Empower-U CRYSTAL MINE REPORT

SEP 17-20, 2009, Mt. Ida, Arkansas

Greetings One and All ...

I have quite a lot to share with you. After an exciting and successful trip to Mt. Ida, Arkansas, subsequent to the 09.09.09 Activation, it is an honor to be able to prepare this report and share it with you.

There is a lot to report ~~ first thing is, don't always think that 'bad luck' is bad. Many times what we perceive as 'bad' is actually a blessing in disguise ~~ and here's my proof !

We left Florida on Wednesday, 9.16.09 ... and it was rain, rain, rain ... ... Oh, we had a couple of moments of dry stretches, but for the most part, the skies were gray and rain went from steady to heavy and back again throughout the ride. We arrived at Mt. Ida after 10 pm ... it wasn't raining, but .. it did rain - again - overnight. We woke up early, ready to hit the mines, but the skies looked ominously gray. It didn't take long before the rain set in once more. This didn't matter at all to us ... "ONWARD" we thought, and undaunted by mother nature, we set out to the first crystal mine.

The approach to Bear Mountain Mine is flat out scary. There are no signs, so we had to zero our trip meter and travel exactly 1.6 miles to an old rock that was painted silver .. ‘was’ painted silver .. it had faded quite a bit!  We turned into a narrow dirt path and traveled for a bit .. maybe a half-mile into the woods up a steep incline.  There were no turn around spots carved into the woods, so you either went straight up the mountain or you backed down the mountain.  It was raining, wet and the road was rocky; some parts of it were down-right treacherous.  “This just couldn’t be the place,” we thought.  So, we called the Fiddler’s Ridge Rock Shop and Janis told us “Yep .. you’re in the right place!”

There was a heavy gate across the road with very unfriendly signage .. “Keep Out” painted in black and red … uhhhh … we again considered … “Were we in the right place??”  We attempted to open the gate and had no idea how to open it.  It was a heavy steel pipe that sat on top of two larger steel pipes, a type of set up that was unfamiliar to us.  Eventually, we figured it out ~ place shoulder under heavy pipe and heave .... Viola ! We continued up the very steep and very wet rocky road to the mine. 

Look at this huge champagne-colored crystal!

We changed places, and began to explore around the mine tailings piles.  There was no one else there; we were unattended and had the mine to ourselves; we took full advantage and roamed from front to back to top to bottom – excluding the actual mine pit, of course. 

The rains came and we kept digging.  We really found quite a few beautiful pieces of quartz crystal in all sizes at Bear Mountain Mine.

Photo left -- a rather large (15 oz) self-healed, empathic, champagne-colored quartz crystal.

Photo Below -- stunning crystal clear quartz cluster that measures 2" x 3" ~ small but beautiful.

Words of caution.  There are no facilities at Bear Mountain Mine, so be prepared for emergencies.  Take food and water with you because the mine is about 10 miles or so from town and .. the road into the mine can be dangerous, not one you would want to drive up and down numerous times quickly. We did not have 4WD and were able to access the mine without too much difficulty, but 4WD is recommended.  It is on ‘top’ of the mountain as are all the crystal mines –the crystal veins run along the crest of the mountains – so remember that you will be going up some steep inclines.  The road to Bear Mountain Mine can best be described as primitive.  Once you are there, be prepared to stay until you are finished digging.  Also, be prepared to take out what you take in, meaning, water bottles, plastic bags and so forth; there are no trash receptacles at the mine.

We stayed til after 4 pm, rain or not, and had a dandy of a time sloshing in the mud, climbing up and down the tailings piles.  We never saw a snake or a bug – just a lot of ‘daddy long leg’ spiders who kept leading us to crystals !  We found some lovely clusters, small, clear and bright, at Bear Mountain.  It does not, however, appear to be an active mine.  The equipment is there, but no body was there operating it.  We were told in town that they haven’t been doing a lot of digging up there ~~ but … we were pleased with what we found !  This brilliant cluster is one of our many finds.

Sweet Surrender Crystal Mine
Story, Arkansas

SEP 18, 2009

Hands down, Sweet Surrender Crystal Mine is the best place to dig crystals … and for many reasons.  First is crystal quality.  Second is the owners, Randy Skates and Becky Young are fantastic folks – helpful, knowledgeable and just plain good people.  Third, the road to get there is good.  Fourth, their lay out is very user friendly – picnic table, benches, trash can.  However, no restroom facilities are available, so … be prepared, in case!  Becky is the greatest in showing you what to look for, pointing out crystals to you, and helping you to understand what you are doing.  Plus she is an incredibly gifted and talented woman in her own right.  Randy has been crystal mining for over 30 years and he knows his stuff inside out and upside down; just hearing him speak so lovingly of these wonderful treasures is a learning experience in itself.

