This volume gives you the basic tools to transition from "pebble pup" to expert rockhound and explains everything from geology basics, identification tips, tools of the trade, how to record your findings, and how to set up a lab or gem shop. Before you know it, you'll be driving the open roads and traveling home with dusty pockets full of rocks, gems, minerals, fossils--and maybe even gold. Features: * geology basics * popular collectibles, including rocks, gems, fossils, meteorites, and gold * tools of the trade for every level of collector * rules and regulations * polishing, preserving, crafting, and displaying your treasures

This volume gives you the basic tools to transition from “pebble pup” to expert rockhound and explains everything from geology basics, identification tips, tools of the trade, how to record your findings, and how to set up a lab or gem shop. Before you know it, you’ll be driving the open roads and traveling home with dusty pockets full of rocks, gems, minerals, fossils—and maybe even gold. Features: * geology basics * popular collectibles, including rocks, gems, fossils, meteorites, and gold * tools of the trade for every level of collector * rules and regulations * polishing, preserving, crafting, and displaying your treasures

This volume gives you the basic tools to transition from “pebble pup” to expert rockhound and explains everything from geology basics, identification tips, tools of the trade, how to record your findings, and how to set up a lab or gem shop. Before you know it, you’ll be driving the open roads and traveling home with dusty pockets full of rocks, gems, minerals, fossils—and maybe even gold. Features: * geology basics * popular collectibles, including rocks, gems, fossils, meteorites, and gold * tools of the trade for every level of collector * rules and regulations * polishing, preserving, crafting, and displaying your treasures

A Beginner’s Guide to Rockhounding, Gem Collecting, Gold Prospecting, and Fossil Hunting Basic Rockhounding and Prospecting is aimed at anyone who is interested in learning the basics of collecting rocks and minerals. It’s the perfect companion title to the more advanced Modern Rockhounding and Prospecting Handbook. Readers will learn how to identify common rocks and minerals, and where to look for them. Using labs, procedures, pictorials, and discussions to help readers learn, this book will cover the basics of geology, describing the three main rock groups, with extensive pictures to show what to look for and how to figure out what is out there. Look inside for: Geology basics Rules and regulations Polishing, preserving, crafting, and displaying your treasures Popular collectibles, including rocks, gems, fossils, meteorites, and gold Tools of the trade for every level of collector

Find success on your rock hunts for popular gems and minerals by selecting the best locations to look for them. Agates, copper, gold—you want to find them! But if you’re searching without a plan, the odds are stacked against you. Whether you’re new to rock hunting or already hold an interest, prospecting is the way to maximize your success. This beginner’s guide by rockhounding expert Jim Magnuson helps you to confidently hunt for a variety of collectible and valuable gems and minerals, including agates, fossils, geodes, and gold. In each chapter, Jim introduces sought-after targets (from Lake Superior Agates to Keokuk Geodes). Then he provides a simple, step-by-step process to finding, collecting, and identifying them in the Upper Midwest. Full-color photographs show the specimens as you’re likely to see them in the field, and range maps tell you if you’re in the right place. Jim points you to locations where you’re allowed to hunt and collect, and he also includes need-to-know information about equipment recommendations, safety, and the legality of collecting. Inside you’ll find: Expert advice: discover what to look for, where to look, and how to prospect Professional photos: see specimens as you’re likely to find them in the field Essential information: learn about collecting rules, safety, and affordable equipment Bonus content: get advice on polishing your finds, metal detecting, and more Perfect for residents and visitors of Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, South Dakota, and Wisconsin, Rockhounding & Prospecting: Upper Midwest is everything you need in one handy guide.

New England is one of the best regions in the country for rockhounds to hunt for minerals, gems, and fossils. The complex geology of the region hosts a stunning variety of material from gold-bearing placers to fossiliferous limestone; from gem-bearing pegmatites to rocks containing some of the rarest minerals on Earth. This book provides detailed directions and GPS coordinates to the best sites with valuable tips on what to tools to bring and how to conduct your search. Comprehensive lists of minerals or fossils for each site and excellent color photos will help you know what to look for and to identify what you’ve found. Information on clubs, rock shops, museums, and special attractions are provided. Written by a collector with over 35 years of experience, Rockhounding New England is the firstcomprehensive rock and mineral collecting guide to New England and a must-have for anyone interested in collecting their own minerals, gems, and fossils in the region.

The 75 sites described in this guide take you across the red desert to the high mountain majesty of the Big Horns and Wind Rivers as well as the geologic wonders of Yellowstone National Park. Graham, a former hardrock miner, developed an interest in rocks at an early age, and he shares his enthusiasm for rockhounding and his appreciation for the diverse Wyoming landscape that holds the treasure. Each description provides detailed information complete with maps on how to find the remote as well as popular digs, what will likely be found there, the tools to bring, the best season to visit, the appropriate vehicle to drive, or when to lace up your hiking boots to get to those out-of-the-way places.

Explore the mineral-rich region of Virginia with veteran rockhound Robert Beard’s Rockhounding Virginia and unearth the state’s best rockhounding sites, ranging from popular and commercial sites to numerous lesser-known areas. Featuring an overview of the state’s geologic history as well as a site-by-site guide to the best rockhounding locations, Rockhounding Virginia is the ideal resource for rockhounds of all ages and experience levels.

With this informative, fully updated and revised guide, you can explore the mineral-rich region of Montana. It describes the state's best rockhounding sites and covers popular and commerical sites as well as numerous little-known areas. This handy guide also descirbes how to collect specimens, includes maps and directions to each site, and lists rockhound clubs around the state. This is truly a complete guide to popular collecting sites in Montana and source-book brimming with advice that can be of use to both the novice and the experienced rockhounder.