Kidz Rocks Mining Adventures

Kidz Rocks is not only a rock and mineral reseller but we are active miners here in the Southern California region. It is a family business with my 11 year old grandson holding the honorary title of Vice President of Mining! On some of our mining trips we call him by his nickname "Whiney Miner" if he starts complaining about that day's mining haul.

All kidding aside, over the last 10 years we have researched and located numerous deposits of very nice rock and mineral specimens that are for sale on our Kidz Rocks store. For all Kidz Rocks customers these self mined products allow us to dramatically lower the prices of the other products we purchase from other miners and resellers. For the healing practitioner these healing crystal specimens are pristine fresh out of mother earth and never touched by machines or dozens of people on their way to you.

We mine Gypsum and Dolomite from Palos Verde Peninsula; Grossular Garnet, White Calcite and Pyrrhotite from the Greenhorn Mountains; Green Opal and Red Agate from Mojave; Copper Ore from Acton; Biotite Mica, Muscovite Mica and Black Tourmaline from the San Jacinto Mountains; Fossils from the famous Topanga Formation; White Quartz and Green Fluorite from the San Gabriel Mountains; Hornblende and Pyroxenite from Sand Canyon; and Spiderweb Howlite from Agua Dulce.

I cannot emphasize first and foremost to always be safe when out hiking and especially when hunting rocks. Even the small things you would never think of like having a small zip lock bag in your backpack with dish soap in case you or your children accidentally touch a stinging nettle plant. Wow, did I find out the hard way about that one! My finger was burning for 2 days but if I had some dish soap to put on it as soon as I touched the plant it would have immediately prevented the burn on my finger. Stinging nettle has an acid oil on it that dish soap immediately removes.

Here is a video covering all of the equipment and safety procedures I follow every time I go out hiking and mining. Whether you are just going for a hike to a well known and well visited place or venturing into the rugged mountains, this video contains good tips and great advise for everyone.

Hornblende is unique in the mineral kingdom because its crystal formation occurs in two different directions. In other words, the crystals on the same specimen grow in two directions. With its unique crystal shape, rich greenish black color and unique luster hornblende is always is nice addition to your prized mineral collection.

Kidz Rocks has located a very high quality deposit of hornblende in Sand Canyon that we mine for all of you to enjoy.

In the mid-1800's significant gold and copper deposits were discovered in the Soledad Canyon area of Los Angeles County. It became known as the "Soledad Mining District" and the mining town of Ravenna, CA was born. Ravenna was short lived when the mining did not prove profitable and it is long gone today but the town of Acton is a stones throw from where Ravenna once stood.

There were countless small mining operations throughout the area with a few mines that became very large and profitable. One of the early copper ore deposits discovered was in an area called Barrel Springs and the Palm Mine was one of the larger mining operations. Kidz Rocks has explored dozens of the old mines in the region and the Palm Mine produces the nicest copper ore specimens of all of them.

Copper ore is a metamorphic rock containing the range of copper minerals from cuprite to malachite, chrysocolla and azurite. The Barrel Springs region and Palm Mine are high malachite concentration deposits which make for very pretty display specimens.

During the middle of the nineteenth century California experienced a vast influx of new residents, many of whom were driven by the desire to strike it rich by discovering a vast fortune in gold mineral deposits or the "black gold" of oil. Another "gold," considered by some as "white gold" and perhaps not as well known as the first two, existed in the form of a mineral by the name of borax. Borax, boric acid, and other compounds of boron were utilized a century ago for everything ranging from medicinal purposes, food preservation, glass blowing, cleaning and even personal grooming.

The mine shown in this video was started in 1905 and produced 20,000 tons of borax a year. The original owners of the mine sold teh operation to another mining company in 1911 for $3 million which is $72 million in todays dollars! Hence the term "White Gold" The borax deposit ran out and the mine closed in 1921.