Randy explains that Sweet Surrender Crystal Mne is in alignment with a very large crystal deposit that travels 17 miles northward.  We can attest to this as fact since … we dug some gorgeous specimens from Sweet Surrender Crystal Mine.

The landscape is very easy to navigate.  We visited Sweet Surrender on a Friday, and they had just excavated on Wednesday, so .. the tailings piles we were digging in were not picked over and crystals just stood there and looked at us all pretty-like !

Not only that, Becky was right there with us, showing us crystals, pointing out different things to look for ~~ when you look at all the dirt, rocks and so forth in a pile (take a look at the background of this page -- it is a tailings pile at Sweet Surrender), your eyes play tricks on you. You can't see anything but blur. It takes concentration to focus your eyes and look for the "glint". Without the sunshine, though, it was hard to do ! But .. we did it with Becky's help!

Notice the orangey coloration to the majority of the crystals above?  That is iron oxide – commonly known as rust !  Yes .. these crystals are coated with it due to the heavy iron content of the soil.  However, don’t let that turn you away from Sweet Surrender Crystal Mine because … it is fairly easy to remove.

We tried two different methods of cleaning, after an initial power wash at the car wash in Mt. Ida to remove mud and so forth.  First method, for the heavily coated crystals, we used Muriatic Acid.  The first time we mixed about ¼ of a gallon of muriatic to 2 gallons of water and let the crystals soak.  Nothing happened.  So, we increased the muriatic acid – still .. nothing happened. 

Next, we dumped the acid/water mixture into another bucket and poured straight 33% muriatic acid directly on top of the crystals.  Within 24 hours, most of the rust was gone.  We took them out of their acid bath, cleaned them up with a little brushing to remove any remaining rust and rinsed them very well with clean water. Wear rubber gloves !

Oxalic acid is heat activated, so .. once it came to a boil, we shut the cooker off and let it set overnight.  The next day … this is what we found !  Absolutely beautiful, clear, clean quartz crystals – as shown on the right here.   Incredible!

Bottom Line:  Definitely go to Sweet Surrender Crystal Mine – if you only visit one mine, let this one be it.  It is easy access, the owners are lovely people, and the mine is no where near depleted, even though Randy admits that over a million dollars worth of crystal has come out of the mine so far --- it ain’t over til the fat lady sings, and I don’t even hear her tuning up! 

The crystals we found were mostly clear or part clear/part clouded; very little opaque quartz.   Be prepared to work with acid in the cleaning process; these crystals can be heavily coated with iron oxide. Detailed cleaning instructions can be found at end of this article.

Our time with Becky and Randy was so enjoyable, we could have gone back there again the next day, but our visit time was short, so ... we'll be content to simply savor our experience ~ til next time!. When you go to Sweet Surrender, please tell Randy and Becky that we said "Hey" and give them our love!

Gee and Dee Crystal Mine
Story, Arkansas

SEP 19, 2009

G.W. and Delores Johnson are the owners of Gee & Dee Crystal Mine.  We didn’t have the opportunity to meet G.W., but … we certainly enjoyed a wonderful afternoon with Ms. Dee at the mine.

While we really enjoyed our play time at Gee & Dee, but that is what it was – play. The location where we were instructed to dig felt somewhat staged or perhaps maybe a seeded dig site, which is still a fun thing to do, just not what we expected.

There are plenty of places in the Mt. Ida area that advertise seeded digs, which means that the semi-precious stones and crystals are placed there to be found by diggers later and that the stones may not be indigenous to the area.  Quartz crystals are indigenous to the Mt. Ida area, which is known as the Quartz Crystal Capital of the World. 

The Gee & Dee site where we were digging was not like any of the other mines we had visited. There was no visible track-hoe or dozer equipment.  It was on a very steep hillside that appeared to have been backfilled and had a one year growth of pine seedlings.  We were instructed to dig amongst the roots and 10 foot area forward of the pine seedlings as a ‘special’ dig site.  We were not taken to the crystal mine itself.

