email both places and get some current particulars about each mine. If I had the time and dollars, I think I would go to both mines and do a bit of mining. I think both underground portions of the mines are closed to the public. Post reply 2 out of 3 found this valuable. Do you find this valuable? Do you?
freddiefreelance	5. RE: Oh I want to go hunt tourmaline... Jan 2 2008, 12:55 AM EST "Yes there are several mines (and probably more) close to San Diego. One of the Travel Channel shows, "The best Places to find Cash and Treasures" - I guess an early version of Cash and Treasures (I get confused) has a segment on a mine "Gems of Pala" the Stewart MIne http://www.mmmgems.com/stewart/ you can purchase buckets and search for tourmaline and I think other gems. The recent episode of Cash and Treasures the "Himalaya Mine" http://www.highdesertgemsandminerals.com/html/himalaya_mine_digs.html I think you can work the tailings and find tourmaline. This is where Kirstin found her real nice tourmaline. I believe the underground portions of both mines are off limits. But both are fairly close to San Deigo. I wish I could go! lol Hope this helps and if you do go, please post how you did and what you found." The Stewart Mine doesn't allow you to visit or go through their tailings anymore, but you can still go to the Oceanview Mine in Pala, http://www.digforgems.com/ , for $60/Day, Sundays & Monday Holidays only. The price of visiting the portion of the Himalaya Mine tailings mentioned on the show (and the link below) is now $75/Day, and $95 for a mine tour. Has anyone on this message board visited & have an opinion as to which is better? I've been planning to visit since they were mentioned on season 1, but I'm torn as to which would be a better choice. Post reply 4 out of 5 found this valuable. Do you find this valuable? Do you?
kd9969	6. RE: Oh I want to go hunt tourmaline... Jan 2 2008, 9:26 PM EST \| Post edited: Jan 2 2008, 9:26 PM EST even got my husban excited about tourmaline, arent they incrediable, i love the colors shapes, ,my favorites are herkimers, they have wonderful energy, even the very small ones. we are planning a sunstone trip and hope to include oregon opal check those puppies out now we are talking colors,. Post reply 0 out of 2 found this valuable. Do you find this valuable? Do you?
pvjjh	7. RE: Oh I want to go hunt tourmaline... Jan 3 2008, 2:05 PM EST \| Post edited: Jan 3 2008, 2:05 PM EST Great info freddie, thanks. I haven't got to visit either on as of yet, but I sure hope too. Post reply 0 out of 3 found this valuable. Do you find this valuable? Do you?
mudd1973	8. RE: Oh I want to go hunt tourmaline... Feb 15 2008, 8:10 PM EST It is hard to say that either the Oceanview or the Himalaya dig are better - because they are just different. I've been to both now. Just went to the new Himalaya dig set up where there is the tailing pile at the Lake Henshaw Resort. They have set it up almost exactly like the Oceanview Mine, with the large mound of mine tailing dirt surrounded by tables with washing trays. They have buckets, shovels and screens. You fill a bucket, pour some in a screen, shake out the extra dirt, rinse and see if there is anything pretty, dump the rest out and repeat. At the Himalaya Dig - people seemed to be finding more tourmaline pieces. At the Oceanview, there was more variety of what people found in the tailings, including some large quartz points, some tourmaline and other pegmatitie minerals. You also get a tour of the Oceanview Mine - since the dig is adjacent to the actual mine. I enjoyed both and plan to do both again. Ellen - Culver City Post reply 6 out of 6 found this valuable. Do you find this valuable? Do you?
pvjjh	9. RE: Oh I want to go hunt tourmaline... Feb 15 2008, 11:07 PM EST Hi Ellen thanks for the report and info. I really would like to get down there some day and dig for tourmaline. I guess the best way to do the whole thing is to go to both mines for a day or so. Both sound pretty nice and relatively easy to work for some of us ol' crippled up timers. (Well at least me that is) I would probably lean a bit more to the Himalaya mine, as I would like to get some tourmaline for faceting. Sounds like there may be a bit more tourmaline there. Both sound fun though. Hope you can make it back as soon as you would like. Have fun! Paul Post reply 2 out of 2 found this valuable. Do you find this valuable? Do you?
