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February 2024 by Roland Andersen
Had a great time. The gals running place were great and very informative. Found several sapphires plus other treasures.#4starjesus
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February 2024 by Thomas Barcalow
I went on a trip for the summer stop by this magical place they are so informative and kind, showing you how to find how it was made. Such a wonderful experience I can't wait to go back to and bring my whole family. Thanks guys
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November 2023 by Unclefish97
Nicest people you will meet. Extremely knowledgeable and very helpful. Found several sapphires. Family business. They help identify what you have which is really nice for a beginner. Kids really enjoyed.
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November 2023 by todd Hewett
Always a great time. Been here in the summer, and now in the late fall and found many quality gems out of both mother load and Eldorado bags. We will certainly be back again!!! Thanks
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October 2023 by Michelle DeStena
Such a special place! “Gem King” Russ and his daughter Crystel were a delight. They are wonderfully kind and helpful people. The unassuming structure has a very old school vibe that feels authentic to the history of the local mining industry. Hands on experience that was tons of fun as a couple and would be a great full family affair! The surroundings with the lake and mountains add to the beauty of the experience. Could not say enough great things about this place and the people who make it possible!
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September 2023 by Glenda L.
This is a great place to pan for Montana sapphires. They have some shade and picnic tables to sit at while going through your gravel. It is located on a gravel road so don't take a fancy car!! We got the mother load gravel. Worth the money in my option! Cheryl was very knowledgeable and fun to talk to!
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September 2023 by Cole Ketchem
Great friendly people and plentiful gemstones in the gravel. Great time for the entire family.
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September 2023 by happy gabby
This place is such a GEM. We bought a bag of dirt from the Mother Load and we found quite a few sapphires!! The lady here was so knowledgeable and personable, she showed us some of the stuff she was working on & sifting through and it was SO cool! Will definitely come back here, one of our favorite mines we've traveled too!
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September 2023 by Kitty K.
All of the stars, 10/10 recommend. If your trip isn't blessed by a visit from Russ, then you need to trek back out to this little "gem" of a place outside of Helena. Russ is what I'd affectionately call the "grand pappy" of rock hounding. He wants you to have the best experience you possibly can, and if you are panning your rocks wrong, he is more than happy to show you how the rocks are "supposed to sound" when swishing them in the water. It is a family business, and everyone we encountered was overtly helpful. Even the puppies helped. I only wish we had more time to go back.
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August 2023 by Mike Cumley
Fun family experience and found lots of sapphires in all different colors, even some really nice gem quality one's I'll have faceted with their in house gem cutter..Great time ? I'll definitely go again!
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August 2023 by barb bottomly
bought a bag of "M" gravel to be delivered for a birthday party. A total disappointment; not one sapphire. Will not buy from this business again, nor will I recommend it.
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August 2023 by Jim W
My wife and I spent two days here searching for Montana Sapphires. The staff was just awesome (Crystal / Halsey). They were very helpful in getting us set up and going. We found some nice pretty blue and green Sapphires and had a great time. They also helped with rock identification. For those interested Tye Cumley also provides a faceting service (google Tye Cumley Faceting or @MountainFacet on IG). If you are a rock collector like me this place is great fun. If you just want a new experience hunting sapphires, this place is fun. If you think this is some "get rich quick" scheme, where you find some massive sapphire and retire, well...You probably do not understand how rare a find that is. Could it happen? Yes! But that is very very rare. If it wasn't, then sapphires wouldn't be so valuable. So to all the whiners that complained, they didn't find what they were seeking...well, you probably had unrealistic expectations at the start. This place is an opportunity to find a nice and beautiful Montana Sapphire. Not a guarantee. But if you try, you will find some nice stones. In two days of hitting it hard, we found several really nice gem quality sapphires. So it is possible. Give it a shot!
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August 2023 by Ruth Rockenbaugh
Proprietor was so helpful and even stayed a bit late to tell us about the various rocks we found. Fun and educational.
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August 2023 by Dakota Stinauer
This place is phenomenal! Came for a day in search of saffires. You will not be dissappinted in the staff, they are awesome. They explain how the gems form, what to look for and how to sift through your bags to find the gems. Went through the first 2 Mother Load bags and found dozens of beautiful saffires. Many of which are gem quality with excellent color and clarity. In addition to saffires, we found lots of jade, quartz, moonstone, and other precious stones that are bound for the rock tumbler to bring out their beauty. Had so much fun and success, we returned for another day of searching with 2 more bags of Mother Load and 2 bags of Eldorado. Highly recommend the Eldorado or Mother Load bags of paydirt for your greatest chances of success. Due to our great success and the extremely friendly and helpful staff we will be returning for sure.
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August 2023 by Danielle Shanley
Not sure what Karen down below is talking about, but we JUST left and had an amazing time! Group of 5 of us shared one bag and each found multiple sapphires as well as moon rock, jade, agate etc! The workers were extremely helpful, showed us how to do everything and showed us exactly what we were looking for! They also help you identify everything you found afterwards! If you don’t find anything you just aren’t looking hard enough! We even saw young kids finding lots of sapphires, and the guy next to us was finding them left n right! Don’t listen to the negative review!
