Our story

Long before the Pleiades Mine had a name, its story was already being written in the mountains and stars near Austin, Nevada.

As a boy, my husband grew up among those rugged hills, surrounded by turquoise mines his family was known for throughout the region. When the miners packed up for the day, he would wander the mountains with his younger brother, Travis, exploring old workings and rocky slopes, discovering small flashes of green and purple stone hidden in the dirt. At night, the sky above those mountains was wide and brilliant—unchanged, constant, quietly watching over the land.

Decades passed. Life moved on. But the mountains—and the sky above them—never let go.

More than 30 years later, he returned to the area as a prospector, working for a prominent businessman. While surveying the land, he followed an old trail—one he instinctively recognized—and traced it back to its source. What he found was no coincidence: a fluorite deposit unlike anything else, the same mysterious stone he remembered from childhood, hidden in the same ground that had shaped him years before.

He entered into discussions to acquire the claim, but at that time, it was not available for purchase. Still, the story wasn’t finished.

Years later, the path opened again—and this time, we were able to secure the claim for ourselves. What we uncovered was extraordinary: opalized fluorite, a rare and beautiful material found in only a handful of places in the world. Formed slowly over immense time, each piece reflects the natural forces that shaped both the land below and the sky above it.

We took a leap of faith and poured our lives into the mine—working the ground, learning its rhythms, and bringing its hidden beauty into the light. What once began as childhood curiosity had quietly grown into purpose. Today, the Pleiades Mine is more than a mining operation. It’s a place of discovery. A place where visitors can step into the same landscape, walk the same ground, look up at the same open sky, and experience the thrill of uncovering something real and ancient with their own hands.

By opening the mine for pay-to-dig experiences, we invite you to become part of this ongoing story—sharing the wonder of the stones, the adventure of the hunt, and the legacy of a dream that took decades to come full circle.

Out here, every find has a story.

And yours has been waiting—patiently—in the dirt beneath the stars.