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How to Find Star Garnets

There are only two places in the world where you can find star garnets in the wild, India and Idaho. These rare gems are twelve sided crystals that have tiny rods of rutile arranged along the crystal planes of the stone, resulting in four- or six-ray stars. These garnets might be deep red, reddish orange or even pink or purple. Because the natural supply of star garnets is so depleted, you're not allowed to dig for them anymore. Fortunately, Idaho's Emerald Creek in the Panhandle National Forest allows would-be prospectors to pan for these stones for a small fee.

Things You'll Need

Mining rough
Bucket
Shovel
Screen box
Gloves (optional)
Container for garnets

Instructions

- 1
  Visit the Emerald Creek Garnet Area in the Idaho Panhandle National Forest and purchase a garnet permit for the day. This permit costs between $5 and $10 and will allow you to pan for and leave with up to five pounds of garnet per permit. This is the only legal way to find star garnets in the wild in the United States. Note that the park is only open during the daytime between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
- 2
  Take the materials that come with your permit, including your bucket of mining rough, the screen box and the shovel to the sluice. The sluice is the long, winding viaduct over which you'll do your panning.
- 3
  Spoon one or two small shovelfuls of mining rough into your screen box. The mining rough is dirt and sand mixed with stones. You'll have to sift through it to find your garnets.
- 4
  Submerge the lower half of the screen box in the water in the sluice. Make sure that the water doesn't reach the top of the box. Gently shake the box back and forth so that the sand and dirt sifts through into the water.
- 5
  Remove the stones left in the box after all the sand and dirt is gone and examine them to see if you've discovered a star garnet. Remove any treasures you may have found and repeat this process with the entire contents of your mining rough.

Rocks & Minerals