We dug around a lot and found quite a lot of quartz rock and a few clear crystals.   And we also found a lot of leaf mold about 6 inches or so under the surface of the dig site, which seemed odd, because the site did not appear to be a tailings pile like what we had been digging around in at Bear Mountain and Sweet Surrender.  Nevertheless, we truly had fun and Ms. Dee offered us a discounted “Senior Citizen” rate to dig !  Can’t balk at that !

On a good note, Gee & Dee Crystal Mine offered comfort facilities, primitive as it may have been – when ya gotta go, ya gotta go !  And Ms. Dee was very generous offering us coffee and chips and other edibles.  She is truly a lovely woman with a huge heart!

Words of Caution:  The road to the mine, although very good and accessible, is also very long and winding.  We must have gone in and up about 2 miles via switchback before we found the dig site at the top of the mountain.  Again, because of the location and distance from town, be prepared with your own water and food.  We were fortunate that it was an overcast day; even still, we got very thirsty and can’t imagine how hot it must be when the sun is blazing.  Take lots of water or drinks with you to stay replenished.

Our suggestion ~~ go here for fun.  If you do take the kids, be careful because the drop off looks to be about 12 feet (see photo at right).

Words of Note About The Mt. Ida Mines:  There are quite a few crystal mines in and around Mt. Ida, Arkansas.  Depending upon where you live, it could be a long drive and an expensive trip.  While the accommodations are not expensive and although the area is quite beautiful, gas, food and lodging does mount up.  At $20 a day to dig at the mines, it is still a fun and exciting trip, but don’t get your hopes up for that ‘one, big piece” of crystal that will make you rich.  Out of all the digging we did at all three of the mines we visited, we ended up with maybe 1.5 pounds of small, clear quartz crystal each, not counting clusters, both large and small, we dug up that were embedded in sandstone chert.  Our best get were two bushel baskets of crystals that we purchased wholesale from Randy Skates of Sweet Surrender Crystal Mines – One bushel contained three huge clusters that were loaded with clear quartz crystals.  The other bushel contained about 40 pounds of  small clusters and clear crystal points.  Next time, we’ll opt for buying directly from the mines, rather than do the back-breaking work of digging for crystals.  Although it was great fun, it was work !

Accommodations:  Choose carefully.  We stayed at the Ozark Cabin which is associated with Fiddler’s Ridge Rock Shop and Bear Mountain Crystal Mine.  The cabin was lovely, quiet, clean and comfortable.  It was also affordable.  However, they did not offer a discount to dig in their mine if you stay there, nor did they offer a senior citizen discount.   And no WiFi.  We learned that there is WiFi at the library in town and spent some time in the parking lot catching up with email and so forth.

Maureen Walther of the Mt. Ida Chamber of Commerce told us that the Royal Oak Inn has WiFi so … we  highly recommend that you check with her before you make reservations.  Maureen is fantastic and extremely helpful.  She will guide you to what you need.  There are cabins on the lake (Lake Ouachita is ‘right there’ .. and beautiful), RV sites, three motels that we saw and  numerous bed and breakfasts in the area.  Visit the Mt. Ida Chamber of Commerce web site for great info on where to stay, as well as what to do, and where to do it !

Another good note .. we had excellent cellular service in Mt. Ida using Verizon.  Evidently, Mt. Ida used to be an Alltel cell area and now is incorporated into the Verizon network.  Our Alltel phone worked great!

Places to Eat:  Three places in Mt. Ida itself – the Mt. Ida Café, the El Diamante Mexican Restaurant and the Dairyette.  We opted for the Mt. Ida Café for breakfast and dinner and everything was excellent – service, food and great coffee !  The El Diamante restaurant looked busy and popular, but we didn’t try it.  We did, however, stop by the Dairyette for yummy ice cream; they also serve burgers and fast food goodies.

How To Dig Crystals

Digging  for crystals is a dirty job, no other way of saying it nicely.  The soil in which the crystals grow is red clay colored by iron oxide and it stains most everything it touches.  Wear old clothes, or clothing that you won’t mind getting dirty.

When we went to the mines, it rained, which made for a lot of mud; however the rain also softened up the ground and washed away some of the top soil so we were able to find some beautiful crystals right on top of the ground, or exposed enough of the crystals so we could see them more easily with little effort.  However, this is really hard work.  The tailings piles are huge with lots of rocks and all are covered in red dirt.  You’ve got to do a lot of climbing up and down the tailings piles and that is work in itself. So .. be prepared to climb, dig, and get dirty !

