I have been interested in rocks just about my entire life. As a small boy growing up in Globe, Arizona I would explore old abandoned copper mines which are abundant in the foot hills of Globe and pick up the very colorful copper minerials such as

I have found many good location for rough rock and I enjoy mining my own material so many of my cut stones are from mining the rock, and when I say mined by me, I mean real mining with rock drills and explosives mostly under ground. There is nothing like drilling a set of holes and setting the charges in a way that the charge will not shatter the delicate vein of azurite or chrysocolla; then detonate the charges and find that all the hard work paid off and there are pounds of nice rough rock that need to be brought to the surface. For me, it just doesn't get any better as far as rock mining goes.