Last Friday, Nov 18,2011,
I went with the MAGMA group up to the Farmville, Virginia
area to dig for Amethyst on the Simpson's Farm.
The Simpsons had this site open to rockhounds to dig for
Amethyst a few years ago, but weren't quite sure how to go
about it and with just the occasional digger coming out, each
with their own idea of where to dig, it turned into more of a
headache than an enjoyable venture.
Since then one rockhound from the Virginia Beach area has
been working with them to help identify where to dig and
how to go about it. Thanks to these efforts they have
recently re-opened their property for digging to clubs only.
Allowing clubs only is simple, worthwhile, and easy for them
to manage.

The farm is in a very scenic, rural, and historic area of
Virginia and a beautiful place to dig for a day. It was
unseasonably cold for the middle of November with the
temperature dropping below freezing Thursday night.
There was thick layer of frost on everything on the drive
up early Friday morning to meet the group by 8:00am.
Very pretty in the first rays of the morning sun but it sure
looked cold and I was happy to be in the warm cab of my truck.

But we made it and there were crystals everywhere!
Morning at the Simpson Farm.

The sun warmed things up quickly and it turned out to be
absolutely perfect digging weather. A more beautiful day
you couldn't ask for.
Here are some pics of the dig showing the length of exposed
ground toward the top of the vein. Hearing that there is
only one vein exposed you might question whether there is
enough room for a "group" of people to dig at the same time,
but there is plenty of room for everyone to find their own
hole to dig in. And you can see by where the vehicles are
parked in some of these pics that you couldn't find a
digging site with easier access than this.

You can never see all there is to see at a site in just one
visit, but I've seen enough to want to go back, often.
The crystals found so far are not large, one inch across
being pretty good size, but the colors are rich and awesome!
This area is known for its deep dark purple amethyst but I
saw everything from jet black smokey to light purple phantoms
being found, and everything inbetween.
This site has a lot of potential and is one of the most
enjoyable places to dig I have ever been to.
And there's no telling what's deeper.

Here's a small sample of some of what I found still in the
cleaning stages.

I second that!!!,,Great report and I agree with Scott I will be attending the next dig their for sure,,it would be nice if the owner would let a club have a 3- day dig their,,who knows maybe in the future.looks like alot of great potential their .and we sure do need another spot to were we can go and dig some Ammy!

Thanks guys, Glad you enjoyed it.
The stellar weather and sweet digging conditions made this a
very easy report to do.
So if you aren't a member of a local club that might be
taking a fieldtrip to this site sometime in the future,
you are going to want to keep your eye out for the next
MAGMA dig there sometime next Spring.

Hey John! That was your 100th post!
You know what that means.......
Yep, you get your choice of any rock in Scotts collection!

That will be a hard choice.  Please send me a list of the top ten I should consider.....

Thanks, AG.

Great idea! and Welcome to the board, Scott.

We were just talking about getting back up to this spot.
It's hard to believe that it has been over a year already since we were last there. We'll try and let everyone know if/when we are
planning a trip up there.
I'm sorry but I have no idea about land for sale in that area.
Don't get up there enough.

As far as good potential property to buy goes, I've seen
several parcels come and go, but since I'm not in the market
I haven't been shopping around. Maybe someone else can help.
Just curious tho, are you thinking about just the Farmville
and Virginia area or is NC a possibility?

Let's see some pics of those rocks!

Joe