Also .. bring lots of water to drink and bring lunch too.  The mines are not in the town of Mt. Ida.  It could be a long and even treacherous drive back and forth depending on what mine you visit and whether or not it is raining.  Keep in mind that the mines are on top of the mountains.  Granted, these are not the Rockies, but .. nevertheless, you will have to drive some pretty steep and primitive roads to get to the top of the mountain where the crystals are.

What To Look For

Look for the glint or shine.  Most crystals are disguised by red dirt, but .. after a rain, you may be able to see just a hint of glint .. dig for it !  It just may be a beautifully clear quartz crystal !

Don’t be fooled by quartz rock, because there is a lot of that too – white quartz, which is lovely as it is, but … it is not the prized clear quartz crystal and when it is covered in red clay, you’ll have a hard time telling the difference. 

How To Clean Your Crystals:

We were told by a lovely gal at Jay’s Bonanza in the heart of Mt. Ida to take our findings to the local car wash and use the power washer on ‘rinse’ to blast away the dirt from the crystals and clusters we found.    It worked !

Other than that, it was suggested that we leave the muddy crystals out in the sun to bake for a while, then hose them off, set them out to dry again, then .. hose them off.  Repeat the cycle until the dirt is gone.  This process could take a week or so to accomplish,, so … we opted for the car wash.

Another suggestion was to place the hosed off crystals in the dishwasher and use Finish to clean them.  We didn’t try this method, but .. it sounds like it could work.

Once we got home with all our treasures, we set out to clean what we had so we could ‘triage’ them to see which would get the Muriatic acid bath, which would get just the oxalic acid bath, and which we would leave intact with dirt.   Using toothbrushes and dish cleaning brushes, we started to clean and remove the remaining vestiges of mud and dirt before we went to the acid bath phase.  This was dirty work. The brushes sprayed muddy water droplets everywhere.  We tried to hose them off, but … to get into the crevices, we needed brushes. 

Once we felt good about cleaning them off, we went to the cooker.  Yep … we cooked them in oxalic acid.  Oxalic acid is heat activated.  You’ll need a way to bring the oxalic acid and water mixture to a rolling boil. Then turn off the heat and let it cool before attempting to remove the crystals. Remember that crystals, like glass, will shatter if exposed to extremes.

It is 1 lb of oxalic acid powder to 2 ½ gallons water.  We used an old 30 quart electric cooker and placed all the crystals in plastic baskets.  It was easier to remove the baskets with the cleaned crystals than to dig them out of the acid with a fish net.

While the oxalic acid was doing its thing, we placed some of the very crusty rusty clusters in a plastic 5 gallon bucket.  We had washed the cluster off as best we could and …. Were now willing to let the muriatic acid do the rest of the work. But .. this stuff is dangerous.  Do not touch it.  Do not breathe the fumes.  Use chemical-type plastic gloves, and stay away from smoke that comes out of the bottle when you open it.  We bought muriatic acid at the hardware store in gallon jugs.  It will take an hour just to read the cautions on the bottle.  Don’t shake it. Keep it upright.  Do not get on skin.  Lord … what were we getting ourselves into, we wondered!

Well, it was not all that bad. With a little common sense, you can do the muriatic acid bath just fine.   First we tried to use 1 pint of muratic acid to 2 gallons of water.  No effect on the iron oxide. So, we stepped it up … 2 pints.  Nothing.  What we ended up doing is pouring the muriatic acid straight over the crystals and letting that sit for 5 days.  WOW .. that worked !  By the way, we were told to use 18% muriatic acid.  The hardware store did not have 18%, it only had 33%, which is why we tried to cut it with water.  Don’t waste your time … just use it straight. At least, that is what we did with success.

We moved the muriatic acid into another 5 gallon bucket and then rinsed the crystals clean by flushing them with a garden hose.  Then, we placed the crystals into the oxalic acid bath to cook.  When they came out .. you would never have guessed that these crystals were so totally encrusted with iron oxide because now they were perfect .. beautiful, clear, and clean!  Wow!

To deactivate the muriatic acid and the oxalic acid, use baking soda; then you can just throw it away.  Otherwise .. you can keep the oxalic and muriatic to use again. 

