Benitoite
The Benitoite Gem Mine was featured on the Travel Channel's television show "Finding Cash and Treasures".
Benitoite
( pronounced "ben-ee-toe-ite" )
If you are not a rockhound, mineral collector, or connoisseur of rare gemstones, then you may have never heard of Benitoite.
This amazing crystal was discovered in 2007 at the Benitoite Gem Mine. This piece of rough weighed in at a wopping 34.4 carats. It was faceted into 4 stones, the largest of which is a beautiful flawless 8.06 carat gemstone (pictured below). It is the 3rd largest flawless faceted benitoite in the world. It is the largest flawless faceted benitoite currently available for sale. The first and second largest faceted flawless benitoite gemstones are both in private collections. The asking price for this amazing gemstone is $500,000.00! I believe it is worth much more!
Serious inquiries about the purchase of this stone, will be passed on to the owner.
Benitoite is the state gemstone of California. It is without a doubt, the rarest Gemstones in the world! Gem quality stones and unbelievable mineral specimens can only be found one place on earth, a small area of San Benito County California where it got its name from, at the Benitoite Gem mine. The mine is now called the California State Gem Mine, it's original name was the Dallas Mine. Benitoite was discovered here in 1907. It was first thought to be sapphire or blue diamond due to it's deep blue color and amazing internal fire. After samples were sent to the University of California for examination in the early 1900's, it was discovered to be a new mineral. Up until the time of discovery, science knew that crystal forms such as these were mathematically possible, but they had never been discovered, and no others have ever been found. Though microscopic crystals have been discovered in other places, the is the only place on earth that gem and specimen quality benitoite has been found.
Benitoite has the rarest form of crystal structure in the world. It's internal fire is twice that of diamond, with the color of the most valuable tanzanite, it is easy to see why it is so valued. Benitoite has a very high dispersion which makes them so very bright. They have a refractive index of 1.757 to 1.804. This characteristic makes them sparkle brighter than any diamond. Gem quality Benitoite is worth more than Diamonds, Sapphire, Ruby, Emerald or Tanzanite. Clean, 1 carat cut stones start at $2500 and go up in cost greatly as the size increases. Even uncut, rough stones and good mineral samples in matrix can run in the thousands. It is one of the only gemstones that is naturally deep blue in color, not needing heat or any other treatment to achieve it's color. It can be found in differing shades of blue, violet, white, clear, and on very rare occasions pink, but the Deep Blue color is the most desirable. Science still cannot identify exactly what gives benitoite it's amazing color, and scientists have been unable to duplicate or replicate benitoite's crystal growth.
Examples of included Benitoite crystals
Examples of Gem quality Benitoite crystals
Benitoite is found with a few other rare minerals such as black-red Neptunite, snow white Natrolite and brown-yellow Joaquinite. The only source of this rare combination occurs at San Benito, California. They are formed in fractures of a serpentine rock from hydrothermal solutions. These solutions contained a number of unusual elements such as barium, titanium, fluorine, iron, cesium, niobium, manganese and lithium in relatively high concentrations. How such a solution occurred and what other conditions caused the crystallization of these rare minerals is still not well understood. It's truely unique Hexagonal - Ditrigonal Dipyramidal ( triangular shaped ) crystals, are unlike anything on earth. The rare clusters of blue benitoite and black neptunite on top of a crust of white natrolite produces a truly fantastic and a one of a kind mineral combination that is a must have for a serious mineral collector.
The following is a list of minerals that have been found at the Benitoite Gem Mine; Actinolite / Tremolite, Analcime, Andradite, Apatite, Baoite, Bario-Orthojoaquinite, Benitoite, Calcite, Chrysocolla, Covellite, Crossite / Glaucophane, Digenite, Djurleite, Feldspar, Fresnoite, Joaquinite, Jonesite, Natrolite, Neptunite, Quartz, Serandite, Stilpnomelane.
Once you have found a nice raw specimen, many would like to properly clean them or acid etch them to see it there might be more crystals within and under the natrolite. If you go to our How To Page, you will find a guide to etching a benitoite specimen as you follow me while I walk you thru a specimen I etched.
Benitoite also fluoresces a beautiful blue color under shortwave UV light. It is one of the easiest ways to search for this mineral and makes it a real prize amoung fluorescent mineral collectors.
