Treasure Hunting For Star Garnets

India and Idaho are the only two places in the world that star garnets are found. They range in size from a grain of sand to golf ball in size. Star Garnets display a reflection of the light with a four or six ray star, which is caused by an inclusion of rutile in the gemstone. Idaho is the only known place where six ray star garnets are found.

The U.S. Forest Service operates a star garnet gemstone collection area at Emerald Creek Idaho. For a fee of $10 per day the treasure hunter can search for garnets and remove a maximum of five pounds of gemstones. Screen boxes, buckets and shovels are provided by the Forest Service; however you should bring drinking water, snacks, sunscreen, hat, gloves and a container for your treasures. The treasure hunting season starts at the end of May and lasts until after Labor Day. No pets allowed.

How Is It Done

Use the shovel and fill your five gallon plastic bucket with dirt and rocks at the mining area. Next take your bucket to the screening area and sift all of the dirt and sand leaving only the rocks. Next take your collection of rocks to one of the two sluice boxes to wash the material and look for garnets. Any rock that appears to have a shiny plastic like shine could be a garnet.

The garnets found at emerald creek are nearly opaque and will be a dark reddish or purple in color. Good quality large gemstones are rare and about one half of the gemstones you discover will not be of a quality suitable for cutting or polishing. Many of the stones will show a four ray star but the six ray star is quite rare. A good quality star garnet may fetch up to $100 per carat.

The garnet name is believed to have come from the pomegranate. Many of the ancient pieces of jewelry have clusters of red stones that do look a lot like a cluster of pomegranate seeds. Travelers often carried garnets to protect them from accidents. Legends suggest that garnets will glow at night and will protect the owner from nightmares. Noah has also been rumored to have used a garnet lantern to navigate the Ark at night.

Happy Treasure Hunting.

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