Also, we found a product on the grocer’s shelf that also worked – it was called “The Works” rust remover.  It is the same thing as CLR – both products are oxalic acid based and if you use them straight on the crystals and let them sit for 5 days, they will remove the iron oxide. We tried this on a few small crystals. All that was needed afterwards was a good scrub with a toothbrush and fresh water and those few crystals sparkled like glass.  Amazing.

What Do You Do With Your Crystals After Cleaning ?

Well .. we are metaphysicians, and energy practitioners so .. we are using the crystals in our work. We give them away to clients, friends and family after blessing them and working with them.  We expect that these crystals will travel the globe at some point!

Some of the larger clusters are staying here at home !  Some will be gifts.  And some of the small clear points will be made into jewelry.

What you do with them is entirely up to you.  Make a grid around your home, your room, your bed.  Arrange them in your garden with your flowers,  Place them in your house plants.  Create orgone balls for the dolphins.  Sleep with them, talk to them, bathe with them – generally, invite them into your home and make them family!  Crystals are wonderful creations.  There is nothing like it .. to be the first human to actually hold a crystal for the first time in its life!  That is truly an honor. 

For more photos -- go to: Photo Gallery
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Metaphysical Properties of Quartz Crystals

Lastly, but certainly not least important --- Are these crystals really energy activators? Can you really feel the energies around the Mt. Ida, Arkansas area? Is this just some new age mumbo-jumbo ?

We really did feel powerful energies there. Whether it is because we are more sensitive to it, or .. because it simply is a very high energy area, the feeling was similar to what we felt in Sedona, Arizona, but ... finer, not dizzying. Crystals have a gentle energy all their own, not like anything else we've ever felt. As you can tell from the photo above ... even little Freddy felt the energies. True, he does love to has his photo taken, both he and Kiki, my other Owyhee Bob kitty love to touch the crystals and stones on my desk. They lay on them, sleep around them and generally 'get off' on the energies put out by the crystals.

New Age practitioners, Reiki Masters and Metaphysicians have used crystal power for years to bring healing, connect to their higher selves, and to balance the subtle bodies and energy centers. It has been said and taught that quartz crystals are the only natural stones that move in unison with the Universes. Crystal wearers are said to experience enhanced psychic powers, and increased lucid dream state. Quartz crystal is useful during meditation and contemplation and offers clarity of mind, peacefullness of thought and opens a direct link up to higher wisdom. Crystals have been used to create elixirs and empower water, food and air, enhancing the abilities to nurture, nourish and clarify,

Depending upon the shape, formation and types of crystal structure, crystals are believed to hold certain powers and enhance specific abilities in the user. Faces on a crystal are described in many ways ~ as windows, doorways, recorders ~ all with metaphsyical meanings. The sides of each facet are counted and have meaning, as well, such as a 7-5-7 tip, or a 7-3-7-3-7 tip, whether the crystal is single terminated with one tip, or double terminated with a tip on each end. If the crystal is 'self-healed' it enhances the crystal's power, and so forth.

A recent discovery of the "Super Seven" crystal, also known as "Melody's Stone" (named after the Godmother of Crystal Lore - Melody) is said to combine the metaphysical powers of seven different stones, amethyst, quartz crystal, goethite, rutile, lepidocrisite, smoky quartz, and cacoexenite. Super Seven stones originated in Espirito Santo in the Minas Gerais region of Brazil and contain all the energies of the seven different stones in firery brilliance reminiscent of the Aurora Borealis, the Northern Lights. Super Seven stones repel negativity and never need clearing, it is believed.

If you would like more information on the powers of crystals, visit Empower U Metaphysical Academy and order our companion ebooks - Crystals and Stone Dictionary by Mineral and Crystals and Stones Dictionary by Symptom. You may also order a sacred, blessed crystal along with a Sacred Vortex Crystal Attunement and receive the dictionaries for free!.

Hope you enjoyed this crystal mine report.  This was something we talked about doing for years and finally got around to doing it … well, one less thing on the bucket list !

Rev. Barbara Delozier, Msc.D.
Empower U Enterprises
Empower U Metaphysical Academy
www.Empower-U.org

EmpowerUEnt@aol.com

© 2009 Barbara Delozier.  All Rights Reserved

Photo Credits: Nancy Becker, Rosanne Bolton and Barbara Delozier © 2009  All Rights Reserved

The information contained within may be used with permission providing all is kept in its original context and proper credit is given.