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July 2024 by Michelle F
I’ve been to most of the Montana sapphire mines that are open to the public and this place is by far the best!! The family that runs it are extremely knowledgeable and friendly. The mining setup is fantastic and the screening tools are top notch. Their gravel is easy to sift (no clay or large rocks) and it’s concentrated for the best results out of the bag. I’ve screened all types of gravel they offer and while the mother lode is usually the best, the other types will definitely yield great and sometimes surprising results. I learn so much every time I visit. It’s one of my favorite places to be. Such a perfect way to spend the day with family!
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July 2024 by Mryia Carlisle
Don't fall for the allure just because it says sapphires...I have been here twice now I have gotten 4 motherload bags 3 El Dorado and 2 of the small and all in all not worth the money maybe got six cuttables that would be worth less than what it cost to get them cut. they're also very flawed and cloudy and really not that many smalls. I've been to several other Sapphire mines around the area and in the end all the others you walk out with sapphires worth more than what you spent .I can't say 100% but I feel that this place goes through the gravel pulls out anything worthwhile before selling you the left over gravel. I don't understand how every other place I've been to I get nice ones in every single bit of gravel except for this place. if you're spending hundreds of dollars you should be able to at least get half your money back worth of sapphire. you're not getting that here you are lucky if you get a quarter if even that .I got a memory clasp that you're able to put small Sapphire's inn I didn't even get enough small in the motherload bag to fill my memory clasp.at other places you can spend $150 and get multiple buckets full of gravel not half a bag full and here you can't see where your gravels coming from you just get white sandbags sitting in the shop unless you're willing to pay $300 or $2,000 you don't get to see where any of it come from. In other words this place is not worth it go to one of the other ones in the surrounding area.you will be glad you did.
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July 2024 by Brendan Schilling
Hm. Visited here a couple times as a kid and young adult to literally dig in the dirt to find sapphires - and had a decent collection of gem-quality stones from the experience. Now in my late 50's, I stopped by for the first time in 20 years to see the operation and ended up picking up 4 bags of gravel - two "Motherlode" bags and two "El Dorado" bags at a total cost of $350. Took them home and washed them in my screen.
I have been "mining" sapphires for over 35 years every summer with my wife, 3-4-5 bags or buckets a year, mostly from another town, and have had a very satisfying experience. Over the years, we have been able to collect thousands of carats of gem-quality stones and have heat-treated over 1500 carats and faceted over 1000 carets of beautiful stones. I know what I am doing.
This particular one-time $350 experience comes out as a "meh" at best. My bags of gravel were VERY clean - the result of them being screened and washed after being dug from the mine sources. However, that begs the question... what, exactly, am I receiving? As this is a production mine, and these bags are at least 2-3x as expensive as other bags/buckets to be had in other small Montana towns, I would expect to find a good quantity of quality stones. However, given the nature of the "wash" and screening... am I getting all I should? Have quality, larger stones been screened or sluiced out? Dunno... all I can say is that I paid $100 each for top-quality "Motherlode" bags and picked a total of 23 carats from both. The "El Dorado" bags produced just under 30 carats of stones together. All together, I found 9 carats of "gem quality" stones, from a total of 53 carats of sapphires and garnets from 4 bags at $350 - that is 2.25 raw carats of quality stones per bag. And, a lot of what I found was broken chips and slivers, not whole stones. Hm...
Yes, this is ALWAYS a crapshoot - You can very much count on bags and buckets varying widely in their production. But, my 35 years of experience elsewhere at $30 to $45 a bag/bucket has produced, on average, a little over 20 carats each (and about 1/3rd of those, or an average of 7.8 carats being cuttable "gem quality" stones) I have to wonder what the terms "El Dorado" and "Motherlode" mean at 3x the cost. Yes, Spokane Bar has a reputation for larger stones... but where are they? In the mine? Do they make it into the bags? Might they get sorted out in the washing process? Are production-quality stones as readily available in the processed and bagged gravel as they are from the raw gravel? Dunno... I will say this - it would be very hard to run a production mine when finding what I found from a (small) sample of their very best gravel. Very hard.
Maybe I'll return and try again. Maybe I'll book an actual dig at the Motherlode mine and measure that against what the bags on sale produce. I cannot say that I was ripped off - certainty, there are no guarantees here, or anywhere, in this hobby - but I can say that years and years of experience tell me that my "luck" is better elsewhere for the price.
Some pretty stones, certainly. But many more gem-quality stones for the $$$ elsewhere... and I have the pics and jewelry to prove it.
P.S. My brief encounter with the absolutely beautiful and gracious Halsey proves there are gems to be found here. Maybe not in the bags, but certainly behind the front counter!
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July 2024 by nick irving
I was sifting through one of their bags for purchase and I stumbled across a Ruby at least one carat! it was nice and glassy. I definitely recommend going here if you’re looking for some gem quality items!!!!
❤️THANK YOU Crystal❤️
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July 2024 by Smokey Bandit
We had an absolutely fantastic time at the Spokane Bar Sapphire Mine with our large group! The experience was perfect for everyone, regardless of age or skill level. Some of us opted for the hands-on adventure of digging and sifting our own dirt at the mine site by the river, while others enjoyed the convenience of searching through concentrate bags at the shop.
The thrill of the hunt captivated us all, and I was particularly impressed that not a single child complained the entire time. Instead, they were all excited and engaged, eagerly searching for treasures. The excitement was palpable, and the joy of finding sapphires was shared by everyone in our group.
