This place is amazing! It's a privately owned amethyst mine and the family who owns it opens it up for tours and digging through their amethyst "rubble" after they dig out the large (imagine rocks the size of tables!) pieces to sell. We could've spent hours (yes HOURS) picking through the dirt because we were finding amazing pieces of amethyst every two seconds! It really is that plentiful!! And if you catch the personal landowner, (I think Laurie) she'll regale your with fascinating stories of beads, wolves, moose and Lynx on the property! It was a fascinating day for sure- the best thing to do in Thunder Bay! Regarding arrival- it's a dirt road- just keep going. You'll get there! read more

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We read about this place when we were considering the circle tour of Lake Superior. We chickened out of the full circle because of the forest fires and my emphysema. But we wanted to see a field of the February birth stones. Here they mine the rocks and invite the public in to pick around for some amethyst samples. The fee is just $5 a pound. The people working there are very friendly and informative. I recommend this for people who are in good physical shape and like beautiful rocks. There are several amethyst mines in the area but I don't know what geological event brought them out. Now have have something to study. read more

You can go do the little tour thing and dig amethyst for yourself or you can get some already tumbled from the little store there. Found some tiny amethyst stones in the parking lot. Kind of a far drive to get up there. read more

A great day trip! The unpaved road to the mine is a bit rough- you just need to take it slow. Our family minivan made it no problem, but it had been fairly dry weather. If it was a rainy time, I'd be hesitant. The amethyst mine itself is so interesting- it's an actual operating mine. When you are mining on your own for amethyst treasures it is more like picking the stones up from the ground vs "mining" but it was still fun. It kept teenage boys engaged for a couple hours. The rough amethyst stones are beautiful. Brought home a couple about the size of large softballs. You pay by the pound ($3, I believe) and we got a lot of amethyst for around $60- including the 2 very large stones. Gift shop on site with finished products and jewelry as well. read more

Amethyst Mine Panorama - Gemstones & Minerals Near Me - Shuniah, Ontario

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I absolutey love the Panorama Amethyst Mine. I haven't been to the store, but I have often been to the actual mine to pick my own. They occassionally have tours of the mine, but the real fun is picking through the rubble and finding your own pieces. I go everytime I head back home to Thunder Bay, and I have many chunks of amethyst in my garden in Calgary to remind me of home. Some of my own pictures of the amethyst mine are here: http://www.associatedcontent.com/slideshow/18230/panorama_amethyst_mine_thunder_bay.html?cat=16 Enjoy! read more

My wife and I spent a weekend in Thunder Bay and drove to the Amethyst Mine Panorama which is about 50 minutes from Thunder Bay. The road in is full of wildlife and may be a bit rough but is truly wonderful as it fits in with the terrain and beauty of the landscape. At the mine friendly staff will greet you and send you on a short tour and instruction before digging. You do not go down into a mine but dig through the trailings. You will find lots of quartz and amethyst stones. $8 entry fee and $3 per pound of stones/gems. Makes the trip well worth it. Good for families of all ages. On your way out don't forget to stop and take the scenic overlook pictures. Really is quite a view. read more

Wow. This was amazing. First, wear jeans as you will probably sit on pointy rocks. I wore yoga pants, not the best choice. Fascinating short tour tells you the history, then you are turned loose on dirt mounds that are filled with amethysts, big and small. Love!! read more

For anyone who enjoys purple, amethyst is the place to go. It's amazing to see what they will do to it to make it sell. Hot glue and a craft store and you've got enough skills to sell this crap. But I'm a fan of amethyst. Did some mining for it too. read more

This place was tons of fun. You are not really digging up stuff you are just looking through rubble and dirt.. You can find some very large pieces but the key is moving them. This place has a nice giftshop where they can polish what you find and make it into stuff. This was a fun experience. There are many rules you need to follow while out digging. You are not given real tools to dig up stuff you are given a piece of iron bar lol. It is fun for kids!! You then get to wash what you find and then if you want to keep it you pay by weights. Lots of the stuff found have rock stuck to it making it weight tons. read more

This has remained one of the highlights from my cross Canada roadtrip. It was cheap and so fun to go and pick all your own amethysts. The store wasn't much to look at, but the experience of getting out in the dirt and plucking the amethysts right out of the ground was awesome. I hope I have a chance to go again soon. Very cool! read more

So much fun. Found a number of beautiful gems. There is a large area for people to dig and look for specimens. You can find a variety of sizes and shapes of amethyst. We went in October so wasn't busy. read more

My wife and I stopped at this mine today. We walked into a nice gift shop and were greeted by very friendly staff. We had just paid our admission when an older gentleman (we later learned that this was the owner) asked me what I did for a living. I work with computers, and this excited the man a lot. He told me that he "wanted to give me a job" and then handed me the debit machine, which he was having trouble setting up. I helped for about 15 minutes, doing basically what I might do at work. During this time the owner was nice (if somewhat demanding) to my wife and I, but we both noticed that he was rude and curt with the two staff present. Afterwards, one of the staff went to ask the owner if they could refund us our admission as payment for the help, and we saw the owner take her aside and get overly upset at her for the suggestion. We had been planning on buying some souvenirs, but couldn't bring ourselves to do so after such a display - if this is how the owner treats the staff when there are customers watching, we can't imagine what must happen behind the scenes. He wasn't that great to us either, getting me to essentially work for 15 minutes without compensation, but by far it was the rudeness and clearly awful work environment that he created that spoiled our time at the mine. read more