You’ll find the gems in decayed basalt deposits left by volcanic eruptions 17 million years ago. The stone is softer than most gemstones, between 6 and 7 on the Mohs scale, but they can be faceted, and, they also tumble nicely. You will find crystals with colors ranging from pale straw – yellow, pinks and reds, and rarer still, hues of green and blue. There is a great introduction to these beauties here: 
on its surface, this area has some of the grandest sunsets and at night, if not overcast, the view of the milky way and the rest of the visible cosmos is breathtaking. It’s also very quiet! The photo at right is a rainbow the appeared on the heels of a short but hard rain squall a couple of years ago.
They have a different business model and while digging and belt run fees are nominal, any high-grade stone is additional and negotiated starting from the wholesale value. You can get particulars on the Dust Devil at: 
Wonderful Wonderstone
With only a week left here in Nevada, I couldn’t picture leaving without a last trip to my favorite wonderstone sites. Because, ya know, you can never have too many rocks to haul when you move. So on one of the first sunny and actually warm days in months I headed out for a day on the rocks. While my present camera isn’t the best, I did get some pics that will give you an idea of what’s out there.
When I got to the publicized site, I was amazed to see the traffic. The first time I ever went to the location mine was the only rig there. And so it was all that year. This time I just shook my head and passed by all those people at the main site and traveled out further where the rock is colorful, but not the pink and yellow of the one I would go back to later that afternoon. I was out to get some of all of it. And I did.
With just a few days left until I head out for Oregon, and a few strength limitations, I was cautious about picking up the boulders I wanted. If I’d had a jackhammer with me, I could have taken half a hill of beautiful stone. As things were – I picked up only one actually too big to carry stones. The rest were of varying sizes. From 3 fist sized to a few just small stones with nice banding.
At my first stop the stones were pretty vivid.
The second site I visited had the pink and yellow stone that the place is known for.
And of course the boulder. I had fun getting this thing back to the rig. Trust me on that one. I’ve carried heavier, but this was a struggle. It’s pretty thick and I’m turning into a little bit of a whimp. Still – this is the one I HAD to have.
Looking forward to showing a few of these rocks after they’re cut.
Escorting In Spring With Green – Jasper, That Is.
YAY – It’s spring! Here in Northern Nevada, it even is acting like spring.
What comes to mind when you think of spring but green? With that in my head the other day, I decided to wander off just down the road and hunt a green jasper area I hadn’t browsed for years in the Fernley area.
Winter seems to have washed out the roads and trails in a few spots just a bit more than my rig wanted to handle easily, but it was sunny and warm so I just got out and hiked the hills. Despite the fact that the outcrops that I had expected to chip some nice chunks of this jasper out of were no longer there, I was able to pick up some nice chunks that winter deposited in a few of the creek beds and washes. I had to work for them, though. It took a lot of climbing around to get a respectable load of them.
As you can see, this area offers several shades of greens and patterns. The rock is pretty tenacious and takes well to cutting. Some pieces have brown or red colored patterns in them, and others small seams of drusy.
That was my spring solstice celebration this year. Next hunt will take me back to the wonderstone area for some lively pinks and yellows.
Happy spring, everyone!
Life’s short – Rock hard
