Travel

HOPING TO HIT PAYDIRT People dig through soil from a mine at the Benitoite Mining Co. near Coalinga.

Photos by Tarmo Hannula

The search for Benitoite

A taste of early-day gem hunting in San Benito County

By TARMO HANNULA

What is Benitoite? A new Covid variant, a salad dressing, a yoga stretch? If you’re like me, I had no idea until I recently wandered through a gem show in Santa Cruz and stumbled on the California state gem: Benitoite, a lovely sparkling blue gemstone.

My wife Sarah and I learned that it is one of the rarest gems in the world and only found in one spot— hence its name—San Benito County. We also learned that the public can sift through the soil from a mine in the hills about 15 miles outside of Coalinga in hopes of finding a shard of the blue treasure.

For $100 a person you can roll up your sleeves, slip on your boots and plunge into early day mining (though you never see a mine) at the Benitoite Mining Company.

With an appetite for something new, Sarah and I headed to Coalinga to try it out. On Friday we left Watsonville on Highway 129 to Highway 101 north to Gilroy then to Highway 152 east.

Next, we caught Highway 5 south and rolled past massive cattle farms, and fruit and nut tree

COUNTRYSIDE A long-abandoned cabin sits along the road to the Benitoite Mining Co. outside of Coalinga.

orchards. About 90 minutes later we switched onto Highway 198 which took us into Coalinga.

We stayed at the Best Western Plus outside of town. Our research led us to the Harris Ranch off of Highway 5 for a steak dinner that was superb.

In the morning we checked out of the Best Western and we drove out to the mine through the serene countryside past a handful of old barns and abandoned wood homes, grazing cattle along a curving mountainous road.

We were greeted warmly at the Benitoite Mining Co. where we joined a crowd of 10 other “miners.” After a brief introduction of how to use the water tables and sifting trays, we were led into a barn that was entirely dark inside. Once our eyes adjusted to the darkness, we were shown how to sit at a long work bench, switch on a handheld black light and search the tray of gravel with the light for bits of Benitoite.

Since the mines have long been closed off, the folks that run the show there bring heaps of soil from the mine to a safe level area. That’s where our fun really began. I’m sure all of us, at one point or another, had visions of stumbling on a huge chunk of Benitoite, enough to pay off the mortgage, get a newer model car and have some fun cash left over.

That didn’t happen to us or anyone else that day. Some folks, however, did unearth some handsome pieces of the gem, along with samples of calcite, serpentine and naturalite.

After a few hours, with mud splashed on everything we wore, we called it a day. The folks that run the place then pick through your findings, very carefully identifying what each of us unearthed.

Was it worth it? For us, it was, when you take in the bounty of the lovely countryside, the mountains and streams, checking out Coalinga, the small town of nearby Avenal, and surroundings, along with the slight chance of hitting pay dirt.

In the next episode we head to Paso Robles for a visit with friends and then on to Carmel Valley.