mudd1973	10. RE: Oh I want to go hunt tourmaline... Feb 17 2008, 3:29 PM EST Hi Paul, Both the Oceanview and the new Himalaya set-up are very friendly to young kids and rock hounds with physical limitations. You can get to both digs in regular two wheel drive cars and drive to within 20 feet of where you will be screening. The Oceanview had several different height tables for screening - for kids and for grown-ups. When I was talking to Simon King at the Himalaya Mine, he was building a table especially for a person flying in from the east coast who was a "little person". Simon figured this table might also work for people in wheel chairs and thought that either he or the other staff would assist with filling the buckets and carrying them from the tailing pile to the rinsing table for guests with severe limitations. At the Himalaya, you can also buy bags a tailing mud to go - for $50 or $100 - or online order smaller bags which they will ship to you in the priority mailers. My best Himalaya tricolored tourmaline (so far) came out of a bag of pocket mud that I ordered through the mail from Simon King. Since my Karma was not the best this last trip to the dig (I ran away from home for the day since I was mad at my husband), I actually ended up finding more tourmaline in the two $50 bags I took home than at the dig. However, next time ...... NOTHING beats tourmaline. Ellen PS: The Oceanview Mine has a flush toilet up the hill and at the Himalaya dig, you can drive back out the short distance to the Lake Henshaw Resort Store on your lunch break and they even have a restaurant. Rock hounding Lite. Post reply 7 out of 7 found this valuable. Do you find this valuable? Do you?
pvjjh	11. RE: Oh I want to go hunt tourmaline... Feb 17 2008, 10:51 PM EST Hi Ellen, again thanks for the info. It is probably a good thing I don't live close enough to get there for a day. I would be there all the time and would be broke. But with the Karma thing being bad, hmmm. lol I could always get mad at my wife. haha (Or actually, I would figure out a way to get mad at her so I could go mining!) Actually I read the note you made about being mad at your hubby to my wife and we both had a good chuckle. We both hope that it is over and all is well between you two. However, bad Karma or not, it sounds like you had a good time anyway. It sounds like both places are set up for easy mining and that the folks there are plenty friendly. I hope someday we can make it down there for a visit. I just love working with tourmaline. It finishes well and is very beautiful. It would be nice to work on a piece I found myself. Interesting you brought up the pocket mud. Glad you found a nice piece in it. I had just contacted the folks at the Himalaya about ordering last week. Jessica got back to me stating she didn't have time to process order until next month. She stated that with the Tucson Gem Show they were just too busy. So I will have to wait a bit longer before getting some mud. I hope I have the same success you had in yours bags of mud. Anyway.it will be a little warmer outside here anyway. I can’t play with mud and dirt in the house. :-( Hopefully the next time you get to go mining, your Karma will be high and you will be successful finding more tourmaline. Sounds like a blast! Jealous in WA. lol Paul Post reply 1 out of 2 found this valuable. Do you find this valuable? Do you?
kickit	12. RE: Oh I want to go hunt tourmaline... Mar 1 2008, 11:24 PM EST Just got back from the dig. It is not even close to what aired. Due to the success brought from the show, they are now bringing a load of the tailings down to a campground at the Henshaw Lake Resort. So you do not get find a spot and stay with it. Perhaps this is the best they can do, but it's a little disappointing as it is more like a tourist trap rather than a gem hunt. After screening a lot of muck, we found some small bits and pieces. Both of our neighbors seemed to be really struggling to find much of anything. One of the diggers did find a nice piece that could fetch a pretty penny, but that seemed to be the exception rather than the rule. I think we will have a difficult time recovering the cost of entry. I think I know where the cash is on this one... The hosts take $75 per digger and I counted 22 tables with 3 diggers per table. You do the math. If you approach it from the perspective of a day outside, hard work with the slight possibility you might find something really good and you don't care about the $75 per person, this could work for you. Otherwise, don't go too crazy. Post reply 3 out of 6 found this valuable. Do you find this valuable? Do you?