Although commercial mining is no longer being conducted at the mine, a few years ago, the present owner Dave Schreiner purchased the mine with the sole purpose of opening it up to the public for the first time in it's 100 year history. People could now dig thru the old mine dumps, tailings and virgin ground to try and find their own treasured jewels. Unfortunately that was short lived and now with the EPA's / BLM closure of the area, there is no way of knowing if anyone will ever get the chance again to dig at the mine.
On May 1, 2008, the Environmental Protection Agency & Bureau of Land Management, forced a closure of 31,000 acres that surround the Benitoite Gem Mine for a two year study on public health and safety concerns from exposure to asbestos, from the old asbestos mines in the area. There is no way of knowing when and if people will be allowed back into the mine. There is now a fee dig site setup by the mines owner. Look at our home page for details.
In May 2009, the owner opened a fee dig area for benitoite. He has been bringing material down from the mine to his place for the public to come dig, screen and blacklight for benitoite. The location is much easier to get to than the mine, and many great pieces have been found. You can also black light your search all day long, in a special black light room that was put together. Also, unlike the mine that has no water most of the year, there is plenty of water for washing your material as you search. I highly recommend this dig site. You can find a link to the Benitoite Dig site on our LINKS page.
June 2010, The benitoite dig site at the Old Road Camp has been open for just over a year. Since its opening, many amazing finds have been made by customers. These include many piece of facet rough, at least 4 known pieces that cut over a 1 carat stone, many specimens both large and small. One 80 pound boulder was found that had gem quality benitoite throughout. Dave the mines owner, is readying the newly purchased 4 x 4 passenger van so that he can offer both day hunts and weekend black light hunts at the mine. Even though San Benito County has opened the two main roads thru the CCM, the trail to the mine is still closed to the public, so the only legal way to go to the mine to dig, is to get there in a mine owned vehicle. We will keep you updated on information about when these trip will begin.
Some people in the industry will have you believe that the benitoite mine has been all worked out or that the known benitoite specimen universe is finite, this is not completely true. This is basically a sales ploy to get you to purchase what they have for sale. I like to say that the mine is just sleeping! Although the originally discovered vein was completely worked out, know one knows for sure that there is not more vein to be found. The previous mine owner did not stop mining because there was nothing left to find, but due to the thick mud at the mine, it was no longer economically feasible to continue mining operations on such a large scale.
Previous owners of the mine throughout it's history, processed a lot of material very quickly, mainly looking for gem quality crystals. In doing so, a lot of material was overlooked. That is why great specimen pieces and facet rough are still being found today.
Take for example all of the specimens and facet rough still being found or the 34 carat piece of rough found by the owners in 2007. That piece was faceted into 4 stones, the largest being an 8.05 carat flawless gemstone (see top of this page). I have personally found a piece that after being etch, yielded several over 2 cm. gem quality crystals. If everything at the mine had been gone thru as some would have you believe, then pieces such as these would not be there to find. In addition, in it's 100 year history, none of the previous owners searched for benitoite using shortwave UV. It is a much more productive way of finding exposed benitoite than gravity or magnetic separation. Will you find a big plate worth ten's of thousand's of dollars, the possibility is still there. However there are still specimens and pieces of rough being found that are worth hundreds if not thousands of dollars.
I can't say this enough to people I meet, there is still a good amount of specimen quality and gem quality benitoite to be found. Just look at what we have for sale, 99% of all the benitoite I have for sale, I personally found. You too have a chance to find your own benitoite specimen or gem.
July, 2010, This amazing twinned benitoite was discovered this past weekend at the benitoite dig site. After seeing it, and falling in love with it, I acquired it from the couple that found it. It now sits proudly in my display case. The crystals measure almost exactly 1.45 cm each, and there is a small area on the back of crossite matrix. Perfect, double sided terminations.
August 2010, Just announced! New trips to the actual benitoite mine have begun. Seating is very limited (14 person max. per trip) and prepaid reservations must be made in advance. There will be 2 different types of trips to the mine to choose from.
The Day Trip, cost is $150 per person. You leave early morning from the road camp after check in and loading up your gear, dig all day at the mine, and return early evening. You are able to take home with you up to 10 pounds of material. Anything over 10 pounds, cost will be negotiated with the owner.
