ericabelle
spending too much on rocks
Instagram acct: @erica_shoots_everything
Member since April 2021
Posts: 482
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Post by ericabelle on Sept 23, 2021 9:03:19 GMT -5
Hi! My husband and I will be in Arkansas next week for ArkanSTOL at Byrd's Adventure Center in Ozark. I know there are a few different quartz mines south of there in the Mt Ida area. Does anyone have a favorite? I'm especially interested in finding large points, if I can, because I find lots of druzy clusters in my area of southern MO. I'm tired of that tiny stuff!
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Post by HankRocks on Sept 23, 2021 9:38:49 GMT -5
Hi! My husband and I will be in Arkansas next week for ArkanSTOL at Byrd's Adventure Center in Ozark. I know there are a few different quartz mines south of there in the Mt Ida area. Does anyone have a favorite? I'm especially interested in finding large points, if I can, because I find lots of druzy clusters in my area of southern MO. I'm tired of that tiny stuff! I dig crystals every year in Ark, usually in Oct. My favorite mine is the one that we have the best luck at and that varies each year. Here is a list of the ones we have been to in the past and are still active; Miller Mt Ron Coleman's Wegner's Twin Creek Avant Fisher Mt(new owner) Avatar Mine(new owner) Have not been to the last two since the new owners have taken over. Miller Mt used to be our go to in years past, lately not so much. Twin Creek and Wegner's have both tailings and exposed veins that lend themselves to hard-rock mining(and I do mean hard-rock!!). All of the others are tailings only and no one allowed in the mines. The tailings are brought up on a regular(somewhat) basis from the mines. If you want larger points, then Ron Coleman's is your best bet. Just beware of the crowd on weekends, they can be real idiots about rushing an about to be dumped pile. I seen them trying to grab rocks as they are still being emptied out of the large dump trucks. Think of chickens in the yard when some sets out feed for them. Sometimes the piles can be muddy it gets to be a real mess. I think most of these mines have Facebook pages with pictures of latest finds and contact and fee info. We will be there later in the month otherwise I would have an up-to-date report. Good luck
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Post by MsAli on Sept 23, 2021 14:29:43 GMT -5
On my list to go do!
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ericabelle
spending too much on rocks
Instagram acct: @erica_shoots_everything
Member since April 2021
Posts: 482
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Post by ericabelle on Sept 23, 2021 14:54:48 GMT -5
Thanks, @hankrocks for all the great info - I'll see which ones we can go to and also let you know what I find there!
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ericabelle
spending too much on rocks
Instagram acct: @erica_shoots_everything
Member since April 2021
Posts: 482
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Post by ericabelle on Sept 23, 2021 14:58:07 GMT -5
You know, when I was a kid I lived in Arkansas for 10 years and I've never been to any of the quartz mines! My mom always wanted me to be interested in more "girly" things. Better late than never!
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Post by MsAli on Sept 23, 2021 15:12:34 GMT -5
You know, when I was a kid I lived in Arkansas for 10 years and I've never been to any of the quartz mines! My mom always wanted me to be interested in more "girly" things. Better late than never! I don't think I ever did girly things You will definitely have to post pictures!
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mud
having dreams about rocks
Member since May 2018
Posts: 69
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Post by mud on Sept 23, 2021 15:16:57 GMT -5
HankRocks is spot on. Ron Coleman's for the big points, and to see their specimens. I've found a few fist-sized points there (I lived in the area for a while). Always wanted to go elsewhere and try digging the exposed veins, but never did. You won't be far from Hot Springs, a great place to eat/spend an evening or two. It's come a long way (back) in the past few years.
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Post by HankRocks on Sept 23, 2021 21:02:15 GMT -5
HankRocks is spot on. Ron Coleman's for the big points, and to see their specimens. I've found a few fist-sized points there (I lived in the area for a while). Always wanted to go elsewhere and try digging the exposed veins, but never did. You won't be far from Hot Springs, a great place to eat/spend an evening or two. It's come a long way (back) in the past few years. Speaking of large crystals at Ron Coleman's, check out the crystal pocket they were they are working now, about 20 feet to the left of the digger. Now those are some Quartz Crystals. You can also figure that a few of them will probably be double-terminated. I bet they weight 40 to 50 pounds each or more. It will interesting to see if they bring it out in pieces or one giant cluster. The pocket the miner is working in is probably a real money maker, it's a 2 foot wide clay seam and probably filled with some A+ grade material. Big_Pocket by Findrocks, on Flickr One can also see why normal folks are not allowed down in the mines, check out the loose rock above the big pocket. One of those come down on you it's going to mess up your day!!!
