It looks like there have been a lot of small earthquakes shaking the area Southeast of the Fishing Bridge in Yellowstone National Park since late December. I hope this isn't the beginning of something bad. Yellowstone is an extinct super volcano.

Read news article regarding the quakes.

We are all used to hearing all our lives about the New Madrid earthquake in 1811, and all the small quakes felt in that area. But over the past month or so, the area northeast of Malvern has been a hotbed of seismic activity. This is surprising in that we are not used to hearing about quakes in this area, but if you think about it, seismic activity here should be a normal thing. Magnet Cove and Murfreesboro are both the result of volcanic activity. Even Hot Springs is a volcanic area, hence the hot water! For me its just very interesting to study this type of thing, and I always wonder in the back of my mind, could the Magnet Cove volcano become active again? Probably not, but who knows. I have included an article from the Malvern Daily Record, since a lot of you probably don’t get that paper. You can also read about the earthquakes and keep up with anything new on the web: http://www.malvern-online.com.

David Ratcliffe, director of the Hot Spring County Office of Emergency Management, said Monday that earthquakes are again shaking up the area, but it’s been hard to get a real reading on the impact. People aren’t calling in or reporting ample information to get an accurate reading on the severity of the earthquakes.
The U.S. Geological Survey says a small earthquake occurred early Saturday night in central Arkansas.
The USGS says the quake had a preliminary magnitude of 2.3 and happened just before 6:30 p.m. The temblor hit about six miles northeast of Hot Springs Village. Dispatchers in Garland County say they have received no calls about the earthquake.
A quake of magnitude 2.5 to 3 is the smallest generally felt by people. Hundreds of earthquakes occur each year. Most are so small they cannot be felt. Hot Springs Village is 37 miles west of Little Rock.
Nov. 2 an earthquake was reported three miles northeast of Rockport with a magnitude of 2.7. Several Magnet Cove area residents said they felt the quake and many expected to find damage, but none reportedly did.
Nov. 10 an earthquake registering a magnitude of 2.0 was recorded three miles northeast of Rockport.
Nov. 21 an earthquake 13 miles northeast of Hot Springs Village registered 2.6.
Earthquakes in a similar location were reported Saturday and Sunday, registering 2.3. Ratcliffe advises people to report earthquakes at http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/dyfi/. Ratcliffe said people should click on Arkansas and go through and fill out the form to report that they felt it. Gail McClure, Magnet Cove School District superintendent, said the school had not suffered any damage and classes have not be disrupted.
“It’s not happened while school is going on,” McClure said. “On Friday people were feeling it in their homes.” McClure said one faculty member living in Magnet Cove actually thought someone had hit his home when the earthquake shook things up. Last Updated ( Tuesday, 02 December 2008 )
Courtesy of Malvern Daily Record

Well its been a while since I posted, but I've been busy with lots of things going on. Anyhow I know you might have noticed the blog was down a while, and before that it had some crazy xml action going on and was unreadable. Well i moved back to my old blog server to get back online. The newest version of PHP (version 5.2.8) has either a bug or a "feature" in how it reads XML that renders this software almost unusable. Well a patch is forthcoming and we should be all better soon.

More to come-

Well of late I have been having a lot of fun searching for fossils, which in fact I think I enjoy more than rockhounding. I have been hunting in the Malvern area near the Ouachita river and have been finding some interesting stuff. Our group had a recent outing there, but I missed that due to the bad weather. I have found a lot of sharks teeth, see below:




I have also found a ton of what looks like Ram's Horn Oyster fossils as well:



This even appears to be a partial ammonite fossil.



Shark vertebrae are abundant as well if you keep your eyes open.





I also found some very nice Stingray (Myliobatis sp.)dental plates, these are really odd looking when you see them:




I havent found any tail barbs yet, but I am betting they are there too. There are even very nice corals to be found.



And of course shells all over the place.



The final picture is something I am still trying to identify, if you recognize it, let me know. I will post more as I find more.

Well during the last field trip to Magnet Cove looking for Rutile, I was lucky enough to find a few indian artifacts. I know they are not rocks or minerals technically, but I still think they are pretty interesting. The first thing I started noticing were novaculite chips from the tool making process strewn about the small creek while I was screening for rutile. Here are a few of the novaculite chips I found.


