Dust Devil Mining Company

1. Use just enough raw material to cover the bottom of your screen with a SINGLE LAYER of gravel after shaking. Using too little will allow too much light to reflect up through the screen, confusing your search. Too much material will allow gravel to cover up valuable stones.
2. Watch your screen carefully while shaking. Sunstones will often flash as they roll about, making them easier to see.
3. When examining screenings, stand facing the sun so that sunlight will reflect through the sunstones toward your eyes. It is also a good idea to examine screenings from various angles and to roll the gravel about with your glove as you look.
4. ALWAYS remember to LOOK UP through your screen before dumping it. Dusty stones will often be missed until you pass light through them.
5. Smaller screens can be lifted overhead; kneel and peer up through larger ones. To avoid confusing glare, face AWAY from the sun while using this technique.
6. The following three photos illustrate the importance of this last method. Can you find the valuable red sunstone in the first photo?

The same section of screen as seen from below shows the stone shining like a beacon!

Here's the dark red 17+ carat stone in my hand, next to size 10.5 fingers:

THE PICKING / BREAKING METHOD

The walls of the mine pit can often be worked using a small pick or a pry bar and hammer (remember your eye protection). Some stones are found in the loose rocks this way, or after screening the broken rocks.

Any rock larger than a handball may conceal sunstone crystals of significant size. So, many people enjoy success from hammering rocks against each other or with a hammer and chisel. Often, large pockets of hidden crystals containing over a hundred carats of nice material are found in this way.

If you find crystal embedded in a rock, it is most easily removed by striking the side of the rock OPPOSITE the crystal with a chisel. Striking near the crystal is more likely to fracture it.

THE SCRATCHING METHOD

The mine pit usually contains several piles of earth. Many people simply sit down on a pile of dirt and slowly scratch through the sand and gravel using small garden tools or even their hands. This can be a surprisingly successful method, especially in a nice fresh pile of dirt. It also requires almost no physical exertion.

THE WALKABOUT METHOD

Another low-exertion method is to simply wander about, looking at the ground as you go. Large, valuable stones can be found almost anywhere in the mine pit at any time - often right under your feet.

The best time of day to walkabout is when the sun is very low in the sky. Walk facing toward the sun to see it light up stones on the surface like reflections on a pool of water. It is very exciting to spot a stone this way from a good distance.