Coming Soon!
Thank you for visiting Montana Rockhounding!
Since April 2024, I have been building, custom coding, and authoring content 3-7 days every week in creating this new website. Finally, my brand-new website is just about finished. I am currently just doing some last-minute touchups and final adjustments to make my website easier to navigate for all ages. At my current pace, I expect to have this new website to be fully live starting sometime in September 2025.
If you wish to be notified of when we officially launch, I encourage you to follow our Instagram or Facebook pages (links found below) where I will announce our official launch date in the future.
Until We Open...
In the meantime, for all our visitors and future customers looking to purchase a rock or mineral today, my original Etsy shop 'Montana Rockhounding' is still open.
This Etsy shop now only has a limited selection of rocks and mineral listings in comparison to the +900 listings that I had available back in 2024. I have tried to keep the selection choices varied for all mineral collectors' interests including some Butte, Montana minerals. Pieces still currently listed in my Etsy shop will only be available through our Etsy shop in the future as well. So, if you really want one of my specific Etsy pieces, right now is the best time to buy!
If your favorite piece is no longer available, do not worry! I have found it best to move the majority of my past unsold listings to this website. So, if I still have the piece in my inventory, you will get the chance to buy it again soon and probably at a lower price (no more 30-80% Etsy sales fees). Yay!!!
For those of you currently shopping, every dollar you spend purchasing our rocks and minerals for sale on our Etsy shop truly helps me cover the extra costs incurred with our new transition to this Montana Rockhounding website.
So, Who Are We?
Montana Rockhounding is a small business based out of the infamous mining city of Butte, Montana. We are owned by a guy named Ardy who is a local exploration geologist, a renowned engineer, and a multi-generational rancher in southwest Montana. Our online shop typically offers for sale various affordable rocks, minerals, crystals, fossils, and gemstones from across Montana.
With Montana Rockhounding, you get REAL Montana rocks and minerals from Montana, sold by a 4th generation Montanan, and shipped from Montana.
What Is On Our Website?
Montana Rockhounding's new website is going to be your favorite new destination for all things about Montana's geology, rocks, and minerals. Our new website will allow you to buy Montana based agates, crystals, fossil, gemstones, mineral specimens, petrified wood, and rocks to custom made gifts, jewelry, hand-made items, antiques, garage sale items, entire old rock collections, and more directly from my family and I here in Montana. Upon our website's launch, this website will feature over 3,000 item listings for sale!
Not Just Shopping!
Aside from our shopping portions of the website, our visitors will get the opportunity to learn about Montana's museums, popular rock collecting localities, REAL geology information, rock clubs & groups, digging tips, and other events and activities happening across Montana which is all authored by an actual Montana exploration geologist living here in Montana. Our website also includes several different blogs covering food, ranch life, Montana's outdoors, equipment/tools recommendations, and the return of our original "The Montana Rockhound" blog (once famous with local rockhounds in the 2000s). Comprised of over 300 individual webpages, our new website will provide lots of fun and insightful information for our valued customers who love rocks, minerals, geology, and Montana!
Need a Project Consultant?
Our new website will also serve as a contacting platform to hire our owner for his consulting services on projects in engineering, exploration geology, mining, reclamation, water resources, agricultural, mineral identifications, and other related disciplines.
With over 20 years of work experience and projects completed in the agriculture, construction, engineering, executive management, geohazards, higher education, modeling, remediation / reclamation and Superfunds fields, our owner has applied his skills and expertise in several blue-collar trades and his multiple undergraduate and graduate degree education to accomplish challenging feats and complete projects across Montana. In the world of geology, our owner has already distinguished himself as a recognized mineral collector and one of the country's foremost experts in Montana’s pegmatites, mineral deposits, and volcanic geology.
Want to Visit Us On Social Media Instead?
While my website is not up and running yet, Montana Rockhounding can still be followed and visited on our various social media pages and profiles. Currently, Montana Rockhounding can be found on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube. You can visit each of our social media pages and profiles by clicking on their attached bubble links.
Visit Our Esty Shop
Since 2021, Montana Rockhounding has had our online store on Etsy. This online store has been our flagship for selling rocks, crystals, fossils, gemstones, and mineral specimens to the general public across the United States.
Visit Our Facebook Page
Since the mid 2010s, Montana Rockhounding has had a devoted profile on Facebook where I have shared information, photos, and more such as my past college teaching lecturing material, upcoming rock sales, rock and mineral photos, and more.
Visit Our Instagram
Since 2019, Montana Rockhounding has been on Instagram with a dedicated profile for actively sharing stories, photos, and some of our rockhounding adventures.
Visit Our Pinterest
Since 2024, Montana Rockhounding has been on the popular Pinterest social media platform where I have been sharing photos of my family, my own, and some of the other local collectors' rock and mineral finds including pieces that I have sold or am currently selling.
Visit Our YouTube Channel
Since 2013, Montana Rockhounding has had its own YouTube Channel. On our YouTube channel, I share public videos about Montana's rocks, minerals, mining history, and geology on it. I do have future plans to begin sharing the hundreds of old rock collecting and other Montana related videos that I have dating back to the 1990s which I will begin to upload once our website is up and running.