The novaculite is perfect for toolmaking and in fact is quite common in the Magnet Cove area, however there is not any very close to where we were searching. This leads me to believe the indians were bringing it in and using it from a camp near the creek.

Here are several scraping or cutting tools I found while digging in the creek.



This looks a lot like an unfinished arrowhead.



I hope you enjoy the pictures, I found these to be very interesting finds.

I am late getting this blogged, but a friend of mine (who lives down the street) mentioned to his mother that I like rocks and that I ship in Sapphire gravel and look for gems in it. When she heard that, she decided to bring me some gravel from her local area (San Diego, California), which happens to be the Gems of Pala mine. This mine is world famous for its tourmaline and various other stones. She didnt have to bring me any gravel, but I want to thank her, since I probably would never be able to go there. I had a blast going through the bag, and did find some small specimens. Here is a picture of me recieving the bag this past January.



Here is a pic showing some of the small pieces of pink tourmaline I found.

I found this in my many small rocks I bring home from the Crater of Diamonds State Park. I guess I need to have them test it.

The Central Arkansas Gem, Mineral and Geology society had its April field trip to Magnet Cove, one of the best places to go in Arkansas and possibly the world. Collectors have been coming there for years due to the abundance of minerals. We were in search of rutile pseudomorphs, but we also found feldspar, limonite, brookite, leucite, goethite, and I believe some small pyrite samples and magnetite were found.

Here is a pic of some of the guys digging in the creek...


This rutile specimen is about the size of a half dollar and and maybe a half inch thick. Obe Willix found one at least three times larger.



I also found an oddity, its a vary rare crystal form of iron pyrite (called a pyritohedron), in this case it was replaced later with limonite.



I also got excited when I picked up a small rutile crystal late in the day, but it wasnt an "eightling", however it was pretty close.



Well thats all I can post for now, however I did find some Indian artifacts during the rutile search and I will make that my next post!

Well I have decided to take on the Newsletter Editor/Webmaster position for the club, it should be a fun position to fill. I hope to meet a lot of new folks and bring some new ideas and input. The club website is:




The club meets on the 4th Thursday of each month at the Terry Library in Little Rock.

I know I am late posting this but I had to share some about the fun RazorRock Quarry visit we (The Central Arkansas Gem, Mineral and Geology Society) had on March 15th. It was a cool day, with some rain, but the rain held off and actually helped us for a time to find some very nice agates and fossils. One rockhound even found a large chunk of petrified wood. Overall we had a great time. See below for the group shot.



Here are a few of the nice agates I found....









This was the most looked at agate of the day...



Here is some drusy quartz and agate.



Fossil coral was in abundance as well...



All the pics can be seen here:
RazorRock Pics

Well it looks like someone has pulled the wool over our eyes finding diamonds at the crater. I remember when this went down, I think I was actually in the park one day when they turned in 20 or so. I just hope this doesnt stop folks from coming to the park. See the report on the diamond find scam.

Scam Article

If you happen to visit the Crater of Diamonds there are a few tips that they tell everyone who comes.

1. Look for a small, well-rounded crystal. A diamond weighing several carats may be no larger than a marble.
2. Diamonds have an oily, slick outer surface that dirt or mud will not stick to, so look for clean crystals.
3. If you think you have a diamond, hold it carefully in your hand. Experience has shown once a diamond is dropped, it usually isn't found again that day.
4. Diamonds may be any of several colors. The most common found at the Crater are clear white, yellow and brown.
5. Bring any stone you think may be a diamond to the Visitor Center for free weight and certification. Anything you find is yours!

The park is located two miles southeast of Murfreesboro on Arkansas Highway 301.

For further information on park hours and fees, contact:

Crater of Diamonds State Park
209 State Park Road
Murfreesboro, AR 71958
Telephone: (870) 285-3113

Arkansas diamonds were reported to be 28 percent harder than their African counterparts, based on tests run by the Ford Motor Company prior to World War II. Because of their hardness, often Arkansas diamonds are used to cut other diamonds.

Well I am finally back to blogging, and as promised here is what I found out about the Ruby Mines of North Carolina.

These are all in or around Franklin.

The largest rubies are found in the Cherokee Mine on a consistent basis, but they are the lowest quality.

Medium size and quality rubies are found in the Sheffield Mine.

