Ranch & Coast Magazine

television career began. "Back in 2012, I answered a casting call advertised on a prospecting website," he says. "It was for a series called Ice Cold Gold, exploring for gems and minerals in Greenland, and I let them know I was a professional geologist." Drummond became friends with one of the executive producers and because of his expertise, he not only gained a role in the series but helped determine locations and produced some of the scenes. Drummond and his cohorts panned and sluiced for gold and gems for three seasons, after which Drummond continued his work with a local geologist, leading to the discovery of some of the largest rubies in the world including a stone weighing more than five pounds. "Whether geologist or prospector, when looking for precious metals and gems, there are a variety of factors," explains Drummond. Gold is often found with iron and quartz, while silver is often found with lead. Diamonds occur in volcanic plugs that come to the surface when molten, while emeralds and rubies are found in intrusions of magma that form pockets inside other rocks. Mining operations for gold and silver can be very different from those seeking precious gems, but Drummond, a prospector at heart, is quick to point out that regardless of how the material originally formed, both precious metals and gems are eroded out of the surrounding rock and redistributed by stream action. In other words, if you go panning in a stream where precious metals or gems have been found, you might very well find some yourself. And the best part about finding precious metal and gems in this way is that no further processing is necessary to separate them from the surrounding rock. Because of Drummond's combination of knowledge about both prospecting and geologic formations, he was contacted about a year ago regarding Blind Frog Ranch. Drummond flew to Utah to meet Duane Ollinger, the owner, and his son Chad. Ollinger purchased the property in 2009, having been told about its mysteries by a former intelligence officer who had done work on the cave systems during the Vietnam era using satellite imagery. e property has hundreds of miles of caves beneath it, and for the past 13 years Duane has been searching for a fabled Aztec treasure. ere are also tales of Hernan Cortez and the Seven Cities of Gold, as well as those of the Lost Rhoades Mine, a legend about Mormon gold. To this point, the biggest discovery is an enormous box of rocks that were found to be drilled out and filled with gallium, a rare metal with numerous high-tech uses. e rocks vary in size from baseballs to basketballs, but when and how they got there, and what they might be for, no one knows. Tune in to the Discovery Channel to see Drummond and the Ollingers combatting radioactivity and flooded chambers as they continue to explore the ranch's mysteries. Season 2 just finished airing, and if all goes well, Season 3 will begin filming in late summer. It's pretty exciting stuff for Drummond, who first developed his interest in nature while taking Earth Science in eighth grade, and for geologic discoveries overall with the series reflecting a step toward recognition of this fascinating field of study. discovery.com/shows/mystery-at-blind-frog-ranch Geologist Eric Drummond wampling a rich gold bearing quartz vein while filming Ice Cold Gold in West Greenland, 2014 Extracting a very large in-situ ruby crystal, West Greenland, 2017 Extracting a very large in-situ ruby crystal, West Greenland, 2017

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