GEOLOGY
A good understanding of geology, persistence & some luck can lead to incredible treasures. In 1977, Dan Hausel started work as a research geologist at the Wyoming Geological Survey in Laramie. Next to nothing was known about gemstones in the state, but over the years, he tracked down many mineral deposits & found some of the largest gemstone deposits on earth. Anyone can do it. His successes are published in many papers and books, the most recent is available at Booksurge and Amazon.
Using geology as a guide to finding gemstones & gold gives you a great advantage over others. For example, after Hausel discovered the Palmer Canyon iolite deposit in the central Laramie Mountains, he noted this deposit also contained gem-quality ruby, sapphire and kyanite. The ruby & sapphire were associated with a small occurrence of vermiculite, which some Russian geologists refer to as glimmerite. Glimmerite is a rock composed almost entirely of vermiculite mica that is geochemically enriched in alumina. Ruby & sapphire are aluminum-oxides thus, under the right geological conditions, amphibolite-grade metamorphism produced this alumina (silica-poor) rock that provides a great host rock for ruby and sapphire. Several samples collected from the Palmer Canyon vermiculite contained 20 to 25% corundum (ruby & sapphire).
Armed with this knowledge, Hausel found amother half-dozen ruby deposits simply by searching information on known vermiculite deposits in Wyoming. Other deposits will be found in vermiculites (glimmerites) in Montana, Arizona, Nevada, California, Colorado, Utah, South Dakota and Idaho - so get out and start looking! See if you can find old geology reports on vermiculite in your area - vermiculite was at one time in the early 1900s, a sought after commodity for insulation.
