This is a huge area. This made a sort of amazonite sandwich with a clay lling. Careful pocket documentation and repair work will yield higher percentages of ne specimens than ever before. The first step in cleaning the pocket contents is a simple wash. Following the survey, a series of geologic and geophysical studies were conducted. Crystal Park Dillon, MT Phone: 406-683-3900 Additional Information: Activities Amenities Crystal Park is a unique recreation area at an elevation of 7,800 feet in the Pioneer Mountains in southwest Montana. Located southwest of Buena Vista and high above the Arkansas River Valley, Mount Antero is part of central Colorado's pegmatite belt, where veins of exceptionally coarse rocks contain large concentrations of rare minerals. For many rockhounds, rhodochrosite is known for its deep red, pink, and white bands. The microcline color varies from pink to light green to medium green to light blue green to dark blue green, the latter being the best and most desirable color. About 100 ne pieces were removed in addition to several hundred lesser pieces. The following project review provides historical and geologic information concerning the amazonite/smoky quartz occurrence at the Two Point Mine and the efforts of Collectors Edge Minerals, Inc. (CEMI) to conduct specimen mining and recovery during the 1996-1997 season. Amazing smoky quartz, topaz and Amazonite have come from there. Again, no material was found. Given the improvement in digging and repair techniques during the l990s, the potential for future important large nds is very good. You can also check online resources like Mindat.org, which is a comprehensive database of minerals from around the world. Photo by C. Baldwin. The property was owned by Jerry and Thelma Hurianek. The great thing about rockhounding is that it doesnt require much in the way of equipment or supplies. Services. The plates growing down from the pockets ceiling have separated from the roof and fallen onto the floor plates. East of the town of Kremmling, enthusiasts have access to regulated collection of petrified wood on BLM-managed lands. Within a few years, it was difficult to tell that the area was ever disturbed. The pocket was packed with clay and contained only amazonite, no smoky quartz. The opening only reached 20 cm high. Found some Amazonite near Crystal Peak. The upper is composed mainly of red mudstone, with lesser amounts of yellowish, often tabular sandstone. White caps are an unusual white albite coating on the terminations and/or sides of amazonite crystals. One of these pegmatites opened into a high-quality amazonite pocket and produced about 30 nice amazonite and quartz groups ranging in size from 6 cm up to 14 cm. Rockhounding In Colorado Starting with the rich gold and silver deposits which were the starting point of so many Colorado towns, the Centennial State. In the late 1800s, prospectors first struck gold along Clear Creek near Central City. The area around Denver, particularly west into Jefferson County, is a fantastic destination for rockhounds. About 2 kilometers to the west lie the Clarence Coil claims on and near Yucca Hill. The pocket was mostly collapsed, the roof having fallen in, perhaps, millions of years earlier. Colorado through the years has continued to produce a diversity of high-quality and important fossil specimens for museums and collectors worldwide. In the past, because most amazonite pockets are collapsed and the crystal groups disassembled, few amazonite and smoky quartz groups survived. These gem mines have produced superb mineral specimens over a period of 100 years. Here you can find rocks such as Fluorite, Topaz, Hematite, Amazonite, and Smoky Quartz. The Tree Root Pocket made its debut at the Denver Gem and Mineral Show in September, 1997 to an excited audience. During the puzzle work, a few of the pieces were nally cleaned yielding the biggest surprise to date. Specimens of calcite, agate, quartz, topaz, diamond, gold, and more can be found in the mountains and mining prospects surrounding Fort Collins. Intrusive, coarse-grained igneous rock substantially containing crystals typically 1 cm or more in diameter is referred to as a pegmatite. To get to Wolf Creek Pass, the driver must be wide-awake as the road can deceive you. Colorado is well known for its unique combination of amazonite and smoky quartz crystals. The pocket discovery lay exactly at an intersection. Unfortunately, none of the targets produced a pocket. About 4 nice small pockets were recovered from this area. They also offer knowledgeable guided tours of the Round Mountain BLM Rockhound Area. The deposit discussed here was discovered, claimed and named the Two Point in 1956 by John O. Buckner. Inside, the pocket may be open airspace or, if near surface, completely lled with clay. Now that you have the supplies you need, its time to start looking for rocks and minerals. Crystal Peak is a high Colorado Thirteener and one of the 100 highest peaks of Colorado, also known as "Centennial." Crystal falls in the 100 highest at #82. Many outstanding repairs were discovered, including this one. It is in the Tenmile Range, which extends from Peak 1 near Breckenridge south to the Continental Divide, where the same range becomes known as the "Mosquito" Range. It can be a daring adventure, but its one you should undertake with both caution and the knowledge that you may not find what youre looking for at all. Following cleaning and repair, each group was again photographed and then cataloged. About 3 meters down, the unconsolidated granite gave way to hard rock and the digging was discontinued. It is up to the individual to identify these boundaries and seek permission before attempting to prospect on the claims. 