ron coleman mine
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ron coleman mine印象
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This used to be a good place to go if you are a serious rock hound. Not anymore. The admission price is ridiculous it keeps going up. Today we left with less than a pocketful of crystals and nothing to brag about. Nothing new was brought up out of mines for people to look through. It appears to have had old mining dirt just bulldozed around. The last three times have been disappointing and sadly I will not be returning. I would not recommend to anyone who is a serious crystal rockhound. I will try somewhere else. Don't waste your money.
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My husband and I arrived at the site around 9:30 am and stayed until 3pm. We spent the entire time digging and finding many many quartz crystals. Many were milky and broken but some were not. We found a couple dozen smaller clear points and a few really impressive double terminated and phantom pieces! If you are willing to haul the super big (200-300lb) chunks to your car then you can make out really well. They let you borrow a hand truck if you need one but will charge you if the guys need to come and help with the loaders. We wanted a piece for our yard so we maneuvered one to our car and some other friendly diggers helped us lift the sucker into the van. The guy driving the front end loader went around early and turned all the piles so there was lots to be found. We ended up buying a few special pieces from the shop. The salesperson, Linda, was super helpful and very knowledgeable. I recommend this place for everyone willing to work a little and get dirty. It was a fairly dry day so were weren't as dirty as others have described but I see the potential. Who cares! It was so much fun! Best vacation activity we've had in years!!! We'll be back with friends!
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This is somewhat of a detailed experience with a fantastic ending. It all started when I was working in South Texas and the family came over from Mississippi for a visit. We went to the flea market in Winnie, TX and my daughter talks with a young teenage lady who explains where they dug all of the crystals displayed for sale and how you could dig all day for like $20 at the Ron Coleman mine in Arkansas. My daughter was hooked.Fast forward the 7 months of constant discussion about the possibility of a dad/daughter trip and I see a window of opportunity for a quick long weekend getaway over July 4th holiday. Spontaneously, we drove overnight the 8 hour trip to Jessieville, AK from the Mississippi Gulf Coast. I didn't know what to expect, but found this place to be very accommodating. The facilities are very nice with lots of great things to see in the gift shop and other things we needed that weren't overpriced, like ice.So, backing up a bit, my plans were to visit different mines on the trip, as I'd done a little I-research and saw other mines that looked interesting. Thankfully, didn't turn out that way.We took advantage of a discounted rate by purchasing both fee mining and a tour of the mine. Truthfully, I wasn't that impressed with my findings the first morning and wasn't sure I'd made the right choice for our first day. Then we took the tour after lunch. The tour took about 30 min.s and was very interesting and really helped in my approach to the digging efforts I had been marginally successful at up until then. It was great to see the whole operation from digging to cleaning to shipping and really helped place a value on the crystals we would eventually find.We dug the rest of the afternoon until they closed the digging area at 5:30P. Being the holiday weekend and the fact that we didn't plan the trip ahead, we had to drive all the way back to Little Rock near the airport for a room. (There is 1 hotel close to the mine in Hot Springs Village but not rooms for us. Hot Springs has lots of hotels, but we couldn't find a room there either) My daughter had decided we had to go back to the same mine and since the trip was her idea, I let her make all the decisions. It would turn out to be the right choice.We visited the mine again and found great crystals and the daughter decided that we had to camp out that night, so off to Wal-mart (about 10 mins. away) to buy camping gear and back to the mine. There is an RV park right outside the mine gate, complete with shower and bathroom facilities and laundry. Water, power, sewer and paved spots made for a pretty nice place to stay and yes they allowed us to pitch a tent. They also have a wash station to clean your crystals. This is a very natural setting, complete with visiting deer that didn't get too close, but very beautiful to watch.As was her decision, we visited the same mine a third day. Halfway through the day, Ella, my daughter finds a very nice cluster and has to run around and show everyone. I thought it was nice, but didn't have the same enthusiasm as my active 9YO. At the end of the day, some very experienced crystal hunters we had befriended took a look at the cluster and found that the largest crystal contained an enhydro (water inclusion) which made it very valuable. Turns out it was only the second one to be known coming from the mine ever. This made it a very great trip since we have such a special find and more importantly memories of a wonderful Dad/Daughter trip.My recommendations. Bring old clothesCooler/water/snacks (there is stuff for sale at the shop and places to go eat close by)few digging tools (three prong garden fork, small garden spade, large screwdriver, etc.)good attitude and work ethic (digging is fun, but work if you want to get something from it)pick up acid at the shop to clean your crystalsHot Springs village is close with many places to eat. Even closer is Sonic and a nice Mexican restaurant (good lunch suggestion) If you don't have old clothes with you or want to look for digging tools, etc. there is a place called ReStore (I think), right next to the bowling alley and is similar to Goodwill.
