During the dig, Jay and I found about a dozen nice matrix specimens attached to the pocket floor. We tried to chisel three of them out. All three crystals shattered, leaving us with nothing. We used a diamond chain saw to cut out all of the other specimens.

On September 30, Jay and I opened a pocket with a beautiful crystal attached to the side of the pocket dome. This particular crystal was large and especially clear. Even covered in mud inside the pocket you could tell it was a spectacular crystal. Unofrtunately, the matrix it was attached to would not budge. I knew if we tried to chisel the matrix out, the crystal would just shatter.

So we hooked up the diamond chainsaw to cut the crystal out. Being the commercial digger for the mine has its privileges! Four careful cuts in the dome should have freed the crystal, but it did not. Another couple of cuts and suddenly it was free. And then a strange thing happened. A small piece of the dome --- with the crystal attached --- came free from the piece we had just cut. Here it is, a perfect specimen, without saw marks! It hasn't even been washed with water, and you can already see how good it is. I plan on celebrating its birthday every year for the rest of my life (okay, okay, I'm a rock nut and I admit it)...