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At the 77th Annual Gem-O-Rama last October, hundreds of professional and amateur rockhounds descended on the tiny community of Trona, Calif., for a weekend of treasure hunting. Gem dealers, geologists, retirees and school children dived into the mud and brine of Searles Lake to extract specimens of spellbinding molecular order: hanksite, pink halite, borax and other salt crystals.

Crystals, the now ubiquitous wellness accessories sitting on your desk or bedside table, all come from somewhere. Some come from this dry lake bed in the California desert. “A lot of people don’t pay attention to what’s going on under their feet,” said Alexandra Gama, president of the geology club at California State University, Sacramento. But for the weekend at Gem-O-Rama, what’s going on underfoot is the main event.