Desert Sun Mining & Gems: Depoe Bay, Oregon In the high desert of southeast Oregon, nestled among the majestic pines of the Ochoco National Forest, lies the Ponderosa Mine.The namesake of the towering giants surrounding and protecting its precious, hidden treasures, the Ponderosa is owned by John and TalleyWoodmark and Bruce Moore, collectively operating as Desert Sun Mining & Gems (DSMG), an 18-year member of AGTA. Offering an abundance of natural resources, it is the richest, most prolific producer of shimmering Oregon Sunstones in the world. Ethically mined and responsibly sourced, DSMG produces Ponderosa stones which are cal- ibrated for the jewelry industry and marketed by color and size. Faceted stones, cabochons, carvings, beads, and rough are all available in a spectrum of natural, untreated colors, including red, orange, pink, light pink, yellow, green, and bicolor, all priced by size. Oregon Sunstone is an all-Ameri- can gemstone. Though the entire property contains Oregon Sunstone deposits yielding 2.5 kilos per cubic yard, the Ponderosa’s working open-pit mine has only scratched the surface with a mere half acre of the 62-acre property. DSMG has put a million-dollar infrastructure into place, contracting with a com- pany with a track-mounted sand and gravel screen plant which produces enough concentrate in ten days to sort, cut, polish, and market Sunstones over the next two years.The concentrate is washed through a trommel, then the rough is hand-picked (each picker typically produces an average of ten kilos per day).The past two seasons have yielded 6,600 kilos; the Ponderosa’s reserves of Oregon Sunstone have been estimated to be a minimum of 14 billion carats.Verified to a depth of at least 50 feet, the mine sits atop a volcanic vent; its deposit may run hundreds of feet deep. Lewis & Clark Sapphires: Helena, Montana Lewis & Clark Sapphire Mine is located on the famed Eldorado Bar.This deposit is just minutes away from Helena, Montana, just off the reaches of the Missouri River.The Eldorado is known to be the richest of Missouri River deposits. Gems from here are known for their larger grain size of Mon- tana Sapphires.These Sapphires come in all colors, shades, and tones, with the lighter saturation being the most prominent; however, amazing gems of deeper colors are found in the Eldorado as well. The most abundant colors are blue, green, blue/ green, yellow, pink, and lavender. The deposit is unique as many of the gems are very clean, requiring no heat, with a steely vari- ation. Most can display two colors depending on the axis of cutting or viewing.The Sapphires are recovered from gravel deposits on the benches and bars up to several hundred feet above the current Missouri River.
Top Down: Picked rough on the ground at the Ponderosa Oregon SunstoneMine location. P hoto courtesy of Jeff Jessing. Loose stones of the color spectrumproduced at the Ponderosa Oregon SunstoneMine. Photo courtesy of Land Jones. Rough Sapphire examples from Lewis & Clark Sapphires. Photo courtesy of Lewis & Clark Sapphires. Plant at Lewis & Clark Sapphires. Photo courtesy of Lewis & Clark Sapphires.
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