Mining Photos

Arkansas Trip - 2010

Some photos from a trip to several Arkansas mines.

Quartz Mines

We visited several quartz mines, including Fiddler's Ridge and Arrowhead Crystal Mine. We came back with bucketfuls of crystals.

Crater of Diamonds State Park

We spent a day digging at Crater of Diamonds State Park.

Arkansas crator of diamonds state park mine

Total number of diamonds found by the four of us after spending an entire day toiling in the oppressive heat of an Arkansas summer? "0"!

North Carolina Mineral Hunting Trip - 2009

In May 2009, I participated in a mining trip with the Michigan Gem and Mineral Society of Jackson. Over the course of five days, our group visited half a dozen mines. Most of the mines were near Franklin, NC. We looked for sapphires, rubies and other minerals.

North Carolina Mining photos

Backhoe at the Masons ruby and sapphire mine

Mineral Hunting Trip to Michigan's Upper Peninsula - 2008

In June, some friends and I went on a rock and mineral hunting trip in the Upper Peninsula. We visited the Caledonia Mine near Mass city, Michigan. Visitors can purchase a two yard pile of ore for $50. We had around four hours to dig through the piles. Minerals such as copper, calcite, epidote, feldspar and datolite can be found. Anything you find in the pile is yours to keep. As you can see from the photos, I found some nice pieces of native copper.

We also visited the Quincy Mine in Hancock, Michigan. The tour included both an underground portion and a tour of the hoist house. The massive, reinforced concrete, hoist house enclosed the worlds largest steam hoist.

This was actually a good time. I might visit them again in the future.