Gemstones in the Motherlode?

2cmorau

Bronze Member
Nov 8, 2010
1,608
1,294
Camptonville, CA
Detector(s) used
GMT&GM3 Whites MXT Pro, Shadow X5, Fisher 1280, OMG and the TDI
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Calisdad
plenty of semi precious stones California and diamonds too.
there is a small book out there in circulation Called ( Diamonds of Californiaor something like that ) maybe someone can correct me on this
anyway dredging on the N. Yuba i have found small diamonds in my cons, somewith inclusions, classic. But all of the diamonds i have found have been tiny

 

kuger

Gold Member
Nov 6, 2007
9,721
2,794
Detector(s) used
,M.X.T.& Tesoro Tejon
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
There have been diamonds and garnets found here Calisdad....I saved a bunch of the stones you describe for years and never got em looked at or even know where they went?
 

Fullpan

Bronze Member
May 6, 2012
1,928
1,528
nevada
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Decent diamonds have been found in placer ground in Cheroke (about 10-20 miles north of Oroville) Also in French Corral, ten miles northwest of Nevada
City, Ca. Also, Eagledown mentions finding a diamond on his thread. Lots of quartz crystals are found while dredging in various conditions - sooo?
 

Oakview2

Silver Member
Feb 4, 2012
2,807
3,348
Prather CA
Detector(s) used
Whites GMT
Primary Interest:
Other
I believe I read the diamonds will glow under ultra violet light... I have checked some stones with light, but have yet to find a diamond:dontknow:
 

419GottaMinute

Sr. Member
Jul 1, 2012
407
183
colfax, ca
Detector(s) used
Garrett gtax 400
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Consumnes river and yuba are good for garnets, and the fabled "river diamonds"...
 

Oakview2

Silver Member
Feb 4, 2012
2,807
3,348
Prather CA
Detector(s) used
Whites GMT
Primary Interest:
Other
The San Joaquin is loaded with garnets.
 

Attachments

  • Garnets.BMP
    900.1 KB · Views: 715

NeoTokyo

Bronze Member
Aug 27, 2012
1,803
1,580
Redding
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
Eyes - Nokta FORS Gold - Fisher Gold Bug II
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
I believe I read the diamonds will glow under ultra violet light... I have checked some stones with light, but have yet to find a diamond:dontknow:

Only about 30-35% of them glow under a Blacklight.
 

Oakview2

Silver Member
Feb 4, 2012
2,807
3,348
Prather CA
Detector(s) used
Whites GMT
Primary Interest:
Other
[h=2]Ask A Scientist![/h]
Published: 6 August, 2008

Impurities in diamonds, real and 'fake,' give them fluorescence
q.gif

When diamonds are put under a black light why do some glow and some don't? Do the real ones glow or is it the fake ones that glow, or are they all real and glow differently because of things like quality clairty, shape, cut, or things like that?
Ask your own question!

a.gif

The short answer is that the glowing that you see under black, or ultraviolet light, is called fluorescence. It is the same process that goes on in your fluorescent light bulbs at home. The fluorescence is due to the existence of an impurity in the diamond, that allows the diamond to absorb ultraviolet light which you cannot see, and emit visible light. Such impurities can exist in both natural and artificial diamonds, and do not depend on the shape or cut of the crystal. In the case of artificial diamonds, the method of growth dictates both the type and number of impurities that are present. Generally speaking, no crystal is pure, and artificially grown diamonds will have a distinct impurity signature, which will be fairly uniform while natural ones will be more random. Some impurities will fluoresce under ultraviolet light, others will not. The clarity of the diamond is a measure of the number of impurities, as a pure diamond would be completely clear.Now I will try to give a more complete answer regarding what is going on. In order to do this, I need a few concepts, which I will introduce now. Light can be thought of as being made up of particles called photons. These photons have different energy for all the different colors of light. Red light has a smaller energy than violet light because red light has a longer wavelength. Ultraviolet light has a shorter wavelength and more energy per photon than any kind of visible light. In general the energy of a photon is proportional to 1/wavelength.
The next concept we need to understand is that atoms can emit light through electronic transitions. This happens when an electron that is not in the lowest possible energy configuration, 'jumps' to the lower energy state. When this happens the atom emits a photon, the color of which corresponds to energy of the jump or transition.
With these two concepts in hand we can return to the diamond. Diamond is a crystal form of carbon. Crystals are simply a regular, predictable arrangement of atoms. This regular arrangement of atoms gives rise to many special properties. In certain crystals, including diamond, the atom's arrangement and electrical interactions give rise to a forbidden range of energies where transitions are not allowed. Pure diamond is clear because the forbidden energy range includes the energies which correspond to photons in the visible range. Because the visible light cannot be absorbed it passes though and the diamond is clear. All visible color in diamonds is therefore due to impurities which create isolated energy levels in this forbidden range via their electrical presence. When the crystal fluoresces, what happens is that an electron in a low energy state absorbs a photon and ends up in a higher energy state. It then loses some of that energy to processes that generate heat. Finally, it gives up its remaining energy to a photon in the visible range, which is the light that you see, when it glows.

[h=3][/h]
 

Hoser John

Gold Member
Mar 22, 2003
5,854
6,721
Redding,Calif.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Beautiful quartz clusters,diamonds(rarest of all) garnets,jade and much more in kalif,just gotta look. Good book is Gems/ Minerals of California as plenty of spots. My favorites are garnets of many colors in Mariposa county,nephrite jade, fossils all over the state and GOLD GOLD GOLD never gets old and the platinum group nuggies even more better-John
 

delnorter

Hero Member
Oct 28, 2008
906
2,292
Northern California
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Thanks for the reference to the book John, I just ordered it used from Amazon for $10.00

Mike




Beautiful quartz clusters,diamonds(rarest of all) garnets,jade and much more in kalif,just gotta look. Good book is Gems/ Minerals of California as plenty of spots. My favorites are garnets of many colors in Mariposa county,nephrite jade, fossils all over the state and GOLD GOLD GOLD never gets old and the platinum group nuggies even more better-John
 

dave wiseman

Hero Member
Jul 23, 2004
829
843
Angels Camp,Ca.
Seems the vast majority of diamonds found in California have been of industrial grade,not gem quality.Vaguely recalling mentions of diamonds from all the mining reports I've ever browsed through it seems diamonds were found in old tertiary period river beds or in creeks that cut through the old tertiary rivers.....Big list on google to browse through.....diamonds found in California - Google Search
 

Last edited:

419GottaMinute

Sr. Member
Jul 1, 2012
407
183
colfax, ca
Detector(s) used
Garrett gtax 400
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Oakview: you rock! Pun intended. That was an excellent explanation of how light works.
 

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Top