spokane bar sapphire mine & gold fever rock shop

I had promised my kids that I would take them to a Sapphire mine while visiting Helena, MT. I was somewhat worried about it being a tourist trap but was pleasantly surprised by the Spokane Bar Mine. We got there on Oct 1st so it was a little out of the tourist season. The staff, sorry I forgot their names, were great, friendly and informative. I bought a bag from the Spokane Bar Mine and worked through it the way we were taught by the staff. Not only was it fun and kept the kids interested we found some cool sapphires and other gems. I ended up with a total of over 10 carrots of jewelry worthy sapphires and another 20 carrots additional sapphires. I also bought a bag of dirt for some rock hound friends of mine to go through. If I get to go back I will take the time to dig my own dirt and see how I can do.

We went there expecting something different then last time. Not a single thing has changed. We bought a mother load and eldorado bag. Got 1 5ct gem outta the whole deal. Was not worth the trip. We were contemplating going to the mine this time around but alas it was rainy. Next time i pass through i might try the eldorado mine for 300 (plus 10$ a bucket after to a max of 5 buckets) since their top of the hill mine is played out.

I decided to try their mine run special for professionals. I paid for 40 yards of virgin material from their advertised spokane bar "Mother Load pit" they said averaged 40 cts per yard(no guarantees). The cost was $3000.00 for the material and processing etc. I got only 11.68 cts per yard far below their advertised average, and including the cost of travel and lodging I lost quite a bit of money, time, and the sapphires collected were only about 5% cuttable into jewelry stones. I wrote them with full analysis of my results including that I found a modern bent nail in the paydirt indicating they sold me previously mined material, I received no answer of any kind. I would strongly reccomend against anyone trying their mine run special.

My wife and I visited the Spokane Bar sapphire mine in Helena for our second visit. (First was about 4 years ago.) We purchased one bag of Spokane and one bag of the El Dorado concentrate. Each yielded about 12 carats of sapphires with none being really big. The guys are super friendly and helpful! This is a good time and there were quite a few other folks that went down to dig their own rather than using the concentrated bags. You won't get rich in this adventure, but you will have fun if you try. :-)

Educational/unique experience. Lots of hard work mining your own, but worth it. Found fossils, and beautiful Missouri river sapphires. Largest was 11 carats!

We have been to this location before about 3 years ago and really didn;t know what to expect…But left feeling rather underwhelmed...Since then we have been to Philipsburg many times. We decided to go back to Spokane Bar and try again since now we knew what to expect. We were once again STUNNED by the prices of the gravels ranging in price from $25 to $100. They also offer a dig option which means you can go dig your own 5 gallon bucket on the hill for $10. I will say the lady that greeted us this day was friendly. We decided to do the dig option….which we were then informed we could do, but had to buy a bag of concentrate as well. Ok go for the gusto…we bought the MOther Lode bag for $100 and went up and dug a 5 gallon bucket. Well let me tell you if you are squeamish at all…you will LOVE the water they offer for screening…it is bright green from sitting stagnant and unchanged for so long. The staff here offer ZERO assistance as to what you are looking for. They do offer a quick demo on how to screen, but thats it. We knew what we were looking for and ended up being asked by 5 other people for assistance. After all was said and done we did in fact come a way with a couple of nice sapphires from the Mother Lode bag, the hill dig is truly a waste of time…from that we recovered one tiny sapphire and a tiny garnet. But all in all for the time, effort and money spent it is much much more fruitful to make the drive to Philipsburg…We spent 3 hours, $110 for less than 30 carats of sapphires. In Philipsburg if you spend this amount of time and money you can almost ALWAYS come away with 100+ carats of sapphires.

I spent 3 hours sifting, shaking and rinsing strainers of pebbles looking for sapphires and garnets. I bought the "Mother Lode" 30 lb. bag ($100) and found 4 sizable sapphires and 2 garnets that totaled 10 carats plus lots of smaller ones for souvenirs. This is not a Disney operation, but a treat offered but real miners who mine for these stones for a living. It's better than wasting your money at the casino!

