We have gone to the mine almost every year since early 1980's. At that time we would hike up the hill and actually dig in virgin earth and washed the screen in creek bed. Unfortunately, some diggers didn't follow the rules and that option is no longer available. Still loads of fun and now that we are senior citizens the current process is easier on the back and safer! I do miss the experience of old time mining and following a vein of sapphires. We have always found enough to make up for the expense of the gravel. read more

Buyer beware. They have a company dog that bites. Selection was poor. Service was poor. Felt rushed. Poor value to expensive.

When in Rome, you do as the Romans. Apparently this part of Montana is knowing for mining gems, so we pulled up our sleeves and jumped in hoping to find something for the work we were about to put in. We started off at the store in town and spoke with Amanda who was friendly, informative and helped us decide on should we pan at the store or drive out to the mine. She told us it was next to the last day at the mine and that the drive out there would be nice, so we decided to make the small trek. Now, she did warn us that there would be no internet and porta potties but the experience would be worth it; she was right. We arrived at the location and I will say I expected a mine, however this was more of a campsite or like a home base where you would come to after digging in the mine. When you arrive you go to the porch and buy tickets for pre shoveled buckets. Make sure you ask them about any specials they are having as it may be something you might be interested in. The young guy who took my money didn't give me much direction however once you get your ticket, you head back down to the area the buckets are and choose your bucket. If it's your first time there, they will assist you with getting set up and show you how to pan for sapphires as well as what to look for. They have areas of different heights as well as tables where you can stand or sit as well as covered areas (makes locating the sapphires a little harder). We had Alex show us the ins and outs as well assist us with making sure we were doing this correctly. Many of times he had to tell us as well as show us how to improve our technique. Alex made the experience a great one as he was patient as well funny as numerous items I thought were something weren't but he encouraged me to keep looking. We ended up with a few small sapphires but nothing big enough to allow us to retire and travel on. We did however have a great time and for $40 it was a great experience. I would recommend you wearing something you don't mind getting dirty as you are splashing in muddy water and digging around dirty stones so you may find yourself getting a little dirty but they do have a wash bin to rinse off once you are done. Bring water or you can buy water but remember to stay hydrated. read more

See all

There were 6 of us, 4 adults and two kids. We drove 3 hours from Flathead Lake to get there. It was a great adventure. Wonder, friendly staff. They even went and got water for our dogs. And at the end of the day, they brought the dogs "pup cups" They showed us how to do everything and were there to answer any questions. It's a little on the spendy side. 50 dollars a bucket. We got 3 buckets. We spent 3 hours going through our buckets. We ended up with some small stones, nothing really exciting. They evaluated on site, you could then spend more to send stones out to be heat treated and/or cut. Largest was 2.25. But we had fun and that's the important thing. My only complaint is they need way more benches for us grandparents. read more

Gem Mountain Sapphire Mine - Sorting stones - Jewelry Near Me - Philipsburg, Montana

See all

We made a reservation about a month prior to visiting gem mountain. Driving to the "mine" is a commitment, so I'd suggest making a reservation. They did take walk-ins on the Saturday we went, but idk if that was just a slow day for them. We bought the "lucky 7" for $240. Seems like a good investment if you're trying to get lucky. We saw on the board that someone had found an 8 carat sapphire a couple days prior. We hoped to get half as lucky. Unfortunately we didn't. We found a lot of sapphires, but none of them were larger than 2 carats. More about this later. We made a reservation for 9:30am when they opened. This was both good and bad. First, there is a long line of people waiting to check in at 9:30. It's not that big of a deal, but if you don't like lines, I'd suggest making your reservation for like 10am instead. The good part about making an early reservation is that the weather is still bearable in the morning. It was really hot when we left at 1:30. People had major sunburn. So once we were checked in and paid, we exchanged our tickets for buckets of gravel. One of the workers showed us how to pan for the sapphires. There's kind of a rocking technique that concentrates the more dense sapphires at the bottom of the pan. Then we dump the pan onto the table and pick out the sapphires with tweezers. It was honestly pretty fun. The sapphire sparkle in the sunlight so they're pretty easy to see. Some people opted to sit under the tents and pick through their pans on the tables in the shade, but it's much harder to spot the sapphires in the shade. After about 30 pans, we had collected about a vial and a half of raw sapphires. We went to get them inspected and only about 10 of them were even worth making into jewelry. We decided to get the 6 biggest ones heat treated and cut, a process that the people at gem mountain will do for about $35 per stone. Oh and it takes a year. Overall, it was a pretty fun experience. I wouldn't trust kids to do this well, but it seems like a lot of families come here. All of the workers were very nice and it seems like a pretty honest business of selling an experience. It's kind of a long drive, but I would do it again :) I'm also very excited for my sapphires to be ready. read more

