Miner comments for July - December 2008

So many carats of ruby and sapphire came out of the mine 10 carats or larger the first half of the year, the file was getting difficult and long, so I archived the first six months and now will start the second half of the year. Some pictures will reappear in this page which also showed up previously. Thank you for your patronage at Mason's Ruby & Sapphire Mine.

Here is Katlyn Christianson of Crooksville, Tn. with her whopper 59 carat sapphire found while here with her family on 6/16/2008. The largest so far found at Mason's since the new management. NICE GOING!!

December 2008 had some interesting events like the snow bunny showed up, holiday festivities, and of course miners at the flume with snow covered bench seats.

Eric Evrley from Florida got a 10 ct. on 12/31/2008 ^Beth Hill of South Carolina found a 23.24 ct. on 12/31

^Robert Caffro of South Carolina on 12/30 got a 10.90 ct. ^Shu Chang also on 12/30 found a 26.86 ct. sapphire.

^David Powers from Texas got a 23.62 ct. on 12/30. ^Dick Rogers of Washington also on 12/30 found a 10.75 ct.

^Tim Martz of Washington on 12/29 got an 11.32 ct. beating the previous day which he found a 10.92 ct.

^Paul Mitchell from Florida on 12/29 found a 12.76 ct. ^Frances Mitchell beat that one with a 14.07 carat on 12/29

^George Poernea of N.C. on 12/29/2008 got an 11.29 ct. ^Patti Andreacola on 12/29/2008 found herself a 16.0 ct.

^Lisa Baxter from Tn. on 12.28.2008 found an 18.0 ct. ^Greg Ninkovich of Illinois on 12/26/2008 got a 14.38 ct.

^Joe Lassiter of S.C. on 12/26/2008 found a 25.68 ct. ^Terry Farmer of Tn. on 12/26 got a 10.23 carat sapphire.

^Kylie Nguyen of Fl. on 12/25 got a 23.55 ct & a 9 ct. ^Terry Farmer on 21/21 found 5: 13.09 26.05 15.14 12.46 11.23

^Mario Murphy of Ma. on 12/19 found a biggie 46.04 ct. ^Patrick Severts of Ga. on 12/18 found a 21.77 carat.

^Chris Lassiter of S.C. on 12/14/2008 got a 10.54 ct. ^Joe Downs from Tn. on 12/12 got a 11.17 & a 11.21 on 12/20

^Todd Griswold of Vt. on 12/7 got a 10.2 ct. Harley approves. ^Don Moore on 12/1 found a 10.79 ct. He is from Mi.

THANKSGIVING WEEKEND TRIP TO THE MINE ( to work)....some fun too!

^ Liisa Acord from Alaska, found the 11.81 ct. on 11/29 ^ Terry Farmer got a 16.02 ct. along with 176 cts. all day.

Lisa and Gene e-mailed me a while back and said they could

come down to warm up. Upon the completion of the day Liisa

stated this was the most fun getting filthy dirty and having

a great time in her entire life...... my note.... they were fun to

have here at the mine. Dennis U.

^ Heather Fenton of In., on 11/28 found an 11.14 ct. sapphire ^ Jim Miller of Va. found a 13.13 carat on 11/28.

Jim Miller said he heard about us on the radio around the D.C. area, and an article in the Washington Post, Travel section revealed a story which Gaston, freelance reporter who contacted me earlier this year, wrote. A job very well done for all concerned.

^Well Theresa Killingsworth of Ohio found a 15.86 ct. sapphire, and I made a trip out to the flume and checked around to see how all was going. Theresa said all downhill.........about a half an hour later the triangle rang and she managed to extricate a 17.24 carat sapphire. Things were bubbling at the flumes.

A lot of great times over the holiday weekend, and shucks, I had to go back to my job in Florida.

Keep the e-mails coming. I hope to get all of the roll pack pictures scanned and posted here in the near future.

Dennis Ukele, webmaster, mine maintenance supervisor, die-hard rock hound. Thank you all for such a great year++!!!!

^Still in the matrix material were 3 sapphires in the 5 ct. range ^Liesje Marie on 11/27 got a 14.76 ct along with the matrix find. A little wet and cold, but got hooked. Both came back the next day. She is from N.J.

