Where do most commercial geodes come from in 2020?
My brother gave me a geode last week and I was wondering where it might have come from. I know he bought it, but I'm trying to figure out where whatever company sold it to him found it. Is there a sort of "mining" industry for geodes in 2020? Or are they just stumbled upon?
Answers ( 1 )
Yes, there are companies that "mine" geodes.
I get mine at the Tucson Gem Show, a worldwide event held in late winter. I pick one or two from a box of many, looking for color on the outside and light weight, and they crack!! it right there with a machine that looks like a well-tamed chain saw. My first was amethyst, I have also gotten a deep brown crystals one, and often structures of nascent iron pyrite. My Dear Husband even bought me a cabinet to display my geodes.
Mine come from Mexico- from mines, yes, but apparently really dusty, rough mines. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00357520903458152?journalCode=vram20
You can buy them from various companies, such as this one: https://www.spiritrockshop.com/Geode_Mexican_Coconut.html
Or this one: https://www.geodegallery.com/mexican_geodes/whole_coconut_geodes
Turns out, the geode is the State Rock of Iowa- who knew? https://sciencing.com/geodes-5410702.html
Here's a spot in California: https://www.desertsun.com/story/desert-magazine/2017/05/11/learn-how-rockhound-hauser-geode-beds/311624001/
Here are some of mine- lined up so you can see the crystal colours:
You can get Break Your Own geode kits on Amazon: these kits are fun for kids with an adult to help wield the hammer so you're not left with crystal dust https://www.amazon.com/GeoCentral-BYOG-Break-Your-Geodes/dp/B0006N5F7O
You can filter there for more sizes, too- but a word of warning: While neato-keeno, you will find these are generally just quartz crystals- white or clear- no colours or semi-precious structures.
In Arizona you can find geodes, too- but they are mostly solid and very small- they look like lumps of solidified beige grapes. Cracking one yields a solid beige and gray interior- nothing to crow about, and certainly not worth the two hour drive and thirty minute walk, uphill, in 85 degree searing sunshine. I'll never fall for that one again. There's some larger ones- often solid amethyst, just across the state line in New Mexico, too, where you are not supposed to chip them out of rock-and-solidified-mud cliff faces..
Half the fun is finding a geode, but given the trouble you must go through to "find" one, the most interesting half is cracking one open. Better ooohs and ahhhs than fireworks.