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Post by Starguy on Aug 25, 2022 20:18:10 GMT -5
The US Forest Service contacted me about helping mine Idaho Garnet. I thought you guys would appreciate a photo or two. The site is pretty brush covered. The photos show upstream and downstream views after clearing. Here’s the equipment used for hauling and digging. Mining the garnet layer. All of the fish were removed from the creek prior to mining. They caught and relocated some salamanders too. The stream was blocked with nets and the water was moved around the mine site with two 4” pipes. Pretty fun work. I saw a few garnets the size of ping-pong balls.
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gemfeller
Cave Dweller
Member since June 2011
Posts: 3,801
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Post by gemfeller on Aug 25, 2022 20:54:57 GMT -5
Which creek is that, Brent?
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Aug 25, 2022 21:12:53 GMT -5
I have a question: Why is the US Forest Service mining garnets?
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Post by jasoninsd on Aug 25, 2022 21:54:58 GMT -5
Brent, it was awesome to see the pictures of this "adventure"!
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Post by realrockhound on Aug 25, 2022 22:06:16 GMT -5
I used to dig them between new meadows and McCall. Area looks the same.
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Post by perkins17 on Aug 25, 2022 22:11:03 GMT -5
That's really neat Brent. I've been meaning to go digging there this summer, but haven't gotten around to it yet. Ping pong sized you say? Sounds awesome!
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Post by perkins17 on Aug 25, 2022 22:11:21 GMT -5
I have a question: Why is the US Forest Service mining garnets? They put up a fee dig at an Emerald creek location where you can dig through the "pay" dirt if I remember correctly. My family and I went there a few times a couple years back.
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Aug 25, 2022 22:17:41 GMT -5
I have a question: Why is the US Forest Service mining garnets? They put up a fee dig at an Emerald creek location where you can dig through the "pay" dirt if I remember correctly. My family and I went there a few times a couple years back. Ahhhhh. Got it. So they dig up our land, with our money and we pay them to do it and then we get to pay them to dig up our garnets.
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Post by perkins17 on Aug 25, 2022 22:48:28 GMT -5
They put up a fee dig at an Emerald creek location where you can dig through the "pay" dirt if I remember correctly. My family and I went there a few times a couple years back. Ahhhhh. Got it. So they dig up our land, with our money and we pay them to do it and then we get to pay them to dig up our garnets. Kind of, I guess. They dig up state parks property and it isn't legal to dig in the creeks anymore, so this is the only way to dig them near the creeks. They have a washing station running water and have all the equipment you need to use to dig ready for you once you get there. It's really family friendly and fun.
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Aug 25, 2022 22:50:59 GMT -5
Ahhhhh. Got it. So they dig up our land, with our money and we pay them to do it and then we get to pay them to dig up our garnets. Kind of, I guess. They dig up state parks property and it isn't legal to dig in the creeks anymore, so this is the only way to dig them near the creeks. They have a washing station running water and have all the equipment you need to use to dig ready for you once you get there. It's really family friendly and fun. That's cool. I get really crabby about the government not allowing anyone to dig, but they can dig and then make you pay to dig their tailings. At least it's family friendly.
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quartzilla
Cave Dweller
Member since April 2020
Posts: 1,218
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Post by quartzilla on Aug 25, 2022 22:53:34 GMT -5
Government selling us the opportunity to mine for stuff we should already have access to. Sounds about right😡
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Post by perkins17 on Aug 25, 2022 22:54:22 GMT -5
Kind of, I guess. They dig up state parks property and it isn't legal to dig in the creeks anymore, so this is the only way to dig them near the creeks. They have a washing station running water and have all the equipment you need to use to dig ready for you once you get there. It's really family friendly and fun. That's cool. I get really crabby about the government not allowing anyone to dig, but they can dig and then make you pay to dig their tailings. At least it's family friendly. Yeah, I totally understand. It's kind of hard to explain to people who haven't been there, but it's really a cool activity. It doesn't really help that I suck at explaining things either...
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Post by liveoak on Aug 26, 2022 6:14:58 GMT -5
All I can think of is a couple of weeks back a new comer on the forum posted a trip report going to a wilderness area and how he brought home a rock he carried home - and he was given such flack about it - Tommy was called in, etc, etc
Meanwhile the Forest service is butchering the wilderness area !
