Can I find Sapphires in/near NE Pennsylvania?

[BrettCo124]

Hi everyone,

I’m new to this part of the forum. I’m curious if there are places to look for sapphires? Even if it’s a pay to dig. Never did it before and know nothing about it. But would love to get in to it. I’m not against traveling a little ways either.

Thank you everyone.

Brett

 

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[Tpmetal]

Hi everyone,

I’m new to this part of the forum. I’m curious if there are places to look for sapphires? Even if it’s a pay to dig. Never did it before and know nothing about it. But would love to get in to it. I’m not against traveling a little ways either.

Thank you everyone.

Brett

not that I have heard of but I could be wrong. NE pennsylvania isn't terribly far (couple of hours) from Herkimer NY which is home to the Herkimer diamonds(pure quartz). there are several pay to dig places that are reasonable.

 

[DDancer]

You'll have to go further south for sapphire. North Carolina, there are a number of fee mines but it you dont mind paying for a bucket I suggest going all the way up Grandfather mountian on the Blue Ridge Parkway for the 5 gallon buckets. Heres a good link for sapphire localities : https://www.mindat.org/min-3529.html

 

[IAMZIM]

If your not against driving a long ways...lol! You could come to Montana. There are two places here to buy paydirt with sapphires that are gem grade, and some of the most beautifully colored sapphires in the world come from here! If you don't want to drive though, you can buy dirt to go through online. Just look up "Montana sapphires" on google and it should lead you to some sites that sell dirt they will sent through the mail.

 

[BrettCo124]

Thank you everyone! Do you know if there are places that can send me paydirt but not sprinkled with gems? I’d actually rather see if i could find something great, even if it means I could have an entire bag of dirt with nothing in it. Lol.

 

[smokeythecat]

There is one corundum deposit in the Philadelphia area, south of it I believe. I'll have to look it up. Private property and they have been found in creeks. I have one. The are plain ugly with zero possibility of gems. The North Carolina and Montana areas are the best in the US. About 3 miles west by northwest of Longwood Gardens, in PA not too far off US 1.

 

[BrettCo124]

There is one corundum deposit in the Philadelphia area, south of it I believe. I'll have to look it up. Private property and they have been found in creeks. I have one. The are plain ugly with zero possibility of gems. The North Carolina and Montana areas are the best in the US. About 3 miles west by northwest of Longwood Gardens, in PA not too far off US 1.

Thanks smokey! That would be awesome. I didn’t really understand when you said “they are plain ugly with zero possibility of gems”.

I’d love to go to North Carolina to search for them. I am sure I will do a road trip there with the girlfriend soon. I really want to start getting in to this hobby to add to my addiction (arrowheads, metal detecting).

Thanks again.

 

[smokeythecat]

They are cylindrical, at best, and dark grey to black. Very opaque, you cannot see through them at all. They occur in the Wissahickon Schist. Schist happens. So, an ugly, somewhat porous blackish rock, that looks a lot like a chewed black licorice jelly bean.

 

[BrettCo124]

They are cylindrical, at best, and dark grey to black. Very opaque, you cannot see through them at all. They occur in the Wissahickon Schist. Schist happens. So, an ugly, somewhat porous blackish rock, that looks a lot like a chewed black licorice jelly bean.

Lol well it looks like I should just take the drive to North Carolina instead one of these days. Not too far from Philly. It would be so nice to search somewhere really hard for a few days and hope for a gem to make a necklace or maybe ring with for the girlfriend. I know that’s a long shot but maybe it’s possible.