BASALT Lode Mining Claim, Sunstone District, Lake County, Oregon

BASALT ORMC173974 Unpatented Mining Claim on Federal Land Oregon Within Oregon there is a small but unusual occurrence of the semiprecious gems known as “sunstones” (also known as Heliolite). "heliolite" (from Greek helios, meaning sun, and lithos, meaning "stone")Locally, the sunstones are referred to as “Plush Diamonds” The locality of these gems are in the Rabbit Basin of southeastern Lake County. “Sunstone” is the name given to a certain variety of feldspar that exhibits a brilliant pink to reddish metallic glitter or shimmer. The glitter or shimmer is called “aventurescence”; crystals exhibiting this are called aventurine or more commonly sunstones. At the Oregon locality, the sunstones consists of crystals of calcic labradorite (one type of plagioclase feldspar); the colors range from red to green as well as the coppery aventurescence.         This claim is located in a secluded area where sunstone is extremely easy to find being that it is all over the ground. There are three