An Oregon Sunstone trip!

[Cynangyl]

Oh my goodness did David and I ever have a good time! We left Thursday and were out in the SNOW on our way out to where we were going to dig sunstones Friday morning. Friday we spent all day out in BLM finding sunstones (luckily there was no snow out where we were going) then stopped at a local sunstone mine to ask questions. The people at Dust Devil Sunstone mine were incredible! They were so friendly and informative so Saturday we went back out.....loooooong drive and spent a full day at their mine finding sunstones! We found a LOT! They weighed the largest one I found which is to the right in the picture and it was 53 carats total and probably, according to the person we talked to there, will end up around a 7 carat stone when it is cut and finished. Now we just have to figure out who cuts and facets stones. The man at the mine said he would probably have a few of the nicer ones done then send the rest over seas because they will only charge less than a dollar a carat finished weight. We know nothing about all of this but we did have a great time and hope to go back down later after the weather is nicer and do it again. The first picture here is of the entire bunch we found both days then a couple of pictures closer of some of the stones, then I could not resist......posted a pic of the glorious weather on the way out there lol Also one scenery shot later. Quite a trip! I can't wait to go back! Thanks for looking!

 

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[nealb]

Nice Finds, Cynangyl!! I saw a story on digging for sunstones on the travel channel with Becky Worley called Best Places to Find Cash and Treasure. Wife and I are contemplating a vacation to one of the gemstone mines they feature on her show.

HH

 

[Cynangyl]

Yes we saw that special as well! Was really cool! I must say we worked pretty hard for two days straight for our finds and Becky seemed to have incredible luck involved but it was sure worth the trip. We had so much fun and exhausted ourselves as well. Next trip down we have made arrangments to stay closer to the mines instead of clear down in Lakeview and save us a lot of driving every day! You will have a great time if you go!!

 

[spotz]

Nice work! That's a pile of stones. I watched the same show. Looks like a good time if I ever get time to go anyplace fun.
Spotz

 

[Night Stalker]

Great Balls-o-Fire! I saw a special on TV about people finding those....some went home with hundreds of thousands of dollars!

Fantastic !

Thanks for sharing the story and pics.


Night Stalker

 

[Cynangyl]

I know we did not get hundreds of thousands of dollars but we did find a lot of sunstone and had a great time. Hopefully I can find someone that cuts stones that can give me an idea what it would colst to get a few faceted. Would be coool to have at least one piece of jewelry from stones we dug ourselves.

 

[Boobydoo]

Thanks for posting this!! It looks like so much fun, great finds, all of them, congrats! I hope we get to see a finished faceted stone someday out of this.

Smiles!
BDoo

 

[stoney56]

Looks like a great day! Glad you enjoyed yourselves. What a collection you amassed. 8)

 

[Pennyworth]

Wow that's a lot of Sunstones, very cool! What does that mine charge per day to hunt? I hope you get some nice faceted stones out of that collection. Congratulations

 

[petrie]

where at in oregon is this place? just curious want to go there myself!!!

 

[Jeffro]

Are you gonna stay in Plush next time? I had a blast my first trip out, too. Its a pretty neat place. The largest one of mine was 53 carats which I turned into a pendant for my Mom, it turned out beautiful!

Most of the ones I got had occlusions though, which are evident after a good tumble. Lets you know which ones will cut good.

 

[K-Man]

nice stone i wish i could do something like that hmmmmm i wonder if there is a mine something like that here in wisconsin or the upper michigan

 

[TreasureTales]

Very nice bunch of sunstones, congrats. I've been wanting to do that myself someday, maybe this year!! A friend of mine sends various semi-precious stones to Sri Lanka for cutting - quite cheap, and they'll even do some of the smaller stones. It takes about 2 months to get them back.

Is there anything else in that general area to collect? I've been to the John Day Fossil Beds, that was very disappointing because we couldn't get close to the cliffs nor could we collect there. And I've been to Prineville to collect thunder eggs, but I was so inept at finding them that the leader of the field trip had to give me some of his own. LOL

Anyhow, you did very well and I admire your determination to go there despite what must have been cold weather.

