Fee Pay Crystal Mines
If you want to dig your own crystal, the best and showiest pieces can be found at the mines. The following is a listing of fee-pay quartz mines in the Ouachita Mountains.
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At most of the fee-pay mines, the miners collect from veins and pockets in the walls and floor of the mine, usually a pit. The mine operators don't get ALL the good quartz! They load up the tailings and clay from the pockets and bring the material out and dump it in the fee area.
With some effort to dig through the tailings, you can collect nice material. Quality and quantity of specimens vary greatly from mine to mine and even at each mine on a daily basis, depending on what the mine operators are digging in. If they have a lean collecting day, so do you. If they have pockets galore, then you'll get some goodies also. Mining regulations have changed from years gone by, and you may be escorted by a mine employee for safety reasons.
Arrowhead (formerly Leatherhead) Matthew Price, Mt. Ida arrowheadcrystals.com
Board Camp Campground and Crystal Mine, Cheryl and Orville Murphy, 110 Polk 62, Mena, AR 71953 boardcampcampground.com
Ron Coleman, Little Blakey Road Jessieville, AR 71909 colemanquartz.com
Fiddler's Ridge, 3752 Hwy 207 Mount Ida, AR 71957 fiddlersridgecrystals.com
Miller Mountain, PO Box 21, Jessieville, AR 71949 jimcolemancrystals.com
Fischer Mountain Rockhounding Area, contact Judy's Crystals judyscrystals.com
Gee & Dee Crystal Mine, Story, AR north of Mt. Ida
Sweet Surrender Crystal Mine Mount Ida
sweetsurrendercrystals.com
Wegner Mines, 82 Wegner Ranch Road, Norman, AR 71957 wegnercrystalmines.com