Tourmaline & The Himalaya Mine

Okay, so I too saw the show on the Travel Channel about searching for tourmaline at the Himalaya Mine. They said on there that you could pay $50 and go free-dig. I am wondering how realistic all that was, if it is worth the trip - any fun? Any actual finds?

Tourmaline %26amp; The Himalaya Mine

We spent a fun morning searching for tourmaline. You don%26#39;t go into the mine. There is an area by the road near the Pala Casino(which has a 4**** hotel that we like). You fill a pail with material that has been taken from the mine(piles of mixed rocks,sand etc.) Then they show you how to wash and sift the load from your bucket.We found a tiny piece of watermelon tourmaline(pink and green about 1/2 in. ) and some other even smaller pieces of various other colors.There was another couple searching while we were there and they also found some.

Tourmaline %26amp; The Himalaya Mine

On the television episode, she goes in with some old fella and mines on the side of a hill or something like that. Are you saying it%26#39;s not like that?

Unless we are talking about 2 different places,it is as I described. No hill, just kind of a ';hill';of material piled up that had already been taken out of the mine.

So for the cost of entry, do you only get one bucket, or can you sift through as much as you like? On the show, the host was literally hiking around digging in different spots.

The Pala and the Himalayian mine are different places. Totally different! Pala dig site is...is a pile of dirt in front of a gift shop...(a very simplified description) A touristy sort of place. Play mining. Play gem stone hunting. There is no mine at the Pala store and dirt pile site. The Pala mine is somewhere else. You are filling your bucket from a pile of dirt that is brought in from the mine ...at an irregular schedule. Sometimes the dirt pile gets so low that they refuse to sell buckets of dirt for folks to take home and wash. They just dont have enough to spare.And you HAVE to have a reservation. Check their hours of operation before you make plans to go there. You get one bucket of dirt for your 15 dollars and a ';strictly enforced time limit'; to wash it. No refills.

The Himalayian is a real mine...A place to hunt and dig. A large area of land. A place to hunt for gem stones.A place to spread out. Dig freely surrounded by trees ,the sky, the peacefulness of the countryside.To be left alone to enjoy yourself. And.... many many large stones have been found.

It is not a pile of ';over supervised dirt'; as at Pala. Pala is for tourist who want to experience washing dirt. It is not for serious gem hunters.Small gem stones are occaisionally found at Pala...not very often. Just often enough to keep the dirt pile drawing tourists.

See my posting on Pala vs Himalaya in the California forum.

Duck: You ask if it is worth the trip? Probably not from Anchorage. Chuck...

There are actually 3 different places located very close together. The Gems of Pala is just a gift shop where you need a reservation to sift through a bucket of old tailings that may be from the Stewart Mine.

On the same road just 2 miles further, but very different, is the Oceanview Mine - a real operating tourmaline mine - see www.digforgems - their web site for reservations. For $60, you screen through fresh tailings from their mine and get a tour of their mine. I was just there yesterday and found some nice pieces of purple Kunzite and some small pieces of pink tourmaline.

Finally, about 20 miles away, there is the Himalaya dig at the Lake Henshaw Resort. You can not go to the actual mine right now due to a dispute with the private property owners who own the land with the road leading up to the mine. Instead, the mine owner has trucked the tailings from the hillside to a flat spot where you can screen them as they show at www.highdesertgemsandminerals.com which has the current hours and rates.

I like both the Oceanview and the Himalaya - but - they are not REAL rock hounding and have some real limitations. For a first-timer or a family, it can be a fun experience. I do still go, however, since I love tourmaline and really like the people, the area and the fresh air.

I am taking my son out in October and he loves rocks. He is 10 years old. Which place would he enjoy more. Gems of Pala or Oceanview. He will want to look for an find gems!

I strongly recommend the Oceanview for your son. The Gems of Pala set-up is in the side yard of a ramshackled gift shop and offices and storage buildings. The mine is not anywhere near the property and the pile of tailings is maybe 6 feet across.

The Oceanview Mine is at the actual mine property and is up on the top of one of the rolling mesas. You can see another mine off in the distance. The tailing pile is at least 20 feet long by 10 feet wide. Kids love to climb it to fill their buckets from the top. And, the tour of the mine is included - they provide the hard hats and flash lights. You get to see some quartz crystals the size of footballs still in place in the walls of the last pocket. If you go to their website - www.digforgems.com - they are now open on some Saturdays and some Thursdays. You have to click on the blue box for Simon King to get to the page to get the list of these dates (they have them listed thru the end of the year) and this is also the page where you sign up.

Also, on the main web page, there is a note that you can buy tailings and have them delivered by mail to screen at home. I%26#39;ve dome this several times and you are guaranteed to find some tourmalines along with probably some quartz, aquamarine and maybe some nice purple kunzite. To order, you call Simon or Gladys.

I%26#39;m hoping to get to the Himalaya Dig at the Lake Henshaw Resort on the day after Thanksgiving. I haven%26#39;t been there since May and am interested to see about some changes they have made.