Curated Specimens

Hands on - Prospecting

Why not do it yourself?

Let me help get you started!


My goal is to bring high quality specimens without the middleman. The rocks, crystals, fossil go from Mine --> Geologist --> straight to you.

This beats wholesale prices! No middleman mark ups or crystal shop mark ups.


Rubi Goes Rogue Etsy store contains only specimens that are personally collected by me. I was either at the site or paid the mine directly for raw ore.

Getting Started sourcing your own rocks, minerals and fossils sounds like a daunting endeavor.
It doesn't have to be. I have gone through decades of going out and exploring different sites.


Some are sites are strictly for tourism and their are a few sites that produce real treasures. It does not matter the age or mobility issue, I will provide you with easy to get to and cost effective options to get you started.

Did you know you could mine at home?

Several Mines offer High Grade Ore shipped directly to you. The only draw back is that you are not guaranteed to find the specimens as pictures.


Before recomending this mine. I did it myself and found a good amount of high grade tourmaline in my shipment.



Himalaya Mine

Himalaya Mine
c/o/ Lake Henshaw Resort
26439 Hwy 76
Santa Ysabel, CA 92070

What did I use to sort through the Ore?

  1. 5 Gallon Bucket
  2. Sieve Set https://amzn.to/3o0gXzD

Make sure to find a good way to display your tourmaline. I like to use  Floating Display Stands shown in video https://amzn.to/434F66I

A miarolitic LCT-type granitic pegmatite, highly boron-enriched, located in north-central San Diego Co., California, USA. First discovered in 1898, the Himalaya mine was one of the largest producers of gem and specimen-grade tourmaline in North America throughout much of the 20th century


The mine host digs for a fee. The mine has been closed during Covid and the only way to get San Diego County Tourmaline is to purchase the ore through their website.


Price: $100 bucket (approximately 5 gallon) plus shipping $40.


This was one of the easiest dirt to sort through. I had to use very little effort in getting the tourmaline. I examined all of the large pieces for tourmaline in matrix. Then I slowly poured about a cup of dirt into the sieve set.


I was able to get one watermelon tourmaline (21mm 10g) and several black, pink and green tourmaline.

Etsy Store

Rockhounding for Opal in Nevada

Ready to go into the Nevada Outback?


Rainbow Ridge located in Virgin Valley Nevada has spectacular Opal


Click for more info on how to get there and what to bring

The original discovery of opal in Virgin Valley was around 1905.


Rainbow Ridge Opal Mine has been in production for over one hundred years. It has been owned and operated by the Hodson family since 1949. The Roebling opal, one of the more famous opals from Virgin Valley, was mined at Rainbow Ridge in about 1918, and is in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC.  The Roebling Opal is an extraordinary 2,585ct piece of opal rough from Virgin Valley, Nevada.


Opals from Virgin Valley are primarily "specimen only"; they are very unstable. Because of this instability, these opals are not often cut and used in jewelry. The reason for this is two-fold. First, this is a very young opal; being only around 15 million years old. Secondly, this opal has formed in Bentonite clay. Bentonite clays are very effective at sealing moisture in and do not drain quickly. Because of this, our opals have a higher water content than most other opal

Rainbow Ridge Opal found in my

Etsy Store

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