How to Find Yogo Sapphires

Go to one of the many dig-for-free or mine-for-a-day mines in and around the Yogo Gulch, Montana, area. These mines operate as tourist attractions for families and gemologists looking for a souvenir or a side income. Gem Mountain in Helena and Sapphire Studio in Hamilton are two such operations.

Pack your gear for the day. You'll want to take water, snacks, sunscreen, bug spray, shovels, hand shovels and sometimes mining equipment such as wash screens and tweezers. A good magnifier is also recommended as Yogo stones are small. Many day mining sites now provide the mining supplies to you for free or for a small fee.

Get your gravel. These mines often bring gravel up and sell it by the bucketful to customers to look through. Some mines have surface gravel, so you can actually stake out a spot on the ground and start digging your own bucket.

Wash the gravel. Place a couple of shovelfuls of gravel into a washing screen. Take the screen to a washing tub or trough and dip the screen in the water just enough to wet the stones. Shake the screen and lift to drain the water. Repeat the process until the stones are clean enough to see their colors.

Flip the stones from the screen onto a sorting pad or table. These pads are thick pieces of sponge cut to the size and shape of the washing screen. Press the pad onto the washed stones and flip the screen over to release the stones onto the pad.

Sort out your sapphires. Use tweezers to pick out the sapphires from the washed gravel and set aside. The sapphires are commonly small blue pebbles. Look for shiny, semi-clear and otherwise "pretty" stones. Some sapphires are lavender or gray in appearance too. You may find only a few sapphires in each bucket of gravel.

Rewash and repeat the process on your remaining gravel. Do this several times to ensure you find all sapphires in your little bucket of gravel.