^Chris Lassiter of S.C. on 11/22/2008 found a 20.27 ct. ^Mike Roberts of Va. on 11/14/208 pulled out a 10.46 carat.

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e^Terry Farmer from Tn. on 11/14 got a 10.16 ct. ^Anne Ewert from Va. found a 10.59 carat sapphire on 11/12/2008

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^Steve Ewert on 11/12 found a 10.01 carat sapphire-made the board. ^Krista Kilduff of Fl. found a 10.5 ct on 11/09/08

^Kinks Wilson on 11/9/2008 got a whopper 44.5 ct. ^ On 11/9 Chris Lassiter of S.C. got two, 12.24 & 16.84.

Kinks emailed me a letter which follows in a bit. ^Jacob Lassiter also fo S.C. found a 13.08 carat. No photo.

^Suzette Free of Tn. on 11/8 found an 11.58 carat sapphire. ^John Free couldn't be out done. He found a 13.92 ct.

^Cindy Lewis of Ga. found an 11.78 carat on 11/08/2008. ^Diana Busk of Ms. found a 12.15 carat also on 11/08.

^On 11/7/2008 Wesley Addlerman of In. got an 11.02 carat. ^Courtney Lankford from Tn. found an 11.22 carat.

^Lori Smart of Mi. on 11/3 found a 15.21 carat sapphire. ^Julie Manning of Vt. on 11/2/2008 found an 18.15 carat.

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^Thomas Seidenstricker of N.C. on 11/1/2008 found a 10.77 ct, ^Joe Carrick of Oh. on 10/31/2008 got a 10.10 carat.

^Don Brown of Oh. on 10/30/2008 got a nice 27.97 carat. ^Joan Wijtalewicz of Wi. found an 11.34 carat on 10/30

^Debbie Jackson from Tx. found a 12.78 ct. on 10/27. ^Carol Johnson of Fl. on 10/27/2008 got a 10.16 carat.

K^Katie Belle of Fl. found herself a 10.42 ct on 10/26. ^Terry Farmer of Tn. found a very large 35.63 ct. on 10/26

^Dodi Thompson of Oh. on 10/22/08 found a 14.63 ct. ^Heidi Taylor from Fl. on 10/20 got a 13.34 carat sapphire.

^Gary Handy of Syracuse, N.Y. got a 13.97 ct on 10/20. ^Terry Farmer from Tn. found an 11.78 ct on 10/19/2008

^Ben Godfrey on N.C. found a nice 22.30 ct. on 10/11/2008. ^Bruce Chamberlain of Oh. got a 14.05 ct. 10/11/08.

^Aubrey Wade of Tn. on 10/19/2008 got a 20.11 carat. ^Delores Geesey from Va. found an 11.07 ct. on 10/15/2008

^Greg Black of Tn. found a 12.26 ct on 10/14. ^Emily Britt of Ga., had a day with a 46.94 ct. found on 10/13/2008

Rick Weigand of Oh. on 10/13 found a 10.30 carat. ^Andy Andrew also of Oh. found an 18.5 carat on 10/11/2008.

There are certain cases where the customer is so excited that the spouse has a hard time convincing it is time to leave. In such an instance, we do provide a leash to help lead the super excited spouse to the parking area. LOLOLOL

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Here we have another miner's share the story. They are probably still thawing out! Thank your for your contribution.

^Jason Shepherd on 10/6 got a 13.95 ct. He's from Ky. ^Cindy Sumner of Wi. on 10/6/2008 found a 10.91 ct. sapphire.

Carol Hartman of In., got an 18.57 ct. on 10/4/2008. ^Deb Tyler found an 11.03 carat sapphire on 11/4. She's from Mo.

^Wendy Derome of Al. on 10/4/2008 found a 10.53 ct. ^ Jim Palluconi on 10/3 got a 17.27 carat. He's from Mi.

^Patsy Turley of Ok. on 10/2/2008 got a 12.11 carat. ^ Kristina Robinson of Oh. got an 11.69 ct. on her return trip.

