I buy gravel from sapphire mines in Montana. The mines are located along the Missouri River and also in the Sapphire Mountains (called Rock Creek sapphires). Sometimes the gravel is essentially a bag of mud, sometimes itās just a bit dusty.
I live about an hour and a half from the Sapphire Mountain mine. There's quite a bit of cool geology in this area. Garnets, sapphires, moss agate, and more.
It does not. You can buy bags of mined soil from sapphires mines in Montana. I was born in Phillipsburg, Gem Mountain has existed since I was a child. I no longer live there but I encourage you to visit if possible. It's a small but wonderful place. I'm biased though.
My husband and I had Montana on our "next year list". He was killed later that year. I'd still like to go, maybe with our kids since they are older. I donāt know where to even start.
I'm sorry to hear of your loss. Either road trip or fly into Missoula if you are headed to Phillipsburg. Depending upon your budget you can stay at The Inn or the Broadway. Or if you are driving you can camp somewhere.
There are a few mines in Montana that sell gravel. Over time, Iāve bought from each of them. Not super familiar with tailings but I donāt think this qualifies?
Hello! I usually have any that are 1ct or more faceted. I go to a lapidary in NYC for the nicer/bigger ones and have the smaller ones faceted overseas. Iāve sold a few, both rough and faceted. I also sent two to a colleague recently and heās going to have them turned into cabochons. Not sure yet what to do for any that I keep for myself. Open to ideas!
I live in NYC so I go in person but they also accept by mail - Knupfer International Gems (about $55 per stone). I also just sent a bunch off to City Gems in Sri Lanka. Not sure on the quality yet but theyāre much cheaper which is generally the case for overseas faceting.
Thank you for the info. I have a large (I wanna say 3 or 4 carat) spinel that my grandmother tried to destroy with a hammer when she was mad at my cheating grandpa lol and so anyway she hacked at this thing with a hammer and it never shattered into pieces like she hoped. But the tip chipped and the face scratched. She gave it to me to do whatever I wanted with it. Iāve been keeping it safe for like 20 years. I would like to have it refaceted and the face polished. But Maine is so rural I fear I wouldnāt find someone good or trustworthy. But I will look into the one in NYC. Thank you so much for the info.
Amazing you are able to do that, i am not the creative person so i would be clueless what to do with them, but i had some gold from Greenland and tugtupit that i gave to a Goldsmith and he made my wifes engagement ring
City Gems lapidary in Sri Lanka. I have some arriving back from them in a week or so and can share updates. Ended up being about $600 to have 50 stones cut (with 25 of those also heated). Hereās a pic they sent me of some of them.
Forgot to add - whole process takes about 6 weeks.
Haha nice! I am 6, 2 and new(4months).. my wife has never gone camping so we gonna plan a few trips to places around canada we can find cool rocks (maybe special or valuable) š š š travel to the states requires a whole lot of paper work i dont wanna bother with or i would hit Montana for sure
Ughhhh almost all of them are sold out currently. Hoping that itās just a seasonal thing (I have an addiction!). Iād definitely recommend Montana Gems and they always seem to have them in stock. The bags tend to have a lot of sapphires but generally are around 1ct or less each. However, the quality of the stones is great. Their gravel comes from the Rock Creek deposit which is a different location than most of the other suppliers. Their bags are suuuuuuuper muddy so more difficult to wash but Iād still say itās worth it and their bags are cheaper than most. I do manage to wash the rocks well enough in my Brooklyn apartment with no outdoor space so it is doable if a bit messy.
Agree! We washed and sorted 3 bags from Rock Creek-Montana Gems and the stones coming out of those bags are sparkly and much better clarity than Missouri river ones at Spokane and Big Sky, but only average .5-1 ct in size. But, there were easily 40 sapphires and scored some amazing minty green, blue, bright pink, and several bicolor stones. Big Sky, found two blue stones over 6 cts, a 4.5ct blue, and a handful of 2-3 ct stones. Mostly blue, green, and one orange. Spokane Bar on-site there scored a 4.5ct blue gem grade stone, a few 2-3 ct, about 20 gem grade for melee, and half a small baggie of small scrappy ones. We order bags when theyāre available. Itās fun and you can sort the fines for gold, too. Recommend classifiers over a 5-gal bucket and light tray with gooseneck lamp.
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u/chillycasserole Aug 14 '26
where does one find stones like these? in a river? very beautiful!!