Mingus Gem and Mineral Club
Cottonwood's original rock and mineral club, since 1979
- Founded
- 1979
- Meets
- 1st Thursday of the month, 6 pm (no meetings in July and August)
- Where
- Cottonwood Recreation Center, 150 S 6th St, Cottonwood
- Interests
- Rocks, minerals, gemstones, lapidary, geology, fossils
- Field trips
- Throughout the year, around the state
- Show
- Mingus Gem and Mineral Show, Clarkdale
- Kids
- Rockhounding room for kids at the show
Prospect on your own near Cottonwood
18 gem and mineral spots on open public land with no claim on record, within 50 miles.
Nearest open public land on our fossil and meteorite map: about 59 miles away.
There are more on the map, some of them with a possible mining claim.
About Mingus Gem and Mineral Club
The Mingus Gem and Mineral Club calls itself Cottonwood's original rock and mineral club. It was founded in 1979 and takes its name from Mingus Mountain, which rises over the Verde Valley. Members share a love of rocks, minerals, gemstones, lapidary and geology.
Meetings are on the first Thursday of the month at 6 pm at the Cottonwood Recreation Center, 150 S 6th St, with no meetings in July and August. Each one has a guest speaker on a subject such as paleontology, rock hunting or the identification of rocks and minerals. The June meeting starts early with a show-and-tell extravaganza and a potluck: members bring whatever they want to show off, and anything they have found and can't name.
The club sponsors field trips throughout the year to places around the state. Members have dug rainbow petrified wood on a private ranch near Holbrook, among other trips.
The public face of the club is the Mingus Gem and Mineral Show in historic Clarkdale, the old copper town just below Jerome. Vendors bring crystals, minerals, gems, jewelry, fossils, cabochons and slabs, there is geode splitting, daily raffles and a rockhounding room for kids. A membership application is on the club website.
Other clubs and places nearby
- Sedona Gem and Mineral ClubClub · 15 mi
- Prescott Gem and Mineral ClubClub · 22 mi
- Lynx Creek Gold Pan Day Use AreaFree public dig · 25 mi
- American Gold Prospecting AdventuresPay-to-dig · 38 mi
- Payson Rimstones Rock ClubClub · 52 mi
- Diamond Point Quartz Crystal Collection AreaFree public dig · 56 mi
Where to buy gear nearby
- Copper Canyon Lapidary & JewelryOnline shop · 17 mi
- A & B Prospecting Supplies (Prescott Valley)Shop · 20 mi
- Flagstaff Rock ShopShop · 42 mi
- Dry Mining EquipmentOnline shop · 62 mi