Several of us found multiple sapphires that were of quality to be cut, making the experience even more rewarding. The staff were friendly, knowledgeable, and added to the overall enjoyment of our visit.
We highly recommend the Spokane Bar Sapphire Mine for a fun and memorable adventure that everyone in the family can enjoy!
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July 2024 by Maria Madrigal
Wonderful staff, Mr. Gem King has been doing it for over 50 years. He was great, spoke to him throughout the day. Halsey would check in to make sure I was okay. They have a shaded section for you to be under and even have water misters for when it gets hot. They have a nice modern bathroom, definitely better than a porta potty. It's also a little store with gemstones you can purchase. They have a vending machine for drinks outside. The views of the lake are beautiful!
You aren't going to become rich after a day of work, you are going to have a wonderful experience! The value for sifting your own sapphire is reasonable, starting at $10 for your own bucket. Most people buy a bag, lots of people I noticed go for the Mother Load bag, $100. They also have an excavation dig you can set up to go to their mine. It's definitely a cool memory to have. I'm super excited I can say I got a Montana Sapphire.
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June 2024 by KE L
It is a great place to experience gem hunting. We bought a mother load bag and found a good amount of gems of various qualities. Be prepared to be in the sun as it helps you find what you're looking for. Crystal was helpful with all aspects of the process.
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June 2024 by Mark Mulholland
Awesome experience!! Was brand new to the whole mining process. The staff were extremely helpful. Went back 3 times!! Found some awesome ones!!
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June 2024 by Kim Mulholland
We had such a great time as a family looking for sapphires! We had so much fun came back 2 more times just a few days apart.
The staff were so helpful and friendly. The facility was in a beautiful setting! Couldn’t be happier with our time together, all we learned and our sapphire finds!!!
A favorite place for sure! Highly recommend everything about it!
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June 2024 by Stefanie Hull
Just got home from beautiful Montana with 21 family members. We all agree, mining with Russ was our favorite part of the trip. My niece found a facet grade 14 carat Sapphire and we were able to talk with the cutter (Tye I think)at the shop. Russ’s daughter was super sweet and we can’t wait to go back.
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June 2024 by Tana Leach
Bought the 3 Gallon Bag Mother Lode for $100. Was told by staff that the average caret weight was 30 to 35 per Mother Lode bag.
The ML Bag of rocks were washed by myself then by two employees.. There was less than 17 carets when weighted.Nothing of any size that could be cut.Mostly just small pieces and chip's.
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June 2024 by Dan Ellers
You don’t come here to become a rich prospector, so pay little attention to those negative reviews. The bags are different prices based on where they harvest the sediment from. They disclose that each bag is a gamble and that the higher priced bags don’t guarantee that you’ll get expensive gems from them. This was a great activity to spend quality time with my family, we spent 3 hours sifting through our bag. Glad we stopped by and we will return in the future!
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June 2024 by Nick Jones
We just spent a couple of days here with the extended family of 20 people, and Russ, Tye and Crystal were so friendly and helpful, and we enjoyed our conversations with them. We've been to several sapphire sites in Montana over the last decade, and this was the best of the bunch...staff, dig site, and the size and quality of the stones was the best we've had (El Dorado bar). Russ was so great with the kids, identifying every pretty rock they brought to him. Friendly dogs too! We're looking forward to getting our cut stones back from Tye, it's a great bonus to have a faceter on site.
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May 2024 by Peggy Hughes
We had a great time in the summer of 2023 at the Spokane Bar and brought another elderly couple with us who had never experienced digging. In our younger years we made many a trip (approx 8 times between 1993 and 2023) to the Spokane Bar to dig for sapphires with great success except the last 2 times. As to be expected there are no guarantees of what will be found and that is why the stones are valuable! One year in the 1990's we came out with between 500 and 600 carats within 2 days of digging! Russ, the owner was so impressed with us filling 20 buckets in a day with 4 very young kids in tow, he said we had to come back and finish the vein. We said we would love to but the hotels were booked due to the Music festival in town we couldn't extend the stay. Russ, Wouldn't take that as and answer so he called and got us a room!!!! Now that we are elderly (70's) and not as agile or strong it was a little more difficult. Russ remembered us in 2023 from that long ago event. We told him how the last time we had been up we didn't find anything. Russ was so kind he took us up to his spot where he had been having success and let us dig it! Of course he gave us rules to follow. We were so mindful that it was his hole we were digging in that we were afraid to overstep and not do it right. I think we misunderstood what he was telling us and we were being a little too careful not to break his rules and missed the vein he had found. At the end of the day he came over and redirected our digging to the spot we were standing on. We had assumed that area had already been dug so we were going all day in the wrong direction! Our fault for not listening more carefully. We have been digging for sapphires and garnets at other mines every year since the 1980's so we should have known what to do but we acted like newbies and didn't find anything until he redirected us! So even seasoned diggers get stupid sometimes. It has been so hard in recent years to find mines that let you actually dig in virgin earth so I really appreciate that Russ gives that experience and that he actually led us to his own dig spot. Thank you Russ.
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May 2024 by Jessica Scanlan
This was a fantastic little stop while I was camping nearby! I love the option to go up to the gravel hill and dig your own dirt, not only is it cost effective but the view is amazing. The bags of concentrated gravel are also pretty affordable! The staff was super friendly and knowledgeable as well which was great!