^Kristina Robinson of Ohio on 9/29/2008 found an 11.14 carat sapphire.

^Chao Walston of Georgia got a 15.85 ct. on 9/20/2008 ^Bill Lemley from Chattanooga, found a 20.62 ct. on 9/21/2008.

^Luigi Cavalieri of N.C. got a 12.27 ct. on 9/22/2008 ^Susan Jones found a 13.86 ct. on 9/23. She is from Pennsylvania.

^Debbie Hinson of Panama City, Fl. got a 10.04 ct. on 9/25 ^Mark Hammergren of Chicago, Il. got a 23.44 carat.

^Marie Hewitt from Va. got an 11.34 ct. on 9/28/2008 ^ Dustin Burnett of N.C. found a 9.93 carat. Too close to 10 ct.

^Charles McLean got a 13.49 ct. on 9/16. He is from N.C.^James Shields of Va. found an 11.64 ct. 9/16/2008

^Dick Larson of N.Y. got a 10.21 carat on 9/16. ^ Betsy Nash on 9/15/2008 found a 24 carat. She is from N.Y.

^Jodi Wood of St. Paul, In. got a13.07 ct. on 9/15/2008 ^Colleen Eskew found a 20.5 on 9/14. She is from Georgia.

^Al Klatt of North Carolina found an 11.23 ct on 9/14^Annetta Feldman from Summerville, S.C. got a 29.08 ct. 9/13

^Terry farmer of Chattanooga, Tn. on 9/13 got a 20.0 ct.^Ed Bayless on 9/12/2008 found an 11.55 ct. Ed is from Fl.

^ Don Young from Indiana on 9/12 got a 12.69 carat. ^ Gina Bethel from Tennessee, on 9/12 found at 16.0 carat.

^Mariana Bondulic got an 11.13 ct. on 9/12. She is from N.J.^Jo Alexander of Michigan, on 9/11 found a 10.62 ct.

^Walter Rae of Montello, Wi.,got a 10.68 ct. on 9/11/08^Steve Wornstaff of Georgia found an 11.09 carat on 9/10

^ Pam Nail from Indiana, found a 10.11 ct. on 9/10/2008 ^K.C. Hermann from N.Y. on 9/10/2008 found a 10.97 carat.

^Chris Keith of Florida, found a 13.5 carat on 9/9/08. ^ David Camp from Ohio, on 9/9 found a 15.11 carat sapphire.

^Cathy Maldonado from Florida found a 14.45 ct. on 9/9. ^Kevin Humphrey of Madison, In. found an 11.07 ct. 9/7/08

^Kevin Humphrey of Madison, In. on 9/6 got a 12.87 ct.^Lance Dennis from Mo. got a 14.04 ct. on 9/5

Kevin found n 11.04 carat on 9/7 as well.

^Larry Fancher from Il. on 9/4 got 11.07 & 10.19 ct.^A pebble pup standing on the bench hard at work!

^Geoff Sandt of Mo., found an 11.44 ct. on 9/4/2008^Shelly Campbell of Georgia on 9/3 found a 14.85 carat.

^ On 9/3 Mike Hart from In., found a 19.80 carat.^Chad Fitzgerald of Georgia got a whopper 42.12 ct. on 9/2

^Mike & Lynn Brady of Fl. got a 17.5 ct. on 9/2. ^Ann Samball of Florida found a 12.8 carat on 9/2

Here are a couple of pictures from Connie Mauer of some mining being done. Also the e-mail sent with the attachments.

Thankyou for your contribution to the web site.

^Teresa Hinebaugh of Asheville, N.C. got a 10.41 ct. 8/31^Julia Captino got a 9.55 carat on 8/31. She is from Georgia

^Linda Thomson of Ohio got a 19.56 on 8/31 ^ Randy Hughes on 8/31/2008 found a 10.36. He is from South Carolina

^Glen Chester on 8/30 found a 15.57 ct. He is from Ga.^Dave Lambert from Rincon, Ga. on 8/29 got an 11.07 carat.

