Discussion: Have you ever gone to one of the places featured on the show?

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TallTomSr	80. RE: nice rock's Apr 17 2008, 4:55 PM EDT never panned for gold but pan handled once does that count,,lol It is something I have wanted to do but haven't done "yet", I get to distracted by the "ooh a pretty rock, oh look anothr pretty rock, oh and over there and, and, and," lol Guess I will have to find a panner to go with and make me actually put someting in the pan beside's agates and other prettie's. Good Hunting Tom Post reply Do you find this valuable?
treasurefever	81. RE: nice rock's Apr 17 2008, 9:35 PM EDT I would like to find gold because I can sell it as is and still get a lot of money for it. lol I could then get some of these gems checked out. I don't believe that pan handleing would count.LOL I wish everybody would put some of their best gems in the gallery. I would love to see them. You have a good night. Brenda Post reply Do you find this valuable?
treasurefever	82. RE: Have you ever gone to one of the places featured on the show? Apr 18 2008, 10:52 AM EDT Hi Paul,I need your help again.ha I'm going to send Jerry Call some gems today and I want to send more than 1 like you suggested. I'm having these cut to sale,so I want to send the gems that I can get the most money for per ct. Which do you suggest to be the most expensive and what do I need to look for in faceting quality. I hope you are online this morning.ha Thanks,Brenda Post reply Do you find this valuable?
TallTomSr	83. RE: Have you ever gone to one of the places featured on the show? Apr 18 2008, 12:18 PM EDT Morning Brenda You can click on Pauls profile and send him a message directly and he should get an e-mail alert if he has the alert on his computor. Good Luck Tom Post reply Do you find this valuable?
pvjjh	84. RE: Have you ever gone to one of the places featured on the show? Apr 18 2008, 1:34 PM EDT "Hi Paul,I need your help again.ha I'm going to send Jerry Call some gems today and I want to send more than 1 like you suggested. I'm having these cut to sale,so I want to send the gems that I can get the most money for per ct. Which do you suggest to be the most expensive and what do I need to look for in faceting quality. I hope you are online this morning.ha Thanks,Brenda" Hi Brenda, Wow what is the most valuable and what to send. That is always tough. Frankly, I would send most everything you have with a note to have him sort and make recommendations for faceting. He could probably do that within a couple of minutes. But the Aquamarine is a must. Jerry may also be able to see some good facetable material in the emeralds as you have some nice big pieces. Send the rubies/sapphires and citrine as well. It sounds like you have a lot of amethyst. The best bet would be for you to wet them down with water or mineral oil and look at the stone backlit to see how clear it is. If there are some nice clear pieces with some color I would send them too. I would look at the other jars of gems for color and clarity using the same method as with the amethyst. For cabbing material the blue sodalite (I think that what it is) tiger eye and the brownish agate/chalcedony piece are good candidates. Now as for the smoky and rose quartz it is up to you. I wouldn't know if the rose quartz stars (like seen in the last show) or not. Some quartz has higher value, such as the amethyst, citrine, amitrine and so forth as they are not as commonly found as smoky or clear quartz. It all makes nice stuff, but $ for $ the more common quartz are not as valuable as the amethyst, citrine and amitrine. Now Jerry may charge a bit more to facet or cut the rubies/sapphires because they are much harder than the other material. Hence more wear on the equipment and more time to cut. But generally the cut value is much greater that those of the other stones. Generally good faceting stones are at least eye clear, that is free of fractures and inclusions (bits and pieces of other stuff in the stone) with good color (except the emeralds, they are 99.9999% always cloudy, fractured or included, but good color is a must). Sometimes clear is good color. The size of a large pea or larger - of course bigger is always better. I hope this helps. Paul Post reply 2 out of 2 found this valuable. Do you find this valuable? Do you?
