Rockhounding in Marion County, FL: 14 USGS Mineral Sites (2026)

Check access before you go. Most sites listed here are old mines, quarries or prospects, and many are on private land or active mining claims. Get the landowner's permission, check the rules of the agency that manages any public land, and never enter mine workings. Locations are approximate.

Sketch map

Past ProducerProducerProspectOccurrenceStatus unknown

11 paw pins; nearby sites are grouped into one pin. Hover or tap a pin for the site name. 1 site(s) with USGS coordinates outside the outline are not pinned. County outline: US Census Bureau cartographic boundary file (2023). Locations approximate.

Woof’s favorite find

Hard Rock

We picked it because its USGS record mentions 2 gem or collectible minerals (Quartz, Fluorite) and 2 of our card minerals overall. That ties with 1 other site(s), so we broke the tie by mine status (past producers first), then USGS record quality, then name. USGS lists it as past producer for Phosphorus-Phosphates. Minerals mentioned: Quartz, Fluorite. Approx. location 28.967, -82.418. USGS record.

Ask first: a USGS record doesn’t mean you can visit. Find out who owns the land and get permission before collecting.

Field cards: what kind of sites?

Producer

Was producing when the record was made.

Unknown

Status not recorded.

Plant

A processing plant site.

Prospect

Explored or test-dug, with no recorded production.

Past Producer

Produced ore or material at some point in the past.

Status terms come from USGS MRDS records.

Mineral cards

Quartz
Mohs 7. Six-sided points; smoky quartz is NH’s state gem. Mindat
2 sites
Fluorite
Mohs 4. Cubes in purple, green or yellow; many glow under UV. Mindat
2 sites

Counts are sites whose USGS record mentions the mineral or commodity. Hardness from Mindat.

Minerals recorded here

Collophane 1Montmorillonite 1

Commodities

Sand 9Phosphorus-Phosphates 3Fullers Earth 1Montmorillonite 1

Sites

Site	Commodity	Minerals recorded	Status	Approx. location
Hard Rock	Phosphorus-Phosphates	Collophane	Past Producer	28.967, -82.418
Mid-Florida Mining - Emathla Mine	Montmorillonite	Montmorillonite	Producer	29.391, -82.281
Minehead Mine	Phosphorus-Phosphates	—	Plant	29.289, -82.367
Hard Rock Debris	Phosphorus-Phosphates	—	Prospect	29.001, -82.341
R.O. Camp Clay Pit	Fullers Earth	—	Producer	29.373, -82.270
Florida Rock Industries - Marion Sand Mine	Sand	—	Producer	28.989, -81.739
Standard Sand and Silica - Lynne Mine	Sand	—	Producer	29.216, -81.905
Boutwell Constr. Co. - Candler Mine	Sand	—	Producer	29.040, -81.983
Florida Rock Industries - Weirsdale Mine	Sand	—	Producer	29.002, -81.867
Loar's Excavating Co. - Loar's Sand Mine	Sand	—	Unknown	29.059, -82.004
Margie Wood Trucking, Inc. - Margie Wood Mine	Sand	—	Unknown	29.084, -82.072
S & E Contractors, Inc. - Baseline Mine	Sand	—	Unknown	29.121, -82.064
John R. Dykes - Michigan City Mine	Sand	—	Unknown	29.330, -81.759
John R. Dykes - Magnolia Bluff Mine	Sand	—	Unknown	29.398, -81.898

Fossil collections

The Paleobiology Database lists 53 fossil collection records in Marion County. These are research records, not public dig sites.

Nearby counties

Sumter County · Citrus County · Alachua County · Pinellas County · Putnam County

Florida mineral guides

Back to all Florida counties.

Is It Legal to Collect Rocks on Public Land? BLM, Forest Service and National Park Rules

How we built this page: we counted named sites in the USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) for this area, left out sand, gravel, crushed stone, clay pits and unnamed sites, grouped them by Census county, and linked every site to its USGS record. We did not visit these sites, and MRDS does not tell you who owns the land or whether collecting is allowed.

Source: USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS). USGS ceased systematic updates to MRDS around 2011, so status and details may be out of date. Each site links to its USGS record.

Updated October 2026

Rockhounding in Marion County, Florida