Rock Hounding

Profit? I bet that caught your

attention

, I have never

really made money from rocks directly, but I have been

paid to help folks look for rocks. As a tour guide in the

San Juan Mountains having the skills to find some pretty

rocks is a

given

, I always thought. The most

obvious

spots are the old dump piles of the mines. A quick tip to

distinguish

nice ore samples with out breaking every

single rock in the pile is to train your self in density,

after messing with rocks you soon can tell the

prettier

rock by there weight per size or density. The cooler

rocks in the San Juans contain Iron

Pyrites

(fools Gold),

Galina ( Lead/Silver), Copper Pyrites (peacock Copper)

and

hopefully

some Gold, which all is very heavy and

dense

so even if the rock is dirty or oxidized you can

feel its density, then smack it open with your trusty Rock

Hammer to expose the shine within. Why a Rock

Hammer? I used to think a Hammer was a Hammer but

there is something about a Rock Hammer that makes it

special and that is the convex or rounded face, this

applies

all the

pressure

to one tiny spot to crack the

rock. If you can't find a Rock Hammer your next best

choice is the ball side of a ball

peen

hammer.

There are many other places to look for cool rocks

but these are often more elusive and

challenging

to find.

There

are many good books to help you learn about these

spots and Geology and my friends at

have the best selection of info that I know of.