Plush, United States
N/A
+1 7757727724
I had a blast out there! I did the conveyor belt and 100% recommend it. The mining operation is nothing short of beautiful and efficient. The staff was friendly and had a lot of knowledge on the mine as well as how to care for the gems. The experience was well worth the long drive out there. I felt like I was a kid in a candy shop picking out the gems. Definitely something worth doing
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The free pit at spectrum is worth digging. I would strongly suggest doing the 175 pile and then spending the rest of the day digging the free pit. The picture of the stones is from the free pit- one man digging for about an hour and the 175 pile one man sifting for about four hours. Also the 175 pile yields more stones than what's in the picture and it took about 4 hours for 1 man 3 women to sift it. NEED BETTER MAP/SIGNAGE TO GET THERE!!
Fun adventure in the middle of nowhere! Be prepared for a dusty, bumpy, are we going the right way kind of drive. But it's worth it if rock hounding is your type of thing! The mine is a bit north of the public area, the road just before the campground/restroom area. Just look for the dirt road with a gem sign (the Google pin is accurate, but won't take you down the dirt road as it is not marked as an actual road - but it's better than the gravel coming in so if you've made it this far you are good to go). They have several options on how to search for stones or you can buy some of the gems they have found. We did the conveyor option (200/hour) and found 100's of stones. Mostly small but there were several large ones that have some value, but we'll never sell them! BRING SHADE IF YOU PLAN ON BEING OUTSIDE! There are no trees or shade and it was blistering hot, but being by the water on the canveyor was great!
We decided to go with the 200 preprocessed ore, and I think it's safe to say that we got our money back. We pulled a few nice pinks, dark oranges, some with green tint, and a few with little spots of red. So, from my experience I'd say if you're hoping to find the crazy unique stones, like the watermelon or tricolors, pit mining might (emphasis on might, ALL of these options are a gamble, generally speaking) be the way for you. But if you're looking to go for bulk or don't want to bust your hump all day with a pick axe, yet still find a few interesting pieces then the processed piles are good. The employees were nice and knowledgeable, the cabins were simple but kept us warm even without a heater (it got down to about 30 degrees Fahrenheit that night). Considering that you have to go out into the middle of nowhere I was just happy to have a bed, which is far more than any of the other mines offer. Another couple that was digging near us said they'd been to most of the other mines. Before we were even 1/4 of the way through our pile we had more than they'd pulled from their entire trip at another mine nearby (I won't name names). On the other hand, they'd been to one of the more expensive mines and pulled some of the stunning rare varieties (again, I won't name names). And that's the gist of what you're going to get at Spectrum. They're a great middle ground and have more amenities than the others. So if you've never mined Oregon Sunstones and/or don't have a whole lot of money to throw into it Spectrum is the place to go. Even if you're looking for rare colors it's a good place to go. Another woman we talked to pulled some very nice watermelons and big greens out of the pits. She was kind enough to let us take a look at them, and they were very beautiful. She even found a blue, which is a big deal.
We made a special trip out here with family coming from Washington, Arkansas and Nevada. The website said 150 or 200 a pile, so I dont appreciate the upcharge once we got here of 175 or 225. We also suspect they are recycling piles or doing a mix of old material and a mix of virgin ore. We found a few pink sunstones, but most were clear to yellow. There was a ton of plastic in the pile she brought out which made me think this is someone's old pile. We shouldn't have found part of an aquafina label in something that was supposed to be untouched. I really wish we would have tried one of the other mines.
Bought the 200 high grade ore concentrate run with 2 others and it took us 7 hours about to go through it and we found 300 sunstones total. Even found a watermelon. Free cabin to stay in if you pay. They provide screens and Water for going through the ore. I will return again with more time set aside to pit mine next time. Ore concentrate well worth it.
Ordered sunstone gravel by mail and was thrilled with my finds. No problems with ordering, very friendly staff and shipped quickly
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