Mining Adventures of 2003

2003 was another beautiful year, marked by digging success at a number of locations in Oregon, California and Nevada. As always, we had great success fee-digging at the Dust Devil Sunstone mine and at the Juniper Ridge Fire Opal mine - both in Southern Oregon. The Dust Devil Sunstone Mine: Weather and scenery around the Dust Devil was more wonderful than usual this year. Mild temperatures and a merciful fire season offset the extra flat tires we experienced. Camp looked about the same as always, though the Dust Devil crew has been makeing some changes to the pit through reclamation and opening some new digging areas. Evening light painted the Rabbit Hills (above) and Hart Mountain (below) in wonderful pastel shades. Seen from the Dust Devil, Hart Mountain is an imposing figure on the horizon, but up close it offers a staggering array of vistas. This is a view looking northwest from the road to the top. This shot is peering northwest down into Degarmo Canyon. I appear as the tiny blue dot in the lower left of the photo - looking for Jaspers. This image looks to the east from the skirt atop the south fork of Degarmo. Look, Ma - no airplane! I had both feet planted on the ground when I snapped this one. Check out some of my genuine Oregon Sunstone Gems and Oregon Sunstone Jewelry. You can learn more about the Dust Devil Mine and Hart Mountain at the Dust Devil Mine web site: www.dustdevilmining.com. Tell them I sent you! Juniper Ridge Opal Mine The Juniper Ridge mine offers the polar opposite of Sunstone mining, and that's why the two mines compliment each other so well on a trip. While Sunstone mining involves digging, the greatest effort involves SEARCHING to locate the gems. When you see them, they're already yours. At juniper ridge, there's no searching - Opal is everywhere - the challenge is getting it out of the host basalt. A sledge hammer, stout chisels and good work gloves are essential for chasing seams of Opal through the hard basalt. Hard work pays off. Here, I'm holding a one-kilo Opal "egg" and a 1/4 inch thick slab cut from another one. Check out some beautiful Fire Opal Gems and Fire Opal Jewelry. Visit the Juniper Ridge Mine web site for more information on fee-digging or purchasing rough or cut fire opal. Northern California Our next adventure took us to beautiful parts of California, where the geology is different. You can still see lots of basalt, but there's also lots of granite. This granite-covered hilllside was near our camping spot for the trip. ...and near where we dug this great, glassy Rose Quartz - and some wonderful Smoky crystals. With all that granite, there had to be some feldspar dikes - and some Tourmaline - One of my mining partners loosed this crystal - as big as my forearm! California has some great "airplane not required" vistas, too. This one was near another old Tourmaline dig we visited on that trip. Northern Nevada My first rock-hounding trip into Nevada definitely hooked me on that state. The terrain is rugged and beautiful. The wild horses are a thrill. And, there are more different kinds of rocks per field trip than you can believe. This shot is a view from one of the Opal claims we worked that day.