Gems of Michigan

Oakland County Michigan Gold!

2011-05-17T18:48:00.001-04:00

Oakland County Gold! Yes, gold can definitely be found in Oakland County Michigan, but not in large quantity. I’m going to share a little story about Michigan gold from just a couple weeks ago.

A cold Lower Michigan Creek

Old man winter was finally saying good bye, it was a snowy winter here in Michigan. I was ready and raring to go look’in for some of that Lower Michigan gold. I called my good buddy Lumpy (Yes that’s his real name) to head out on an early spring morning just after the snows have melted. Man was the water cold.

There were always rumors floating around about Southeastern Michigan gold. The latest rumor we heard about through the grapevine was that there was Gold right here in Oakland County Michigan. Honestly, I was very skeptical and thought that we wouldn’t find any Gold. With a side kick named Lumpy you’d think there was no chance at all.

"There's gold in them hills!"

Honestly, I had looked in Livingston County many times before and only found one small flake in two years worth of trying. So we went out, froze are donkey butts off and found some nice fine flakes, lost some weight too, and did Lumpy ever do some smack talk’in.

If you find some old quarries your chances of finding Gold will go up... It is still very hard to find so you will still have to look every inch on these grounds. Small creeks can be good to but it always seems the gold is finer in these streams. Good luck look’in for Gold in Southeastern Michigan and have fun Prospecting.

Big Tim say’in “That’s it for now!”

Picture of a Gold flake on my trip with "Lumpy"

Big Tim "The Rock Hound" Going Gem Hunting

2011-02-20T14:13:00.002-05:00

Colorado Gold: Locations plus so much more!

2010-12-24T15:03:00.008-05:00

Colorado is one or the most beautiful states to rock hound at there is plenty of fine Gold and many mineral rare mineral specimens to find and there are many wonderful places to discover. If you don't want to travel all over this wonderful state then Denver is a very good place to start. Within a 50 mile radius you will find most of the gems and mineral that can be found in Colorado. I have listed some places close by and then some cool places that are much farther away. Remember, I have only touch the surface so keep reading and searching the Great State of Colorado for Gems, Gold, and minerals. All these wonders are there to be discovered and treasured.

As you can tell by the video there are many spots in Colorado to rock hunt and to search for gold. One such an area is Georgetown. This area has lots of fine gold and silver, it doesn’t take long to figure out that there will be a wealth of minerals' in this area. One GREAT spot and one of the best places you’ll find the wonderful mineral specimen is Clear Creek County. So here is the scoop as I don’t want you to be bore you with all the digging I did in this county, I will just tell you were the sweet spots are, and where it was good and not so good to save you time.

If you are looking for big and nice minerals in vugs forget the Gold mines, I’m not saying you won't find good mineral specimens in theses old mines because you will. If you just use common sense, you will realize that everyone is looking for gold and they also seem to always pick up the nicest minerals at theses old mines. Now here is a clue and here it is… the old copper and silver mines always seem to have the best mineral specimens in their old dump piles.

If you’re looking for gold, good fine gold can be found about 6 to 8 miles up Chicago Creek from Clear Creek. It is always nice to know where to find the gold, even when you join different groups paying them good money or buying books they are very often a little miss leading. It is not fair but everyone is trying to make a little money (sign of the times). There was very little placer gold in the town of Empire but there was some fine gold. There should be some good gold in these areas so don't give up. I just gave you a summer of hard work from reading those bad books at least you will have a good start.

Gunnison was no good for gold and if there was good Gold there the locals didn't make it easy for you to get into the national forest, so I ended up going down to Placerville. San Miguel County on the San Miguel River is where you will find lots of fine gold as good as the Arkansas River. It is good about 5 miles west of Placerville. You will find Fine flakes and fine Gold in pockets, throughout this River. This is also a very beautiful and scenic area. There is a park down on the river about 6 to 7 miles west down from Placerville that talks about Sam Miguel and his Gold finding adventures (there is fine gold down there).

Near Parlin there is the Opportunity Mine. To reach the mine site from Parlin take county rd 76 north for 4 miles, then east on that good gravel road by the nearby homes. Then go a 1/2 mile and park, there you will see the old mine and an old road on the right. You can find aquamarine And Green Elbaite Crystals. There are a lot more Green Tourmaline and maybe if you’re lucky a little beryl (aquamarine) nothing of gem quality at all but very nice and large mineral specimens'. Yes you will find lots of good stuff here, good luck.

