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Who Buys Extraterrestrial Gems?
Even though these materials are extremely rare, they can typically be purchased at a lower price than some of the most popular gemstones. Why are they so inexpensive? Most people are not familiar with them, so they are not being requested in jewelry stores. In addition, the supply of these materials is so small, so fragmented,…
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Can Gems Really Come from Space?
Rocks that fall from the sky have frightened and fascinated people throughout history. They immediately generate curiosity and have a scientific significance. They are made of extremely rare materials that interest scientists, collectors, and curious people alike. Many meteorites and impactites are small enough and attractive enough to be used as gems in the same condition in which they fell from…
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Going to Jail for Collecting Rocks?
Finally, before you go out to collect rocks, minerals, fossils, gems or any other material, you need to know the rules for collecting on private and public land. For collecting in Bureau of Land Management property, you should get in touch with the BLM field office as explained above. For collecting on private property, you…
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Rockhounding in Idaho
There are many locations in Idaho where you can look for rocks, minerals, fossils and gems. The most popular is searching on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) areas. Although BLM does not have any specially designated rockhounding areas in the state, you can obtain maps showing areas where collecting can be done at one of their twelve field offices in…
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Petrified Wood
Petrified wood is found at many locations in Idaho. The Idaho Department of Lands reports silicified wood occurrences in Custer, Gem, Lincoln, Owyhee, and Washington Counties, with occurrences of opalized wood in Boundary, Gem, Gooding, Latah, and Owyhee Counties. The Virtual Petrified Wood Museum has an article with nice photos describing Bruneau Woodpile, a location where collecting is possible. Bruneau Woodpile…
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Idaho Jasper
Jasper has been found in many locations in Idaho. Some of them have become popular enough to be widely known. These include Owyhee, Willow Creek, Graveyard Point Plume, and Prudent Man Jaspers. The most famous jasper from Idaho is Bruneau Jasper, mined in Bruneau Canyon in Owyhee County. Its typical color range is from brown…
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Idaho Opal
Opal has been found at many locations in Idaho, and mines there have produced it since the early 1900s. Most of the production has been from small mining operations and open cuts worked by two or three people. There have also been a few fee mining locations where individuals can pay a fee, search for opal, and…
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Gem-Quality Garnet
Gem-quality garnets have been found in the sediments of many Idaho streams. They are mostly deep red almandite and purplish red almandite-spessartite. The most interesting surprise was the discovery of star garnets. These purplish red almandite garnets contain fine rutile needles that produce four-ray stars or six-ray stars when the rough is properly oriented and cut into cabochons. Cutting…
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Garnet Abrasives
People have been searching the stream gravels of Idaho for garnets since the late 1800s, but commercial production did not begin until the early 1940s. At that time, thin gravel layers in the sediments along Emerald Creek, Carpenter Creek, and Meadow Creek in the Idaho panhandle were being mined for garnet abrasive. The gravel layers…
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Idaho Garnet
Garnet in Idaho is found in pegmatites, garnetiferous schists, mica schists, and other metamorphic rocks. It can be removed from these rocks or found in the soils that have formed above them. However, most of the garnets that have been produced in Idaho have been from the sands and gravels of placer deposits. This is where they can be…