2009-Jan 14th Umba River mining camp

As you have seen from the photos, alluvial mining is hard, physical work. For the local miners who perform this work year-round, their bodies are accustomed to the demands. For the rest of us, this is painful work… and so it is for me. However, the natural excitement of reaching into the iron-stained red dirt and pulling up a Sapphire is too enticing and keeps us from stopping. Yes.... we're gem junkies!

A typical sized pit for a group of four to work was roughly 2 metres wide and 3 to 4 metres long. If you were lucky, you may hit the gravel layer in less than one half metre, but usually not. Three to four hours working time for each pit was a good average. Usually a team would complete two pits per day. Like this:
The sorting process was performed at the site only a few metres away, just far enough to avoid the dirt being thrown from the pit. This is not scientific sorting like what may be found and a diamond-bearing claim. It is basically using your eyes to review the gravels for anything that may stand out as something other than granite type gravel. We look for flashes of light and anything shiny. Hubie and Monika looking up to the sun to review what was just pulled up from the rubble.

This is the pit that Sherris and Amy were working. It is much deeper than the areas Hubie and I were prospecting -- and very fortunate for us.