Went back to Wyoming last week....

[Jim in Idaho]

Spent 6 days in western Wyoming, again, in a fruitless search for those elusive diamonds. I didn't get stuck on this trip, but it was hot. I was getting up at 4:30AM, and working by 6:00. by noon, I was back at the camper. as usual, I didn't find any diamonds. On occasion, I've found a gray, shiny mineral, that is heavy, and extremely smooth. Finally figured out it's hematite. It shows up on the saruca pile, as it's heavier than most of the other minerals in the area.


My back can only tolerate a couple of days of digging without a chance to "heal-up", so I usually spend one day just wandering. On this wander, I found some nice hunks of natural asbestos. I find smaller pieces in the saruca pile, as it's fairly heavy, but the big ones are just found laying on the ground in plain sight.


Here's a pic of my setup on this trip. You can see the vibratory classifier, and the pile of gravel for the "soft" bed for the saruca when flipping it. The big tub is where I do the saruca work before flipping. I didn't bother with the jig on this trip, though I did have it along. I also hauled in 3 55 gallon drums of water. It's bone dry in that country. The Dodge was hauling a LOAD!, including pulling the camper.

Heidi spent the mornings chasing rabbits, and was completely worn out by about 11:00, and looking for a shady spot...LOL

Jim

 

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[wilfndgold1]

Jim have you hunted for any of those Giant Iolite gems there in Wyoming?

 

[Jim in Idaho]

Nope. I started reading Dan Hausel's stuff back in 2010, and that got me interested in diamonds, and I haven't broken away from that long enough to do much else.....just not enough time....LOL I think most of the big Iolite is not gem quality, though the smaller stuff is. Wyoming has some really interesting gems, and geology.
Jim

 

[IAMZIM]

Time is usually my enemy as well.... lol! I find lots of hematite when I am getting sapphires.........makes me wonder.....hmmm

 

[Jim in Idaho]

Hey Zim, have you ever polished up any of the hematite? I'm thinking trying that (when I find the time)...Ha!
Jim

 

[spudnick]

Jim,, good to see you were out on an adventure , and the pictures are always a bonus . Heidi looks like in sleep mode, but her ears are still up, not likly anything is going to sneak up on you !! Do you have a diesel engine in the dodge truck? Nice asbestos pieces, and the hematite looks shiny already, must be very dense..Its Funny how a person always finds something to take home. Haha

Oh ya, i need to pick your experianced brain on a trip i have planned..
I have not been out yet this summer.. But, i am gearing up to go by the end of the week. I am now building 3 propeller rock guards for 10 hp outboard motors , we will be travelling by inflatable boats on a river .. Will be traveling light , bringing pans and pails.. What would you suggest for a classifier pan mesh size and or suruca on a gemstone expedition ? or any advice on what i should bring ,and proccesing tecneques , Would be greatly appreciated. ... thanks Ken

 

[Jim in Idaho]

Hey, Ken....good to see you're getting out. On the classifiers, I use 3...a #2 stacked on a #4 stacked on a #8. This is on the vibrating classifier. If the soil is too damp for the vibrating classifier, and I have to just lift the whole stack, and dip it in the tub, I substitute the saruca for the #8 on the bottom.
The saruca has a #10 screen, but some people use a screen as small as #16 on the saruca. Depends on how small a gem you want to save.
On the dry classifying, I just put the raw material in the #2 classifier, and stir it around until all the -#2 has sunk down into the #4 screen...then visually inspect the +#2 rejects before dumping. Then do the same with the #4 screen, but after the -#4's go down to the #8 screen I dump the +#4's into a separate bucket.
The saved material on the #8 screen is dumped into its own bucket. That gives me two sizes of material to run through the saruca, or jig...+#8 to -#4, and +#4 to -#2. You can run it all together, but you get the best recovery by running the sizes separately.
If you can't separate the material dry, I use the saruca for the bottom screen, and just do it as I go along. That wet method is more work as you have to jig the whole stack up and down in the tub to get rid of the dirt. Three or four hours of that will wear you out.
If you're working in a river, or lakeshore environment, with lots of water available, you could just use a #2 over a 5 gallon bucket to start, and then dump that in a #4 on a bucket and save the rejects in a separate bucket. Might be slower, but you'd be lifting less weight. Another way to do it is to cut the bottom out of a 5 gallon bucket, and set that in your #8 screen, put your dirty material in the bucket and pour water through it all to get rid of the dirt first.....then do your classifying. That's a good method in a stream, or lake.....not so good where you have to haul water.
Hope you find some good stuff! I'm going back to Wyoming next week. Have a new location spotted.
Jim

