geezer
spending too much on rocks
Member since April 2016
Posts: 338
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Post by geezer on Apr 25, 2017 12:51:04 GMT -5
Greetings all!
Either the last of May or the First of June the Wife and I want to hit Arkansas to do a little collecting. She wants to spend a day at Crater of Diamonds, just to be able to say we did. The rest of the time we want to hit the "pay so much a day" quartz mines in the area of Hot Springs or Mt. Ida. I know about the Coleman operation, and was wondering if anybody could recommend others?
Geezer
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Post by fantastic5 on Apr 25, 2017 13:16:08 GMT -5
Good friends of mine have dug at the Sweet Surrender Mine. I haven't been yet, but it is on my short list.
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Post by HankRocks on Apr 25, 2017 16:53:46 GMT -5
In my opinion, Twin Creek is the best place to go for Quartz Crystals. They are actively digging and exposing crystals. We have also had good luck at Wegner's the last two years. 3 years ago at Wegner's the 2 first place crystals in the Oct contest were dug out of a pocket worked by myself and two good friends, I was the odd man out! Last year we dug a 3rd place and two 6th place finish crystals out of Twin Creek, went back the day after contest and dug even better crystals.
Unfortunately the best place over the past years, Miller Mt has had some management issues and had gone downhill as of last Oct. Plan on checking it out later this year to see if they have righted the ship. The quality of crystal we had found there in previous years was really good.
Warning about digging Quartz in the Summer in Arkansas, it can be miserable digging unless you happen on cooler or cloudy weather.
H
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garock
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
Posts: 1,168
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Post by garock on May 10, 2017 19:34:22 GMT -5
Went to Wegner's mine in July and almost had heat stroke. I was there about an hour and it was too much. Returned to the office. They did not return our money. Found out the temp in the area was 113 degrees. DON'T GO in SUMMER !
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Post by Pat on May 10, 2017 20:13:10 GMT -5
Be very careful about time of year. First time we went, the humidity was terrible.
Second time, we picked a better time of year. True to our normal vacation hours, we slept in, had a leisurely cup of coffee, read the paper, then headed out to breakfast.
Don't do that.
By the time we got to the collecting area, it was humid!!
There are rock shops in town. Specimens go from very big to pocket pocket size. We did our best collecting in the shop that owned the collecting area. I highly recommend this tactic. Prices reasonable.
No, I don't remember the details.
Nearby, there are roadside stands selling good looking slag glass. Came home with some.
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geezer
spending too much on rocks
Member since April 2016
Posts: 338
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Post by geezer on May 11, 2017 11:38:35 GMT -5
THANX ALL!
The May/June week was the earliest I could get this year. I hope it is early enough. Was there once before in July- won't do that again!
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