Page Index Toggle Pages: 1 Send TopicPrint
Normal Topic Newbie from Spotsylvania, Va (Read 1996 times)
VaRockLover
YaBB Newbies
*
Offline


RockHoundLounger

Posts: 9
Joined: Mar 27th, 2017
Gender: Male
Newbie from Spotsylvania, Va
Mar 28th, 2017 at 1:32pm
Print Post  
Hello my name is Brandon and I'm from the Fredericksburg/Spotsylvania area of Virginia. Been living here for over 20 years and actually have never had any interest in rocks until quite recently.

I met a girl, now my wife, and she is all about gemstones (especially raw ones). Well naturally I got interested, and for the past 6 months have been spending lots of quality time in this area looking for rocks. Via the Rappahannock river/streams and also in Luray, Va.

Basically I don't really know what I am doing, I am just exploring areas that I think would be a good bet to find rocks and then seeing what happens. My goal here is to gather more information on better methology for finding gemstones. I would rather not pay to go to a mine every time I wanted to find a gemstone but in my area I feel like you are better off trying it that way....
  
Back to top
 
IP Logged
 
JoeM
God Member
*****
Offline


I Love YaBB 2.5 AE!

Posts: 4178
Location: Wake County, NC
Joined: Sep 30th, 2010
Gender: Male
Re: Newbie from Spotsylvania, Va
Reply #1 - Mar 28th, 2017 at 3:43pm
Print Post  
Welcome to the Board, Brandon. I hope you find something on here that will help.
Finding gemstones in their natural setting is not the easiest thing to do. And it's not all about going out and hunting, although that's the fun part.
Best advice I can give you is, Do your homework. Watch a lot of youtube videos and read up as much as you can. There are alot of options if you work at it.
Seeing where you live maybe you could get your wife interested in metal detecting and artifacts! Wink

Best of Luck,
Joe
  
Back to top
 
IP Logged
 
Scott LaBorde
RHL Administrator
*****
Offline


"Rock it" science!

Posts: 2960
Location: Wake Forest, NC
Joined: Sep 28th, 2010
Gender: Male
Re: Newbie from Spotsylvania, Va
Reply #2 - Mar 29th, 2017 at 8:08am
Print Post  
Welcome VaRockLover!  Getting started in rockhounding and gemstone hunting is the hard part.  Now that you're in it's just a matter of persistence.  Finding a mineral club near you and getting networked with other rockhounds is what I suggest.  The experience and knowledge of other local rockhounds is invaluable.  If you're having a hard time at finding those things, do as Joe said and look up all the youtube videos you can of Virginia, and research the local geology -- there are many resources online.  Feel free to ask any questions here and we'll do our best to answer them.


Scott
  

Scott LaBorde
RockHoundLounge Creator
Back to top
IP Logged
 
Tim4d
God Member
*****
Offline


I like creeks & rivers
to do the digging for
me.

Posts: 658
Location: Chester, VA
Joined: Feb 24th, 2011
Gender: Male
Re: Newbie from Spotsylvania, Va
Reply #3 - Apr 6th, 2017 at 9:50am
Print Post  
Welcome to the Lounge. You should check out the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy at https://www.dmme.virginia.gov/  There are many downloadable publications in the publications and web store sections.  You are smack in the middle of the gold-pyrite belt, so you could start with Publication 127, Gold Pyrite Belt.  An oldie but goodie is Bulletin 33, Pegmatite Deposits of Virginia. 
     The on-line interactive maps are useful, although they were dumbed-down and made more difficult, because the earlier versions had more information readily available and zoomable to closer views.  Personally I bet they did it to stymie rockhounds!  https://www.dmme.virginia.gov/webmaps/options.shtml
     Also, here's a link to a useful database, which has no obvious links to the casual web site visitor.  Although they dumbed it down too by removing common names for old mines and prospects, it is still worth exploring.  Bear in mind these are field notes reports, and for particularly attractive collecting sites it seems sometimes there is deliberately vague or misleading information recorded by the visiting geologist.  Each report has the latitude and longitude bearings for the old mine or prospect, and you can use those in Google maps.  Bear in mind the date/age of each report; things change.
https://www.dmme.virginia.gov/DgmrInquiry/frmMain.aspx?ctl=0
     Start by clicking on a county and/or quadrangle name, type in a key word if you want (like "mica" for example) and hit "search". At the top will be a list of publications applicable to the area or key word.  Then there are indexes of some things you can view at DMME offices in Charlottesville.  Scroll to the bottom for "OLAC" and these are the field notes.  The site name codes won't help much, so in the beginning just click and read through the reports (each report has six "pages").  If you know which quadrangle your target is in, you can narrow down that on the first "search" page.