 

[Bavaria Mike]

Very nice pictures, stones and post! Ironically, I live near the Gem capitol of the world here in Germany, Idar-Oberstein. The owner of my apartment was a stone/gem cutter and his workshop is still there with the huge grinding wheels, he sold off most of his equipment when he retired. He is very friendly, I will ask him what it takes to cut, polish, facet a stone. He gave me several pieces of cut stones a few days ago, more like small slabs I plan on using for displaying some finds. I thought I found a small Geode and had him look at it, it was not a Geode and he even told me where I found it, I had to LOL when he said which field I found it on, he said that field is full of the fake looking Geodes. Let me know if you have a question. HH, Mike

 

[Cynangyl]

Are you gonna stay in Plush next time? I had a blast my first trip out, too. Its a pretty neat place. The largest one of mine was 53 carats which I turned into a pendant for my Mom, it turned out beautiful!

Most of the ones I got had occlusions though, which are evident after a good tumble. Lets you know which ones will cut good.

Yes, we are going to stay in Plush, found someone with a 40' 5th wheel that will rent it out fully hooked up there. Much nicer than the hour and a half drive each direction this trip for the two days! Thanks for the tip about tumbling them, maybe we will give it a try.

where at in oregon is this place? just curious want to go there myself!!!

It is North of Plush Oregon. Out in the middle of nowhere and you can find information on the mines online as well. We went to the free BLM collection site the first day then to Dust Devil Mining the second day. Both are fun but easier at the mine plus that is the only place we found any color at all in our stones.

Wow that's a lot of Sunstones, very cool! What does that mine charge per day to hunt? I hope you get some nice faceted stones out of that collection. Congratulations

The mine does not charge per day to dig the sunstones. They charge a percentage of the value of any of the colored stones. To give you an idea on what that would cost of that pile of stones we got they found ONE they would have charged for.....around $10 charge.....and the man there said since we were such hardy people digging in the wind and rain and he was so busy with propane issues he did not have time to be very sociable that he would not charge us anything, Merry Christmas. Going to Dust Devil Mines was WELL worth the cost in comparison to wanding the free digging site for the public down the road. We did not find any colored stones in the free digging area.

If anyone decides to go down for Sunstones.....do your research, there is not much in the area so you have to go prepared. It is well worth the trip though! Tons of fun and you get to dig in the dirt all day and not get in trouble!

 

[Cynangyl]

Very nice bunch of sunstones, congrats. I've been wanting to do that myself someday, maybe this year!! A friend of mine sends various semi-precious stones to Sri Lanka for cutting - quite cheap, and they'll even do some of the smaller stones. It takes about 2 months to get them back.

Is there anything else in that general area to collect? I've been to the John Day Fossil Beds, that was very disappointing because we couldn't get close to the cliffs nor could we collect there. And I've been to Prineville to collect thunder eggs, but I was so inept at finding them that the leader of the field trip had to give me some of his own. LOL

Anyhow, you did very well and I admire your determination to go there despite what must have been cold weather.

lol The first time I went to get thundereggs I was in grade school and they took us all out north of Madras to Richardson Rock Ranch to collect thundereggs and we had a grand time. David and I went recently and dug a few as well and got a lot of them, a couple that were kinda cool, had moss in them and such. We got them cut but not polished....now we have a stack of thundereggs in our garage too! We sure have fun though! We would definitely be interested to find out about your friend's person in Sri Lanka as well or we will have a pile of Sunstones in the garage as well! LOL

 

[Mirage]

Looks like a fun trip. Reminds me of New Mexico. Sun and warm down below - snow and cold an hour's drive up the mountain.

Bob

 

[karib2517]

nice

 

[TreasureTales]

Cynangyl, my friend owns a rock shop and refuses to divulge the name of her Sri Lankan contact. I believe there are a number of them with websites, but I don't have any idea which one of them she uses. She says everyday somebody comes into her shop asking for the name of her faceter, and she says if she gave away her "trade secrets" she'd soon be out of business. LOL, I swear it's like trying to get the recipe for the secret sauce at McDonalds, or the 11 herbs and spices from Kentucky Fried Chicken. Sorry.

 

[Cynangyl]

LOL it was worth a try! We might try getting a tumbler and tumbling them first then find someone to facet them. Would like to see how they turn out.