See all

This place is tailor-made for my rock hound youngest daughter, and the focus of a Daughter-Dad getaway before she starts high school in a week. Don't come here expecting to hit the Comstock Lode. However....you will definitely find sapphire if you do the work exactly like the staff shows you how. We (she) only went through one standard bucket, but came away with 25.60 carat weight in stones, to include two pretty good sized pink ones that may one day adorn as a necklace. I have no clue the value/worth, but I can state the joy it brought my budding little geologist was priceless. I was relegated to being the guy that just grabbed the biggest rocks, and threw them off to the side; and then of course taking my turn at the sluice. And you learn quick that you rinse your product two, or three, more times. You find stuff you missed. The mine is in a very remote area, but if you stay in Philipsburg MT, like we did the night before, it's only a pretty 30-min drive away. Big thanks to the entire staff, for their patience with newbs like us, and pros like some of the folks we met. We even purchased a 'bucket to go,' because my kiddo wanted to go through it with some of her teen pals. I'm about ready to kick myself for not bringing home another bag. You might not like the price ($36 for a bag of rocks/clay/dirt), but you'd blow that grabbing coffee for your office mates, with tip. It is curiously satisfying, even for an undiagnosed ADHD like me. Next visit we will allow ourselves more time, and stay another night in beautiful/historic Philipsburg... read more

See all

Gem Mountain Sapphire was a fantastic experience. I am not a rockhound but my boyfriend is and he agrees that Gem Mountain was top notch. Reasonable price for sapphire payout, incredible service that is beyond helpful and friendly. After you work your buckets they offer evaluation, heat treating and faceting services. We went out to the actual mine area when it opened Memorial Day Weekend which made for a pretty drive. read more

See all

This place was awesome! Went there with the Tenacious Dames Motorcycle Club, a bunch of women motorcycle riders all fighting over who is next in line to go gem hunting. An over exaggeration, but a bunch of us went and it was great to do some easy gem hunting there. Lots of people to assist and teach you how to wash and look for gems and then a great lady named Jodie to help you grade them! A must stop place if you are going through PBurg! read more

Gem Mountain Sapphire Mine - Cool stuff here! - Jewelry Near Me - Philipsburg, Montana

It's been a few years and Gem Mountain is still the best part of my cross country move. I ended up with 2 lovey 1 ct blue sapphires of amazing quality, 5 or 6 .20-.40 ct sapphires of various colors and the 1 ct light blue cushion cut I had made into a necklace pictured. Really the reason I can picture it now is because I wear the necklace 24/7. I wasn't made at Gem Mt so I can't speak to that. This light blue stone was 3.4-4 ct and has a large feather (a visible flaw) across the center. Gem Mt told me it could be cut to not have a flaw and would most likely lose 75% of the weight. I was ok with a large feather and said to have it cut to keep as much weight to the stone as possible. I love it. Yes there is a large feather but as I had it set in a necklace no one can see it. read more

Gem Mountain Sapphire Mine - This is all one sift from a mega jug - Jewelry Near Me - Philipsburg, Montana

See all

We planned a road trip from San Antonio, Texas just to experience finding our own sapphires. Staff was extremely helpful all through the process! I would gladly go back if it wasn't so far away! Instead, my daughter bought a mega jug and had it shipped as my Christmas present. Not quite the same experience, but a wonderful memory of picking through gravel on Christmas morning!! We were at Gem Mountain end of July and received our sapphires after heat treatment and cutting in the middle of March. We are in love with our treasures!!!! read more

See all

If you have any fear of Corona virus don't go here. Not only were half the customers not wearing masks but the manager also not wearing a mask, young guy working there not wearing a mask. No social distancing and the non mask wearing employees come right up to you and talk to you about ten inches from your face. No protocols in place for people to take turns at the water gravel rinsing bucket either. Whether or not you "believe" the masks do anything, it's not hard to err on the side of caution and respect others. If I can wear a bra and not complain, you can wear a mask. read more

