It’s no accident Montana carries the nickname the “Treasure State.” In addition to precious metals, Montana is the only state in the U.S. with viable sapphire mines. My house is not only surrounded by some of those sapphire mines, it sits on a deposit of sapphires.
The largest
sapphire I have ever found, I pulled from a pile of rocks and gravel scooped
out of the hillside to accommodate my home’s foundation. Following a heavy rain, the glinting gemstone
caught my eye as I strode near the pile to fetch a board while framing my house.
Philipsburg,
Montana, is also famous for sapphires. For
several months now, two bags of sapphire gravel purchased from a shop in Philipsburg have been collecting dust in my garage.
“We need to
look for some sapphires,” I informed Desiree.
“I have a couple bags of good dirt to go through. You can’t be here in sapphire country and not
find a sapphire. Let’s set up shop in
the sunroom and see what we can find.”
After
spreading a waterproof cover on the floor, I fetched the bags from the garage. Desiree and I soon processed through the
gravel and fines. Within a few seconds
of washing down the first batch, she plucked out her first sapphire.
Instantly
hooked.
After we finished
gleaning through the gravel—finding over a dozen sapphires—I asked Desiree if
she enjoyed the process. “Yes,” she
said. “I want big sapphires.”
Welcome to the club.
A Bag of
Sapphire Gravel
Findings
Our Sapphire Haul
—Mitchell Hegman
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