I would only recommend the mother load bag of concetraite me and my four kids and my wife each got a bag now I am totally addicted I have had four cut and have many many more waiting to be cut it was well worth the money the people that work there are very helpful and super friendly I go every time I am even near the state

I've done sapphire mining in many other areas and know the going rate. You're going to pay $75 for a bag of dirt here and likely wont find a single gem in it. I hate to say this, but the man who was at the counter smelled so badly of B.O. you didn't want him to help you. (sorry if you're that man and you're reading this). Go to Phillipsburg if you want good sapphire mining at a fair price. I think we spent $30 on a bag there and had so many different gems, amethysts, agates, garnets, sapphires, fools gold, and more!

I took an out-of-state guest, as I thought sapphire mining would be both fun and make a great story when she got home. It was, and she did, but I didn't expect was to develop such a huge sapphire mining bug myself.We found quite a bit, including one that is too big to fit in through a 1/4 inch bottle neck.Now I severely have the bug. Come on Spring, so I can go find more beautiful sapphires.

Took my daughter In-Law and Granddaughter who were visiting from California to the Sapphire Mine and had a great time. We purchased a bag of gravel for $100 which Patrick said produced the most sapphires. We found 8 that were suitable to facet and about the same amount that were not quite as good but still worth keeping. Patrick was extremely helpful in explaining the options and instructing us on how to wash the gravel. Overall, a great experience and a very entertaining couple of hours, the sapphires we are having made into jewelry we be a memorable keepsake. Recommend.

My wife and I have been rock hounds for many years and we were excited to have a chance to find gem quality sapphires. We were not disappointed. The men who run the mine were very helpful- anyone can be a successful miner with their coaching. We went through 3 bags of gravel and got lots of stones,about 6 of which will be faceted into gems worth several times what the gravel cost. It was cold and rainy and they even gave us hot coffee.

My parents and I were in Montana visiting family. I ran across an advertisement for a couple of these sapphire mines. We were in Helena so we decided to go to the Spokane Bar Mine. The drive down the long gravel road kind of built up the anticipation of getting to the mine. Pulled up to a small operation with a few smallwooden buildings, picnic tables, and a large piece of digging equipment running up the hill. Went inside, the guy who worked there was very friendly and informative. They had bags of gravel for $50, $75 & $100. I felt kind of silly buying a bag of dirt, but oh well. We went outside, he showed us how to wash the gravel. Then we sat down at the picnic table and started sorting through the pile of gravel. Found some sapphires, not big, but sapphires. Took the rest home with me. I noticed as I got farther down in the bag--the gravel changed drastically. It was now alot of flat shale pieces and alot of white sedimentary chunks. This stuff wouldnt have "fallen to the bottom" because it was lighter in weight than the top portions had been. The sapphires are supposedly heavier than the rest of the gravel, how come none of them were at the bottom? I enjoyed my overall experience. But for $50 a bag, the gravel could at least been consistant all the way through the bag.

July 4th weekend with family. Purchased a concentrate bag. Sat down on the picnic tables they provide. Went through the bag. Found a few sapphires. Overall enjoyable. The store had a functioning soft drink machine. Bring your own lunch. They have air conditioned office room where they review the stones and covered porch. Would not recommend on rainy days.

I spent 2 days(Aug. 11&12) at the Spokane Bar Mine and I found it very rewarding in terms of sapphires found (120 carats +), and the staff and owner were friendly and very helpful. They were knowledgeable and straightforward in their appraisals of stones found and not just sapphires since there are several other possible finds at Spokane Bar. As a rock hound and gem cutter of 35 years experience, I enjoyed listening to their explanations of sapphire screening technique to newbies which were clear, friendly, and excellent demonstrations. For those with bigger ideas, they offer large mine-run opportunities for professionals.Each of the many families I saw that came during my 2 days seemed to enjoy themselves very much, all found sapphires and other interesting minerals, their excitement and enthusiasm were obvious.