waterboysh
spending too much on rocks
Member since April 2021
Posts: 369
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Post by waterboysh on Nov 15, 2021 12:16:55 GMT -5
I've never been to one of these pay to dig sites before. We're going to be visiting family for Thanksgiving near Greenville, SC and the mine is about a 1.5 drive away. I'm considering planning a trip to Diamond Hill, but not sure what to expect. Is it worth it for someone that really doesn't know what they're doing? I also might would be bringing my wife, 4.5 year old, and 2 year old. We'd give them some small shovels and rakes and tell them to dig and they'd probably have fun even if we didn't find a single thing. Maybe.
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Post by RickB on Nov 15, 2021 12:56:40 GMT -5
I've been there many times through the years but not recently. It should be mostly tailing pile digging right now. Kids love the place as they can find loose quartz crystals - milky quartz, skeletal quartz. Rarer is the amethyst, but it can be found. Most crystals have an iron/manganese coating. It can be removed using Super Iron Out or harsher chemicals. Many people like to leave them as they are without removing the coatings. Shovels, gloves, hammer and chisels, pry bar, screw driver or wood/plastic probe, buckets, paper to wrap.
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waterboysh
spending too much on rocks
Member since April 2021
Posts: 369
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Post by waterboysh on Nov 15, 2021 13:59:36 GMT -5
Most crystals have an iron/manganese coating. Does this make them hard to find when digging? I assume I'd probably want a full size shovel, and a small garden trowel? I don't have any chisels. Pry bar I can borrow from my FIL; how big of one do you think would be needed? Not sure what you mean by wood/plastic probe. I'm also curious why I see paper being recommended. Any reason why I can't just put it all in a 5 gallon bucket?
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Post by RickB on Nov 15, 2021 14:37:59 GMT -5
The iron/manganese coatings are just that, a color coating on the outside of the crystal, no thick deposit - you will recognize a crystal form. Both a large shovel and garden trowel will work (small hand tools). Each person digging should have some sort of small garden type digging tool. Mostly you'll be digging through dirt/clay piles with rock mixed in. Probes like screw drivers, wood or plastic are used to push into pockets of clay and help dig out crystals. Crystals damage very easily if you don't wrap them and put them into flats or buckets. Coke type flats, cardboard or plastic are the preferred container there for holding crystals collected. If you were somewhere collecting something not as fragile (flint, chert, rhyolite) a 5 gallon bucket would be just fine. All that info above is useful and is from the Diamond Hill website.
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waterboysh
spending too much on rocks
Member since April 2021
Posts: 369
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Post by waterboysh on Nov 29, 2021 15:01:03 GMT -5
Well, we went and had a lot of fun. The 4 year old had a blast too. Here are the best ones. imgur.com/a/QC5OV9w
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waterboysh
spending too much on rocks
Member since April 2021
Posts: 369
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Post by waterboysh on Nov 29, 2021 15:02:50 GMT -5
The 4th and 5th picture are the same rock. It's covered in druzy on all sides. I think I'm going to soak all of these in some Iron Out, though I may leave the very first one as-is.
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Post by miket on Nov 29, 2021 15:23:17 GMT -5
Very cool! I like the one in the 7th picture best, but all are awesome. And I'll bet your four year-old did have a blast, digging in the dirt and finding treasure!
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Post by RickB on Nov 29, 2021 16:18:02 GMT -5
The 4th and 5th picture are the same rock. It's covered in druzy on all sides. I think I'm going to soak all of these in some Iron Out, though I may leave the very first one as-is. Spoken like a true rock hound. That first one looks nice just as it is. Nice finds.
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