Also check out U.S. Geological Survey publications search at https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/
Search for "Mica deposits of the southeastern Piedmont" and you will see separate links for Parts 1 through 11.  Parts 1 through 4 cover Virginia.  Quartz, beryl, and feldspar (including moonstone) often accompanied the mica deposits.

Finally, don't let anyone's pronouncements of what is or is not present in any one area keep you from exploring, especially the areas close to your own back yard.  Rocks, gems and gold are where you find them!
  
Back to top
 
IP Logged
 
Tim4d
God Member
*****
Offline


I like creeks & rivers
to do the digging for
me.

Posts: 658
Location: Chester, VA
Joined: Feb 24th, 2011
Gender: Male
Re: Newbie from Spotsylvania, Va
Reply #4 - Apr 6th, 2017 at 10:04am
Print Post  
And of course your most valuable skills in Virginia will be good manners and the gumption to walk up to a landowner's front door and ask permission to collect rocks.  There are a number of locations where you can do roadside or "common area" collecting if you keep low key, but for the most part you need to get permission.
  
Back to top
 
IP Logged
 
Tim4d
God Member
*****
Offline


I like creeks & rivers
to do the digging for
me.

Posts: 658
Location: Chester, VA
Joined: Feb 24th, 2011
Gender: Male
Re: Newbie from Spotsylvania, Va
Reply #5 - Apr 6th, 2017 at 10:12am
Print Post  
Fee collecting is available in Prospect, VA, from Earthen Paradise - Jessica Callan - (gemmy kyanite blades, garnet, gold, quartz) and Scufflin Acres - Mary K. Simpson - (quartz crystals including amethyst).  You can find their contact information on Facebook via the Virginia Rockhounding group.  The Morefield Mine (amazonite, quartz, topaz, garnet and lots of other stuff) in Amelia County also has a page on Facebook.  They are closed now because the owners leased adjacent land for a quarry operation and there's too much going on to let in the rockhounds and tourists, but we all hope they will reopen when things settle down.
  
Back to top
 
IP Logged
 
Tim4d
God Member
*****
Offline


I like creeks & rivers
to do the digging for
me.

Posts: 658
Location: Chester, VA
Joined: Feb 24th, 2011
Gender: Male
Re: Newbie from Spotsylvania, Va
Reply #6 - Apr 6th, 2017 at 2:12pm
Print Post  
Oh, since you frequent Luray, you must check out the Rose River near Syria on the other side of the Blue Ridge for unakite and blue quartz.  The Rose River is a stocked trout stream, so people are accustomed to outsiders accessing the river bed.  I have a trip report somewhere here on the Lounge.
      There's also supposed to be jasper and agate  in the streams near Ida, south of Luray.  I've never wandered over that way because the Rose River always fills my time when I go.
  
Back to top
 
IP Logged
 
VaRockLover
YaBB Newbies
*
Offline


RockHoundLounger

Posts: 9
Joined: Mar 27th, 2017
Gender: Male
Re: Newbie from Spotsylvania, Va
Reply #7 - Apr 14th, 2017 at 1:04pm
Print Post  
Hey Tim I really appreciate all the advice that you Ave me!!! I had been looking at VA's mineral website and kinda scoping out a few reports that they had written up. There are a few in particular that actually give you directions down to the mile of where they found certain mineral deposits
  
Back to top
 
IP Logged
 
Tim4d
God Member
*****
Offline


I like creeks & rivers
to do the digging for
me.

Posts: 658
Location: Chester, VA
Joined: Feb 24th, 2011
Gender: Male
Re: Newbie from Spotsylvania, Va
Reply #8 - Apr 14th, 2017 at 3:59pm
Print Post  
I messaged you a challenge to find the Last Mile Mine land owner, near you, and see what's there.  Good luck!
  
Back to top
 
IP Logged
 
Page Index Toggle Pages: 1
Send TopicPrint