pvjjh	85. RE: nice rock's Apr 18 2008, 1:40 PM EDT "never panned for gold but pan handled once does that count,,lol It is something I have wanted to do but haven't done "yet", I get to distracted by the "ooh a pretty rock, oh look anothr pretty rock, oh and over there and, and, and," lol Guess I will have to find a panner to go with and make me actually put someting in the pan beside's agates and other prettie's. Good Hunting Tom " Now Tom, panhandling definitely counts. I can ensure you that most times people go out to pan, if they spent as mush time pan handling, they would probably make more $'s that they would with the gold they find. This isn't always true, but in a lot cases pocket change, agates and pretties will be worth more. lol Post reply Do you find this valuable?
treasurefever	86. RE: Have you ever gone to one of the places featured on the show? Apr 18 2008, 3:37 PM EDT It does help and I sure do appreciate it. I'm going right now and get it ready to send off,as soon as I hear something from him I'll be running in here to tell yall.lol I think I will send it next day.lol Thanks,Brenda Post reply Do you find this valuable?
pvjjh	87. RE: Have you ever gone to one of the places featured on the show? Apr 18 2008, 5:24 PM EDT Hope you get as much or more than you want. lol Sounds like you are having fun, that is a good thing! Jerry is a world class master facetor, one of the best around. You will get some beautiful stones back. Good luck! Paul Post reply Do you find this valuable?
gromaine3	88. RE: Have you ever gone to one of the places featured on the show? Apr 24 2008, 7:08 PM EDT I've been to three places covered by the show: 1. Jade Cove along US 101, south of Big Sur. It was a great stop along the way to Hearst Castle, with a lot of green rock to search in the sand and gravel. Even if you can't completely gear up like Kirsten did, you still have an excellent chance of finding small pieces along the base of the cliff. You have to time the tides right, but we found enough jade to satisfy us. 2. Oregon sunstones, north of Plush, is a fantastic place. I've been there four times. Kirsten hit the jackpot by paying top dollar to go through the prized mine run, but I've had a great time just wandering through the sagebrush, head down, picking up the straw-yellow material. It takes a great polish, and makes attractive decorations when stored in clear glass jars around the house. We also found two arrowheads out there way off the beaten path. 3. Emerald Creek garnets, in northern Idaho. This place keeps changing, but it's still interesting. I found some excellent garnets in a short amount of time, and bought a bunch more from The Garnet Lady just down the road. Fun way to spend a day. Sometimes I stay away from the fee-dig areas and enjoy the challenge of finding my own spot. But with some material, that isn't an option, so I'm sure glad the fee dig sites are still around. Post reply 2 out of 2 found this valuable. Do you find this valuable? Do you?
pvjjh	89. RE: Have you ever gone to one of the places featured on the show? Apr 24 2008, 11:02 PM EDT Man that is outstanding. I am jealous! We you near the Spectrum and Dust Devil mines while you were near Plush hunting those sunstones? We are heading to southern OR this summer and plan on going out there someplace to hunt sunstones. Don't know exactly what our plans are at this time, but we may hit a mine or just go out to the BLM land and take our chances, We would also like to try to get to Emerald Creek site in ID. But with the price of fuel that one may have to wait a year. Did you find some decent garnets? Just curious are there any clear garnets or are they mostly opaque. Did you find some star garnets? I like that screening and sorting stuff. One never knows what you may find. I see we are sort of neighbors - well at least state wise. chime in and share some hunts or join us weird WA state folks for a hunt sometime. Paul Post reply 1 out of 2 found this valuable. Do you find this valuable? Do you?
