Essentials for Rockhounding and Precious Metal Recovery
Getting started with rockhounding and metal recovery can be tough. To make things easier, we hvae
compiled a list of resources from recommended books and guides, to tools of the trade for you to choose
from. We recommend starting small and building your way up as needed. No need to spend thousands of
dollars right away, instead select a few quality items that will be good for the type of rockhounding or
metal recovery you will be doing right now, and then come back later to expand your toolbox. Happy
hunting!
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Rockhounding Guidebook Series
These books cover nearly the entire United States. If you want a guidebook for your area, check them out. While there is a lot of information that can be found online (including on our site) it can be helpful to have a physical book to reference when you are in a no-service area.
Rockhounding Bag and Tools
While the bag isn't my absolute favorite (it would be nice if it could also be worn as a packback), this kit provides a lot of bang for the buck with all of the tools it provides. It is a great buy for getting started.
Foraging Bag
While technically this is a mushroom foraging bag, it works great as a side pouch for rockhounding. Easy to attack to your belt for when you are out on a hike because who knows when that perfect rock will show up and you need a nice pouch to put it in.
The Ultimate Guide to Identifying . . .
Due to the nature of how many different types of rocks and minerals there are, no guidebook will have everything. However this one is a great place to start for beginners. If you don't want to pay for an identification book, mindat.org also has a great identification database for free.
Standard Shovel
If you are serious about rockhounding, it is hard to go without a shovel. Really any shovel will do, hopefully you already have one. But if you don't this is a nice well rated shovel on Amazon. Shovels are also used a lot in gold recovery to shovel dirt or mud into a sluice.
Hammer Pick
This is an absolute must have for rockhounding. It is great for digging into tough dirt to remove a specimin, or to carefully break a rock apart to see the inside. We never leave the house to go rockhounding without one.
Standard Pick Axe
While not a beginners item, having a sturdy pick axe is quite useful as you get into the trenches (pun intended) of rockhounding. These are great for digging a bit faster when you don't need to be as careful to not break a specimin.
3 Pound Sledge Hammer
Great for rockhounding, this sledge lets you have a lot of percision while still delivering a powerful strike. Use it with some chissels to help break apart rocks or break into geodes with a bit more precision.
10 Pound Sledge Hammer
Sometimes you need to crank up the heat and work hard to break something apart. The 10 pound sledge takes care of this job. While it isn't an essential for beginners, it is very handy - especially for breaking apart larger rocks to look for topaz nodes or other gems that might be hidden inside.
Chisels with Hand Protection
This is a great 2-pack that comes with a flat head and pointed / spear head chisel. I love the extra protection the hand guard gives, because sometimes when out in wild, you don't have a nice flat surface to strike on and things can slip around. These work great and help protect your hands.
Personal Gold Sluice
If you are getting into precious metal recovery and are on the search for gold, a gold sluice is a must. This sluice comes in four different colors and is easy to learn on.
Personal Gold Pan
If you are getting into precious metal recovery and are on the search for gold, a gold pan is a must. Gold panning is more tricky than it looks, so a good pan is essential for learing and being successful.
Metal Detector + Accesesories
Metal detecting is a great way to find gold, silver, and other precious and semi-precious metals. This is great for urban metal recovery or heading out to the desert to look for gold nuggets and old coins. We don't have it listed in essentials because it is a bit pricey for just starting out.
3 Peg Display Stand (pack of 4)
Once you get your collection going, you will want to show it off! These stands are a great way to show off your collection and get each piece to sit just how you want it. The clear plastic design is nice because it ensures you are not distracting from the piece itself.
Nat Geo Rock Tumbler
The National Geographic rock tumbler set is great for beginners. It comes with all of the grit and other items required to tumble your stones. While the drum barrel is small, it is usually enough to satisfy a beginners needs. It also comes with a bag of unpolished rocks for you to try tumbling to get started. For more advanced rock tumbling, there are a lot of DIY home methods you can use to tumble bigger rocks or larger quantities or rocks.
Grit Refill for Tumbler
Once you get into tumbling, it is hard to stop. Seeing the rough rocks transform into polished pieces is magical. You will need more grit. This is a great refill set that has each stage and some additional ceramic pellets for filler to help reduce the chipping or cracking of rocks while tumbling.
Wet Tile Saw (7 inch)
If you are getting into cutting and shaping your rocks, a wet tile saw is a good tool to have. Be sure to buy diamond blades too otherwise you may have a very hard time cutting through some rocks (depending on the hardness). Be sure to watch videos on propper safety if you haven't used one of these before - they can take off a finger easily.
7 inch Diamond Blades
Standard 7 inch diamond blades for your wet saw. These will be worn up and used out all the time. Useful to have a few extra around for when you need them.
Benchtop Drill Press
This is one of our favorite polishing "hacks" if you don't want to spend $600+ on a lapidary wheel. Any standard drill press (we chose this one because it is priced well and lasts long) with two specific attackments make it quite easy to get some basic polishing done on your stones.
Drill Press Attachment
This is the first part of the drill press attachment. It allows you to easily thread on the next piece, which will control the polishing pads
Drill Press Attachment Polishing Pads
These polishing pads and the attachment they come with connect perfectly with the other drill press attachment we have listed. They work great for polishing stones to a perfect shine (though it does take some practice). This isn't a perfect substitute to true lapidary polishing tools, but it is a cheap alternative that works great. Be sure to keep a bowl of water next to you as you polish and occassionally place your stone in the water and re-apply water to the pads as you are polishing