Email 2 - To group 1

Hello rockhound,

I hope that those of you in the US had a better view of the eclipse than I did in cloudy Texas this week. Although based on the number of people searching on Google for a cure for their eyes hurting right after the eclipse maybe it was a blessing in disguise!

Can you spot when the eclipse happened?

As the weather continues to warm up I’ve been able to spend more and more time out in the field and I hope you have been too!

One quick request, could you reply to this email and tell me what you like about the newsletter or what you want to see more of?

I love hearing from you and want to make sure I’m sharing what you find useful!

This week we cover

• Finding dinosaur bones while agate hunting

• The gemstones people are finding in their backyards

• Some incredible sapphire finds

• How coal causes extinctions (at least millions of years ago)

• Much more!

Happy rockhounding!

Keith

A little sparkle to start

You might be thinking ruby but this is an incredible Uvite find. Straight off the bat, let's talk about colors. Uvite doesn’t restrict itself to just one or two. This mineral falls under the tourmaline group and can be green, brown, black, and even red. Nature surely loves to play with its color palette!

This mineral gets its name from a little locality named Uvito in the Ural Mountains of Russia. Imagine having a mineral named after your hometown. Talk about an honor!

Other people won’t understand….

Find of the week

Bone in a stone

Your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you that is indeed a BIG bone in a stone. This four-foot-long Apatasaurus bone was found by a fellow rockhound around the San Rafael in Utah.

How cool is that? Finding a giant dinosaur bone when looking for agates?

The Apatosaurus, once known as Brontosaurus, is a giant herbivorous dinosaur that lived during the Late Jurassic Period. Characterized by its long neck and tail, it roamed the North American plains in herds.

If you’ve ever seen Jurassic Park or The Land Before Time you’ll recognize them!

Geology Highlights

The Most Common Gemstones You Can Find

There are a surprising number of incredibly beautiful gemstones that you can commonly find across the country. Some are even right in your backyard.

I’ll show you the ones that people are regularly finding as well as some truly spectacular examples of them.

Read the full story here…

Community Tips

Let the government do the work for you

This week’s tip comes from Jonathan in Mechanicsburg Pennsylvania:

If you live in an area that has any hills there is a good chance that the government has had to cut into them at some point for new roads. These are a great place to look for rocks and minerals!

Every time it rains these road cuts dig deeper into the earth exposing potential treasures. You want to be careful about traffic but don’t be afraid to take a peek with the right precautions.

It turns out the bulldozers are a lot better at digging than I am with my pickaxe!

Jonathan

Every week one of our members shares a valuable tip or a big mistake they've made in their rockhounding journey. If you have a tip or mistake you'd like to share email us at [email protected] or just reply to this email!

April’s Birthstone Part 2 - The Sapphire

Where you can find raw sapphires in the US on your own

Last week we talked about Diamond as the birthstone for April. That is what we commonly use these days but for centuries, especially in places that used the ancient Roman, Slavic, Hebrew, and Arabic calendars Sapphire was the birthstone for April!

Personally, I’m a much bigger fan of Sapphire than Diamond so I’ll take any chance I can get to spread the word!

Surprisingly, there are several great locations in the US to find raw sapphires. You can even find some decent-sized ones that would make a great ring or pendant!

In our guide, I’ll show you a bunch of great places you can go and what to look for when you get there.

Read the full story here…

Rockhounding

Great video on finding Sapphires and how to do it

Continuing on our Sapphire theme, this is a great video from Brian at The Crystal Collector on the process of finding Sapphires at Gem Mountain in Montana. He does a great job of outlining how the process works, what to expect, and how to find a LOT of sapphires.

This video is especially good if you are new to rockhounding or haven’t been able to find a lot of sapphires in the past.

Geology Highlights

Incredible coal seams

The black horizontal lines you see in the rockface at the Usibelli Mine in Denali Alaska are actually large seams of coal! It’s a rare and incredible sight to see such large veins exposed to the open air!

There are massive veins of coal like this all over the world (mostly underground). They can even catch fire and burn for years!

A team of researchers out of Arizona State recently provided the first ever direct evidence that extensive coal burning caused by lava flows was a cause of the Permian-Triassic extinction event, the largest of such extinction events that we know of. It caused the extinction of 96% of all marine species and 70% of all terrestrial species on earth.

Geology Highlights

Hematite

Have you ever held a piece of hematite? It’s like having a piece of the night sky in your hand, except without the need for a telescope. Hematite is not just any rock; it's a show-off, with its shiny, metallic luster making it the rock star of the gem world.

Imagine if rocks had personalities - hematite would be the cool, mysterious character in sunglasses, not saying much but definitely making a statement.

This gem is heavy, literally. It’s packed with iron, which is why it feels like you're lifting a tiny but surprisingly hefty piece of a distant planet. Hematite is like the Earth’s backbone, considering it's made mostly of iron, the same stuff at the core of our planet.

Geology Highlights

The 17 Different Types Of Sapphires Found On Earth

There are a surprising number of Sapphires that you can find (17 in fact). They all have their own unique looks and colors while consistently being incredibly beautiful.

I’ve seen a lot of sapphires in my day but several of these were new to me as well. It really goes to show you just how big and diverse the geology is on our planet.

Read the full story here…