TallTomSr	90. RE: Have you ever gone to one of the places featured on the show? Apr 25 2008, 4:21 AM EDT Hey the weird one's are all in the eastern half. It's all that heat, sort of cooks them you know :-) Yeah being down in portland you aren't too far from alot of the places we go for gathering up here. You have some nice places in Oregon fairly close to you also. If your weekend is free and you have the fund's jump on up to saddle mntn and say howdy on saturday. Andy should be fairly safe to be around with all the other's that will be there. But you may want to bring a brownie for him just in case,:-) Good Hunting Tom Post reply 2 out of 2 found this valuable. Do you find this valuable? Do you?
treasurefever	91. RE: Have you ever gone to one of the places featured on the show? Apr 25 2008, 8:48 AM EDT Hi everybody,this is a update on the gems I sent to Jerry Call.I told them I could only get 1 gem cut at this time and I was sorry to here that the Aquamarine piece they wasn't sure about.They said they might find something worth cutting once they get into it. They are going to cut the Star Garnet that I sent and they will tell me what it will be worth. I just hope it will be worth more than the 58.00 I paid. I hope Jerry looks at them too. I was talking to one of the women that work there. They said it will take about 6 weeks before they can get to it. I'm trying to keep my hopes up,but it feels like a real bummer right now. I do have some good new ( always look on the bright side) I had lap band surgery on the 10th of April and I've lost 20 lbs in 2 weeks and I have 70 more lbs to go. Thank God! I know that part wasn't about gems but I just had to tell yall. LOL Brenda Post reply 0 out of 1 found this valuable. Do you find this valuable? Do you?
gromaine3	92. RE: Have you ever gone to one of the places featured on the show? Apr 25 2008, 11:47 AM EDT The Dust Devil Mine is right across the "street" (OK, dirt track) from the public area. And the road to the Spectrum mine takes off from the "driveway" to the public area. I've been to both of those commercial sunstone areas, and I have to admit, the Dirt Devil folks are much more in tune with the full range of folks who show up. I guess it just depends on what your goals are. If you want one of the classic red-tinted sunstones, you'll have to pay extra. If you just want a big, bulging bag of sunstones to take home and tumble polish, the free area is still good. Incidentally, if you want to unleash your inner Thor and bang on a rock with a hammer, follow the meandering dry gulch that leads from the free area outhouse. Track the stream bed as it winds back toward Dirt Devil, and when you get to the mini-canyon, look around for a couple big boulders sparkling with crystals. As for Emerald Creek, they have changed it again. Now they bring in the dirt and you wash it in a long sluice-type arrangement. Even closer to shooting fish in a barrel. I liked playing in the stream, but they've decided that harms the fishies. Everyone does fine there, and you get a nice purple garnet that is likely to show star rays when polished. Washington is a great state to be a neighbor. I'm headed in a different direction this weekend or I'd join you at Saddle Mountain - it's a great state, and nobody gets skunked. Have you seen the new Gem Trails of Washington book? Post reply 2 out of 2 found this valuable. Do you find this valuable? Do you?
pvjjh	93. RE: Have you ever gone to one of the places featured on the show? Apr 25 2008, 12:11 PM EDT "Hi everybody,this is a update on the gems I sent to Jerry Call.I told them I could only get 1 gem cut at this time and I was sorry to here that the Aquamarine piece they wasn't sure about.They said they might find something worth cutting once they get into it. They are going to cut the Star Garnet that I sent and they will tell me what it will be worth. I just hope it will be worth more than the 58.00 I paid. I hope Jerry looks at them too. I was talking to one of the women that work there. They said it will take about 6 weeks before they can get to it. I'm trying to keep my hopes up,but it feels like a real bummer right now. I do have some good new ( always look on the bright side) I had lap band surgery on the 10th of April and I've lost 20 lbs in 2 weeks and I have 70 more lbs to go. Thank God! I know that part wasn't about gems but I just had to tell yall. LOL Brenda" Hi Brenda, first of all congrats on the weight loss. I need to do something like that for sure. Yeah, sometimes there just isn't a good piece on the gem to facet. Though with the Aquamarine, it is such a large piece that there maybe something there. You can see that I am talking about if you look at my faceting pics where I take a small facetable piece of a stone near the size of yours. I am sure Jerry will look at all of the material you sent. Did they mention any other facetable pieces? For the $58 did you buy just one star garnet or a small lot of them? Just curious. I am sure you will have a nice garnet when Jerry gets done with it. Hope it is a good 6 ray'r! Paul Post reply Do you find this valuable?