39.5965N 120.0760W. found ever in North America. Because the granite in the target area was very weathered, the GPR system picked up variations between the decomposed granite and solid granite bedrock or granite boulders. There were no white caps inside the pocket. Location 1 Aliquots. While the color was medium blue-green, the association with the albite made them very desirable to collectors. Over another 40 million years other magma intrusions, containing minerals different than the original intrusion, pushed their way into the existing granite, remelting it and forming cores containing the mineralization we see today. Human Services and Social Programs. at least 30 cm thick, it did not bend into a vertical orientation, instead, it intersected the fault and opened into a pocket, lying in a near horizontal orientation. Careful water ushing reveals the delicate crystal plates, which then may be removed. The area is mountainous with rugged terrain of forest and rock. Mount Antero isnt an easy climb, and most vehicles arent going to cut it to make it up. If this was a pocket-bearing pegmatite, the pocket would occur just under the arch in the center of the photograph. The county road access to the gulch is the same as that used for the 14er, Quandary Peak, so weekend use in this area can be quite heavy, but those seeking the high 13ers will find much more solitude . The downside is that considerable quantity of the land was developed into cabin and home areas some years ago. So, be sure to check where in the area you can go rockhounding. The areas at, or near, the hilltops usually contain the best hunting ground for amazonite. The areas on the east side of County Road two are the public access BLM-owned lands open to specimen collection. At the same time, the Foote Mineral Company began the first mining efforts in the Crystal Peak area (Odiorne, 1978). Then pack a pick and shovel and head out to those beautiful, productive areas that are open to collecting. Still, there are many locations in Mineral County where one can hope to find amethyst, agates, geodes, moonstone, and plenty of other minerals. The thin black dotted lines highlight the pegmatite structures. As a narrow pegmatite structure approached the fault it would sometimes bend vertically into the plane of the fault and produce a small vertically-oriented pocket. A tree root followed the narrow seam of a pegmatite downwards into the pocket. The color is best described as deep blue-green, one of the nest amazonite colors. Most of the mineral lies in claims, unfortunately. Here, you can dig for chalcedony, agate, jasper, quartz, and countless other claims. Head for the Black Rock-High Rock County and scout for agates, fire opals, geodes, obsidian, topaz, malachite, or malachite. Rockhounding is the recreational activity of searching for rocks, fossils or minerals from the environment. Thelma Hurianek was instrumental in discovering the Museum Pocket that was reconstructed and is now on display at the Denver Museum of Natural History. Care should be taken to respect private property and the claims within the national forest. For additional reading, Id highly recommend these books you can find on Amazon: Please remember that rock collecting locations are constantly changing. The area is remarkable for those searching for rocks. Though many weekend prospectors have combed hillsides digging with hand tools, few have had the resources to mine these valuable specimens with mechanized equipment. I'm new to the site. Specimens of calcite, agate, quartz, topaz, diamond, gold, and more can be found in the mountains and mining prospects surrounding Fort Collins. Colorado is well known for gems and minerals. Its a matter of paying attention. Few contain the top color amazonite coveted by mineral collectors. The proximity to the surface, and the subsequent ground water drainage through the pocket, was a detriment to pocket quality. Jerry Hurianek with his hand on a large amazonite specimen. Although there's an available collection of minerals on the National Forest land. Add in the short summer season where you can reach the gem fields it may not be worth it for the average rockhound. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". Garden Park: Garden Park is located near Canon City in Fremont County. Some of the links on our website are affiliate links. A mine program was put together to drill and blast 30 feet below the pocket. Search for amethyst and quartz at the Crystal Hill Mine, check out the view at Douglas Pass while looking for leaf imprints and insect fossils, or head to Saint Peters Dome to uncover green, white, and purple fluorite. One is a medium-grained pink granite that covers most of the claim and contains the best prospecting areas. The rst groups were heavily damaged but within a couple of hours, two very nice groups were pulled out. For each nice group, about 50 broken pieces were extracted. Once youve collected some rocks and minerals, its time to clean them up. The pockets measured between 20 to 40 cm in diameter and 5 to 8 cm high. While there seems to be a correlation of pockets being discovered at the intersections of north south fault structures and pegmatites, not all intersections yield pockets. A mineral is a naturally occurring, inorganic solid, and has its own characteristic crystalline structure. These magnicent specimens came from claim Number 8 of the old Gem Mines and dazzled Europeans for the first time (McNulty, 1983). The state gem is aquamarine, found on the lofty reaches of Mount Antero (Chaffee County). Market acceptability of nely-repaired specimens will give the eld collector the incentive to save and repair important pieces. The area predominately frequented is within the Crystal Peak Mining District located north of Florrisant and Lake George, within Teller and Park County, respectively. The Pikes Peak granite is a 1.03 billion year old Precambrian granite which extends for over 120 km along the front range of Colorado near Colorado Springs. The pegmatites form where the intrusive rock has cooled much slower than the surrounding granite, allowing larger crystal growth to occur. Just to the southeast of the Two Point Mine are the excavations of Rock Currier and Bob Bartsch. The Two Point Mine lies in the northeastern portion of the Lake George intrusive center, which in turn lies on the western ank of the Pikes Peak Batholith. During the process of