GAMECO 1997 Vacation Trip to Utah and Colorado
Here are some selected minerals that I found on my vacation to the Thomas Range of Utah and the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. A great variety of minerals can be found in both states and they are among the few (including Nevada) that are truly mining friendly on a commercial and personal basis. The trip started out in Beaver, Utah about 3 hours south of Salt Lake City, Utah. We had a group of 28 members of the Searchers Gem and Mineral Society in attendance. We collected a wide variety of minerals and lapidary materials in the area. Among the more interesting were grossular green garnet, pyrite, Picasso Stone, and bacon opal. Here are some pictures and descriptions of the minerals:
Grossular Green Garnet
(0.6 inch crystal)Picasso StoneBacon OpalBacon Opal
Next we headed off for the Thomas Range, UT which is northwest and roughly one hour's drive from the town of Delta, UT heading . It takes roughly two hours to drive to Delta, UT from Beaver, UT. This is the site of the world famous Topaz Mountain and "The Cove". This area is famous for its beautiful sherry topaz, red beryl, bixbyite, garnet, pseudobrookite and host of other minerals. Some clusters of sherry topaz have sold for as much as $11,500 for a single specimen. These are the minerals that we sought and here are some pictures of some of the finds that I made in the area:
Bixbyite/Pink Topaz on Rhyolite
(0.3 inch bixbyite) Bixbyite Garnet on Rhyolite (0.6 inches diameter)
Tabular Red Beryl on Rhyolite
(0.375 inch diameter) Sherry Topaz Crystal (1 inch tall)
From Topaz Mountain we all went our separate ways. I headed for Colorado to do some collecting for amazonite, smoky quartz, fluorite, goethite and more. I met up with some local collectors and I stayed in Colorado Springs, CO for about a week. The Rocky Mountains and most collecting areas are within an 10 to 90 minute drive from Colorado Springs and access is generally not a problem. Here are a few of the specimens I collected in the Pike's Peak region:
Single Amazonite Crystal
(2 inches tall) Feldspar Crystal (1 inch tall)
Classic Graphic Granite Smoky Quartz Crystals
(1 to 2 inches)
Radiating Goethite
Cluster (1.25 inches) Classic Colorado Feldspar
and Quartz Specimen #1
Closeup View of Feldspar
on Specimen #1 Closeup View of Fluorite
on Specimen #1
Closeup View of Quartz
on Specimen #1 Closeup View of Goethite
on Specimen #1
Classic Colorado Feldspar
and Quartz Specimen #2 View 1 of Feldspar and Quartz Specimen #3
View 2 of Feldspar and
Quartz Specimen #3 Closeup View of Fluorite
on Specimen #3
View 1 of Quartz and
Feldspar Specimen #4 View 2 of Quartz and
Feldspar Specimen #4
Closeup View of Goethite
on Specimen #4 View 1 of Quartz and
Feldspar Specimen #5
Closeup View of Goethite
on Specimen #5 Feldspar with Goethite
after Siderite Specimen #6
I hope you enjoyed seeing a few new specimens wretched from the earth ......
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GAMECO 1997 Vacation Trip to Utah and Colorado
Here are some selected minerals that I found on my vacation to the Thomas Range of Utah and the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. A great variety of minerals can be found in both states and they are among the few (including Nevada) that are truly mining friendly on a commercial and personal basis. The trip started out in Beaver, Utah about 3 hours south of Salt Lake City, Utah. We had a group of 28 members of the Searchers Gem and Mineral Society in attendance. We collected a wide variety of minerals and lapidary materials in the area. Among the more interesting were grossular green garnet, pyrite, Picasso Stone, and bacon opal. Here are some pictures and descriptions of the minerals: |
(0.6 inch crystal)
|
Next we headed off for the Thomas Range, UT which is northwest and roughly one hour's drive from the town of Delta, UT heading . It takes roughly two hours to drive to Delta, UT from Beaver, UT. This is the site of the world famous Topaz Mountain and "The Cove". This area is famous for its beautiful sherry topaz, red beryl, bixbyite, garnet, pseudobrookite and host of other minerals. Some clusters of sherry topaz have sold for as much as $11,500 for a single specimen. These are the minerals that we sought and here are some pictures of some of the finds that I made in the area: |
| Bixbyite/Pink Topaz on Rhyolite (0.3 inch bixbyite) | Bixbyite Garnet on Rhyolite (0.6 inches diameter)| Tabular Red Beryl on Rhyolite | (0.375 inch diameter) Sherry Topaz Crystal (1 inch tall) | |
From Topaz Mountain we all went our separate ways. I headed for Colorado to do some collecting for amazonite, smoky quartz, fluorite, goethite and more. I met up with some local collectors and I stayed in Colorado Springs, CO for about a week. The Rocky Mountains and most collecting areas are within an 10 to 90 minute drive from Colorado Springs and access is generally not a problem. Here are a few of the specimens I collected in the Pike's Peak region: |
| Single Amazonite Crystal (2 inches tall) | Feldspar Crystal (1 inch tall)| Classic Graphic Granite | Smoky Quartz Crystals | (1 to 2 inches) Radiating Goethite | Cluster (1.25 inches) Classic Colorado Feldspar | and Quartz Specimen #1 Closeup View of Feldspar | on Specimen #1 Closeup View of Fluorite | on Specimen #1 Closeup View of Quartz | on Specimen #1 Closeup View of Goethite | on Specimen #1 Classic Colorado Feldspar | and Quartz Specimen #2 View 1 of Feldspar and Quartz Specimen #3 | View 2 of Feldspar and | Quartz Specimen #3 Closeup View of Fluorite | on Specimen #3 View 1 of Quartz and | Feldspar Specimen #4 View 2 of Quartz and | Feldspar Specimen #4 Closeup View of Goethite | on Specimen #4 View 1 of Quartz and | Feldspar Specimen #5 Closeup View of Goethite | on Specimen #5 Feldspar with Goethite | after Siderite Specimen #6 |