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ericabelle
spending too much on rocks
Instagram acct: @erica_shoots_everything
Member since April 2021
Posts: 482
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Post by ericabelle on Sept 26, 2021 8:01:40 GMT -5
HankRocks is spot on. Ron Coleman's for the big points, and to see their specimens. I've found a few fist-sized points there (I lived in the area for a while). Always wanted to go elsewhere and try digging the exposed veins, but never did. You won't be far from Hot Springs, a great place to eat/spend an evening or two. It's come a long way (back) in the past few years. We now have a camping reservation at Ron Coleman's for Tuesday night! I don't know if I'll have time to visit more than one, but I'll also ask them if there are any nearby rockhounding spots. Maybe on the Ouachita River or something. I do love Hot Springs - it has been a couple years since I have been there. It's such a beautiful area.
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ericabelle
spending too much on rocks
Instagram acct: @erica_shoots_everything
Member since April 2021
Posts: 482
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Post by ericabelle on Sept 26, 2021 8:03:11 GMT -5
Speaking of large crystals at Ron Coleman's, check out the crystal pocket they were they are working now, about 20 feet to the left of the digger. Now those are some Quartz Crystals. You can also figure that a few of them will probably be double-terminated. I bet they weight 40 to 50 pounds each or more. It will interesting to see if they bring it out in pieces or one giant cluster. The pocket the miner is working in is probably a real money maker, it's a 2 foot wide clay seam and probably filled with some A+ grade material. Big_Pocket by Findrocks, on Flickr One can also see why normal folks are not allowed down in the mines, check out the loose rock above the big pocket. One of those come down on you it's going to mess up your day!!! That is amazing! No wonder they have so many large points in their tailings!
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ericabelle
spending too much on rocks
Instagram acct: @erica_shoots_everything
Member since April 2021
Posts: 482
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Post by ericabelle on Sept 26, 2021 11:36:07 GMT -5
I watch "That Camping Couple" on YouTube, and they posted a video about a week ago where they are pulling out HUGE points at Ron Coleman's. I hope there is some left for me!
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chat408
off to a rocking start
Member since September 2021
Posts: 2
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Post by chat408 on Sept 29, 2021 17:19:49 GMT -5
I love Sweet Surrender mine. Haven’t been for a few years, but the owners are great people
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CLErocks
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2021
Posts: 342
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Post by CLErocks on Oct 22, 2021 7:39:24 GMT -5
OK...we are headed to Crater of Diamonds next week, now I have ALL the PLACES I need to stop. My husband will be SO happy! 😂😂😂
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Post by Bob on Dec 3, 2021 0:40:26 GMT -5
Twin Creek.
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dshanpnw
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since December 2020
Posts: 891
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Post by dshanpnw on Dec 13, 2021 14:05:17 GMT -5
I watch "That Camping Couple" on YouTube, and they posted a video about a week ago where they are pulling out HUGE points at Ron Coleman's. I hope there is some left for me! Hello ericabelle, I watched the same video and many others from quartz mines in Arkansas. I don't want to be that guy rushing the pile, I just want a few nice crystals and it seems AR has a lot. I should really stop watching YouTube videos, but they at least give me destinations.