mining the highwall, each pegmatite structure took turns widening into lenses and opening into pockets. Much of the potential prospect area in recent years has been placed under claim. As with most states, each county in Colorado will have records of who owns each piece of property. Your best bet is to find the tailings of old silver mines, but be aware that not all of these areas are safe. There were two sites left at the Two Point Mine to explore. Two distinctly different granite textures have been identied at the Two Point Mine. Sure, Colorado is known for rock climbing, hiking and skiing. Still, upon casual inspection of most specimens, the damage was usually minimal or unnoticeable. By law, these claims must be adequately marked. Usually, the pegmatites are difficult to notice until their thickness reaches at least 10 cm; then they are easy to spot because they contain a course graphic granite texture which is visually distinctive from the more ne-grained granite host-rock. The Tree Root Pocket occurred at the intersection of its pegmatite host dike and a major north-south structure. Two kilometers northeast of the Two Point Mine lay the 10 Percenter claim, site of the famous Key Hole Pocket mined in 1985. Graphic by Bill Tanaka. The company entered into a lease agreement with John O. Buckner in 1995 for the Two Point property. In any case, it was originally discovered in Brazil, hence the name. Its just more convenient for the most part. Between the tree root, the roof collapse and its proximity to the surface, much of the Tree Root Pocket was either destroyed, damaged or disassembled. Then, the dip changed to a near-horizontal position and the pegmatite began to widen into a lens. Apache Tears, properly known as black obsidian (Ruby Mountain in Chaffee County), were named for the Indian legend that they are the petrified tears of Apache women mourning the slaughter of their men in battle. No signicant smoky quartz associations were recorded from that period. During the week of June 1, 1997, new equipment was moved onto the property. You will find the area rich in geodes and quartz. It was . In Colorado, its distribution is far-flung for the most part. At the end of 1996, no major discoveries had been made. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. Atero, Chafee county The Turret Mining District Golden Gate Canyon Devil's Head Wolf Creek Pass Pike's Peak The Bachelor-Syracuse Mine The Old Hundred Gold Mine Loosely defined, a gem is a mineral that has been cut and polished to make jewelry or other sorts of adornments. Washington has an extraordinary variety of rocks and fossils. If so, how much iron out per gallon of water ratio? In the spring of 1996 the project engineering and base map were complete. There is a relationship between the frequency of pocket-producing pegmatites and the north-south fault structures mapped at the Two Point Mine. The constant water ow helped destabilize and break down many of the amazonite crystals. . But, hey, you dont know whats going to turn up when youre out in the woods. JEEPN4GOLD/Google. The specimens are finally finished; a table reveals the treasures of the Tree Root Pocket. The beauty of rock hounding is its simplicity. The list of amazonite prospectors goes on and on it is beyond the scope of this article to cover them all. Claims are typically 182 m wide and 457 m in length. June 29, 2022; medical bills on credit report hipaa violation letter; masajes con aceite de oliva para el cabello . Mining Amazonite for FREE in Colorado! About 20 feet down, a series of 4 pegmatites, stacked one above the other, was uncovered. The tree root wound completely through the pocket to its very end, wedging and forcing the plates in all directions. By the second day, it became apparent that the pocket was large. Just finding out where you can legally grab some stones can be a headache for the budding rockhound. Remember! Photo by John O. Buckner. These were looked at during the 1998 mining season but are not reviewed in this article. Pegamite, a gem-bearing granitic formation, is what youll be looking for. It is up to the individual to identify these boundaries and seek permission before attempting to prospect on the claims. Length 12.1 miElevation gain 4,314 ftRoute type Loop. Search in the southern areas near this mine, and you will find plenty of geodes of all sizes. Posts: 5 Joined: 21-March 14 Member No. This magma remained and cooled to form the Pikes Peak granite about 1.5 km below the surface. The location of pegmatite pockets seems to be controlled by these north-south faults: more on this later. Dont miss it if you decide that youre going to go rockhounding in this state! They may however, dip wildly within the horizontal trend. Tip: Check out my Complete Rock Tumbling Guide to make your rocks and gemstones really shine! It is your responsibility to know the rockhounding laws and regulations for each site you visit. Some of the more high profile include dinosaur fossils, petrified wood, amazonite, flourite, and even aquamarine. Houselog Creek usually offers its diggers great rewards, so be sure to take your digging tools and large buckets for your haul. Also, there were no baveno or manebach twins present inside the pocket, with the exception of one broken manebach measuring 9 cm across. Allanite, Astrophyllite, Epidote, Garnets, Hyalite Opal, Hornblende, Magnetite, Sphene, etc. State Mineral. Crystal Peak is the best area but most of it is under claim. 4) Not really a good place for fossils or gemstones (there's not much to be found), but do check out Garden of the Gods. Pegmatite structures are often stacked one on top of the other in layers or swarms, the latter being a colloquialism. The color graded from medium to deep root beer brown giving them the varietal name of smoky quartz. This bundle of information includes a book, videos, and online tools. Located at the mountainside in the Pike National Forest, Colorado, is Devil's Head, famous for rockhounding. The best way to collect rocks and minerals is by using a hammer and chisel to break them open.