Traveling to Colorado looking for gold and more!

2010-12-22T22:12:00.018-05:00

My Trip to Colorado was amazing, if you like big mountains, lots of fine Gold, old mines, and many different Gems this is a trip for you. I don’t believe you even have to like the great outdoors to appreciate the views you will discover in the State of Colorado.

Looking for Epidote crystals? Well I have a hint for you, the "Calumet Mine" in Salida. Yes, the Calumet Mine is really hard to find. You may even need to buy a few good books on the area and yes you will have to read directions very closely to find this one.

Now, if you do find the Calumet Mine plan on digging a lot of dirt to find these epidote crystals. If you do find some they will most likely be pretty small. Don't give up! Yes, there are big ones left for those of you willing to do the work looking for them. The largest crystals that I found were 1”x 1 ½” inches, not a bad size for this area and some of them are clean too!

Fine gold can be found all over and through out Colorado's Arkansas river and believe me when I say "it's really fine." Remember to be careful, if not it will float right out of the slues, even in the slowest water flows. If you want to find Colorado Gold this is the river to do it in. Maybe, with a little luck you could find a location with some coarse gold too!

If you are thinking of looking for Fluorite you will definite find it just outside of Colorado Springs at Saint Peters Dome. There was not a lot of crystal but there are some "massive" translucent chucks of purple to emerald green mixed with dark blues. Lot's of fun and worth the time. While in the area you can also find ammonites in El Paso County just outside of Colorado springs. Plan on spending a little time in this area and make sure to have a lot of fun.

If your on a budget you better like camping in some of these areas because motels and hotels will start at 100 dollars and up. This is the only bummer because in a tight economy, what can I say, your money can be a little tight too. You think these hotels and motels would understand this, o well. If you're not a camper you can do some good rock hunting closer to the Denver area, you will find more rooms and hotels at a more reasonable price.

I did a lot of traveling this summer and I have a lot more to share. Make sure you check back as I have some more really nice stories, finds, and picture to share. As always I will also share some great locations to find some really nice gems and other riches for all you rock hounds.

Michigan Morel Guide

2010-05-03T20:52:00.002-04:00

Michigan Morel Guide

Australian boulder opals and Chlorastrolite

2010-02-14T09:25:00.009-05:00

The Australian boulder opal with its fire like flashes has come to be a stone of much wealth, sometimes reaching the price way above diamonds. Here is one of those gem stones. This black opal from Australia. The gem was cut by my brother Kirk Meinke. When you reach into the red colors of these opals and large carat sizes like this one you can get into the millions of dollars, for these gems. The very small circles in the opals is what gives them the fire like colors. Although we have not found them in Michigan at the present time who is to say some day that we don't find them. Unlike opals with small circles to reflect light the Michigan Greenstone(Chlorastrolite) has very small lines to reflect light, giving it the high opalescence look. The 1/4 inch stars with in the the gems are rarer than the rest so when you see large stars they are worth more. Most of the best Chlorastrolite gems come from the Delaware mine in the copper country of Michigan. They are very hard to find so if you go gem hunting in the copper country for them, don't give up that easily. It always seems better to find any gem after it rains out. The colors of gems usually always stand out. Here are some pictures of some fine gems from Michigan and over seas.

Chlorastrolite on Ebay at Gems of Michigan

2010-01-16T18:03:00.011-05:00

Gems of Michigan have an eBay store now called thunder gems. I have made up a simple catalog for this Michigan made jewelry. I hope this will help for the people who have shown great interest in Michigan greens tones (Chlorastrolite). Our most reasonable priced jewelry is the Turtle Web pendants they start at 60 dollars and go up to 150 dollars. They are reasonable priced for sterling silver pendants with one to 4 carat Chlorastrolite gems in them. I cut and polish all the gems by hand I even mines them in the summer time up in the copper country at the Delaware mine. This is probable the most handmade jewelry in Michigan. If I could mine the silver from Michigan I would use that silver in this jewelry, maybe in time.

12x10mm Chlorastrolite gem in Sterling silver Turtle Web pendant for $150

10mm Chlorastrolite gem in Sterling silver Turtle web pendant for $100

8mm Chlorastrolite gem in Sterling silver Turtle web pendant for $80

8x6mm Chlorastrolite gem in Sterling silver Turtle Web pendant for $60

Here are other wonderful Chlorastolite pieces that can be found at our Ebay Store.

