Great Basin Gem & Mineral Club
Carson City club for rocks, minerals, fossils and lapidary, founded in 2009
- Meets
- Last Thursday, 7:00 pm (moved earlier in November and December for the holidays)
- Where
- Carson City Elks Lodge, 515 N Nevada St, Carson City
- Field trips
- About 10 a year, plus 3 or 4 bonus trips, usually mid-week
- On trips
- High-clearance 4WD advised; walkie-talkies on channel 21; waiver required
- Interests
- Geology, minerals, fossils, archaeology, lapidary
- Newsletter
- The Matrix, emailed around the 20th of each month
- Founded
- 2009 (California Federation club list)
- Summer
- July picnic instead of a meeting (2026: Mormon Station, Genoa)
Prospect on your own near Carson City
14 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 50 miles away.
There are more on the map, some of them with a possible mining claim.
About Great Basin Gem & Mineral Club
Based in the state capital, the Great Basin Gem & Mineral Club is a nonprofit organization for Carson City rockhounds. The club list of the California Federation of Mineralogical Societies, to which it belongs, gives 2009 as its founding year. Its aim is to teach and share earth science, geology, mineralogy, paleontology, archaeology and the lapidary arts, and to build friendships among people who like rocks.
Meetings are normally on the last Thursday of the month at 7:00 pm at the Carson City Elks Lodge, 515 North Nevada Street. The 2026 calendar is on the club website: in July the meeting gave way to a club party at Mormon Station in Genoa, November moves to the third Thursday because of Thanksgiving, and 17 December is the Christmas party. On arrival people sign in, take a name badge and get a ticket for the door prizes; the evening covers club business and a guest speaker on rocks, gems or minerals.
There is more to a meeting night than the talk. Blue 50-50 tickets split the night's takings between a winner and the club treasury, an attendance raffle hands out an item donated by a member, and coffee, cookies and water are free. Most of the club's money, though, comes from the silent auction that closes every meeting: members donate rocks and rock-related items, and the bidding can get spirited.
Field trips are the core of the year, with about ten scheduled trips and three or four bonus ones, usually mid-week. At the meeting before each trip the trip leader describes the site and the material to expect, and the meeting time and place are given at meetings and in the newsletter. In March 2026 the club posted updated field trip guidelines on its website.
Those guidelines are practical. High-clearance four-wheel-drive vehicles suit the rocky, sandy dirt roads the club usually drives, and every car should carry a long-handled shovel and five gallons of water in case of a grass fire. Walkie-talkies tuned to channel 21 are recommended, since phones get no signal in many places. Everyone signs in with the leader and needs a field trip waiver on file for insurance; guests must be paid-up members, though they can join on the day. At the site the leader shows samples of the material and gives clues on where to look, members are asked to help newcomers and to take no more than they can realistically use, and dogs are welcome on a collar and under control.
The Matrix, the newsletter, goes out by email around the 20th of each month, with articles from members and a recap of club events in words and photos.
Other clubs and places nearby
- Reno Gem and Mineral SocietyClub · 25 mi
- GPAA of Northern Nevada, RenoClub · 26 mi
- Comstock Gold ProspectorsClub · 27 mi
- Crystal Peak MineFree public dig · 34 mi
- Plumas-Eureka State Park (Jamison Creek)Free public dig · 65 mi
- Gold Country Treasure Seekers (Placerville)Club · 65 mi