1. Attitude is EVERYTHING

A successful day of mining is all about your attitude. If your happiness is contingent on finding something (an external source), your happiness can be taken away from you! If you come to this adventure with a positive attitude (e.g. "I am trying something new! I am going to spend the day outside in a beautiful setting with people I enjoy, I'm going to learn new things, I am going to move my body and get a good workout, and I am going to earn my dinner and sleep well tonight”), the crystals then become frosting on top of the cake for an already great day. For best results: prepare to cultivate an attitude of curiosity (what’s under that next rock??), and an attitude of openness to any outcome. 

2. Cultivating persistence is KEY:

Most diggers want to absolutely maximize their time digging to increase their chances of success--we seldom have people leave the dig site early. Sometimes, people dig all day without finding much, and then in the FINAL HOUR they find something fabulous! Reminding yourself to not get discouraged is important.

3. This is a prospecting experience. 

We have some geological knowledge that helps us to know where to look to increase our chances, but a miner's success is partially up to them (skill, effort, how much dirt and rock you move, etc), but also up to luck! Herkimer diamond crystals formed in pockets in solid rock. These pockets occur across a horizontal elevation we call a “pocket table.” However, the pocketing is not consistent throughout the dig site and there are dead zones and hot zones. Expect to find a large part of your prospecting time figuring out where there are no crystals. 

4. Mining is like going to the "crystal casino"

We often tell our visitors that mining for crystals is NOT like going to the apple orchard where the bounty is certain and you just harvest fruit off of a tree. Mining inherently has risk involved and there are never any guarantees--like going to the casino, it is a gamble as we do not have x-ray vision to know exactly where the crystals are hiding. Even the best diggers and most experienced miners have days when they completely strike out. It is just the nature of mining/prospecting. And it is also what makes discovering crystals SO THRILLING when you do find them! Your admission ticket is NOT paying for crystals–it is paying for a chance to dig premiere Herkimer-bearing property that produces high-dollar and rare specimens. If you want guaranteed crystals, we recommend buying them from our store. 

5. Get ready to get dirty and get a good workout!

Mining is often a game of volume--the more dirt and rock you move, the more likely you are to uncover crystal treasure. Think of it as "hard core gardening" where you will be squatting, kneeling, turning over rocks, shoveling, breaking open rocks, and/or digging through forest soil that has roots growing through it. The crystals will not dig themselves, and they will not just roll into your bucket without effort. Luck IS sometimes involved: Occasionally, people get lucky with a "ground score" and find a crystal that was left in the tailings pile (rubble pile) by the excavator when moving material. However, to have success in finding crystals, one must prepare to work hard and move dirt and rock. 

6. Social Media shows the “Highlight Reel” 

This may be self explanatory, but remember that some guests go home with nothing, some go home with a few small gems, and some diggers will hit it BIG! Keep in mind that images shown on social media do not always paint a clear picture as we often only show the best finds from the day.