Prospectors on the Weather Channel

[Tnmountains]

Has anyone seen the new show Pospectors on the Weather channel? They hunt precious stones. It is pretty good. I remember when the producer joined t-net and was saying that the weather channel had picked up the show. He used to do Bering Sea Gold. Looks like a fun fun hobby/income.
Cheers

 

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[austin]

I saw it and learned a great deal about minerals I had not even heard about. I really enjoyed the program...

 

[Tnmountains]

It was done really well. That girl that hunts those rock slides was pretty darn cute. I learned a lot as well. Amazing stuff.

They must be running the show all night tonight.

 

[Joe hunter]

Are stones really worth that much cause I'm thinking I'm in the wrong field.

Yes I'm in a field there on a mountain

 

[Lafitte Deux]

I found the show interesting. And it didn't have any needless DRAMA.

 

[Frankn]

Great shows, I have seen them all. They repeat on Sunday. Yea I agree that gal is cute and pretty strong too. I only wish they made more shows. They repeat a lot. Frank...

 

[Tnmountains]

I liked how they ran off the trespassers . Am thinking that job would be a fun one for me rock slides and all.

 

[HutSiteDigger]

Really good show!! But if the producer is reading this thread please do not goo to Lost Dutchman area. Four people have been murdered looking for the gold since 2010. Kewl show though!

 

[RGINN]

I checked it out since that's up in my part of the country and I've been over around there a lot. People have been prospecting for gems on Antero for lots of years. What impressed me that this might be a little better calibre of shows is how they dealt with storms on the mountains. DEFINITELY get off the mountain. Kudos to the show for lettin the public know that as that can save lives. One way the show could be better is if they would pan the camera over north towards Mt. Princeton in the chalk cliffs area so we could spot the Spanish Princess and all go find the treasure buried there.

 

[Leonard F.]

I think you might be referring to me -- I work for the company that produces Prospectors. I worked as an editor on the first season of Bering Sea Gold.

Anyway, The Weather Channel picked up the series for a second season, only this time the episodes will be an hour long rather than the original thirty minute length. And more mining crews will be added.

I am hoping to work on it, but nothing has been confirmed for me.

 

[jeff of pa]

I stopped looking for it. They kept Pre-Empting it which is the kiss of Death for any program.

plus non of them prospected for gold

 

[Keppy]

Now this show the prospectors i do watch ....... And so far it is a good show and you can learn some things from it................Not like the metal detecting shows on tv i do not watch any of them.... They bore me " look i found a buckle or " look i found a coin ....... No matter what they do in these metal detecting shows ... they are stupid and bore me......... And all you can learn from them is nothing ......... But the prospectors you could learn new things about gems from there show ........ My friend and his wife just went to N.C. for the 4th and she found a ... 4 carat sapphire at one of those gem mines down there .......... So now he has to have a appraisal done on it .... And checked for clarity... To see if is worth $10.00 a carat or a $1000.00 a carat.... Or some were in between...... Gems can be very interesting ...

 

[rock]

Ive had that one on record for a while now. The weather always cuts it out though if there is a update. I have seen the show and like it when it actually shows. I like Gems and would like to find some here but so far havent found any great ones.

 

[Tnmountains]

I think you might be referring to me -- I work for the company that produces Prospectors. I worked as an editor on the first season of Bering Sea Gold.

Anyway, The Weather Channel picked up the series for a second season, only this time the episodes will be an hour long rather than the original thirty minute length. And more mining crews will be added.

I am hoping to work on it, but nothing has been confirmed for me.

Leonard I hope that you are able to be involved with the show. I was surprised the Weather channel got it but with the conditions as they are I can see why as Rginn commented. Watched it again tonight and enjoyed it.

 

[Number9]

Uh.. Hey Tnmountains...

You have more different minerals in your back yard than any other place in the country!(North GA, Western NC, Northwest SC)

People that go to "pay to dig" mines looking for sapphire and ruby(or other stones) usually find a stone that the owners are more than happy to cut for you! The problem is, many times the cost of having it cut is more than the stone is worth... and it's very common.
Most sapphire and ruby mines are now "salted", so the tourist come away happy that they have found the "big one".
Back in the 1970's this wasn't the case and the stones you found in Cowee Valley, NC was natural... most found now are salted with corundum from Africa.

Looking for minerals and rocks is a great hobby. When you do this you're called a "Rockhound". Many hunt for many different minerals and some, like myself, only hunt one. I've been hunting corundum for over 30 years. While doing so, I've found many deposits of other type minerals other than corundum. I usually pass on location sites as long as it's not corundum!
Had a friend who liked to hunt Garnet. Told him about a site on Chunky Gal Mountain(NC). Told him to take a big truck with him if he went.. he thought I was joking.. until he made a visit to the site! Me and my "bitter-half" call it the "Garnet Store".
Red stones in this rock are Garnet..


I have a Geologist friend who lives in NC. For his 50th birthday I gave him a "gift"... a deposit site that I run across a few years earlier. The deposit contained Aquamarine... and you thought it was only in Colorado!?

Corundum is the mineral name for the gem names sapphire and ruby. Sapphire can be any color from clear to black.. but the red sapphire only can be called ruby. The only difference is color.

Sapphire of different colors...
(for scale.. the black sapphire in the middle of the picture is about 2 1/2" wide)



NC Ruby. 48ct...



They are not all big

 

[Frankn]

I really like the show. What I dislike are the number of repeats and the 'no shows'. There is an option to get the weather report with the red button so there is no real need to preempt the show. I wonder about the pricing, On the last show they said one specimen was worth $500,000. I had no idea. Frank...

