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Montana has Precambrian metamorphic rock in many of the mountains ranges in the state. The mountains were formed when soft mud and sand were deposited in or near a sea eons ago. Throughout the Paleozoic Era seas advanced and withdrew many times and the rock formed during this geological time has abundant fossils. The Rocky Mountains today are in the vicinity of a major sediment deposit. Seas moved back and forth over the land during the Mesozoic Era in the age of the dinosaurs. The seas retreated in the Cenozoic Era and the dinosaurs and ammonites died off. http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/expeditions/treasure_fossil/Treasures/Ammonites/ammonite.html?aa
In the early Tertiary Period in eastern and central Montana there were large quantities of vegetation, the source of the state's bituminous, sub-bituminous coal and lignite. These forest were of the hardwood type in a low, flat, river delta region. Crocodile fossils have been found in rock adjacent to coal beds near Miles City and Terry, Montana. Landscape changes in Montana through geological time when the land rose and fell have bared rock layers that contain fossils. http://www.rocksandminerals.com/glossary.htm#lignite http://www.rocksandminerals.com/
There are several different types of rocking adventures here in Montana: hunters and collectors go after minerals, fossils, gems (precious and semi-precious), gold prospecting and "spelunking." For mineral collectors old Montana mines contain gems, abrasive corundum, optical calcite, talc, graphite, asbestos and barite. Old mine dumps contain pyrite, galena and sphalerite. There are almadine garnets in stream beds of streams of southwestern Montana. Look in ledge outcrops and stream gravel. For gem hunters there are the two Montana State Gems: The Montana Agate and The Montana Sapphire. http://www.gemstone.org/gem-by-gem/english/garnet.html http://www.minerals.net/gemstone/gemstone/garnet/garnet.htm
A Montana Agate
The Dryhead Agate of southern Montana is very valuable. Here in the Billings area we are right in the heart of agate hunting because the Montana Agate country is along both sides of the Yellowstone River from just about 20 miles up river from Billings to Sidney, Montana. Look in the hills along the river and its tributaries and in the sand and gravel bars in and along the river. http://geology.com/minerals/corundum.shtml http://openlibrary.org/b/OL21728517M/Optical_Calcite_Deposits_in_Park_and_Sweet_Grass_Counties_Montana http://www.bernardine.com/gemstones/montana-agate.htm http://geology.com/rock-tumbler/gemstones/agate.shtml http://www.examiner.com/x-10832-Billings-Sightseeing-Examiner~y2009m8d21-Yellowstone-River-Montana
Sapphires found in the Missouri River in Montana
The Montana Sapphire is not a new or recent discovery. In 1865, the first U.S. sapphires were found in the gravels of the Missouri River in Lewis and Clark County, Montana. Subsequent discoveries have been made on Dry Cottonwood Creek in Deer Lodge County in 1889, on Rock Creek in Granite County in 1892, and in Yogo Gulch in Judith Basin County in 1895. Small amounts of sapphires have been recovered from Quartz Gulch in Granite County, Pole Creek in Madison County, the Missouri River in Chouteau County, and Brown's Gulch in Silver Bow County. Furthermore, corundum crystals, from which star sapphires have been cut, are found in Beaverhead and Madison Counties of Montana. http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/ http://huntforgems.com/minerals/el_dorado.html http://www.mindat.org/loc-161296.html
Another rockin' activity in Montana and Wyoming where caves are found in both states is "Spelunking." Spelunking is cave exploring. "Caving" is another name given to this sport or activity which requires at least one partner for safety reasons because a person should never explore caves alone. Caves have beautiful crystalline deposits of calcite, gypsum and ice. http://www.robbins.ecasd.k12.wi.us/earthmaterials/what_is_spelunking.htm
Sometimes a well preserved artifact or specimen will be resting on the surface but most of the time they need to be removed from the surrounding host rock. Techniques need to be learned and specific tools are used to properly gather the fossil or mineral being hunted. BLM and USFS maps will help you identify land ownership in the areas where you go to explore. The rules are simple: 1. Respect private property and do not damage anything on private property, 2. Know the laws relating to mineral and fossil collecting. 3. The use of firearms and explosives for rock hunting is forbidden. http://www.fs.fed.us/maps/ http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/BLM_Resources/public_room/map_info/mapfaq.html http://www.wsgs.uwyo.edu/Publications/OnlinePubs/docs/IP-11.pdf http://www.blm.gov/mt/st/en.html http://www.blm.gov/mt/st/en/fo/miles_city_field_office.html http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en.html
Gregan Wortmann
Here is a bunch of information to help you get started and "Good Hunting!" http://www.mbmg.mtech.edu/
http://www.examiner.com/x-10832-Billings-Sightseeing-Examiner~y2009m6d29-Gold--Part-One http://www.examiner.com/x-10832-Billings-Sightseeing-Examiner~y2009m6d29-Gold-Part-Two http://www.examiner.com/x-10832-Billings-Sightseeing-Examiner~y2009m7d17-Montana-Dinosaur-Fun Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology Memoir 5: Placer Mining Possibilities in Montana by O. A. Dingman
Memoir 26: The Gold Placers of Montana by Charles J. Lyden
Gold Secrets of Mystical Montana: A Manual for the Recreational Prospector by James E. Hanson, a compilation by the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology publications
Rockhounding Montana by Robert Feldman; Falcon Publishing, Inc., Helena (1985). ISBN: 1-56044-466-5
Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology Bulletin 105: Caves of Montana by N. P. Campbell
Roadside Geology of Montana by David Alt and Donald W. Hyndman; Mountain Press Publishing Company (1986).
A Rockhammer
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