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dshanpnw
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since December 2020
Posts: 891
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Post by dshanpnw on Dec 13, 2021 14:14:15 GMT -5
Hi! My husband and I will be in Arkansas next week for ArkanSTOL at Byrd's Adventure Center in Ozark. I know there are a few different quartz mines south of there in the Mt Ida area. Does anyone have a favorite? I'm especially interested in finding large points, if I can, because I find lots of druzy clusters in my area of southern MO. I'm tired of that tiny stuff! I dig crystals every year in Ark, usually in Oct. My favorite mine is the one that we have the best luck at and that varies each year. Here is a list of the ones we have been to in the past and are still active; Miller Mt Ron Coleman's Wegner's Twin Creek Avant Fisher Mt(new owner) Avatar Mine(new owner) Have not been to the last two since the new owners have taken over. Miller Mt used to be our go to in years past, lately not so much. Twin Creek and Wegner's have both tailings and exposed veins that lend themselves to hard-rock mining(and I do mean hard-rock!!). All of the others are tailings only and no one allowed in the mines. The tailings are brought up on a regular(somewhat) basis from the mines. If you want larger points, then Ron Coleman's is your best bet. Just beware of the crowd on weekends, they can be real idiots about rushing an about to be dumped pile. I seen them trying to grab rocks as they are still being emptied out of the large dump trucks. Think of chickens in the yard when some sets out feed for them. Sometimes the piles can be muddy it gets to be a real mess. I think most of these mines have Facebook pages with pictures of latest finds and contact and fee info. We will be there later in the month otherwise I would have an up-to-date report. Good luck Arkansas is on my list of places to find quartz crystals. I really hope to go to one those mines, preferably the Ron Coleman. I would love a nice cluster or a large point or two. Thanks for the info.
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Post by Bob on Dec 16, 2021 12:19:24 GMT -5
Living in Oklahoma all my life, I had heard of "going to Arkansas for crystals" growing up, but never really knew what it meant. Then I got busy in my life and career and forgot about it. A few years ago, I decided to find out. The first one was the outside at Coleman's, the diggings that are dragged out on the ground. Do not do what we did which was to do this in July in 102 degrees in the full sun! We found maybe 5-10 that where almost as big as my thumb, broken points, and lot of smaller broken points, in maybe 3 hours. Nothing to get excited about. None had perfect edges.
Then a couple of years later, went to Twin Creeks, paid our $25 each for all day, or $75 each, I forget which. OMG. By lunchtime we were done. I drove away with at least 400 lbs of crystals, some a little over an inch in diameter and 3" long and many clusters the size of a coffee cup up to size of dinner plate. Had I been willing to dig a few hours longer with my sledge and prybar, I would have got this one I had found which was about 2" in diameter and I had exposed about 4" of it--the middle of it not the ends so I had no idea how long the thing was! It wasn't just how many we found, but it was fun and many of them are flawless and clear after doing the cleanup process which is tedious but worth it. We divided them up into low grade to give away in quantity, super high grade to keep for ourselves, and high grade to give away selectively over the years which we have been doing to great excitement at Christmas and birthdays etc. We quickly gave away everything we had found at the Coleman find which seemed like nothing.
I have been back to Twin Creeks twice, mostly just to take someone to do it but I really didn't need any more. My elderly mother in her 80s just wandered back and forth over the tailings pile by the dig and found over 100 thumbsize single crystals at least 1/3 of them were flawless. By flawless, I don't mean completely transparent--some were--but with crisp and undinged crystal edges and terminations.
If anyone reading this doesn't know a lot about it, just get to Mt. Ida, the town, overnight there, and there are many digging places nearby and locals can tell you quickly the names of them if you haven't already made arrangements.
There is an interesting small book that is a fun read about this history of this area, how the US Gov't took over all the mines in WWII for the crystals for radios, etc. and how there is a whole region of the state that has tons and tons and tons of these crystals just under the surface of the ground any why they formed there and are of the highest quality. From what I've seen, this pursuit has plenty of ground to last for hundreds of years.
Also went to the big muddy field at the Crater of Diamonds park. I found a lot of jaspers I got pretty excited about, mostly tan and yellow, but after working on them in rough grind for a long time, almost none were fracture free so in the end didn't work out.
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Post by MsAli on Dec 16, 2021 12:41:21 GMT -5
I really want to do this! Is March a good time?
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Post by Bob on Dec 16, 2021 14:38:57 GMT -5
Yes. I guess I have done this maybe 5 times. I would say, more or less, Oct to March are ideal but not in the dead of winter if below freezing or snow/ice on the ground. I think the last two times were in late Febr.
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Post by MsAli on Dec 16, 2021 15:58:08 GMT -5
Yes. I guess I have done this maybe 5 times. I would say, more or less, Oct to March are ideal but not in the dead of winter if below freezing or snow/ice on the ground. I think the last two times were in late Febr. Thank you! Hopefully Nate and I will get there in March NDK. HINT hint
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