Plush Claims

Desert Sun Mining & Gems owns 100 acres of sunstone claims located in the Rabbit Hills and or Lakeview area.

The arid east-central portion of Oregon is a classic volcanic region. There the relatively young rock consists of dark basalts, andesites, rhyolites, ash and cinders. Millions of years ago a magma chamber several miles below the surface supported the correct geochemical conditions for the growth of labradorite, a calcium-rich plagioclase feldspar. These crystals grew as phenocrysts in the basalt magma and eventually reached the surface through magma outflows. Also present in the magma was a small amount of copper that co-crystallized with the labradorite. It is the trace amounts of copper, forming tiny platelets, that gives rise to the unusual aventurescence or "schiller" of much of this sunstone.

The sunstone gemfields have long been a favorite with collectors. Other sunstone deposits occur in the same general area of the state and produce equally beautiful gems (See "Mining the Sun" by Chris Johnston, Lapidary J., Vol. 44, No11, pg. 75, 1991 or Gems & Gemology, Winter, 1991).

Our Claims are contiguous to claims producing large, heavily 'schillered' feldspar crystals as well as some highly colored Sunstone crystals.

After minimal exploration and sampling, preliminary tests indicated the presence of highly rich veins of schillered Sunstones and several veins of colored Sunstones were found. Further testing and exploration work needs to be done to determine the yield and quality of these claims.

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