What wasn't mentioned was, of course, before they started raping the land, they had to clear cut the trees !
All for some family fun.
I think that rock he took home was likely saved from some future butchering.
OK- rant over.
Patty
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2022 7:34:39 GMT -5
StarguyThat looks like it was a interesting day Brent! Did you get to keep any garnet? What’s the background history here? Why did they contact you? Prior work for them, or did they know you love rocks lol? Any pictures of you doing the work? I hope you were able to keep a few pieces.
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Post by Rockoonz on Aug 26, 2022 8:02:59 GMT -5
Having seen what social media "rockhounds" have done to a few sites in the NW, I can see how the local BLM creating an experience for folks to limit the upheaval is really a creative solution. At the same time I agree that much of the time they are pretty lazy about addressing all of us who want to use our lands.
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Aug 26, 2022 10:09:48 GMT -5
Having seen what social media "rockhounds" have done to a few sites in the NW, I can see how the local BLM creating an experience for folks to limit the upheaval is really a creative solution. At the same time I agree that much of the time they are pretty lazy about addressing all of us who want to use our lands. Yeah, that honks me off, too. Irresponsibility/greed by any party who abuses and wrecks wild areas makes me angry. ETA - Starguy Brent, I didn't mean to hijack your thread. I'm sorry. I think it's cool that they contacted you. How did they know to contact you? Are they reading RTH? Looks like it was quite the endeavor.
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Post by Starguy on Aug 26, 2022 10:59:52 GMT -5
Which creek is that, Brent? They’re mining in Garnet Gulch Rick. This is the second mechanical mining operation in that gulch. It was mined three years ago a little farther downstream.
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Post by realrockhound on Aug 26, 2022 14:29:38 GMT -5
Are my garnets worth a crap? The big one is about the size of a pingpong ball. The orange stuff on them is just a lil rust from the tin can I had them in.
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gemfeller
Cave Dweller
Member since June 2011
Posts: 3,801
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Post by gemfeller on Aug 26, 2022 18:25:35 GMT -5
Which creek is that, Brent? They’re mining in Garnet Gulch Rick. This is the second mechanical mining operation in that gulch. It was mined three years ago a little farther downstream. So PeeWee and other Emerald area garnet-rich creeks are now off limits? I've never quite understood why the government felt it had to flex its muscles there. Last time I visited the E.C. area I noted that most of the "damage" dome by early diggers in the 40s and 50's had already mostly healed - you could see a few shallow gullies but most were covered with new trees and bushes. It was hard to tell they'd ever been mined. There certainly were some early rock hogs who made off with huge amounts of star garnet, so maybe the Feds decided it was better to "spread the wealth" more equitably.
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Post by Starguy on Aug 28, 2022 18:19:18 GMT -5
Starguy That looks like it was a interesting day Brent! Did you get to keep any garnet? What’s the background history here? Why did they contact you? Prior work for them, or did they know you love rocks lol? Any pictures of you doing the work? I hope you were able to keep a few pieces. It was an interesting three days Ashley. I wasn’t there during the clearing operation. My job was to help identify the garnet bearing gravel layers. There was a foot or two of topsoil/duff, then 4-10 feet of overburden with little to no useable garnets. The overburden contained a gray colored silty layer that was full of garnet sand. In places the contractor would hit pockets of purple sand that was pretty amazing to see. Below the overburden was a 6” to 3’ layer of oxidized, partially cemented gravel, cobbles and small boulders. This was the garnet bearing layer. I didn’t keep much. Most of what I found went into the stockpile or to the FS geologist. I honestly didn’t see any pieces that I got too excited about. gemfeller. Rick. Garnet gulch is the only gulch being actively mined. All other garnet bearing gulches are withdrawn from exploration. It’s been that way as long as I can remember. The Forest Service mines and stockpiles the garnet bearing gravel for the public to dig through. It reduces resource damage and mitigates some serious safety issues. Back when I was digging, it wasn’t uncommon to see people tunneling into the garnet layer without any shoring or any type of ground support. It was almost impossible to enforce the requirement for a vertical face.
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