April 26-27, 2010 – Crystal Mining in Arkansas

Monday

We spent the day at Arrowhead Crystal Mine in Mount Ida, Arkansas.  We were here in December 2008 and found some really nice pieces so that is why we chose this mine again.  When we were here before, they were actively mining and we had to move whenever they blasted.  Today, however, they were not mining and it looks as if it is not as active as it was.  We did find out that they are mining on another part of the property but it is not open to the public at this time.

We decided to do our digging in the tailings (like we did before), instead of on the mountain side (which is REALLY HARD WORK!).  Here is the mine:

Here is the tailings pile – I am over the hill on the right side (I cannot be seen in this photo):

And here I am – I found an area that had a lot of white quartz and was hoping to find some clear quartz.

We did find a few nice pieces but not as much as before (I was kind of disappointed – :-().  Next time I think we are going to find out how long it has been since there were piles put on the tailings.   Overall though – we did have a great day but it is a lot of work!!!  And yes, I would do it again.  It is amazing to see the beauty that Mother Nature produces.  I use to think that some of these pieces I saw in stores were man made but to see them come out of the ground – oh my!  This has definitely been one of the highlights of the trip!!!

Back home we just relaxed – only a cooking campfire tonight – the wind really picked up…

Tuesday

We decided to just hang out today.  I cleaned up the inside of the MH and then cleaned and sorted, and packed up my crystals.  I will need to do a lot of soaking in acid when I get home – :-))). 

And, of course, another great campfire evening.

Tomorrow we are heading towards Branson, MO so stay tuned.

December 13, 2008 – Digging for Crystals

Today we went with our neighbors, Rob and Doug, to the Arrowhead Crystal Mine to dig for crystals. It is located near Mount Ida which is the Quartz Capital of the World. The mine is a working mine where they look for crystal clusters then dig out and dump the dirt. We were allowed to dig in the dirt - :-)!

Here is where the workers dig for the crystals:

Here is the mine – we were digging in the pile behind the pit:

Andy digging away (in the red plaid):

Me searching thru the dirt:

What did we find? Some beautiful quartz crystals – some clear, some milky, some white. It is amazing to see what nature produced. When I get them cleaned up, I will post some pictures.

One of the neat things is that when the sun came out, the dirt just sparkled - WOW! But it is really hard work because the soil is like red clay. We are aching tonight.

We had dinner at one of the local restaurants – Fisherman’s Cove – great steaks. No campfire tonight – very windy.