usung a blacklight to find emeralds

PhipsFolly

Hero Member
Sep 30, 2005
633
602
Treasure Coast, Florida
Detector(s) used
Minelab Sovereign Elite & Sovereign XS, Minelab Equinox 800 and Aquapulse AQ1B
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Found upwards of 50 Colombian Muzo Emeralds from the 1715 Fleet... the only way I was ever able to actively search for and find these (other than by sheer luck of coming across one) was to do research on which sites had previous emerald finds made by others and get out there and sift for them!!! Many long hard back breaking hours of sifting during particular beach conditions to recover them... go do it... they’re out there!!
ImageUploadedByTreasureNet.com1573442160.560925.jpg
 

RTR

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Nov 21, 2017
8,180
32,469
Smith Mt. Lake Va.
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Teknetics Liberator
Falcon MD-20
***********
Blue Bowl
Angus MacKirk sluice
Miller Table
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Found upwards of 50 Colombian Muzo Emeralds from the 1715 Fleet... the only way I was ever able to actively search for and find these (other than by sheer luck of coming across one) was to do research on which sites had previous emerald finds made by others and get out there and sift for them!!! Many long hard back breaking hours of sifting during particular beach conditions to recover them... go do it... they’re out there!!
View attachment 1770302

Simply Beautiful Phips !! :) !!
 

PhipsFolly

Hero Member
Sep 30, 2005
633
602
Treasure Coast, Florida
Detector(s) used
Minelab Sovereign Elite & Sovereign XS, Minelab Equinox 800 and Aquapulse AQ1B
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All Treasure Hunting
Thanks Ivan... a lot of work over 20 years of beach hunting for them... and few helpful hints from some awesome beachcombers who are no longer with us...[emoji6]
 

sphillips

Bronze Member
Jan 4, 2008
1,047
1,120
Western NC
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Equinox 800
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All Treasure Hunting
Found upwards of 50 Colombian Muzo Emeralds from the 1715 Fleet... the only way I was ever able to actively search for and find these (other than by sheer luck of coming across one) was to do research on which sites had previous emerald finds made by others and get out there and sift for them!!! Many long hard back breaking hours of sifting during particular beach conditions to recover them... go do it... they’re out there!!
View attachment 1770302

Great story Phips. Would not expect you to reveal locations, but maybe what beach conditions are ideal?

Thx

steve
 

PhipsFolly

Hero Member
Sep 30, 2005
633
602
Treasure Coast, Florida
Detector(s) used
Minelab Sovereign Elite & Sovereign XS, Minelab Equinox 800 and Aquapulse AQ1B
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I have three locations that turn out emeralds on the beach at three different 1715 wrecks... one seems to produce much higher quality stones than the others so that I will keep under my sifter so to speak... I have shared the location of one of the other sights with a few close th’er friends but to be honest with you, the site I shared is no secret... Pepper Park area in Fort Pierce... numerous others have found stones there. As for exactly where on the beach, I’ll leave that for you to do your homework[emoji6]
 

njcommercialdiver

Sr. Member
Feb 26, 2005
318
293
Eastern PA
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Garrett At Pro,
MX500 Proton Mag
fisher gold bug, whites PI, Garrett gold scorpion
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Prospecting
i tried a UV light when i was out in washington state last year, hoping to find some diamonds on the sandbars, all i found was a weird plant that would show up orange and green, some strange bugs, and found out bird poop fluoresces but never found any diamonds
 

Red_desert

Gold Member
Feb 21, 2008
6,850
3,500
Midwest USA
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Garrett Ace 250/GTA 1,000; Fisher Gold Bug-2; Gemini-3; Unique Design L-Rods
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i tried a UV light when i was out in washington state last year, hoping to find some diamonds on the sandbars, all i found was a weird plant that would show up orange and green, some strange bugs, and found out bird poop fluoresces but never found any diamonds
I read some where that emeralds fluoresce under normal light but not with UV light sources. I've been told that diamonds in jewelry show up at night under car headlights in parking lots. If so, a super bright type of normal light would do the best job for diamonds or emeralds in the dark.
 

Red_desert

Gold Member
Feb 21, 2008
6,850
3,500
Midwest USA
Detector(s) used
Garrett Ace 250/GTA 1,000; Fisher Gold Bug-2; Gemini-3; Unique Design L-Rods
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I like the sifter idea, years ago there was a sifter group on the beaches. A good article on how to make their beach sifters, was published for us to read. From what I can remember the frame used pvc pipe and galvanized rabbit cage mesh.

My take on it, that would work good for screening higher up sand. But at the waterline or where wet sand is filling in the hole, best option is a tough plastic gold classifier pan 14" diameter with a circular (concentric) cut galvanized rabbit cage mesh attached to bottom (inside pan). This combo can recover a coin which other commercial sifters have failed to reach, simply by turning pan sideways to wiggle it down then turning as lifting up contents.
 

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