What is a Fee Mining Site?
Fee mining sites are places where you can pay a fee to dig, pan, or search for rocks, minerals or gemstones and keep whatever you find. There are many places in the United States where you can pan for gold, wash gravel for gemstones, or split rocks to find fossils and have a reasonable chance of being very successful.
Alabama |
| Alabama Gold Camp | Gold |
| Yellow Wolf Gem Mining | Garnet, ruby, moonstone, quartz, amethyst, citrine, pyrite |
Alaska |
| Chicken Gold Camp | Gold |
| Crow Creek Gold Mine | Gold |
| Rockhounding Alaska | A guide to some of Alaska’s best rockhounding sites |
Arizona |
| Arizona BLM collecting sites | Fire agates |
| Rockhounding Arizona, Gem Trails of Arizona and Arizona Gold and Gems Maps | Books and maps to help find gems, rocks and gold in Arizona |
Arkansas |
| Crater of Diamonds State Park | Diamonds and 40 other types of rocks and minerals including: lamproite, amethyst, banded agate, jasper, peridot, garnet, quartz, calcite, barite, and hematite. |
| Crystal Seen Trading Co. | Quartz crystals, ruby, sapphire, wavellite, agape crystal, tourmaline, geodes, pyrite, agates, arrowheads and more |
| Ron Coleman Mining | Quartz crystals |
| Sweet Surrender Crystals | Quartz crystals |
| Wegner Crystal Mines & Ranch | Crystal Forest Mine and Phantom Mine group dig and tailings collecting area. |
California |
| Benitoite Gem Mine | Benitoite |
| Golden Caribou Mining | Gold |
| Himalaya Mine | Tourmaline, quartz crystals, lepidolite, topaz, morganite, and other pegmatite minerals |
| Jamestown Gold Panning | Gold |
| Oceanview Mine | Tourmalines, kunzites, morganites and more. |
| Roaring Camp Mining Company | Gold |
| Stewart Mine | Tourmaline and lepidolite |
| Rockhounding California, Gem Trails of California and California Gold and Gems Maps | Books and maps to help find gems, rocks and gold in California |
Colorado |
| Bachelor-Syracuse Mine | Gold |
| Colorado Gold Camp | Gold |
| Country Boy Mine | Gold |
| Phoenix Gold Mine | Gold |
| Pinnacle5Minerals | Topaz, smokey quartz, amazonite |
| Rockhounding Colorado, Gem Trails of Colorado and Colorado Gold and Gems Maps | Books and maps to help find gems, rocks and gold in Colorado |
Connecticut |
| Griswold Quarry, Hollister Quarry and Simpson Quarry | Pegmatite |
Florida |
| Fossil Expeditions | Mammal, reptile and shark fossils. |
| Rucks Pit, Fort Drum Crystal Mine | Fossils and crystals. |
Georgia |
| Consolidated Gold Mines | Gold |
| Crisson Gold Mine | Gold |
| Diamond Hill Mine | Quartz crystals (smokey, amethyst, some doubly terminated, some skeletal) |
| Gold ‘N Gem Grubbin’ | Gold, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, amethyst, topaz and more |
| Graves Mountain | Barite,quartz, rutile, ilmenite, kyanite, pyrite, lazulite, pyrophyllite, hematite, goethite, limonite, iridescent hematite |
| Hogg Mine | Beryl, star rose quartz, black tourmaline, and aquamarine |
| Jackson Crossroads Amethyst Mine | Amethyst |
Idaho |
| Emerald Creek Star Garnet Area | Star Garnet |
| Spencer Opal Mines | Opal |
| Idaho Gold and Gems Maps | Maps to help find gold and gems in Idaho |
Illinois |
| Keokuk Geodes | Geodes |
Iowa |
| Fossil & Prairie Park | Fossils |
Kentucky |
| Clement Mineral Museum | Fluorite and related minerals |
Maine |
| Coos Canyon Rock and Gift | Gold |
| Maine Mineral Adventures | Quartz, tourmaline, beryl, lepidolite and more |
| Maine Mineralogy Expeditions | blue beryl, golden beryl, amethyst, tourmaline, rose quartz, smoky quartz, clear quartz, mica, feldspar, apatite, lepidolite |
| Poland Mining Camps | Pollucite (gem grade), spodumene, kunzite (cab grade), muscovite and perhamite (tan spheres) with white fluorapatite. |
Maryland |
| Calvert Cliffs State Park | Fossils |
Michigan |
| Caledonia Mine | Native copper, silver, datolite, quartz, feldspar, calcite, and epidote |
Minnesota |
| Hill Annex Mine State Park | Fossils |
Missouri |
| Sheffler’s Rock Shop and Geode Mine | Geodes |
Montana |
| Blue Jewel Mine | Sapphire |
| Crystal Park | Quartz crystals |
| Gem Mountain Sapphire Mine | Montana sapphire |
| Sapphire Gallery | Sapphire |
