Oceanview Mine: Our Trip to the Oceanview Mine
Our Trip to the Oceanview Mine
Are you ready for some fun and adventure? Then you need to visit the Oceanview mine in Pala, CA. My wife & I made reservations for July 25-26, 2009 and had a great time. When you get there it is very easy to see why everything is spelled out very clearly on the website. On Saturday we were greeted at the gate by Peter (a.k.a. Pedro) and processed in very quickly. After a short drive to the screening area we were greeted by Jeff and assigned a screening table. Jeff also gave the orientation as to screening procedures, mine tour (optional), covered break area, restrooms and end of the day shutdown.
After we started screening for gems both Jeff and Pedro were available to help with identifying minerals and gems that people found from their buckets of mine material. You are not limited to the number of buckets that you can screen. It is determined by pure “horsepower” of each individual. My wife and I are both over 62 years old and probably didn’t screen as many buckets as some of the younger folks, but still had some success in finding gems.
The only downturn to the trip was the hot weather. The western United States and all the way up the Pacific coast were experiencing record breaking heat. Well, with every dark cloud there is a silver lining and at the Oceanview mine it was a young lady named Lisa. Besides helping with the screening operation, she walked around with a water hose to wet down those who wanted it. Needless to say not many people turned down the chance to cool down with a spray down from Lisa.
We found some pink Tourmaline, green Tourmaline, bi-colored Tourmaline, black Tourmaline, crystals, aquamarine and purple Lepidolite. I found a nice piece of pink Tourmaline with watermelon Tourmaline. I’m not sure if it was a good find or an average find, but thought it was beautiful. It weighs approx. 50 grams. It is 4.604 cm long, 3.175 cm wide and 3.334 cm high. I have inserted a picture of it.
This was a great time with great folks. We would highly recommend it for anyone who has a little adventure in their blood. We stayed at the Pala Casino & Resort which had nice rooms & good food. It was only about 4 miles from the mine.
Larry & Cheryl Braden
After we started screening for gems both Jeff and Pedro were available to help with identifying minerals and gems that people found from their buckets of mine material. You are not limited to the number of buckets that you can screen. It is determined by pure “horsepower” of each individual. My wife and I are both over 62 years old and probably didn’t screen as many buckets as some of the younger folks, but still had some success in finding gems.
The only downturn to the trip was the hot weather. The western United States and all the way up the Pacific coast were experiencing record breaking heat. Well, with every dark cloud there is a silver lining and at the Oceanview mine it was a young lady named Lisa. Besides helping with the screening operation, she walked around with a water hose to wet down those who wanted it. Needless to say not many people turned down the chance to cool down with a spray down from Lisa.
We found some pink Tourmaline, green Tourmaline, bi-colored Tourmaline, black Tourmaline, crystals, aquamarine and purple Lepidolite. I found a nice piece of pink Tourmaline with watermelon Tourmaline. I’m not sure if it was a good find or an average find, but thought it was beautiful. It weighs approx. 50 grams. It is 4.604 cm long, 3.175 cm wide and 3.334 cm high. I have inserted a picture of it.
This was a great time with great folks. We would highly recommend it for anyone who has a little adventure in their blood. We stayed at the Pala Casino & Resort which had nice rooms & good food. It was only about 4 miles from the mine.
Larry & Cheryl Braden
Pink with Watermelon Tourmaline
50 grams
4.604 cm long
3.175 cm wide
3.334 cm high
50 grams
4.604 cm long
3.175 cm wide
3.334 cm high