Recently, cabochon grade rubies have been
found in the vicinity of the Ratlesnake Mountains in southeastern
Wyoming. I had my first encounter with them in 2000, at a gem
and mineral show in Billings, Montana. A dealer had polished
slabs and artifacts made form them. I talked him out of a sawn
piece of rough, showing a distinctive lenticular habit (first image
below). |
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In 2006, I met a man
who had been exploring extensively in the same general area, and we
agreed to meet in Tucson in February, 2007. At that
time, I took the picture of the cabochon on the right, which amazed
me as it is a natural crystal (not intarsia)! The photo was
taken through the dusty cover of the box it was in, as I was afraid
to drop it. |
IIn July, 2007, I traveled with him to several
sites in the area. The second picture above shows an outcrop,
under which we dug about a gallon of finger joint sized rubies from
the loose dirt. Some of the specimens are surrounded by a rind
of green chromium-rich mica, probably fuchsite (I am indebted to
George Rossman of CalTech fir the identification). The third
and fourth pictures show the specimen we call "Owl Eyes" and a
detail of the larger crystal. This striking specimen is
currently on display at Montana Tech in Butte. |
The source localities are
distributed over a large area more or less surrounding the
Rattlesnake Mountains, southwest of Casper. The rubies seem to have
formed along contacts where pegmatites shot through ancient (precambrian)
granitic intrusives. |
Our explorations indicated there are
economic deposits here, but commercial levels of extraction will
have both technical and bureaucratic problems that will need to be
worked out. At present, there are about half a dozen of us who
enjoy digging with hand tools and packing out the finds in
buckets. |
One of the claim
owners found some matrix specimens, from which he carefully
etched out the ruby clusters. A couple appear to the
right. |
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If you
are interested in obtaining some of this material, please contact me
at
wheierman@corunduminium.com.
I do have some cabochon rough, some of which will probably star.
The areas of concern are covered by unpatented placer and lode
claims, so private digging requires permission. The owners prefer
to remain anonymous for now; but iwhen that changes I shall provide
a direct link here. |
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Here are some more
pictures from our exploits on the property. |
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Sorry Amos,
it's that one! |
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