Some modern-day prospectors make thousands of dollars selling precious stones they dug up themselves. By Alexandra Marvar Moonstones in Montana, amethyst and emeralds in North Carolina, garnet and ...

Moonstones in Montana, amethyst and emeralds in North Carolina, garnet and quartz in upstate New York. At pay-to-dig mines around the United States, visitors can paw through piles of mine tailings to ...

CRYSTAL PARK, Mont. — Molten granite formed the Pioneer Mountain Range in southwest Montana about 72-million years ago. As the granite cooled, water carried quartz and other minerals through the rocks ...

Wear jeans and bring along a small pickax. Expect crowds, but don’t worry — crystal enthusiasts tend to be a genial, family-friendly lot. By Malia Wollan “If you’re looking for crystals, Arkansas is ...

Excited screams filled the air as two of my sons jumped from the platform and plunged downward into the mine below. Within minutes, they dropped several hundred feet and had traveled over a half-mile ...