Hermiker Diamond Mine

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Matt
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Anyone ever go there?
http://www.herkimerdiamond.com

They are quartz gems, not diamonds, but it is pretty cool how well-formed they are.

Prospecting Admission Rates:
* $10.00 per person for ages 13 and up
* $8.00 per person for ages 5 to 12
* Free for children 4 and under

Your Admission Includes:
* All day prospecting admission ticket (remember to keep your wristband on)
* Instructional 7-minute video (please view before you exit the store for the mining area)
* All day museum entrance ($2.00 per person without prospecting admission ticket)
* Use of our hammer (one per person). A hammer deposit
(holding of your driver’s license or a $15.00 cash deposit) applies until hammers are returned.
* Zip lock Collector’s bags for your finds

Sluicing Bags: * $10.00 per bag of rough material – your choice of
Herkimer Diamond Dirt, Fossil rough, or Gemstone rough
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backpacker
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I've been their a couple times when my kids were little. Very few new rocks to bust up, and what was their was hard to break. we found a few small (tiny) ones. They do have a nice rock shop with lots of their quarts (that you can buy).
The Mountains are Calling and I must Go John Muir
my flickr gallery
46er interview
L_G_D
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Used to practically live there summers back in the late 80's early 90's. We went most every weekend. This was back in the "good old days" when some colorful characters used to hang out there with names like Diamond Jim, a really nice guy who would always find time to help out the newby, and give advice. We would tear at the wall with sledgehammers and crowbars to get at the crystals, then they opened up a new ledge higher up that was easier to dig, because it was more weathered, but that also made the crystals prone to frost which broke & cracked a lot of them. That area was closed for "safety reasons" a year or so later, and I haven't been back for a decade or more. Still think about going one of these days. One of my old digging buddies now has a 7 year old son who is just about the right age for that sort of thing, so we may go out again one of these days.

I've also been to the Ace of Diamonds, which is right next door, and harder to dig, if you ask me, and a couple other places in Fonda and Johnsville (Johnsonville?) forget exactly, but the main mine at Herkimer Diamond Development is still the best place the public can go, but without a lot of heavy tools and sweat, you probably won't find much nowadays. I also see the price has gone up, used to be $5 to get in.
LGD
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Matt
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I'd like to take my nephew but I'm looking for recent impressions before I make the trek.
L_G_D
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Yeah, I understand that. Try to pick a nice day, but not one too hot, it can be brutal there in the summer, there's no shade. If they haven't run the bulldozer through lately, there won't be much in the way of small rocks for a kid to bust up, and attacking the wall is pretty much out of the question. There's always the chance of finding something just laying on the ground, but that happens only now & then.
LGD
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Matt
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I don't care much about finding things, I just want to recklessly smash rocks.
L_G_D
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Matt wrote:I don't care much about finding things, I just want to recklessly smash rocks.
Well, there's plenty of that, bring the biggest sledge hammer you can swing and have at it. :lol:
LGD
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