Taken from St John's beaches Facebook page:
If you’re out and about on SJC Beaches, you might have noticed some dark areas on the beach near the base of the dunes. The dark material is a special type of sand made up of heavy minerals rarely seen on Florida beaches.
These deposits are made up of small amounts of zircon, staurolite, titanium minerals (ilmenite, leucoxene and rutile), and garnet, all of which are “heavier” than the quartz and shell sand normally seen on the beach. After a storm event, the “heavier” mineral sands can accumulate into deposits after the “lighter” quartz and shell sands have been washed away by wave action, often called strand-line deposits.
Heavy mineral mining began in Florida in 1916 at Mineral City (now Ponte Vedra Beach). At one time, heavy minerals were mined from several locations along the east coast of Florida within ancient beach deposits from Boulogne to Vero Beach. Currently, the industry operates in Baker, Bradford, Clay and Duval counties.
So let's head to Mickler Beach this morning in Ponte Vedra. There head south and meet me so I can give you directions on which way to go.
Remember you can always text the number below for the location or any clues you might need. There are two cases at this particular hunt. Note that in each case I have placed $27 and the coin you see below on top of the case.
This hunt will require a detector just like the others. Make sure you fill any holes you dig on the beach and many thanks for picking up any trash you find along the way as well. Take a photo of where you find the container and text it to the number found on this site (904-201-9047). Remember all hunts are open to the public and just for fun!
Good luck and happy hunting!
~Dianna