The Over Night Black Light Hunt, cost $500 per person. You leave around midday after check in, dig all day, black light hunt all night or until you drop, following day dig again and return back about midday. Shortwave UV light rentals will be available but are limited, speak with owner for availability and pricing. You are able to take home with you up to 10 pounds of material. Anything over 10 pounds, cost will be negotiated with the owner. This is my favorite trip, all that you black light is going to have some type of benitoite on or in it. This is the most productive type of hunt.
For either type of hunt, you will need to bring whatever tools you will need ( no rock hammers), cooler with plenty of water and food. For night hunt, sleeping bags and tents if you wish, but if you are going to dig all night, who needs a tent.
For more information, you can email me or contact the mine owner directly, Dave Schreiner at (559)-935-5909
___________________________________________________
Amazing Benitoite Find.
Before you look at the photos below, please read this story.
This story is a perfect example of why I tell everyone, that just because a piece of matrix with natrolite has no signs of benitoite, that does not mean there's not benitoite present! Hopefully this story and the photos will encourage others in your hunt for benitoite!
Whenever things are a little slow, I usually take a few pieces of benitoite potential matrix and throw them in some acid to see if any signs of benitoite show up. These pieces are usually crossite / schist with natrolite on top or running thru the pieces with no fluorescence at all.
A few months ago I did this, and one piece out of about a dozen I was soaking, caught my eye. So I put the others aside and continued on this one piece. This piece of crossite was about 6 inches long by about 4 inches thick. It had a vein of natrolite running thru it. The natrolite did not appear to be a thick vein at first, but there was also a large amount of what Dr. Louderback ( the person who named benitoite and discovered that it was a new mineral) called green natrolite in his papers. This is natrolite that absorbed some of the green colored crossite around it while forming. It does not dissolve in acid like natrolite does, but it does remove very easily in acid. In the past, most of the super gem quality crystals I have found, were found in and around this "green natrolite".
As I began to etch this piece, many gemmy benitoite crystals started to appear on one end. Most were under 1 cm in size, but the shear number of smaller gem quality crystals was amazing. So I carefully over a months time worked on this end of the specimen, carefully etching. This piece had dozens of facet grade crystals on it, but this story is really not about this end of the specimen. The best is yet to come.
One thing struck me as odd. Down on the other end of the specimen a large neptunite had appeared. Near it was a very thin vein of benitoite that began to show up which ran thru the back of the piece for about 2 inches. For a while I paid no attention to this thin vein, since I had never had any luck chasing out such a thin vein. So after about a month of etching, I took the piece with me when I went to see the mine owner. He was amazed to see what was showing, but also suggested I try and follow the vein.
Well, after about a month, I started to etch the other end of this piece and this is where the story takes an amazing turn. This end was still pretty thick, but within 2 days what appeared to be the large face of a crystal began to appear, and it was super clean. So I took my time and etched very slowly over the next week. The amazing result is what this story is all about.
I have split the specimen into 2 pieces now. The upper portion, and the first group of crystals found are one specimen now. This story and the photos are only about the part of the specimen that only originally showed a thin benitoite vein.
The find...............
Well besides the large neptunite, 2 amazingly large benitoite crystals appeared. One measuring 2.0 cm by almost 2.0 cm tall by a whopping 9 mm thick. The other crystal, even larger, 2.2 cm by approximately 1.7 cm tall, by 8.5 mm thick.
These two massive crystals are super gem quality crystal. The larger one is more clear to light blue, the other is clear to a very dark blue. The entire specimen weighs 98 carats, and the larger of to 2 crystals is approximately 40 carats and the other is approximately 30 to 35 carat.
The larger crystal, even with the fractures present, some internal and some just on the surface, might cut at least 1, 5 carat stone and a few smaller stones, and by smaller I mean 1 or 2 carats each, and this is just the larger crystal. The other I have not really even considered, but a few stones over 2 to 3 carats each might be possible. This carat size information, is just used for example, to show the crystals clarity, since this specimen will not be chopped up.
I will not have these cut. I am a purist, if the crystal is not damaged, it does not get cut. This is worth much more as a specimen, since any specimens that even came close to crystals such as these has long ago been cut up and faceted already. Do you know the retail cost of just a single, 5 carat faceted benitoite gemstone?
I am entertaining offers for this specimen, but please know that I have already passes on some amazing offers and I will not sell this for facet rough at any price. This piece must stay as a specimen since there are no crystals of this size and quality available for sale anywhere!
Now please look at all of the photos, I just wish the photos were better, since they do not do these crystals justice.
Please feel free to ask any questions.
