Mining for star garnets in Idaho

Cloaked in secrecy, many gem deposits occur in locales so remote and guarded that few ever reach them.   The opportunity to find quality gem rough for oneself scarcely exists.

One of the exceptions to this rule happens to be located in Northern Idaho. Nestled in the thickly wooded hills in the Idaho Panhandle National Forest is a mining site managed by the US Forest Service known as the Emerald Creek Garnet Mining Area.

For a $10 day-use fee anybody can mine for the day and try their luck in the gem bearing dirt and gravel. I recently visited this site myself. After working my first two buckets of dirt this is what I found:

The stone to the right of center is a flawless,

facet-grade 8.4 carat rhodolite garnet crystal.

Total weight at the end of the day was 8 ounces and it took searching through 20 five-gallon buckets to find this much garnet. While digging and sifting took the most muscle power- it was the washing of the gravel that took the most work.

The result of a day's mining!

Some of the larger crystals found that day.

All your stones must be thoroughly washed since the sticky and rust colored clay clings to any and every pebble possible. It seemed like everyone at the site is after larger sized garnet crystals with the potential to “star” when cut. However, there is other material to find too. Some of the smaller fragments and crystals consist of facet grade rhodolite garnet in a rich shade of raspberry purple.

Expect to work hard and understand that the average found by visitors is 4 ounces. With extreme hard work and a sharp eye, you can probably find close to a pound of material in a full day. For rough material that may cut a star garnet- the best pieces are somewhat larger (1/2”+) crystals of dark garnet. These are easier to orient for an experienced cutter and are said to be more likely to contain inclusions and layers of rutile that produce a good star.

The site is open Friday through Tuesday from Memorial Day (May) to Labor Day (September). For more information on the site (and others nearby) look for the book “Rockhounding Idaho” by Garret Romaine [2010]. Also, I recommend contacting the US Forest Service and calling ahead to make sure the site is open.

I'm interested in hearing stories and seeing photos from the early days of garnet collecting- especially in the Emerald & Purdue Creek areas. Feel free to contact me if you have anything to share.

Introduction

Diamonds... Rubies... Sapphires... Emeralds... Stories of these gems abound in romance and adventure. However, behind these renowned precious gems there lie hundreds more varieties of unique stones. Many are exceedingly rarer than the aforementioned “Big Four” and all have their own stories wanting to be told.

These other gemstones attract the esoteric, the scientists, adventurers and connoisseurs amongst us. Oftentimes, the histories they hold and the people they attract hold narratives as fascinating as the more well-known stones.

Garnet is one such gem. In its' most common colors- flashes of red or purple emanate out of a dark background- just like a burning coal. It was known since ancient times to the Greeks and Romans and is still commonly used today as the birthstone for January.

One of the rarest and most unusual varieties is known as “Star Garnet”.

A crystal of garnet, from only a handful of world locales, if cut properly, may reveal a four or six rayed star. The state of Idaho is home to one of the few places in the world where these types of crystals occur. It is both the heartland for star garnets and also home to the only “mine” where anyone can visit and collect crystals themselves.

This blog is dedicated to the progress of my book about Star Garnets: “Chasing the Stars”. As I make further progress, meet interesting people and discover new facts about the star garnets- I plan on updating this blog. Please keep checking back to follow my progress on my book.

Comments, questions and stories are all very welcome!

-Martin