Fieldtrip Report:
Fieldtrip Report:
JXR
"Grand Reopening"
June 9th and 10th, 2007
By Steve Barr
Photography by: Sandi Hill, Austin Barr, Pat Cummings, Don Aldridge and Douglas Drummond
"Mrs. DigDug" took advantage of the situation when Terry pumped water out of his pit. She panned for amethyst, but I think she was also hoping to hit gold. And, it was a great way to cool off on a hot summer day!
Nancy "Chunkfinder" Seavers flashes that fabulous smile after uncovering yet another gem-quality purple crystal, proving once again that she's the "Queen of JXR".
Frankie scans the tailings piles for signs of amethyst.
Greg searches some of the new dumps as well.
His efforts paid off, and he was suddenly holding a purple crystal in his hands, too.
Folks just kept right on digging all day long, seemingly oblivious to the desert-like conditions.
..and, it kept paying off for them!
In spite of the huge turnout, the dump piles were so plentiful that none of them ever seemed to get too crowded. There was just too much material to go through!
Some specimens were unearthed that were unlike anything I had seen at JXR before. They had a "Diamond Hill" sort of iron oxide coating on them. I'm debating whether to clean the one I brought home with me, or keep it just the way it is because it's unique for JXR.
Every time I turned around, it seemed like someone else was holding up amethyst and grinning from ear-to-ear.
