Jacksons Crossroads Amethyst Dig - March 2016

For much of March 2016 my partners and I set out to mine the very well known amethyst mine in TIgnall, Georgia. The mine was opened in the late 1990's and since then has become known to produce North America's finest amethyst crystals. The crystals occur in druzy quartz lined cavities in a rotten granite, often formed in flower like arrangements. I look for single gem drops and clusters to set in their natural form in my jewelry pieces.

Jacksons Crossroads amethyst flower set in casted sterling silver.

During this years dig we focused on two areas, one in the center of the mine and one to the north. In both areas crystal lined cavities were found and the flowers harvested. Most of the specimens will be preserved in their natural form to go into private and museum collections, a few small ones will go into my custom jewelry and a very few will be cut and faceted into beautiful pleochroic gemstones.

The Jacksons Crossroads mine, late in the March 2016 dig. This view is looking south.

This is the best gem rough we collected during the dig.

Nevada Garnets - bright dark sparkles of gem.

I have known about the garnets in Ely, Nevada for many years. They are located on public land that has been set aside for rockhounds to collect since the 1970's, however it is really located in the middle of nowhere. Located along highway 50 (stated as the loneliest road in the USA) Garnet Hill, as it is called, is a treasure worth waiting for.

The garnets crystalized in open space gas cavities within the cooling rhyolite lava. Because of the open space available during crystallization the garnets have very sharp crystal faces that are quite lustrous.

Mining for the garnets required digging through blocks of fractured rhyolite in hopes of discovering garnet rich seams. Once these seems are found the individual blocks are broken open in search of the gemstones.

An image of the excavation I worked in search of gemstone garnets.

The garnet bearing blocks of rhyolite are then taken to my workspace where I use a diamond saw to remove the matrix rocks and isolate the individual crystals to incorporate into my designs.

The final gemstones, ready for setting.

Cascade Mountains, Washington: garnets and amethyst!

During August 2015 I took a trip the three gemstone localities in the Cascade Mountain of Washington. First I visited my friend Joe George's amethyst mine called Green Ridge. This hydrothermal breccia lies deep in the forest of the Alpine Lakes region. We spent 5 days repelling off cliffs in search of treasure.

Joe and I as we approach his amethyst mine, Green Ridge.

Next I visited my mine, Spruce Ridge. This mine is also a hydrothermal breccia and is located within steep cliffs about 5 miles away from Green Ridge, although it would take an entire day to walk there. The Spruce Ridge mine is famous for its quartz and pyrite crystal combinations but gemstone quality quartz and amethyst can also be collected here.

the Spruce Ridge Breccia as it looked in 2015.

The grand finale for this trip was a hike to the famed Vesper Peak garnet locality.This was an epic trek to end an incredible adventure. We started at daybreak and hiked 6 miles, climbing 4,200 feet in elevation to reach the deposit. This deposit is a scary type and it has not been professionally worked since the 1980's. However, we were able to work the remaining boulders and sift the dump in search of specimens and loose gemstones. The garnets here are cinnamon is color, highly lustrous and gems. They re also interesting crystallographically because they express cube face, which is very rare in the world of garnets. The garnets are often perched on a dark green mineral called hedenbergite.

Sunset above the Vesper garnet locality.

This is the whole of the garnet mine. Most of this image is the pile of boulders created during historic mining.

Some of the garnets that were recovered during my Vesper adventure.