Chlorastrolite and Large Michigan Greenstones

Michigan Greenstones or Chlorastrolite can be found in the old Delaware mine and sometime very large Chlorastrolites and these are extremely rare. Three to five hundred carat stones have been found there, considering the average size is about 1 carat for most Greenstones or Chlorastrolite that are found in this area around the Keweenaw Peninsula.

Personally, I have only found a handful of these beautiful gems stones of this larger size. The reason why is most of them have ended up broken up due to the process of breaking the basalt rock that carries the greenstone in this matrix.

The larger gem quality stones are the most beautiful of all the stones and if you are lucky enough to find copper inclusions in these Greenstones they are worth five times or more per carat weight. Greenstones are priced between 50 to 200 dollars a carat, so a Greenstone or Chlorastrolite with these inclusions can be worth up to 1000 dollars a carat.

When looking for larger greenstones all you have to really do is find the small one. The reason being that with the small greenstones on that rare occasion is really very large greenstones in the matrix once you open it. You will have to go through thousands of rocks of basalts to find even the small stones. If for some reason you find some Greenstone and break them out of the rock and if you would like, I can polish them for a very reasonable price. I also will give you the stone that you found. I have been cutting greenstones for 10 years and black opals for 20 years. Black opals gave me the experience to cut chlorastrolte because they are very similar.

If you find a large greenstone send it out to be cut up, because this is the only way to really see the beauty of this stone is once it is polished up. Good luck hunting the large greenstones that the Delaware mine can and will give up. Rock hunting is one of the last God given rights that we still have in are lives, so be safe and courteous.

Connecticut Gems (Part 2)

As I was talking about in part one there are some really nice aquamarines in Middletown Connecticut. Although they are usually light in color, in small pockets, they can be found in the size of a large fist. There are a lot of areas that look like there would be tons of beryls but they just don't show up. You have to look real hard to find them, if it wasn’t hard enough the light colors make it even harder to find them. If you do find some don't forget to look for elbaite crystals (one out of 20 areas may have them). Finding these gems anywhere is very rewarding. Connecticut has many articles on areas to find aquamarines but most of the mines are lost or closed down so finding areas with them are priceless.

Unfortunately there are very few large vug but no matter how little they are, it’s always worth looking for. Once again, there are vugs in this area. Sometimes there are a lot of theses beryls in a given area, so if you find one you many find many more. There is nothing like the color of aquamarine, like someone has frozen water in your hands and nothing brings this out like a raw crystal from the ground. So whether it’s a gem or just a crystal it’s well worth keeping as a specimen. It is much harder to find any type of gem material from this area so if you find some large gem material consider it priceless. So look hard and never give up on your hunts. There are gems to be found in the great state of Connecticut.

See: Connecticut Gems (Part 1)

Connecticut Gems (Part 1)

Living in Michigan has caused much change in my life for the better and the worst. Being that construction has been slow and I had an opportunity and received a job referral from my friend Bill to go to Westbrook Connecticut to work with a gentleman named Crag. Crag who has a wonderful wife whose home cooking was great with two students in college.

Before going to Connecticut I had spent years researching the gems in Connecticut with the hope that one day I could go there to hunt these gems. The state of Connecticut has a lot to offer, and man does this state really have some great gems stones to be discovered there.

The trip is about 12 to 13 hours from Michigan going through New York, crossing the Hudson River, to finally end up in the great state of Connecticut. On my way do some tile work there in Westbrook. My first night I spent the night in Middletown. When I woke up in the morning it was kind of cool outside being it was fall when I made this trip.

After I found some coffee and I was ready to go find some Connecticut gems. Good luck. If you know anything about gem hunting is that it takes as much skill as it does luck. I was looking for beryls and maybe I would also find an elbaite crystal (tourmaline) as well. I looked for hours, nothing. Eight hours had past from road cuts, to bad directions, to just taking chances.

