Rockhound Nevada; Nevada Magazine spring 2024

[SwordfishMining]

I hope magazines never go out of style. Nevada Magazine has a fine article on some of the outstanding rockhounding available in Nevada. I still have to make it to any of these sites, and there are many more, but for Gemfield on 95 North of Goldfield, which was on the way to the Az shows. That is some of the prettiest, hardest chalcedony out there. I managed to find a few shards of the rare treasured green up high.

Millions of years of geological activity have made Nevada the perfect place for mining gold and other precious minerals. They have also formed countless rockhounding sites loaded with unimaginable diversity. Getting down—and maybe dirty—in the hills of Nevada is one of the easiest, least expensive, and most rewarding pastimes you’ll ever find. NOTE: Opal & Turquoise are the most expensive fee sites in the collecting areas that are mostly free BLM, DOI, FS or State & county free use lands.

The only place in North America you’ll find this very rare opalized prehistoric wood is in northwestern Nevada. It’s no wonder Virgin Valley black fire opal is the state gemstone. Opals are made when silica-packed solutions settle into cracks and voids, which can occur in rocks, tree branches, you name it. While spotting these gems can be tough at first, the folks at Bonanza, Rainbow Ridge, and Royal Peacock opal mines are all ready to assist you in your hunt. These mines charge a digging fee, but with that you’ll get expert advice and all offer other amenities and gift shop to buy finished jewellery.

Royal Peacock Opal Mine
https://royalpeacock.com/ The only cottage or camping rentals in the valley & now taking reservations for 2024.


They could have used a better picture, but this is brutally honest about what can happen if you polish uncured material. You can't un-process gemstones. Many of the brightest opals crack or go opaque when fully dried, but the color does not fade.

naturally dried float opal from tailings.

Opal in wood. Rainbow Ridge Mine slab

see below for some cutting tips.

Ottensons Turquoise. You can hire guides like me by appointment only or go on tours for the mining experience too.


https://nevadamagazine.com/issue/spring-2024/23704/

You don't know what you get until its cut, or you can keep it wet like most specimen hunters so it cant ever craze, but mud & some woods dissolve over time.

Hydrophane opal dry

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Hydrophane white opal. Don't think volcanic opal is easy; some loses its color when first dried and some never gets color until after its dried and only some is not going to crack. BUT it does NOT all crack like our competition states it does making it worthless for gemstones. Most opals in woods cure fine and slab to be polished without special care or fracture sealed if not solid to start. But there is no "one style, genus, mine, state of wood that is silicated totally uniform to a common material to work in a single way for maximum profit yield like the commercial semi-precious opal mines.

If you want weight, just cut it like boulder opals after treating. Our opals are heat sensitive more than any other opals when polishing. Keep it cool, and I don't make pointy stones or burn on a cerium finish for that reason. Slow drying is usually much better the first cure as the outside shrinking cant keep up with the inside not shrinking and has to crack. Many cutters do the entire stone wet and hope it dries when done. This minimizes the chance of ruining the best area of play of color with a drying crack due to the large size that would not have happened if it was smaller. If you get it saturated again, the outside has to not pull apart the dried center before it can saturate. Hydrophane is not proven stable in large sizes until it goes back and forth without cracks and then demands a premium or money back guarantee against crazing. Single cracks can happen without reasons in opals, but if it's crazy opal its not going to just have a single crack. Sawing to size & testing a piece lets you know how to go about finishing it and removes stress possibilities. & dry the first slice to see if its crazy before you do the entire specimen.

Hydrophone opal saturated with water - 10% by weight

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Hydrophane white opal with 10% by weight water saturated. The excuse I used to not have to have calibrated & stamped by the state instead of just accurate scales as a rough seller. "All weights are for estimations only". And that was written on the 50 lb kitchen scale by the agate jasper wood rough too.