The best quality rubies are found in the Mason Mine (not Mason Mountain Mine), but they tend to be the smallest rubies in the area. This is also the only true "dig your own" mine.

Blue Sapphires can be found at the Chunky Gal Mine, they have an almost gray color, not gem quality, but usually very large.

Most rubies now found are not true rubies, they are actually pink to plum colored sapphires. Very few "pigeon blood" colored stones are found these days. Rutile inclusions cause the "star" effect in many of the specimens from the region.

Well I just got back from a trip out to see what that Ruby hunting business is all about, and well, I had a great time. I spent 3 days in the Cowee Valley (the Ruby sweet spot), and mined for 2 days at the Sheffield Mine. First off, I want to say I really enjoyed the mine and all the employees, they were very helpful and friendly. Its not a "dig yourself" mine, but you can see the dirt thats being put in the buckets and where it is coming from, since your very close to the actual diggings. See native buckets below...



The dirt is a thick red clay mix, it contains rubies, sapphires, iron garnets, quartz, kaolin, jasper and kyanite. You really have to work the "muck" over and over and "grind" the rocks together to knock off the outer crust of iron and clay to reveal the plum colored rubies. See the "muck" below...



I went through 12 buckets of Native Dirt and found just under 10 carats of Rubies, one of which went 2.5 carats and another 2 carats. See them below, and note they still look "dirty"..



As you will probably say to yourself, those don't look "red", well most of the rubies in North Carolina are actually "Plum" colored, or a lavendarish purple.
See more examples of rubies from the area that are not deep red.



Another closer shot of an example of a Cowee Valley non-gem quality ruby.




Here is a ruby from North Carolina, more red than most, but its in matrix and since the matrix has not weathered it would probably destroy the crystal to remove it, so I plan on making it a collection piece.



I did manage to locate a couple of the rarer "Pigeon Blood" colored rubies, one of which is gem quality and weighs about 1.2 carats, notice the red and not purple. Pigeon Blood colored rubies only come from North Carolina and Burma and are very desireable.



More interesting pieces, first a "Pigeon Blood" Burmese Ruby.



And an example of a "Star" Sapphire, which is basically a pink sapphire (rubies are actually red sapphires) with Rutile inclusions, that give it the shine in the stone. This stone has been finished into a cabochon (or "cab")weighing about 17 carats.



I'll post soon about the mines in the Cowee Valley and where you should go.

Well I am back online again, been working a lot of hours. I did get the bag of Sapphire gravel in and i will post pictures of my findings. There were some large stones and some very pretty pink sapphires and a big nice Garnet or two. Looks like I have some facetable stones in this batch. I am currently looking through the gravel for a second time, and I am finding the ones I missed. Next week I am going to visit the Sheffield Ruby Mine, near Franklin, North Carolina. I hope to have lots of pics to share and a few nice Rubies afterwards.

September is finally here and the heat appears to be diminishing. The rain is back and is cooling things off quite a bit. I have another big bag of sapphire gravel enroute from Montana.

A picture provided by Brett Joli of the mining company, shows a clear-faceted stone about the size of a softball with a light green tinge. Jolly has provisionally dubbed it the "Jade Giant". This is appearing more and more like a fraud, since now no one in South Africa has actually seen it.

Well this past weekend I got to visit my brother and his family in Pea Ridge, Arkansas. They have recently opened the BlackHawk Theater in a newly renovated church they purchased a while back. Soon several other businesses will be opening in the plaza (which includes the Theater). The Theater includes two big screens, one seating around 60, and the larger 140 seat area upstairs which includes a balcony. Other businesses will include a Diet Center, a law firm and a photographer to start. If you are up in the area stop in for a good old time in a setting that will remind you of the old days.

Well its been a busy week and I havent had time to post anything new. Its so hot here, 100 degree days pretty much the past week, and at least another week before any reprieve. I did manage to see a show on the travel channel about the Spokane Bar Sapphire mine. They offer mine materials for you to sift your own sapphires, so I ordered a small amount. Needless to say I was very pleased. I have attached a picture of the total haul, plus one of the best ones. A small handful approach the 1 carat size (uncut of course), and one was really clear without flaws. I plan to weigh them when I get a chance, but I wanted to post the pics and say it was fun to search for them.