Treasure Hunting

During the great western Gold Rush, people were so caught up with the desire to find silver and gold that they often overlooked a lot of other beautiful, valuable treasures in the earth. Such was the case in Montana, where many areas are practically littered with sapphires. One place that you can go to experience this site firsthand is the Gem Mountain Sapphire Mine in Philipsburg, Montana. Check the entry on our Fee Digs page for more information on this locale.

Montana is another place that I would like to plan a trip to this summer.  I’m not sure if there will time to fit it in with all the other things I want to do, but I would definitely love to see some of these gorgeous sapphires up close.            

Sapphires are varieties of the mineral corundum.  Corundum is found in many colors across the spectrum, and all but red corundum is known as sapphire.  The red variety is known as a ruby.  Sapphires rank 9 on the Mohs scale of hardness - the only higher ranking mineral is a diamond at rank 10.  Although the finest specimens of sapphire are reported to be found in Sri Lanka and Kashmir, they are mined in many other parts of the world including the United States.

One of the most interesting varieties of the sapphire is the star sapphire.  It is so-called because it exhibits a star-like pattern on its surface known as an asterism.  

The sapphire is the birthstone for April.  Metaphysical sorts believe the sapphire to bring about inner peace and spiritual enlightenment.  It is also believe to offer healing properties for rheumatism and mental illness.