| Spokane Bar Sapphire Mine | Sapphire |
| Rockhounding Montana and Montana Gold and Gems Maps | Books and maps to help find gold, gems and rocks in Montana |
Nebraska |
| High Plains Homestead | Fossils |
Nevada |
| Bonanza Opal Mines | Opal |
| Kokopelli Opals | Opal |
| Rainbow Ridge | Opal |
| Royal Peacock Opal Mine | Opal |
| Rockhounding Nevada, Gem Trails of Nevada and Nevada Gold and Gems Maps | Books and maps to help find gems, rocks and gold in Nevada |
New Hampshire |
| Ruggles Mine | Mica, feldspar, beryl |
| Twin River Campground | Gold panning |
New Jersey |
| The Franklin Mineral Museum | Fluorescent minerals |
| The Sterling Hill Mining Museum | Fluorescent minerals |
New Mexico |
| Desert Rose Mine – Blanchard Rock Shop | Fluorite, barite, galena, quartz, smoky quartz, linarite, brochantite, wulfenite and more |
| Kelly Mine | Pyrite, allophane, calcite, brochantite, phyllite |
| Rockhounding New Mexico, Gem Trails of New Mexico and New Mexico Gold and Gems Maps | Books and maps to help find gems, rocks and gold in New Mexico |
New York |
| Ace of Diamonds | Herkimer Diamond (doubly terminated quartz crystals) |
| Barton Garnet Mine | Garnet |
| Crystal Grove Diamond Mine and Campground | Herkimer Diamond (doubly terminated quartz crystals) |
| Herkimer Diamond Mines | Herkimer Diamond (doubly terminated quartz crystals) |
North Carolina |
| Brushy Creek Mine | Aquamarine, tourmaline, garnet, beryl |
| Cherokee Ruby and Sapphire Mine | Ruby, sapphire |
| Crabtree Emerald Mine | Emerald |
| Euraka Gold Panning & Carolina Gem Fluming | Gold and Gems |
| Emerald Hollow Mine | 63 different gems and minerals. |
| Emerald Village | Emerald, semi-precious stones |
| Little Pine Garnet Mine | Garnet |
| Lost Cause Mine (The Baldwin Place Farm) | Druzy angle plated quarts |
| Lucky Strike Gold and Gem Mine | Gold |
| Mason Farm Staurolite Prospect | Staurolite, corundum, ruby, sapphire and even gold has been found here |
| Mason Mountain Mine | Gems and minerals |
| Mason’s Ruby and Sapphire Mine | Ruby, sapphire |
| Rose Creek Mine | Ruby, sapphire, garnet, amethyst, citrine, moonstone, topaz, smoky quartz, rose quartz, quartz crystals and more! |
| Sheffield Mine | Star ruby, sapphire |
| Thermal City Gold Mine | Gold, gems |
| Vein Mountain Gold and Gems | Gold, gems |
Ohio |
| Nethers Farm – Flint Ridge | Flint |
Oklahoma |
| Great Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge | Selenite crystals |
Oregon |
| Double Eagle Mine | Oregon Sunstone |
| Dust Devil Mining Company | Oregon Sunstone |
| Lucky Strike Mine | Agate, Thundereggs |
| Richardson’s Rock Ranch | Agate, Thundereggs |
| Spectrum Sunstone Mines | Oregon Sunstone |
| BLM Sunstone Collection Area | Oregon Sunstone |
| Gem Trails of Oregon and Oregon Gold and Gems Maps | Books and maps to help find gems and gold in Oregon |
South Carolina |
| Diamond Hill Mine | Amethyst, quartz |
South Dakota |
| Big Thunder Gold Mine | Gold |
Texas |
| Seaquist Family Ranch | Topaz |
| Stillwell Ranch | Many different kinds of agate and gemstones. |
| Gem Trails of Texas | A book explaining where collectors have found rocks and minerals |
Utah |
| U-Dig Fossils | Trilobite fossils |
| Rockhounding Utah, Gem Trails of Utah and Utah Gold and Gems Maps | Books and maps to help find gems, rocks and gold in Utah |
Virginia |
| Morefield Gem Mine – (Temporarily closed for the 2014 season) | Over 80 different minerals. |
Washington |
| Geology Adventures | Guided trips to gem and mineral collecting sites. |
| Stonerose Interpretive Center & Eocene Fossil Site | Eocene Fossils (you can keep three per day) |
| Gem Trails of Washington and Washington Gold and Gems Maps | Books and maps to help find gold and gems in Washington |
Wyoming |
| Fossil Safari | Fossil fish from the Green River Formation |
| Ulrich’s Fossil Gallery | Fossil fish |
| Wyoming Dinosaur Center | “Dig For a Day” – Try and find your own fossils with experienced guides |
| Rockhounding Wyoming | A guide to Wyoming’s best rockhounding sites |
Canada |
| Opal Resources Canada | Opal |
| Rock Candy Mine | Geodes, Barite, Fluorite, Druzy Quartz |