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Mining Opals in Oregon


 I had the incredible good fortune to join some serious rock hounds at a dig over Memorial Day. This is a random collection of video, stills, compilations and comments. Please note that I am still really rough in the world of making and editing videos. Many of them do not have audio. I haven't figured out how to keep the audio track on these compilations. Anyone that would like to help me learn, please send an email badkneestravel@sonic.net .   If you look at no other, go to the third video.  
I am listing comments and links from others at the bottom of this blog

This all takes place on a mountain in southern Oregon. I was invited to join in at their annual campout. The claims shown here are not open to the public. Do not go to these places and think you can just start digging.  It is really bad form, and bad kharma as well.

 
This first video starts at the parking area.  Notice that all of the vehicles are 4x4. The walk was not far, but it was pretty much straight up the mountain. As we get to the top of the climb, you can see the pile of tailings.

In the Dig is where the digging is going on. One thinks of a “mine” as a tunnel, or a cave. Nope. This one is just a big hole in the side of the mountain. I spent most of my time sitting on the tailings. That is where they dump all of the stuff that they do not want to take home. But that does not mean that I didn’t find stuff. Lots of little chips. Cool, translucent bits of rock, the color of burned butterscotch.

The folks on this dig were anywhere from the claim owner, to people like me on their first outing. Lots of people with chisels and hammers. Some macho folk using the gas powered (aka loud) jack hammers. Do notice that almost everyone was wearing safety glasses. Yep, that’s a thing where bits of rock are flying.

The next day we went to the other claim. This area is all volcanic. What one sees is a lot of basalt. Not much likes to grow here, and we are at considerable altitude.



The best thing I found here is gold. Pure gold. This young woman gave me a tour of the spot where she had been digging all morning. She handed me this lovely chip to give to W.




Not long after showing me what I was looking at, she was asked by the claim owner (the top dog at the dig) to let a lad in to try some digging. She showed him how what and where and went on to other things. By the end of the day, he had “found” a magnificent piece. My heart went out to her, knowing that she had done the hard work, and had had the luck. But I was so wrong. She was smiling and happy that the kid had his first big find. It is young folk like her that give me hope that humans are not doomed.







My host Bryan, someone I found thru the internet, has started his own YouTube channel.  There is a lot about Rocks there.


 

This is what I brought home.  From right to left, with a penny for scale.  Basalt, the igneous rock straight from the volcano. Very light and full of holes.  The white flow stone that is an indicator of opals. The opal "grows" from one side of this. A piece showing the start of an opal. Iridescent. A small opal in the matrix. The lovely piece handed to me at the end of my lesson. And a couple of chips I found in the slag heap.

   


  June is the month to find flowers. Small, hearty, and exquisite.

 











This last video is from my drive out. The Siskiyous are some of the most dramatic mountains I have been in. Volcanic in origin, majestic and rugged. They have stayed much the same because they don’t have much that is coveted by the rest of the world. They contain mineral wealth, but nothing with a high dollar value. Trees, but not ones that are prime logging material. Open grazing land, but only in patches. The people that live here are fiercely independent and self reliant.


From my friends:

Bryan:   I do think it would be ok to mention that the first mine (Red October 2) is actually open to the public, and free to go to. Add a link if you can to Terrapin Rocks so your readers can go:)

Terrapin Rocks



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