^John Runion of Chattanooga, Tn. got a 17.12 on 8/29.^ Jason Lovett of Ma. found a 10.56 carat on 8/25/2008

^Zachary Walden got a 9.58 on 8/24. He is from N.D.^Stephanie Sigafoos of Decorn, Ia. got a 13.56 ct.

^Tanner Roberts from Willmington, N.C. got a 10.97 8/23^Ruth Cremeans of Lexington, Ky. got a 15.75 ct. on 8/17

^Hank Ashauer of Cape Coral, Fl got an 11.42 ct on 8/17^Ralph Roper of Houston, Tx found a 13.7 on 8/17/2008

^Rita Sherrod from Florida got a 29.6 ct. 8/16/08 ^Carson Flynn of Georgia found an 11.7 on8/16/08

^Marcia Mason of Osceola, In. found a 11.36 on 8/12^Greg Black with Alisa Ward from Tn. got an 11.14 on 8/16/08

^Tom Smith of Maryland, on 8/11/2008 got a 25.8 carat.

^Jim Hawkins from Wise, Va. on 8/9 got a 10.07 ct. ^Bre Robinson of Indiana o 8/8 found an18.19 carat.

^Rhee Batey of Florida on 8/6 found a 12.24 carat. ^Jerry Gust of Lake City, Fl. got an 11.79 ct. on 8/5.

^Diana Fuller of Pa., on 8/4 found a 23.5 carat. ^Margeret Glide of Moody, Al. got in a good mood with a 52.5 on 8/3

^Tony Oddo of Palm Bay, Fl. got a 10.5 on 8/3. ^Mike Hathaway from Chicago, Il. on 8/3 found an 11.65 carat.

^Cathy Thurlow of Goshen, In. found a 10 ct. on 8/1 ^Donna K. Guyett of Knoxville, Tn on 8/1 got a 13.97 carat.

^David Fuff of Holly Springs, N.C. got a 10 ct. 7/30^Katie Loftus of Delaware found a 12.68 carat on 7/29.

^Mike Sander from Pa. on 7/29 got a 17.25 ct.^Mary Bruskotter of Ottawa, Oh. on 7/29 found an 11.04 carat.

^Rad Davis of Al. on 7/29/2008 got an 11.5 carat.

On July 12th we tried a new way to identify the miners who found a 10 carat or larger. Most wanted poster. As long as the printing is large enough for me to read, we may have a higher percentage of correct picture-name accuracy. We will see how this works out.

^Natalie Paradowski of NY, found a 24.79 ct. on 7/16 ^Marie Jordan from Va. got herself a 12.81 carat sapphire.

^Susan Kalllas-Smith of Gulfport, Ms. got an 11.87 ct. on 7/15 ^Sheila Ryan of Timberlake, N.C. found 10.97 ct. on 7/15

^Mark Groves got a chunk on 7/14. A 56 ct. He is from Fl. ^ Tim Pace of S.C. got himself a 10 carat sapphire.

^Ricky Reves on 7/14/08 found a 14.60 carat sapphire. ^ Samuel Kenner found the right shovel and got a 20.79 ct.

^ Leo Finn of Il. got a 10.32 carat on 7/14/2008 ^ Tiffany got into the swing and recovered a 16.61 carat on 7/13/2008

Amanda from Tn. dug a 10 carat sapphire on 7/13. ^ Hannah Farrell of Md. got a 12.21 carat sapphire also on 7/13

^Millie Salmon of La. screened a 12.21 carat on 7/13 ^ Nathyn Horvath dug in and located a 14.74 carat on 7/13/2008

^Jeremy Logan is back and found a 10.23 ct. on 7/13/2008 ^Dylan Benton got a 23 ct. He is from Tennessee.

^ On 7/12 Mike Cates of Florida located a 10.63 carat sapphire ^ Jerry Bendfeldt found a 17.21 ct. He is from Florida

^ Here are two pictures of Jeremy Logan on 7/12/2008. He is from Chattanooga, Tn. The two were 16.25, and 20.2 ct.

^Lindsay Davies of South Dakota found an 11.53 on 7/12 ^ Terry Farmer of Chattanooga, Tn. got a 10.33 ct. sapphire.