Then I found some nice rock near the Connecticut River. I followed some quartz rocks to an old mine that had some very large blue beryl (aquamarine). After searching until dusk then I found a large boulder of Amazon stone at about 300 pounds. So I broke it in half. In my surprise there was a large blue green tourmaline crystal (three quarter of an inch by about 3 inches) surrounded by smaller ones and a one inch by one inch Aquamarine crystal in the same matrix. This is probably the nicest gem in matrix that I have ever found. (To be Continued)

See: Connecticut Gems (Part 2)

Michigan Datolite

Those of you that read this blog know that I love greenstones, although there are many other wonderful gem stones I have discovered in Michigan on my adventures. Some might think that Datolite is much like turquoise but isn’t; it’s a calcium boron hydroxide nesosilicate or CaBSiO4(OH). I have found many great pieces as well in the Keweenaw Peninsula as I hunt for rare piece for my jewelry.

In my belief datolite is so wonderful because it comes in more colors and are much more appealing than turquoise. Datolite is so much rarer than turquoise and actually in the current market only slightly higher in price. Also some of the better colors are never found in today’s market. It won't be long before these gems from the Keweenaw Peninsula are out of reach for the common person.

One of the best mines to look for datolite is the Delaware mine in Upper Michigan near the town of Delaware which is basically a ghost town now. This gem is hard to discover because Datolite will look basically like a very small piece of cauliflower or if you are lucky a large piece of cauliflower. Chances are you will not see the wonderful color of that datolite gem until you cut it open. Sometimes looking very very close to the ground after a rain can also bring some datolite to light.

So if the weather is nice or even better just after a gentle rain, go look for some datolite. I assure you it will be fun. I hope these pictures will help inspire you to look for these wonderful gems.

Hunting Greenstones in Michigan

The hunting of dark violet and very dark green greenstones of Michigan! It was first very cold week in November 2005 when I set out with my younger brother. I was going to show him a bit on how to find greenstones on this gem stone hunting adventure. Just imagine there was a foot of snow in the Seney wildlife refuge when we arrived in Lanse Michigan.

Now, as you might guess, by this time I was thinking I had made a bad choice in driving up north to Michigan’s copper county to look for these gems. The temperatures were in the low 20's this morning as we drove in to the Delaware mines, which were almost completely covered in snow by now. My younger brother and I had driven much too far and too long for us not to even look around for a bit. There were 40 to 50 mile an hour winds howling by us, but that wasn’t going to stop us from having a good time.

Its 10 o’clock am and the temperature outside had only risen to a bone chilling 30 degree F. You wouldn't believe it but our luck had finally changed and by noon the sun came out and the snow was starting to melt. I was giving my brother hints on how to find these gems, and as brothers go he wasn’t having it or paying any attentions to me. Then to my amazement suddenly he ends up finding some of the biggest greenstones I have ever seen, beginners luck. Good thing he was not listening to me.

The cool thing is that every time the melting snow drips away from the basalt matrix, there they are, “jackpot” we’d both are discovering more and more of these beautiful Michigan greenstones. After four hours of people hunting grouse with 12 gauge shotguns in the area being fired and near misses in our direction, the gusty winds of 40 miles an hour mixed in with damp bone chilling temperatures, we managed to find some really really nice gems on this wonderful trip. What a bonanza and another adventure of a life time.

Michigan Green Stones

Gems of chlorastrolite (Michigan green stone) are very rare. Until recently these gems were found on Isle Royale (a large island west of the keweenaw peninsula). They are now being found in the old copper mines of the keweenaw peninsula.

The Michigan state gem is chlorastrolite. A precious gem with chatoyant dark green and dark blue patterns. It looks like dark green boulder opals with less fire or dark green fire agates. If you are into these gems you will probable love green stones.



My brother and I have hunted these beautiful gems for 20 years. We have finely found enough gems for exciting new sterling silver jewelry line. Made with Michigan shapes and green stone gems. This line of jewelry is hand made by me and my brother, from start to finish.

We have searched the basalt rock (with green stones in them), then we do the lapidary work, gem setting and jewelry work. We have created a unique product made in Michigan.

If you are interested in more information contact me at timthunder@gmail.com