How to Find Garnets in Maryland
Garnets are dark-colored crystals often found in certain mineralized areas within the rock. Due to the normal weathering of these rocks, garnets separate out from the host rock. They are then carried out by rainwater and accumulate along the water course, also known as a gully. There are two ways of hunting for garnets. One is to do a surface search by visual inspection. Tiny garnets typically appear dark in color against the lighter background of the soil. The other method is more strenuous and involves using a chisel and hammer to break open the rock. In Maryland, garnets have been mined in areas like Rock Run watershed, Montgomery County and Hunting Hill Quarry at Rockville. The Hunting Hill area is one of the rare places in the world where garnets rich in pokrovskite and xonotlite are found.
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Instructions
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Select the location. Read up about the places where garnets occur in Maryland. The Hunting Hill Quarry at Rockville is a good site. Entry to this spot is permitted at specific times only. Get in touch with the quarry to find out what details you need to provide in order to gain entrance. Silver Spring and Rock Run are other spots to try. Study past data of garnets found in the area to get an idea of the color, shape and size of garnets you can expect to find in that area.
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Choose the method. If you're new to garnet hunting, use the visual search method and perfect the art of identifying garnets. As you gain experience, you can take up rock mining to find garnets. Rock mining is tough, and there's a lot of physical labor required to chisel out the rock.
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Get ready. You'll need a bucket, shovel, screen box, gloves and a container to hold the garnets you've found. Collect all these materials and keep them ready for your garnet hunting trip. If the weather is hot, carry along some sunscreen and a hat to protect yourself from the heat. Make sure you have sufficient drinking water with you.
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Get to work. When you arrive at the mining area, choose a spot to begin. Garnets are often found in drainage areas and gullies. Find an area that shows the presence of some dark-colored stones that show up against the background soil. Dip your shovel into the ground, pull out the rocks and dirt and dump into the bucket. Repeat this until the bucket is almost completely filled. Carry it to the screen box and sift to separate out the rocks from the sand and dirt. After you've collected a sizeable number, take the rocks to a sluice box and wash thoroughly.
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Identify garnets. As you wash the rocks, observe their appearance carefully. Find ones that have a dull shine like plastic and keep these separately. These are probably garnets.
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Tips & Warnings
Garnets sparkle in mild sunlight; it's good to plan an early morning garnet hunting trip to improve your chances of finding them.
Rain washes garnets out of the rock and into the gullies. It also removes the outer layer of dust that dulls the garnets, making them easier to locate. Searching for garnets after it has rained is therefore likely to yield better results.
References
- Photo Credit crystal of garnet image by Alexander Maksimov from Fotolia.com