^ Parker Sanns of Washington found himself an 11.96 carat.^ Kristina Wells of Pennsylvania found a 11.47 ct. on 7/12

^ Teri Jo Burnett of Jasper, Al. found a 17 carat. ^ Dean Bucher of Carlisle, Pa. found a 10.65 carat sapphire.

^Robert Moeling of Newnan, Ga. found a 14.07 ct. on 7/12. ^Elise Herrin of Easley, S.C. got a 15.39 ct. in her screen.

^Taylor Laderoot, of Michigan on 7/12 found a14.5 ct. ^Jerry Fischer of Winder, Ga. wound up with a 12.64 carat.

^ Dillon White of Florida on 7/12 found a 20.29 carat. ^ Jim Bendfeldt found a couple on 7/12, 15.67 & 17 carats.

July 12th 2008 was a monster of keepers. Nice job miners!!

^ Zach Morrell of Mt. Carmel, Il. found a 10.5 on 7/11 ^ Patty Hamada found an 11.5 ct. She is from Goldsboro, N.C.

^ On 7/10 John Davis of S. Bend, In. found an 11.69 ct. ^ Becca Roth of Yorkville, Oh., found a 10.92 & 23.9 carat.

^ Chere of Canton, Mi. found a 12.62 on July 10th. ^ Braxton Smith found a 10.5 ct. He is from Yasi, Mi.

^ Bruce Bugbee of Colorado Springs, Co. got a 12.12 ct. ^ Mark Lee of Ofallon, Mo. on 7/10 got a 12.6 carat.

^Duane Brunette of Wauchula, Fl. found a 10 & 16.2 ct. ^ Donna Mottland found a 12.62 ct. she is from Dinnwiddie, Va.

^Marcy Breier of Sandwich, Ma. found a 14 carat. ^ Greg Delatore of Canton, Mi. on 7/10 got a 15.5 carat sapphire.

Block Davy Conway of Greenfield, Ma. got a 21.90 carat

on 7/10/2008.

7/10/2008 was another gem of a mining day for the keeper list.

^Rick Haddix of Hartsville, Ok. on 7/10 found a 13.94 ct. ^ Mike Hamilton of Dryden, Va. on 7/10 got two 13.54 & 16.17

^Somewhere around 7/10, and 7/11/2008 the above two miners got their pictures but the data is unclear.

If you know the date, carat size, name of person, and originating town and state, drop me a line.

^Daniela Rothen of Spartenburg, S.C. found a 17.71 on 7/7 ^Vickie Rider from Orlando, Fl. got 21.68 ct. on 7/7

^Ann Blackley, of Wilmington, N.C.,found a 12.36 ct. ^Emily Owens of Greenville, S.C. got a 12.36 ct. on 7/6

^Samantha Novak on 7/6 shoveled up a 31.35 ct. ^ Pete Novak was working hard and found a 16.16 ct.

The Novaks are from Greenville, S.C.

^Tim Franklin on 7/6 dug a 17.6 ct. He is from Seymour, In. ^Joy Franklin kept the family proud with a 15.67 ct.

^ Scott Carter of Temple, Ga. on 7/6 got a 13 carat. ^Carl Healy found a 14.75 ct. He is from Upper Marlboro, Md.

^ On 7/5 Matthew Justis from Elkview,W.V. got a 11.09 ct. ^Barb Mangand of Swannanoa, N.C. dug up a 14.5ct.

^Dyland Stiles of Benton, Tn. got an 11.84 ct. on 7/5 ^Genora Dennison of Elora, Tn. on 7/4 found a 13.86 ct.

^Tony Szoszovek of Erie, Pa. on 7/2 found an 11.61 ct. ^ Hannah Joyner of Olive Branch, Ms. dug up a 12.82 ct. on 7/2

^ Julie Bentivegna of Revere, Ma. on 7/1 found a nice 26.04 ct. ^Sharon Coarsey, of Murphy N.C. got a 10.75 ct. on 7/1

^ Keisha Taylor improved her findings from last year. ^Isaac Garcia of Houston, Tx. got a 10.5 ct. on 7/1

She found a 10 carat last year, and now she has a

13 ct. Keisha is from Norcross, Ga.