What fun! Yes this is not a real mine but gives you the opportunity to have fun and get a small idea at what prospecting was like. Not located at the actual mine but a small store located near the mind. You're able to purchase jewelry, trinkets, snacks/drinks, art and what everyone really comes here for is the chance to find sapphires, get them appraised and get them fired. When you arrive you will walk past others panning dirt in water troufs and returning to their table to find treasure. You will go inside and wait in a line (thought it would be empty but was actually very busy). When you get to the counter you will have the option to buy a bucket of gravel (remains from the actual gem mining occuring at the mine). $25 per bucket and even a better deal (if you want to find a lot) of 7 for $150. You can additionally take the gravel to go for an additional $1. Ended up buying 2 (1 for there and 1 for at home). Once you go back outside if it's your first time you will be instructed on how to pan for gems and what to look for along with being provided the tools needed. The 2 gentleman that I encountered gave great service and we're helpful. One saw me having issues cleaning and came over to re-instruct me on the proper method. What fun! Got dirty, had a few finds (nothing substantial) but the experience was something will always remember. Found some smalls and a couple good sized ones(1 just over 3carat but in total about 20 carat worth of gem, most unable to get cut but could be used in locket and such). They look like glass till they have been fired when they show their true color (pink and purple being the rarest so good luck). After getting your loot you can go back inside and have them appraised ($5) and they will let you know which ones will be potential candidates to fire and get cut. They have different options available so if you're undecided or just not sure ask them and they will let you know what could be done and what they recommend. Mind you firing the gems is not done right there as it can take up to 36hrs for some of these gems to be ready. They do have options for getting fancy colors or going for the traditional blue. So again think about what your goal is. Fun and experience or going for treasure. Planning another trip back to MT next year and will make this a stop for sure. read more

Gem Mountain is a great place to bring your family! It is pretty expensive, but a great experience and super fun! After you find some sapphires, you pay an extra $5 to have the gems inspected to make sure they are sapphires. The inspector who looked at my stones took forever! They were not focused at all!! However, there was a very nice employee who was helping my family and I a lot!! They helped us wash our stones and helped dig through our pile of rock to find the sapphires! They were awesome!! I recommend bringing your kids to do this! I also recommend getting the gems inspected. Inspecting them tells you which ones can be turned into jewelry. Which I definitely plan to do! You will get dirty so pack some old clothes! All dogs are welcome. Also, on the way back from gem mountain make sure to check out Moose Lake! read more

Had a really fun day out there. First thing I want to say for travelers, you can mine for gems in town! You do not have to drive the extra 22 miles out to the mine! While we did have a lot of fun, we went into Phillipsburg after wards and realized we could have saved the extra time driving to just mine them right there in town. There are two locations across the street from each other to do this. That being said, we really enjoyed this experience. We bought two buckets of gravel and worked on them between four of us. Came out with 11.28 carrots of useable gems and a nice bag of too small for jewelry but still an awesome momento for us. We want to do this again, but will stay in the adorable town of Phillipsburg next tome and do it right there in town. read more

We called on a Thursday. We were told that reservations were optional, and since we didn't know exactly when we would be arriving we didn't make one. We arrived and were told onsite that you must make a reservation and that if we wanted gravel we could buy a bag and leave. It costs 36 bucks for a bag of gravel that's about a gallon and a half (mostly mud). We bought the bag and took it home. We meticulously cleaned the gravel and sorted through it. Took us about 2 hours. We found 5 "sapphires" the largest was the size of a radish seed. I'll leave it up to you to decide if it's worth the trip. The thing that really concerned me was that there were about 100 people there from all across the country shoulder to shoulder and not one person was wearing a mask. When I stepped inside the building where you make purchases there was a sign saying max number of people allowed inside was 16, I counted 31. It was crammed. I sure wouldn't go now while COVID is alive and well. read more

We had a wonderful time washing and screening for sapphires this Summer. The people who work there are helpful and wonderfully positive. We are definitely looking forward to also heat treating and faceting some of our gem quality rough! Thanks to the mine owners for providing this fun & wonderful opportunity for everyone! read more

See all

We had such a great time, it was the highlight of our trip. The employees were fantastic!

I have been here a few times. Both trips I had a wonderful time. Twice I have had sapphires faceted for me. However, this past order that I placed and just recently received was quite disappointing. For money per stone that a customer pays, you would expect to get what you wanted. That was not the case with the largest stone in my order. I was told that the stone did have a flaw in it, but the flaw was on the outside edge which could easily be cut away when faceting the stone. I had insisted that all stones in my order were "rounds", just like the last order that I had placed. The stone which was originally a 3.17 ct came back and Oval cut weighing in at .90ct. The stone also had a huge crack which looked like air bubbles in the stone, this greatly changes the reflection the stone has. I would not use this stone for any jewelry pieces. I've dealt with customer service for this issue. After multiple back and forth emails they gave me two options, none of which seemed like winners. I am now stuck with a stone that I wouldn't even gift away. Go elsewhere for your sapphire hunting. read more

See all

We saw the add in the Montana tourism magazine. It is well worth the detour up to this old mining town. The staff was supper helpful with the Sapphire screening and searching our rock pile for winners. read more

