I regularly attend the gem and mineral shows in the greater Denver area. Recently, I came across a booth with a familiar face, Joe Dorris from Pinnacle 5 Minerals based in Manitou Springs, CO. I recognized Joe from the popular television series “Propectors” that airs on The Weather Channel.
One of the Dorris families’ most famous mineral finds is Smoky Quartz with Amazonite from their mining claim in Florissant, CO. Several episodes of “Prospectors” showcased the huge pocket of crystals they uncovered, and the painstaking process of piecing the collection together, creating a breathtaking museum quality specimen. Of course, I purchased several of these crystals, like the one pictured above, and made them into pendants.
The walls of these crystal pockets are sometimes banded, revealing differences in the chemical composition of groundwater that leaked into the cavities of bedrock over time as the geodes formed. You never know what you will find until you cut it open.