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Post by paulshiroma on Aug 10, 2011 0:00:55 GMT -5
My elder son is having his ninth birthday this month and wanted to do something a bit different: try out a tourmaline party pack from Capistrano Mining Company (http://www.capistranomining.com). I read through the site and ended up purchasing some gravel packs designed specifically for children. The gravel itself comes from the San Diego tourmaline mines but, in this case, is also "seeded" with some basic specimen-grade pieces from elsewhere in the world to ensure that the kids find something.  I made the purchase over the weekend and the packages arrived today. I promised the boys that they could do them this weekend. I had to purchase two packs so that Andrew's little brother, Nathaniel, could also participate. We'll see what we find; if you look carefully in the photos, you can see some pink and green tourmaline. UPDATE: This afternoon following church, we came home and sifted through the bags. Each bag contains probably four dry cups or so of gravel and dirt and takes a lot longer than one would expect.    The boys managed to get through about half the bags in an hour and eventually "short attention span theater" took over and they decided to go back inside and do something else. Here's some photos of what Nathaniel managed to sift through in the first half of his bag. I forgot to put something in the photo to give it scale so the quartz chunks in the top center and top left of the photo are about an 1 to 1.5 inches at their widest.    For those of you with small children looking to do something slightly different for a birthday gift, this is pretty good. These little "party packs" last a long time. Kids younger than five or six will probably need a hand (Nathaniel's 4.5 and needed some assistance). Thanks for checking out the thread. Paul |
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Post by gr on Aug 10, 2011 0:07:44 GMT -5
Paul, the boys are gonna have a blast looking thru those sacks and finding their treasures. What a cool thing to do for them!!
gr
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Post by paulshiroma on Aug 10, 2011 0:20:17 GMT -5
Hey, Gary, thanks and yes, they're looking forward to it. I've always wanted to go try out those tourmaline fee-sites but they are very expensive. This was a relatively inexpensive way to do this, albeit, somewhat vicariously with Andrew and Nathaniel. I'll post what we find. The owner seems like a good guy - he's got a couple of sons and I guess they all got the bug some years back.
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Post by gr on Aug 10, 2011 0:38:45 GMT -5
Could be the start of a gemological future in one of those bags!  |
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Post by tanyafrench on Aug 10, 2011 7:22:05 GMT -5
Paul, that is an awesome idea for his birthday. They will treasure what ever they find in those bags. I will look forward to seeing photos of the search and the discoveries.
Tanya
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Post by Toad on Aug 10, 2011 9:45:42 GMT -5
Looks like a fun idea.
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Post by stonesthatrock on Aug 10, 2011 11:01:33 GMT -5
thats a cool idea. When i lived in calif. i never did make it out to the site where you could dig..... too busy working at the time.
mary ann
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Post by mohs on Aug 10, 2011 11:07:42 GMT -5
Thanks for posting that Paul
never knew about it
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Post by paulshiroma on Aug 10, 2011 22:59:59 GMT -5
Gary - Yup, Andrew is pretty hooked, to the point where when I took the boys over to Nevada Gem and Mineral up the street, he informed me that he like finding them not buying them! Tanya - thanks! We were up in Columbia SHP last summer and the boys had a great time gold panning there. Andrew must've spent two hours working through the sand. They look through their little vials of gold flakes and garnets periodically. Both informed me that they we have to go back this summer. Toad and Mary Ann - yeah, Daddy's dying to try it as well!  The boys were excited when the packages arrived. Nathaniel was running around the house cheering LOL! Deeptime - Glad to share! Will post photos this weekend! |
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Post by paulshiroma on Aug 14, 2011 17:19:52 GMT -5
Updated information ... Sunday afternoon activities!
Thanks for checking out the thread.
Paul
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Post by tntmom on Aug 14, 2011 17:36:16 GMT -5
That is such an AWESOME idea!!! How much do the bags cost? I assume that they could be split up in smaller portions for more kids? Seems like it would be a great activity for a juniors program at a rock club too!!! (Modified:) Duh, sorry, just noticed that you posted the link. It doesn't specify what size party they would be good for, but that is a great price! The wheels are spinning in my head now |
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Post by paulshiroma on Aug 14, 2011 17:46:00 GMT -5
Hi Krystee;
The party packs are $25 each and probably could be split up between kids. Additionally, these packs are seeded to ensure that the kids will find something. Andrew and Nathaniel had a good time although I should have split one bag between them. There's enough for two in these bags.
Thanks
Paul
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Gem'n I
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since March 2008
Posts: 980
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Post by Gem'n I on Aug 14, 2011 20:09:54 GMT -5
What a neat concept...rockhounds in the making!!!
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Post by paulshiroma on Aug 15, 2011 0:24:24 GMT -5
That is such an AWESOME idea!!! How much do the bags cost? I assume that they could be split up in smaller portions for more kids? Seems like it would be a great activity for a juniors program at a rock club too!!! (Modified:) Duh, sorry, just noticed that you posted the link. It doesn't specify what size party they would be good for, but that is a great price! The wheels are spinning in my head now I had assumed (I know what that gets me) that it would be one bag per kid but the quantity and this last experience tells me that I could probably have divided up one bag between both boys and been okay. Have fun! Paul |
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Post by tanyafrench on Aug 15, 2011 8:26:44 GMT -5
Paul, thanks for posting their photos looking for the gems. You have some handsome young men and they look like they will follow in Dad's footprints once the attention span grows. Andrew already is and that's a special treat.
Tanya
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Post by jakesrocks on Aug 15, 2011 9:59:52 GMT -5
Just a quick hint. Tumble the rest of the gravel in plain water for an hour or two. Then strain out the muddy water and sand. Maces it much easier to find the target specimens.
Thanks for posting this thread. It was a reminder that I have half a sand bag full of sapphire gravel out in the garage that needs sorting.
Don
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Post by paulshiroma on Aug 15, 2011 12:11:38 GMT -5
Thanks for the posts, Gem'n I and Tanya. Appreciate the compliments!
AH, Don! THANKS for the tip! That's a great idea.
Thanks Gang!
Paul
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The boys were excited when the packages arrived. Nathaniel was running around the house cheering LOL!