pvjjh	13. RE: Oh I want to go hunt tourmaline... Mar 2 2008, 12:52 AM EST Yes, the Himalaya mine had to change where they allowed the mining do to access problems across someone else’s property. The public wasn't allowed to drive up to the mine for now. Hence they truck the material down near the resort. Hopefully they can work out the access problem and allow people back up to the mine itself to work where they did in the show. As I recall I thought it cost $75 when C & T was there. I could be wrong. Bummer about your experience, doesn't sound like you enjoyed it much. There is never any guarantee when it comes to things like this. A day out in the nice weather, a little work, and the possibility of finding something of value sounds pretty good to me. Probably better odds than hitting the casino. lol Thanks for the info though. Post reply 1 out of 1 found this valuable. Do you find this valuable? Do you?
mudd1973	14. RE: Oh I want to go hunt tourmaline... Mar 3 2008, 1:20 AM EST \| Post edited: Mar 3 2008, 1:20 AM EST Hi Kickit, Sorry you didn't find much at the Himalaya Dig. In my 3 times before the road was closed and you could go to the real mine property, I had mixed luck: one trip with only tiny pink pink pieces of tourmaline, one trip with medium luck and one trip with some very nice finds. So, in my first trip to the new dig, I wasn't that surprized that I didn't find what I thought was worth the $75. I will be talking with Simon King who helps run the Himalaya digs later this month. I suspect that there is no way to guarantee that each and every person will leave happy, since some may come with unrealistic expectations/hopes of what they will find - partly based on the way the show itself is editted. And, to be honest, the people I know who have mineral claims have usually worked really, really hard for lots of years before they even start to break even financially on their claims (and most never do). So, I don't belittle the Mine Owners for making some money while they can. Have you noticed how kind the oil companies have been to all of us lately???? But you summed it up right - that you need to look at it as a day outside and be able to afford to write off the admission fee and then just hope you get lucky. Personally, almost every day as I sit in my windowless office, I think of how lucky people like Simon King and Chris Rose are who go to "work" and play with tourmaline and sun stones. Post reply 3 out of 3 found this valuable. Do you find this valuable? Do you?
elexem	15. RE: Oh I want to go hunt tourmaline... Mar 23 2008, 4:10 PM EDT Hello & thanks for all the information already posted above. Have any of you ever been to the Cryo Genie Mine in in Warner Springs - it's just a few miles down the road from Pala? It seems more secluded & you can get a mine tour. If anyone's been there, I'd love to hear your opinions! Thanks! Post reply 1 out of 1 found this valuable. Do you find this valuable? Do you?
mudd1973	16. RE: Oh I want to go hunt tourmaline... Mar 23 2008, 10:23 PM EDT I've been to the Cryo Genie Mine three times. The location of the mine is on a beautiful canyon. The mine tour is very worth while - you climb down into the winding tunnel that crosses back on itself as the miners followed the pematite and excavated the gem pockets. In terms of what you might expect to find digging in the tailings, I mostly saw people finding very small but crystal-clear pink tourmalines in the tailings the times I was there. I mostly concentrated on looking for books of muscovite mica to give out as prizes to kids at our rock club show. The Cryo Genie pegmatite seemed to me to have some of the largest sized mica books I've seen. I did see one lady find a very large smoky quartz point. They usually have some nice bookcase specimens of quartz points on clevelandite/feldspar with small sprays of tiny pink and green tourmaline for sale. They have a web site now - www.cryo-geniemine.com I did go to the Himalaya Dig yesterday for the second time and enjoyed my day. I found two pencil-thick green tourmaline about 1 inch long, one facet clear bi-color fragment about the size of a pencil eraser but it goes from a pale pink to a pale green and is prettier in person than it sounds, three nice smaller pink specimens with perfect terminations and "side cars" and quite a few additional nice fragments. Right at closing time, one guy kept finding big tourmaline just popping up out of the bottom of the dirt pile when he went to fill his bucket. There were people from Alaska, New York, Las Vegas and Texas. Several groups opted to just buy a bag dirt to share & screen rather than to pay the per-person fee for the day. Post reply 3 out of 3 found this valuable. Do you find this valuable? Do you?
