Above left: Mark shares a Joke                                  Above right: Mick and Rocky enjoy the 2024 Bancroft Gemboree

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Synergy – A sum of the lesser parts equals a greater whole and that is how we see ourselves. We trade in crystals and educational experiences in the forest. Like our various differences, when combined the outcome is something much better. We can’t see Dark Star having reached this fortunate place without each other and the separate skills we as individuals each bring to the table. Mark has raw power of ‘outside the box’ thought and action. He applies his cerebral strengths to all of our business situations.

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Mick has knowledge and experience as his strong point. With years as a ‘rockhound’ and with his education as a geographer and a gemologist Mick’s contributions are crucial in the finding and procurement of crystals. Understanding the technical “boots on the ground” aspects of geology and already having a reputation on YouTube (caver461) and through his books, the 3-part Rockhound Series, Mick is a crucial element in Dark Star’s success. He was a well-known local writer dabbling in travel articles to pay his holidays and increasingly rock-hound related material to support his wish to share his interest with others. Well the hobby grew into a gemology diploma and a life-long interest in gem and crystal specimens.

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Mitch has recently joined our team, he brings with him significant guiding experience and adds to our "Dark Star experience" a biological knowledge, he refers to himself as a forager and your learning with Mitch might equally take the form of geology of fissure vein dykes or where to find morels and how to identify calciphiles. Clients who are guided by Mitch most typically request repeat visits so to us, Mitch is a major asset to what we are doing. Oh, one other thing, he's an incredible glass blower and specializes in a glass-crystal fusion, making incredible bong paraphenalia with a mineral twist - watch the videos.

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As to be expected in any such undertaking, success is more than just hard work, it requires a suite of skills and one individual is unlikely to possess them all. Mark sees opportunity and fills the gap around innovation, he is unquestionably our business mind, our muscle and organization and without dispute our foremost digger of fissures (We call him ‘Chief Extraction Officer’) – he’s a human mole. With a sharply honed instinct around the handling of assets; our Dark Star partnership is motivated by Mark’s enthusiasm and he helps us keep the goal in view. And when not attending to Dark Star Business, Mark is an avid ice fisher and bow hunter. Need I explain mark's love of challenge and fair play in plans to hunter bear in the traditional way, with a spear. "anyone can kill an animal with a gun", he says. I believe in bringing the odds into a more reasonable balance.

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Between the two of us we developed consensus in what we believed (see our philosophy) and also in our shared direction and roles. When we discussed our intention to bring our “Bear Lake II” claim to lease the Government geologist expressed surprise. We were an unlikely pair, 2 guys who came from apparently unrelated professions. We had big dreams and many false assumptions. Thank you Andrew for guiding us in the initial phases of our dream of being prospectors. You have no idea how overwhelming the MLAS system can be to a newbie.

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Well there there are certainly 'nay-Sayers'. We had several failures and                                                   misfortunes and we are likely to experience more, but we have a secret weapon,                                        the synergy of our combined enthusiasm for what we loved doing – harvesting                                             crystals. Admittedly it took some time to recover from the day that we                                                   discovered that an angry hunter had taken a sledgehammer to our most                                                   treasured crystals. The vandal destroyed a $10,000 plate that we'd hoped                                                   would pay for our survey. We'd been saving the crystals for a time when they                                           could be properly extracted. Admittedly we had more, but it was not the point -                                            there is a principle and an ethic here.

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 Every time we find an outstanding specimen (several times a day), a great                                                    cheer can be heard through the claim. To us it’s more than just money; we                                        appreciate the beauty and struggle with temptation. Each one of us has a                                             crystal collection of our own and there is the tendency to want to divert the                                                  better finds to our cabinets. We collect all over, not just on our claims. Don’t                                           worry, our cabinets are full and our wives are out of patience. No more piling                                        ‘speccies’ in the garden. What we had accumulated in the region must now go                                             up on the website. Maggie, Kathy and Steph have had enough of our crystal                                      hording.

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Old Bear Lake 1 material will soon be up for public purchase. We are hoping to bring our claim to lease, but for now we’re expecting to entertain mineral enthusiasts for amateur educational and collecting experiences. To make more rockhounds out of those who are simply curious is to us a powerful motivation for what we do.