I like to incorporate Datolite gems with my greenstone pictures for it also is a gem stone that is from Michigan copper country. The Michigan shaped jewelry is all hand casted then worked down by hand to a high polish. Trust me when I say it is very hard work for this line of jewelry. At present time the large rings are all size 14 but can be made to a smaller size. The very small Michigan ring is made to size and is only 50 dollar. The more exotic rings start 200 dollars and go up to 300 dollars, these rings have heaver silver and are more handmade (some have a gold bezel). The large pendants are 150 dollars. From time to time I will come up with new Jewelry, which I will post or but on my thunder gem eBay store front. I hope you are enjoying my posts yours truly Tim Meinke.

http://stores.ebay.com/Gems-of-Michigan

Michigan Emeralds and Large Garnets

2010-01-03T09:23:00.008-05:00

There are emeralds in Michigan. Even though the colors of these emeralds are usually light they can still come in dark green to dark blue green. Theses emeralds are found in an old iron mine in Marquette County. If there was a myth of finding theses gems in Michigan, it is no longer a myth. They are very hard to find in the old iron mines I would have to believe that there could be out crops of these emeralds if one could find a better pegmatite system in this area. These pegmatites are there but most of them are covered with glacier sands. For the people who are looking for these gems it will be a hard and long journey but that half the fun. From Marquette County all the way south to Dickerson County is a good place to start looking for theses' elusive emeralds. Who knows maybe you will get extremely lucky and find rubies, if you are finding emeralds you are findings chrome deposits and where there is chrome there can be rubies.

For those looking for easier gems you can always look for garnets they are scattered all over many of the old iron mines. The only problem is that there is very little gem quality but you will find some o.k. cap quality. Put it this way, it will take a nice polish, if you know what I mean. Most of these garnets are really pseudomorphs. (They are usually lager in size and replaced by hematite). On very rear occasions the pseudomorphs can be as large as soft balls. These garnets and pseudomorphs are found in chloride schist. When busting them out always hit the schist with a hammer against the grain, so the gems don't break in half. Believe me they look a lot better when there whole.

Datolite and other Michigan Gems of October

2010-01-02T22:03:00.011-05:00

It was the last week of October. I decided to go up north to the copper country. Once again I marked out a spot on the map to go looking for more crystals and stopped at some old iron mines in Marquette County. In my amazement I found the nicest gold goethite crystals growing on a cluster of half inch clear smoky quartz crystals. I didn't think that such finds were capable of being found up in theses ranges. "Holly Smithsonian", I said. This is one of the most beautiful groups of crystals I've seen from these ranges.

On this day in the iron ranges there was about 3 to 6 inches of melting snow. It was a beautiful day, a mixture of fall colors, and the deer still in rut (I saw a six point buck chasing a doe in the middle of the day.) For these conditions it was a wonderful even though the temperature was around 35 degrees outside.

I found this gem of a mineral specimen on the side of a 5 foot boulder with a plate of half inch smoky quartz crystals. The plate was about 2 foot by 2 foot and if you know anything about popping a large plate of crystals off a 5 foot granite boulder it is virtually impossible, so I was able to knock off a couple of pieces and one of those pieces was a trophy. With any luck I would be able to save this specimen to take picture for people to see what’s in these old iron mines.

At night I arrived at the Delaware mine for some rest, in the morning I would set out to take some pictures and try to find some datolite. There was not as much snow on the ground as there was in the iron mines but I still had to wait for some snow to melt to dig in my datolite holes. So I looked for greenstones and found some very large ones.

Finally the snow melted in the crushed basalt holes and I found some datolite but not your ordinary colors. One looked like cotton candy and I found my first yellow datolite from the Delaware mine (after 30 years of searching) I thought I would never find this color there.

After searching the Delaware mine I went to the Connecticut mine (this is next to the Delaware mine) where I found some white datolite next to a small boulder. I broke up the small boulder and found some more pieces and some were about 2 inches across in size. After finding some more small balls of very small datolite and the Connecticut is full of very small datolite balls, I took some more pictures of the mines with their snow and fall colors.

Chlorastrolite and Large Michigan Greenstones

2009-11-19T20:05:00.000-05:00

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)

2009-11-17T21:52:00.000-05:00

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)

2009-11-17T21:13:00.000-05:00

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

2009-10-20T19:39:00.000-04:00

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

2009-10-07T18:33:00.000-04:00

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

2009-09-26T17:55:00.000-04:00

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