As many of you know, I love to go gem hunting in the north Georgia mountains. In fact, the entire series of The Gemstones Chronicles was formulated while on a gem hunting trip to Gold ‘n Gems Grubbin’ up in Cleveland, GA.
Today, my brother John and I took advantage of the unseasonably warm temperatures and headed back up to Cleveland for a day of gem hunting. We had a great day, as the photos below will attest.
The photo below is of my entire haul for the day. Now, you have to understand, this is not sifting through a seeded bucket of dirt at the flume. Nope, at Gold ‘n Gems Grubbin’ , we dig through a pile of dirt brought up from the gold mine on the site – one 5-gallon bucket at a time. You can buy buckets, if you choose, but we would rather search the pile of dirt. It’s much more fun!
The haul!
The photo (please excuse the quality of the photo) shows the amethysts I found across the top nearest the ruler. Other stones include: aventurine, topaz, quartz (lemon and clear), garnet, obsidian, emeralds, sapphires, and rubies. Not bad for four hours of work.
Today’s best finds!
This is my favorite stone of the day! I weighed this very dark purple amethyst at 83 grams (which translates to 415 carats). Given that I just released The Gemstone Chronicles Book Two: The Amethyst, it was really neat to find this stone today!!
This is my second favorite stone of the day. I didn’t weigh this one, but it is a large piece of lemon quartz. Very clear, with few internal fractures. This might be a good candidate for having some stones cut for earrings or a bracelet.
Another very large amethyst that I found today. I didn’t weigh this one either, but you can tell by the size it is a fine specimen. It is not nearly as purple as the first stone, but still a very nice rock!
My last picture is another lighter-colored amethyst. Another very large stone, and one that I really like. I wish I could show you every one of the stones I found today, but this post would be way to long! Enjoy these few and, if you have an opportunity, go look for some of your own!! Many states have gem hunting opportunities, so take advantage of them and see what you can find!! If you do, stop by and tell me about it!
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