11/17/2009 4:38:00 PM Miner’s Pick Rock Shop opens in Jerome New store offers gold panning for the family
VVN/Philip Wright
Melissa Woods manages The Miner’s Pick Rock Shop in Jerome. Her husband, Mike Caruso, collects and polishes the stone products and makes the wood furniture by hand. At left, Utah Septarians are about 110 million years old. The Miner’s Pick Rock Shop in Jerome offers a large selection of these polished nodules.
The Miner’s Pick Rock Shop is located on the lower level of Merchants Gathering Building at 302 Hull Ave, next door to the Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center.
JEROME - Mike Caruso, an experienced mineral miner, and his wife, Melissa Woods, have opened The Miner’s Pick Rock Shop at 302 Hull Ave. in Jerome. The store is on the lower level of the Merchants Gathering Building next door to the visitors center.
The business features rocks, minerals, fossils, polished stone and jewelry. Also offered are handcrafted wood benches, tables and coat racks. Mike has collected and polished the rocks, and he has made all of the wood products. Melissa manages the store.
For anyone who has ever had a hankering to prospect for gold – and who hasn’t - The Miner’s Pick Rock Shop can set you up with guaranteed results. No mine claim necessary and no claim jumpers waiting to ambush you.
Mike and Melissa have a nine-pocket sluice box right outside the store. Customers purchase a packet of “Gold Ore,” to swish and settle with a real gold pan. According to Melissa, each packet is guaranteed to contain at least a few flecks of gold, with a few packets holding a gold nugget.
The new store also displays a 1912 soda fountain from a drug store in Topeka, Kan. Although the store does not have a license to prepare food, Melissa said they soon will offer bottled old-fashioned drinks, such as Sarsaparilla.
Coming soon to the rock store will be a mock mine entrance that will house a fluorescent mineral display.
Rocks, minerals and mining are all more than just a hobby with Mike. Melissa said Mike started hanging around with his dad in the mines in Southern Utah when he was only 6. “He’s a third-generation miner,” she said.
Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, except for Tuesdays and holidays. Call (928) 301-9858 or (928) 274-4499.