 

[Leonard F.]

Leonard I hope that you are able to be involved with the show. I was surprised the Weather channel got it but with the conditions as they are I can see why as Rginn commented. Watched it again tonight and enjoyed it.

I thought it was strange for TWC to pick it up as well. I do know that after the deal was already signed, National Geographic wanted it. Honestly, though, TWC might be a better place for it -- in my opinion, the show will stay closer to an honest documentary style of story telling, and less of a produced product that a lot of the networks are going for.

They camera crews have just started filming and I'm guessing it will be airing late this year or January/February of 2014.

 

[Rogerv]

As long as they don't start yelling Boom Baby i will watch it

 

[RGINN]

Well Leonard F. it's good to hear from you on here. I never have time to watch a complete episode, but I like the show. Hope they call you back, too. TWC might be a good place for it, as Colorado weather in the high country can get very interesting. This is a part of the country that can kill you in a heartbeat in various ways. (Unfortunately that seems to be becoming the case for the rest of the country.) I appreciate your work on the program. Now as I said, just to the north of there are the Chalk Cliffs. Legend has it there is a Spanish treasure in this area, and an image of a Spanish princess in the cliffs is the direction marker. Now if you could just get the cameras to casually pan over that way....hahaha! Probably just a tall, tall tale, but inspiring to some of us. Take care!

 

[huntsman53]

Uh.. Hey Tnmountains...

You have more different minerals in your back yard than any other place in the country!(North GA, Western NC, Northwest SC)

People that go to "pay to dig" mines looking for sapphire and ruby(or other stones) usually find a stone that the owners are more than happy to cut for you! The problem is, many times the cost of having it cut is more than the stone is worth... and it's very common.
Most sapphire and ruby mines are now "salted", so the tourist come away happy that they have found the "big one".
Back in the 1970's this wasn't the case and the stones you found in Cowee Valley, NC was natural... most found now are salted with corundum from Africa.

Looking for minerals and rocks is a great hobby. When you do this you're called a "Rockhound". Many hunt for many different minerals and some, like myself, only hunt one. I've been hunting corundum for over 30 years. While doing so, I've found many deposits of other type minerals other than corundum. I usually pass on location sites as long as it's not corundum!
Had a friend who liked to hunt Garnet. Told him about a site on Chunky Gal Mountain(NC). Told him to take a big truck with him if he went.. he thought I was joking.. until he made a visit to the site! Me and my "bitter-half" call it the "Garnet Store".
Red stones in this rock are Garnet..
View attachment 825520

I have a Geologist friend who lives in NC. For his 50th birthday I gave him a "gift"... a deposit site that I run across a few years earlier. The deposit contained Aquamarine... and you thought it was only in Colorado!?

Corundum is the mineral name for the gem names sapphire and ruby. Sapphire can be any color from clear to black.. but the red sapphire only can be called ruby. The only difference is color.

Number9,

You are totally wrong about Chunky Gal Mountain in North Carolina! I have been there many times and there is not only still a fair abundance of Rubies and Sapphires in the almost Zoisite type matrix rock there called Smaragdite, there is also some veins of Adventurine. The mine site was mined heavily back during WWI and early in WWII for the aluminum found in the matrix that also contains the Rubies and Sapphires to produce aircraft engines. Tiffany's also mined it for Rubies and Sapphires as there were and probably still is some of Gem quality. The site was also been mined several times prior to WWI for lower grade Rubies and Sapphires that were used to make Industrial Abrasives. In fact, I have a rock in my' basement weighing approximately 300 pounds which is covered with Rubies and Sapphires and which my daughter found and refused to leave behind. I had to go back to the car and get two of the many old, long curtains that we purchased at a Yard Sale to cover the seats in the car to keep them clean. I took the two curtains to where the rock was, tied them togther, placed the rock in the middle and drug the rock over 150 yards back to the car. There are also some nice specimens of the smaragdite, corundum and adventurine occurring together to be found which produced bluish/grey/green stones in veins that has aluminum in them and which make very beautiful cabochoned stones suited for pendants and rings. When a really nice piece is cabochoned in the correct manner, the aluminum inside the stones, causes them to sparkle in the light and sunlight. Since this location is in the National Forest, there is a limit to how much of the Rubies, Sapphires, Adventurine or the matrix rocks you can bring out or as they call it, harvest! Back in the late 1990's, a fellow from New York found a very large deposit of Adventurine there. He enlisted the help of several other guys and they were blasting the rocks out, collecting the Adventurine and selling it to the Japanese. They were eventually caught along with their Japanese buyers when the met at a dock I believe in South Carolina and sold the Adventurine. Needless to say, they all spent some quality time in Federal Prison!

Also, off the backside of Chunky Gal Mountain (the Nantahala Lake side) there is a creek containing many, many specimens of White (not clear) Sapphires compressed into conglomerates with other rocks and possible corundum, that are so dense and hard, that a piece the size of a baseball can weigh over 5 pounds and will literally burn up several diamond saw blades to cut through them.

If you decide to go and look for some of the rocks containing Sapphire, Ruby and Adventurine, it would be best to go in the late fall, winter and early spring months as there are a lot of Rattlesnakes in this area and some have made dens in the holes that prospectors have made in extracting rocks. I went one summer and had one buzz me but it was so well hiiden that I could not find it, so I slowly back away from the buzzing, went back to my' truck and left.

http://www.corunduminium.com/ChunkyGal.htm

http://www.wire-sculpture.com/jewelry-making-blog/tag/ruby-zoisite/ (scroll down to the pics comparing Ruby Fuchsite, Ruby Zoisite and Ruby Smaragdite)


Frank