Colorado jewelry attractions

I am going to Colorado next week…any great stone dealers, bead
shops, rock shops, geological sights, gold panning, diamond panning?
Let me know please.

Mary Dunker Missed the show?

Mary,

Colorado has many of the attractions you are looking for. Where in
Colorado are you going? The North West corner has a large Dinosaur
fossil area. Denver’s Red Rocks area also has a small Dinosaur fossil
area.

As for gold panning again there are many areas of the state but do
not expect to find much in areas that are open to the public.

The area with Diamonds is mainly hard rock mining that is either
private property or under the control of mining companies.

What you might want to consider doing is contacting a Gem club in
the area you will be visiting to get details on collecting sights in
that area. Colorado has Smokey Quartz, Aquamarine, Amethyst,
Turquoise, Agates, Petrified Wood, Gold and Silver.

I am sure you will enjoy your visit since there is so much to see.

Greg DeMark
www.demarkjewelry.com

Mary

(I missed the show too, I was in CA)

Where are you going to be in Colorado?

I leave Friday for Alaska, but if you can give me an idea of your
roamings I can send you something. Do you have a 4x4, can you take
walking, is there an altitude I need to stay below? Do you have a GPS
that you can upload to, do you have a Colorado Atlas and Gazetteer by
DeLorme? Are you looking at more a driving tour in a regular sedan?
How much driving are you willing to do? What types of rocks are you
looking for, (other than gold and diamonds :slight_smile: of course)

Terry

Hello Mary (& others interested in gold mining operations),

There is a large-scale gold mine, headquarters in Victor, CO. Tours
are offered at 10:00 am on Wednesdays and Fridays. Here’s the link
for more info.

http://www.victorcolorado.com/mining.htm

Pretty interesting and beautiful scenery.

Victor is reached by taking US Hwy 24 from Colorado Springs west
into the mountains. In Divide turn south on Hwy 67, through Cripple
Creek to Victor.

Just thought you’d like to know,
Judy in Kansas, whose daughter works at the mine

No wild trails for me…I can do some walking 3-4 miles perhaps.
Altitude usually gives me a headache ( I just put up with it)and I
am not sure how high I can tolerate. Just wanna have fun…and the
gold and diamonds too! No 4x4. SUV Ford Explorer I think, rental. No
GPS. Road atlas…but I can procure other books if necessary.

Mary,

Here are a couple of commercial sites, with standard panning
techniques. In addition, I have also gotten gold out of Clear Creek
and tributaries in the area when I lived in Idaho Springs.

Phoenix Gold Mine, Idaho Springs Admission Includes: A Mine Tour,
Gold Panning and Hiking Trails Adults $10 (12 & over), Children $5
(5 - 11), Seniors (over 65) - $8, 4 & Under Free, Panning Only - $5
Very friendly folks, outstanding mine tour, No Camping but they will
loan you a pan and show you how to use it.

Jesse over at Vic’s Gold Panning near Blackhawk charges $8 for a
full bucket you can pan out in a trough. He keeps what you miss and
there is no camping. A good panner might be able to work through 4 or
5 buckets in a day thus $32 - $40 per day. Blackhawk is also a nice
area for 1 armed bandits and other games of chance.

The Country Boy Mine in Breckenridge charges Adults $16, Children
$11 (4-12) Children 3 and under are free. Gold Panning: $7 this
includes a pan of dirt and lessons on how to find your Gold. Open
from 10am to 4pm from May 23rd to August 15th, and from 11am to 2pm
from August 16th to October 15th. Additionally, as you will be near
the Blue river, give that a whirl, watch for fishermen though, they
get testy when you muck up the fishing.

I am afraid I am also a strike out on the diamond exploration. I
located the properties which have been published, and they are all
private on the Colorado side, I do not have maps to research the
Wyoming. About 2 years ago I spoke with one of the Colorado
Geologists during a class about the finds and he indicated that there
were unpublished locations but would not provide me an indication of
where they were until published, and I have not seen them published
yet.

Naja in Denver seems to have a fairly good selection of stones
pearls and tools, but it has been several years since I was there.
There is also a rock shop in Littleton which was wall to wall stones
and slabs with reasonable prices. Two good places which have a lot of
lapidary material are Buena Vista along the Arkansas River and
Salida, also along the river. The river canyon between Salida and
Canon City is well worth the drive for geologic interest, the folding
and mineralization in that drive is pretty spectacular.

Terry