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 Capistrano Mining Company
"Your direct source for gravel / ore direct from the mines, Benitoite from the Benitoite Gem Mine in San Benito County California, Sapphire Gravel Paydirt from the Sapphire Mines of Montana and Tourmaline from San Diego County, California."
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"We do travel out of town each month on mining trips. Since this is a long term listing, please check the top of our weekly listings to see if we are in or out of town. This way you will know if your items shipping may be delayed. Sorry for any inconvenience".
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We are pleased to offer you a hunt unlike any you have had in the past.
Benitoite is the California State Gemstone and is the 2nd rarest Gemstone in the World!
This auction is for 1) Benitoite Mine Gravel Pack #5.
This gravel was dug at the one and only Benitoite Gem Mine now named the California State Gem Mine, originally known as the Dallas Mine in San Benito County, California. The mine and it's owner were featured in the Travel Channel's television show The best places to find Cash and Treasures.
In this pack you get 5 pounds of raw gravel that was dug by us directly at the mine. This gravel has not been searched in anyway. We dug it, sifted it once to remove most of the lose dirt and giant rock and then filled our buckets.
The gravel is mostly covered in dirt and is randomly scooped into each gravel pack, so we have no way of knowing what might be in each bag. You might find some facet rough or specimen material, just like mining, you never know.
Even if we cannot say exactly what you might find, we do take every effort to make sure that you will find something. We do not add or remove material from the packs, but we do blacklight every pack as it is filled, first to make sure that you are not surprised by finding any scorpions, and secondly to make sure that we are seeing fluorescence.
You might find some specimen material, some triangle floaters or some benitoite rough for faceting. You just never know, just like digging at the mine. Please remember that all mining is a gamble! Miners say "You could be one inch from a million or a million inches from one". The more gravel you go thru, the greater your chances. We strongly suggest the use of a "Filtered" Short wave UV light when searching your gravel, since many of the pieces found are crossite included and can be easily missed.
Here are some examples of what you might find.
  
  
  
At present, there is only 1 other person selling Benitoite gravel bags on the internet and he's getting $40 per pound, and that is not even for mine dug gravel, it is from a down stream placer claim.
Here you are getting 5 pounds of gravel directly dug from the mine for about $65. If you know benitoite, then you know 1 nice specimen or one small gem quality crystal can easily pay for the cost of this bag and then some!
Benitoite specimens start in the $50 range and go into the thousands! Average prices for specimens are in the hundreds of dollars. Gem quality stones over a carat in size, once cut start at $2500 per carat and go up rapidly from there!
 
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.
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HOW DO I FIND IT?
There are 3 ways to search your gravel.
1. ( Good ) Dry search it. Spread it out carefully and look.
2. ( Better ) Wash it. Rinse off your gravel in small amounts then look thru carefully.
3. ( Best ) After washing, at night or in the dark, check it with a " Filtered" Short Wave UV light only. Make sure it is shortwave and not a standard Black light or longwave light. Benitoite shines a beautiful bright fluorescent blue color under Short Wave UV light only. If you are purchasing an Ultraviolet light for your searches, make sure to ask the seller what wave it is!
Warning about using Shortwave light......
PROPER EYE PROTECTION SHOULD BE USED when working with any ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT sources. Damage to the eyes occurs from prolonged exposure to the shorter wavelengths of ultraviolet, known as UV-B (280-315nm) and UV-C (280nm and below). Damage occurs here in the form of photokeratitis (inflammation of the cornea), conjunctivitis, inflammation of the conjunctiva and retinal lesions. The first two are known as "welder's flash" and "snow blindness." Where safety glasses.
All you need to start your home mining treasure hunt.....
A fine wire strainer, tweezers, a spray bottle, something to hold your find in like a baggy or plastic vial, and something like a kitchen cutting board to search on (white works best). Also, have some paper towel on hand to wrap any crystals or specimens you may find so they do not get damaged.
First empty a small amount of gravel into your strainer (about 1/2 cup) and rinse it well with water to get off all of the dirt. The dirt and clay from this area can be very hard to get off some pieces, so the use of an old toothbrush or small scrub brush to clean some pieces is helpful.
  
Now dump your cleaned gravel onto your search surface and look thru it slowly for any blue colored crystals (benitoite). Benitoite crystal come in all shades of blue as well as white and clear, to be sure check with a shortwave UV light. Also look for black/red crystals (neptunite), orange/yellow crystals (joaquinite), also djurletite and the white and clear crystals of natrolite. Benitoite crystals in non gem quality form are a steely grayish blue color. Look for the triangle shaped crystals.
Have patience and save your gravel to go thru a second time, even experienced people can miss some now and then. You should however purchase yourself a shortwave UV light source, this will ensure that you do not miss a single piece of benitoite!
And Always, never leave any stone unturned!
  
We hope that all this information is enough to get you started on your way to finding your Benitoite treasure. If you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to email us or see our About Me Page!
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Please look at the photos and ask any questions prior to the end of the auction.
Look at our feedback, We always stand behind the items we sell.
Return Policy: Due to the nature of this material, we cannot except returns.
Our Guarantee to the Purchaser: Due to the nature of this material and the unknown experience of the searcher, we cannot guarantee your find. Just as if you were at the mine digging, you may or may not make a find, but we have many satisfied customers. We can guarantee that you will have a lot of fun on your hunt. We cannot guarantee the quality of any specimens you may find, but if what we found was any indication, your eyes may pop.
Sorry, No International Shipping.
I will email the winning bidder within 24 hrs. from the sales end, and expect a return email from the winner with 24 hrs.
Winning bidder must pay by Paypal 3 days.
Winning bidder will pay for shipping by Priority mail flat rate. Win more than one item and combine shipping. We can combine up to 4 Benitoite Mine Gravel Packs # 5, in one medium flat rate box.
If you would like to purchase larger quantities of Benitoite Mine Gravel please contact us and we will do a special BUY IT NOW auction for the quantity you would like, while supplies last.
CA residents must pay Sales Tax of 8.75%.
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