pvjjh	17. RE: Oh I want to go hunt tourmaline... Mar 24 2008, 1:28 PM EDT Hi Ellen, sounds like you had a good trip to the Himalaya dig again. That bi-color tourmaline sounds nice! I should be getting my pocket mud this week sometime. I am looking forward to doing a little searching and finding a piece or two of tourmaline. It sure would be better in person I am sure. To bad I live so far away, though I would probably be broke going there to much. lol. Post reply Do you find this valuable?
mudd1973	18. RE: Oh I want to go hunt tourmaline... Mar 24 2008, 4:47 PM EDT Tourmaline rules. It is starting to get a little warm in northeastern San Diego county where the Himalaya Mine & dig are located - it got up into the low 80's and was really dry. It is a 3 hour drive for me from Los Angeles, so I can't go every weekend - especially with gas prices being manipulated to empty the pockets of the working class poor like me. But, in April, the GIA is having a symposium about Garnets and if there are still seats left, I sent in my money today for the Saturday symposium dowm in Carlsbad and then will hit the Himalaya Mine that Sunday for one last time before the summer heat sets in too seriously. I also ordered some pocket mud today from Simon King - just to keep me going until April. I just finished picking out the last tiny speck of pink out of the mud from my last bag of Himalaya dirt I screened. I have a glass jar in my window at home with sparkling pink tourmaline sand - crazy, I know. Post if you find anything good in your pocket mud or email direct to mudd1973@yahoo.com (mudd for Harvey Mudd College) Post reply 1 out of 1 found this valuable. Do you find this valuable? Do you?
pvjjh	19. RE: Oh I want to go hunt tourmaline... Mar 24 2008, 5:54 PM EDT Well low and behold, the box showed up today. And woldn't you know it, my son whom I had been trying to wake all morning sudden showed up outside as the post lady backed her car up the drive way to deliever the package. He can smell the stuff I guess. this is at like 11:30 a.m. He had the box in his hands wih seconds. lol We finished screening and sorting the 3 bags. I have to admit I wsa a bit surprised to see that pocket mud isn't mud at all, but just a mix of ore maybe 3" minus. No mud at all. Our best by far at least to me is a bi-color about 1/4" in dia and maybe 3/8" long that is perfect. I would say facet grade, though I think I would just leave it as is. As also got some real not dark red pieces as well. Lots of pink but pretty shattered and some green. There looks to be a couple of nice pieces of the green too. Here is the link: http://cash-and-treasures-wiki.travelchannel.com/page/Treasures+pg+1 I still have the fines to go through. I do the same thing, I like to get even the smallest pieces and keep them. Like of small stuff yet to sort . It was fun and nice to get back to sorting. We also found some nice specimens of tourmaline in matrix and some clear quartz as well. We did find that you have to break up some of the real friable rocks as there are some with small tourmaline crystals in the. Nowwhen I ordered my material, it was SImon King who did it. It was Jessica S. (can't remember her last name.) Does Simon get you some different material? It is mud or mine run ore? I can take more pics and email them to you if you like. I have to find my tripod though. One of the kids took it! Hard to take close ups holding the dang thing. Anyway, we got some nice pink and green stuff. It was a blast! Post reply 3 out of 3 found this valuable. Do you find this valuable? Do you?

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