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Make sure you go to this crystal mine and not the "other" one in the same area. Ron Coleman Mine has bathroom facilities right next to the mine, along with a gift shop. The crystals in the tailings that are open for public mining are fantastic! There is no long, drawn-out, steep, gravel road to travel to get to the mining area. There is also a camping facility right across from the mine if you have any type of R.V. or tent.The staff is friendly and nice. The gift shop is a little pricey, but they have some really beautiful items on display and for sale.There is also zip-lining available that we did not take advantage of.The tour of the mine is okay. The tour takes you to the bottom of the mine and back up, but most of the tour is of the facility and how they process the crystals. You can also see other precious stones on display. If you want to have a pleasant experience and tons of fun, this is the place to go. The cost of Ron Coleman's mine was twice what the other mine cost. Unfortunately, the road to the other mine was so treacherous that we were unable to get to the actual mine in a front wheel drive passenger car. We slid backwards down a hill on the roadway. They were kind and refunded our money. I'd much rather go to a mine that I can actually gain access to fairly easily. With the crystals that we found at Ron Coleman's mine, we came out ahead. They were worth double what we paid to dig.
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My family went to the mines for a second time expecting to find the same size rocks, and boy did we. The one thing different from the first time than the second time we went is we started searching in the wrong spot. We went right to the middle where everyone else was and we found other people's bags and waste. We then decided to go the pile on the right when you first walked in and we started to find some decent crystals. While this area may be old and unappealing for the past two times we have found some decent size crystals here. I personally dug two to three feet underground and found some decent crystals. Not mammoth crystals but ones that fit inside your palm and that was worthwhile. If you are looking for a place with a nominal fee I would definitely come here.
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We went to mine for crystals with our kids (ages 20, 11, 8 and almost 4). The staff is great, the finds are exciting, and the extra activities are fun (ziplining over the mine, tour on an army truck into the mine and seeing their cleaning process). The view from the digging area is amazing. We will definitely be back if we are in the area again. Thanks for a great time!
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This is our second year for going to the crystal mine and we were not disappointed. We found lots of very nice crystals and clusters. We even found a large flat rock with crystal clusters coming out of it. You can ignore the hot weather if you are finding so many nice crystals. The people are friendly and there is usually someone there who will help out with advice or borrowing tools. We brought small picks and gloves and that was plenty of equipment. Be sure to have old clothes and shoes because they will get orange clay that can stain. This is way more fun than the diamond mine at Murfreesboro where we found nothing all day.
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Definitely plan to get dirty, old shoes or rubber boots.. Jeans are great just make sure you don't mind if they get stained! We found all kinds of crystals out there! It was such an amazing family experience! You get a bag and are shown where to dig and then you just go at it! Large quartz rocks, small quartz rocks, tons of crystals.. We have some fantastic finds.. They also have a great selection of rocks to choose from to purchase, and a new Zipline that looks like so much fun! We didn't zipline this trip, but it would be a thrill! The tour was quite informative, and i would recommend this for anyone who is a rock enthusiast, and doesn't mind getting a little dirty! The staff were extremely friendly and helpful too.
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Collecting was muddy, really sticky and hard to collect. After the tailings dried for a couple of days it was easier to work. We visited here on 4 different occasions during the week. We did find some excellent crystals with water clear clarity despite the muddy conditions. Great time.
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Spent several hours and only got very little quartz. (in quantity and size.) for 20.00 per person, we were expecting for it to have a better outcome.. Hubby is a geologist and has been out a couple of times before, several years ago. It was a lot better outcome back than, then this time.. A couple that was digging at the time we were had also been there before and told us it was better for them back when they were there before as well.. They gave up after 3 hours and just collected Rocks for their rock garden.. Wish it were as good as it was years ago.. Or at least knock down some of the entrance cost so it would be worth it..