A neat little treat hidden up in the mountains. First time for our family to try anything like this and we had fun. You do get a little dirty but is worth it. Wish they offered a bigger and better selection of food -they only offer a few candy bars/drinks. You work up an appetite going through the buckets. Had a great time! read more

We went for the first time this summer to Gem Mountain. Thinking it would be kind of fun. We were blown away. We went during the summer when it was really smokey and I didn't expect to see many people because of wildfires around but it was packed! Staff was very friendly and helpful. We paid for one bucket of gravel and found over 70sapphire and sapphire pieces in our bucket, at least 4 that were good size. The staff is very informative and helpful on what to do and what to look for. Such an awesome experience. Double check open times before going as they are closed Sunday-Tuesday. read more

We had so much fun at this hidden "gem" of a spot. We purchases 2 buckets and the fun alone was worth it. Although we found many sapphires we specifically decided to have 4 of them processed. This process takes 9-12 MONTHS so don't be in a hurry. If I could attach before and after pictures I would. The pink, orange and blue stones are beautiful. Thank you for "finishing" a wonderful vacation for us. read more

I have been going for 15 years and always enjoyed but this year was the worst. Elder man shoveling buckets was extremely rude and mean. We had brought 4 family members which was a total of 6 of us and bought 14 buckets a total of 320.00. We were spoken to very rudely when we asked for more then two sifting pans for all of us. He stated ...That was all we could have, bosses orders! When I told him that there was 6 of us he said too bad. This was the very start which of course put me on the defense. Thunder clouds started to roll in and a bad storm came. We asked to take the dirt home for the remainder of our 6 tickets and was told in order to do that it would cost another dollar for each one of our buckets. (We already paid 320.00 weather was horrible and it started to rain and lighting) I stated that was ridiculous but fine. We paid and tipped then he said to the young girl that was helping us that he wasn't going to help us with putting the bags in our car. I heard him but ignored it then when i went to get my sweater he made the comment that he wished people would treat him like human beings. Thats when I went off on him and told him he needed to treat customers with more respect and learn to speak and inform them more clearly. I told him that I had been coming here for 15 years and told him that they never had the rule before about two sifters. He called me a liar. What a asshole. It's not worth the money or time to find a few little sapphires and be treated so poorly. How sad this place use to be a lot of fun and much more reasonable. read more

We visited and sifted for 2 days Oct, 2015. The staff made us a part of their family and made the adventure full circle! We ended up with over 200 carats and were blessed with Purple, Yellow and pink ones!!!!!!! We are going back Sept 2016!!!!!! This time we are staying in Philipsburg for 3 days. We will be expecting dinner invites!! HaHa! read more

Went to Gem mountain this summer when they opened. Totally different from what I remember years ago. Before you use to be able to dig from the mountain. You can no longer do this due to liability (Understandable) . What you get is a bucket from a pile by the wash area. It is obvious that before they bring out the gravel that they have gone through and pulled out the big stuff,leaving the tourist very small trinkets. I got two buckets I got a total of 13 Carets. These buckets consisted of .5 caret stones on average. Also what is unfortunate is that most of the mountain has been sold to a Canadian firm conducting large scale commercial mining. They have stated on there site that they will only be selling to select buyers. This firm owns most of the north side of the mountain and just bought 3000 acres on the south side. This is truly going to impact the town of Phillipsburg and also ruin the opportunity for hobbyist and family fun. This firm is averaging 4 to 5 Caret stones of different colors. Their largest found was 12 carets. I won't go back. Waste of money. read more

Lots of fun to go do and you get treasures! We have a purple sapphire even and about 25 cuttables! Can't wait to see what happens!

After returning from a trip back east, I was looking forward to the return to Montana hospitality. We made a day trip to Phillipsburg to have some larger sapphires looked at, enjoy lunch, and enjoy the day. I called on a Thursday for information, and the woman in the store who answered the phone was rude and less than helpful. Wanting to reserve judgement, I figured she was having an off day, and we went up two days later. Unfortunately the same woman was working in the store, and she was just as rude as the first time we spoke. I'm not a rude customer. I'm not a typical tourist or from out of state. What on earth warranted her bad attitude towards me? I generally shake off poor service, but it irked both myself and my partner enough to come on here and warn others. The helpers with the gravel wash were great, but the woman inside the store needs to find a new job if she's so hateful of the one she has. Wow. It's been awhile since I found myself exerting this much energy on feeling offended, but I am thoroughly upset by my experiences with Gem Mountain. Thankfully they have competition across the street, so you have the option to mine sapphires and NOT be treated like crap! read more