 

[IAMZIM]

Hey Zim, have you ever polished up any of the hematite? I'm thinking trying that (when I find the time)...Ha!
Jim

I haven't, never thought about it lol! The pieces I have are fossils, and pretty polished already! Been so busy, I'll have to post a pic of them sometime...

 

[Jim in Idaho]

I haven't, never thought about it lol! The pieces I have are fossils, and pretty polished already! Been so busy, I'll have to post a pic of them sometime...

I'd like to see a pic. Looking forward to it.
Jim

 

[old digger]

I enjoy reading your posts. Whenever I am out looking for artifacts and fossils I always check out the ant hills in the area. Yesterday my wife were out hunting and we decided to check some ant hills out. We were fortunate to find an area with quite a few hills, and we also found that they were loaded with the star shaped cronoid stems. I was surprised that my wife sat out there in the 80 degree sun sorting them out. We found one hill that was just loaded, so we bagged up a two gallon baggie to sort out back at home. But of coarse if someone wants a small amount give me a p.m.

 

[Jim in Idaho]

That's cool, OD. I didn't know what they were, so had to look it up. Amazing how many different shapes there are.
Jim

 

[IAMZIM]

Here's my hematite fossils. As you can see they are pretty polished, because they have been stream worn, as I have found these when I was getting sapphires in an aluvial (sp?) deposit. I have seen really nice sea urchins from the place I got these but as yet I have not found one myself...

 

[Jim in Idaho]

Nice, Zim. Obviously more polished than the one I found In Wyoming....probably exposed to more constant water wear. The area I'm working in Wyoming is pretty dry most of the year.
Jim

 

[Eu_citzen]

I've polished hematite, not my cup of tea, but some like it. Looks like black or greyish & takes an excellent polish in most cases.

 

[Jim in Idaho]

EU, do you know what the best polishing medium would be? I've seen some hematite I really liked...may try that this winter.
Jim

 

[Eu_citzen]

EU, do you know what the best polishing medium would be? I've seen some hematite I really liked...may try that this winter.
Jim

Diamond gives absolutely the best polish. Treat it like ironstone or boulder opal and you'll be fine.

 

[Jim in Idaho]

Diamond gives absolutely the best polish. Treat it like ironstone or boulder opal and you'll be fine.

Many thanks, EU.
Jim

 

[spudnick]

Jim, my internet has been down for some time, finally had to get a new air card. The price you pay when living in a remote location. Haha.
We had a super adventure on the river , creeks and side hills. I used the screen sizes and techniques as you recommended, and that worked worked real good. Classifying two sizes to run through the saruca. The suruca has a # 16 screen.. I concentrated the workings into 4 to 5 lb sample bags for later inspection at home with lights and magnifiers.. Mostly found dark red garnets some pinkish in color. My son found a 5 lb rock loaded with dark red garnets. Not too water worn thinking maybe a source nearby ? Also found a few shell and amonite fossils and petrified wood..... ..Always nice to get out on an adventure..... Ken

 

[Jim in Idaho]

That looks great, Ken. I wish I could find garnets that big. If you used the saruca for those rocks you must have muscles like a gorilla!....Ha Ha. I just got back from another Wyoming trip...will post a few pics later today.
Jim

 

[Ddiamond Digger]

Hi Jim!

Was great hanging out with you and Heidie looking for the real stuff! Still in Africa atm... pffffttt Will be back soon will let you know.
Take care old friend.
Andy