Steve Perry and I recently worked a large deal with Bryan Lees of Collector's Edge in Golden, Colorado to obtain the remaining few tons of everything he had related to the Benitoite Gem mine except for his gem rough production.  This includes, raw mine run material, finished specimens, and partially etched specimens from the Benitoite Gem Mine.  Bryan's operation (Benitoite Mine, Inc.), there from 2000 until 2004, worked out 100% of the remaining in situ vein material.  They also ran the entire contents of dump material and colluvial deposits through their elaborate jig system twice to recover in excess of 95% of the remaining gem rough and at least 80-85% of the remaining specimen grade material.   The operation essentially got it all as far as a commercial operation is concerned.  This is not to say that nothing will ever be found at the mine site again.  There will always likely be something there still to be found at the mine site especially after a large rain storm and as some of the tenacious mud is rinsed off the rocks over time.  But the rehabilitated and recontoured mine site became an extinct locality for in situ material once BMI left the site.  Additionally, the EPA and BLM have a closure order on the Clear Creek area owing to several factors including very high asbestos in the soils and road system, rare and endangered plant communities and decades of abuse by OHVs such as motor cycles and Sport Utility Vehicles.   So, today it is not possible for the current owner (Dave Schreiner) to bring paying customers to the mine to rummage through the colluvial material for a rare remaining specimen or two.

We know exactly how big the "Benitoite Universe" is and what remains of this very finite resource.  Most of it is here in Weaverville though Steve has about 15 five gallon buckets of raw mine material also in Davis.   We still have about 50 more buckets of raw material to sift through so this current offer of mine run will last until we run out and then that will be it forever.

How to clean Benitoite Mine Run

What People are Finding in Their Mine Run Orders

The following four photos show you exactly what is left of the unprocessed mine material and just how large the "Benitoite Universe" actually is:  

 The pictures below show what we will be selling.  These 14 buckets contain about 250 kilograms or just around 550 pounds:

Some people have expressed concern about not finding a quality benitoite or neptunite in their lots. Keep in mind that there are other minerals of interest that are found in this material and only occur as small crystals - namely djurleite, joaquinite and jonesite. Jonesite in particular is the rarest species found at the mine other than a unique specimen of native silver which I have in my collection.  You may not see the primary species - benitoite and neptunite - as you etch the natrolite away but if you keep etching to the crossite matrix you will frequently find joaquinite and may be lucky enough to come across a jonesite specimen.  Steve and I get one good specimen for every six or seven that we etch.  The rest end up in the wholesale flats. We also find that the smaller specimens tend to have a higher frequently of good crystals on them. 

All mine run pieces shipped will have evidence of Neptunite and/or Benitoite or a vein or layer of natrolite with the characteristics of productive specimen material.  Keep in mind that neptunite is at least 10 times more plentiful than benitoite was from the mine.  The material will not be high graded by request or for extra monetary considerations and will only be offered as is.  In some cases material will have been trimmed using a diamond saw to remove excess matrix which is simply dead weight. This was done by Collector's Edge prior to their shipping the material back to Golden, Colorado from Coalinga, California or during their initial prep work.

Shipping costs will be in addition to the amounts in the table below and can be found in the second table below.  The first table below shows what is available by size class and $ amount.   The number of pieces (pcs) is fairly accurate but can be more or less.  Unless requested all orders will be shipped via the US Postal Service.  Customers requesting FedEx or UPS will pay substantially higher rates for shipping. 

To order contact  John Veevaert (john@benitoite.com) or Steve Perry (steve@steveperrygems.com) 

Thanks for your interest!

John & Steve