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How to Process Dirt to Find Gem Stones

Gemstones don't usually reveal themselves immediately. If you are hunting for gemstones in an area known to be rich in them, you almost certainly will have to sift through an awful lot of soil and grit to find the treasures. The more efficiently you do this, the greater your chances of finding some gems among all the random pebbles and dirt. Chances of finding a valuable stone are quite small, but there are plenty of semi-precious stones such as quartz throughout the United States and elsewhere.

Things You'll Need

Bucket
Trowel
Garden sieve
Work gloves
Guidebook to gemstones
Water

Instructions

- 1
  Refer to a gemstone guidebook for the area to determine what kinds of gems and semi-precious stones you might find. This lets you know what to look for.
- 2
  Put several trowelfuls of dirt into the sieve.
- 3
  Use the back of the trowel to crush down the dirt, removing the cakes.
- 4
  Shake the sieve vigorously if the dirt is dry, crushing down other cakes as they rise to the top. Dust and sand will fall through it, leaving larger pebbles and gems, perhaps. If the soil is wet, do the same thing, but pour water over the sieve to wash away fine dirt.
- 5
  Wash all the remaining pebbles with more water, even if the soil was dry to begin with. Dust can cling to stones, hiding the fact that they are gemstones.
- 6
  Spread the pebbles out. Remember that some gemstones and semi-precious stones don't look like anything much until they are cut. Refer back to the guidebook to see what uncut specimens look like, if necessary.
- 7
  Pick out possible gemstones, discard the other pebbles and repeat.

Rocks & Minerals