I was wondering if anyone knew of a good place in Missouri or Arkansas that some friends and I could go and pay to search through buckets of rocks and dirt to find gems/ruby's/crystals/etc?
There's always the diamond mine just south of Hot Springs in Murpheesboro (Crater of Diamonds State Park )....They find diamonds there every day, 99% of them are small, but on occasion someone will find a big one. It's a State Park so there are good camping sites. I'd advised to go in early summer and stay a few days, they have a small water park on site, plus Hot Springs is near by so there's plenty of things to do. Good Hunting!!
Coleman's Crystal Mine in Jessieville Arkansas is one of the best places to go digging for crystals.
They constantly bring up fresh dirt from the commercial pits, and you can dig and keep all you find.
The mine is located about 3 miles north of Hot Springs Village. They have a campground (for RVs and tenters), and have full restrooms with shower facilities at the campground.