COLORADO DIAMOND PROSPECTING, Colorado has diamond deposits, you just need to look... |
COLORADO DIAMOND PROSPECTING, Colorado has diamond deposits, you just need to look... |
Nov 21 2008, 07:26 PM
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Rock Bar! Group: Members Posts: 613 Joined: 16-October 08 From: Central Colorado Member No.: 6,813 |
Hi Everyone:
Diamond prospecting isn't too hard if you know what to look for. This photo was recently posted publicly by another diamond expert (Dan Hausel) whom I've worked with and have grown to respect over the past few years. I am excited to now be able to share some knowledge through this forum as I have endured much difficulty in the early years while learning about diamond prospecting on my own. The specimens in this photo are great examples of "indicator minerals" that were recovered from a diamond bearing area (Sloan Ranch kimberlite pipes #1 & #2) right here in Colorado. If you ever find minerals that resemble these specimens in any of your samples, I'd advise you to consider testing the prospect area for DIAMONDS! Sincerely, ASTROBLEME -------------------- Annual Dues Paying Member Since 2008
Tonko Mining Company "Some day this crater is going to be a greatly talked about place, and if the above credit is due, as is certainly the case, I would like to have it generally known for the sake of the children." Daniel Moreau Barringer 2/1/1912 in a letter about the Barringer Meteorite Crater, Arizona USA |
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Dec 26 2014, 10:19 AM
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Diggin' In! Group: Members Posts: 4 Joined: 14-September 14 Member No.: 118,101 |
Hi, y'all! I'm Rocket's partner. We have had a great time researching land records (I do this as part of my 8-5 job). We've been doing it on the State Line District for about 6 months now. Both Astrobleme and Dan Hausel (in his two bulletins, 11 & 12) have been very encouraging, suggesting we don't have to drill kimberlites to find lots of diamonds, just "pick them up off the ground"' or dig in a streambed ("there's lots of diamonds in ******* creek"). (I've seen that photo of the double handful of diamonds. Is this for real?) Logically, in creeks below kimberlite lakes and on public land seem the biggest potential for gemstone finds. We were both wondering, however, how deep you have to dig in a typical mountain stream at 7,000 - 8,000 feet to get to those choice minerals? Are we talking 3 feet or 30 feet? It also appears on the land records that there are a lot of closed claims scattered about. Does this mean they were mined out? Or did those enthusiasts from the 2008-2009 diamond rush just get burned out and discouraged? We're still planning that August (or maybe July) vacation, and are wondering what affect the 2013 floods had on the mountain streams and roadbeds? Are many still closed? It's been great reading all the posts and getting a growing education on the life of a Colorado prospector.
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Jan 22 2015, 12:08 PM
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Diggin' In! Group: Members Posts: 17 Joined: 28-August 14 From: Knightdale, NC Member No.: 118,062 |
Hi, y'all! I'm Rocket's partner. We have had a great time researching land records (I do this as part of my 8-5 job). We've been doing it on the State Line District for about 6 months now. Both Astrobleme and Dan Hausel (in his two bulletins, 11 & 12) have been very encouraging, suggesting we don't have to drill kimberlites to find lots of diamonds, just "pick them up off the ground"' or dig in a streambed ("there's lots of diamonds in ******* creek"). (I've seen that photo of the double handful of diamonds. Is this for real?) Logically, in creeks below kimberlite lakes and on public land seem the biggest potential for gemstone finds. We were both wondering, however, how deep you have to dig in a typical mountain stream at 7,000 - 8,000 feet to get to those choice minerals? Are we talking 3 feet or 30 feet? It also appears on the land records that there are a lot of closed claims scattered about. Does this mean they were mined out? Or did those enthusiasts from the 2008-2009 diamond rush just get burned out and discouraged? We're still planning that August (or maybe July) vacation, and are wondering what affect the 2013 floods had on the mountain streams and roadbeds? Are many still closed? It's been great reading all the posts and getting a growing education on the life of a Colorado prospector. Hi Somethin' Else! When prospecting the streams for diamonds, think like you would for looking for gold. Diamonds are heavier than quartz and granite derivatives, and they will settle out (deposit) just like gold, but since they are not as heavy as gold, they may travel further. I tried this thinking and found a "honey hole" around Labor Day last year. For just a few hours work, I pulled out 42 diamonds, from Roosevelt National Forest area. Most of the diamonds I found, were in the 3 5gal buckets I filled to take home and pan later. They came from a creek where it exited out of a canyon into a small flat valley, it was where the stream velocity suddenly diminished that the diamonds were deposited in a small sandbar. I am going back there in July and spend a few days finding more. Attaching a picture of a .15ct sparkler from that batch.
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Jan 28 2015, 07:46 PM
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Diggin' In! Group: Members Posts: 17 Joined: 28-August 14 From: Knightdale, NC Member No.: 118,062 |
Hi Somethin' Else! When prospecting the streams for diamonds, think like you would for looking for gold. Diamonds are heavier than quartz and granite derivatives, and they will settle out (deposit) just like gold, but since they are not as heavy as gold, they may travel further. I tried this thinking and found a "honey hole" around Labor Day last year. For just a few hours work, I pulled out 42 diamonds, from Roosevelt National Forest area. Most of the diamonds I found, were in the 3 5gal buckets I filled to take home and pan later. They came from a creek where it exited out of a canyon into a small flat valley, it was where the stream velocity suddenly diminished that the diamonds were deposited in a small sandbar. I am going back there in July and spend a few days finding more. Attaching a picture of a .15ct sparkler from that batch. And astrobleme is right on with his aadvice... Just a note to a post from 2008... another way to ffind diamond possible areas, is to use geological maps and look for ring dike complexes. Stateline district is one example, with the Virginia Dale ring complex. Diamond pipes occur within and adjacent to where fault lines cross these ring faults. The kansas kimberlite are associated with a similar structure...but no diamonds found. Another example is the ring dike complex located just west of the Cumberland Gap on the Kentucky Viirginia border.. One of the known kimberlite locations in Kentucky is on a fault that intersects ne edge of that ring faults. Diamond exploration there found no diamonds, but if you interpolate history of streams,, which now flow paralel to the mountain folds, in the past, they cut through the cumberland gap... which would make that kimberlite pipe, now very eroded, the likely source of several diamonds found in Virginia. One was found on a hillside just above a creek that drained from the cumberland gap area. Ditto, for the one found in Richmond, above a river that traces its source back to the Cumberland Gap area. Just think outside the box using current geology knowledge. |
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