pvjjh	94. RE: Have you ever gone to one of the places featured on the show? Apr 25 2008, 12:29 PM EDT Hi gromaine3, thank you for the info. I take it when you say that if I want a red I need to pay the price. Would that be like digging at the Spectrum mine or are reds at both mines. Sure I would like a red one, or a bunch of them. Who wouldn't I guess. lol Actually I really like the clear sunstones and they facet and polish to an excellent stone. And they are soft and faster to facet than other stones. I know they have changed a few things at Emerald Creek. Working the creek is always fun. But in my case mobility is somewhat a problem with a bad foot and a cane, a pile of material close to a sluice if fine with me. lol Yes I bought the new Gem Trails Book several months ago. I think it is great! But haven't had time to go to many places found in the book. There is still some snow in the foothills which can create some access problems. I agree Saddle mtn is a great site. And it is a large area with different types of wood to be found. It can also handle a lot of diggers without any crowding. I am sure there will be more opportunities to have us locals get together for digs and outings. It is always fun to meet fellow rock hunters and new internet friends. I look forward to meet you. Paul Post reply 1 out of 1 found this valuable. Do you find this valuable? Do you?
TallTomSr	95. RE: Have you ever gone to one of the places featured on the show? Apr 25 2008, 2:26 PM EDT Hey Brenda, congratulations on the success of you goal. Keep at it gal if you go after it like you do rock's then them other pounds is in real trouble. Have a great day. Tom Post reply Do you find this valuable?
treasurefever	96. RE: Have you ever gone to one of the places featured on the show? Apr 25 2008, 2:45 PM EDT Thanks Paul,yes I couldn't get but 1 cut this time and it cost 50.00 and 8.00 to ship my gems back. You were right,they told me it would cost 65.00 to cut the sapphire. She said I had a nice sapphire,agates,amethyst and aventurine(dark green) would make a nice cut,she said she didn't see that much anymore. The Rock Candies that I sent were clear and has 2 dark colors running in it,she said they were beautiful but would be to soft. The big piece that I thought was Amber and the brown stone are Agates. Post reply 1 out of 1 found this valuable. Do you find this valuable? Do you?
treasurefever	97. RE: Have you ever gone to one of the places featured on the show? Apr 25 2008, 2:47 PM EDT LOL thanks Tom,mine is all in the stomach and once it's out of the way, I will be able to pick up those gems better too.LOL Post reply Do you find this valuable?
rnphotog	98. RE: Have you ever gone to one of the places featured on the show? May 29 2008, 4:40 PM EDT We went to San Diego County to the Tourmaline dig at Lake Henshaw. We were highly disappointed, as we saw the people running the dig dishonest. After a dig (which is at the campground), they just scooped up all the dirt that had been sifted through that day, and put it in a new pile for the next day. So the same dirt is used over and over. We also witnessed one of their helpers bagging "premium dirt to take with you" for $50 a bag, after first sifting through it and taking out any tourmaline she found first. We felt like the whole thing was dishonest and a real scam!!! After driving from Arizona, it was, needless to say, very disappointing! Post reply 1 out of 1 found this valuable. Do you find this valuable? Do you?
washatonian	99. RE: Have you ever gone to one of the places featured on the show? May 29 2008, 5:30 PM EDT "We went to San Diego County to the Tourmaline dig at Lake Henshaw. We were highly disappointed, as we saw the people running the dig dishonest. After a dig (which is at the campground), they just scooped up all the dirt that had been sifted through that day, and put it in a new pile for the next day. So the same dirt is used over and over. We also witnessed one of their helpers bagging "premium dirt to take with you" for $50 a bag, after first sifting through it and taking out any tourmaline she found first. We felt like the whole thing was dishonest and a real scam!!! After driving from Arizona, it was, needless to say, very disappointing!" To bad you couldn't have documented that on video. Happy Trails >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Aj Post reply 1 out of 1 found this valuable. Do you find this valuable? Do you?

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