Need opinion on Gem Mines in NC

[iwas1ncthr]

Hey All,

Dunno if this has been asked yet but I was wanting to plan a nice week long vacation to the Carolina Gem mines. I like most have seen the finds on the Travel Channel but was wondering if anyone here has been or does go on a regular basis? If so, is the chances of finding the half way decent emeralds worth the trip? And say you do happen to find a real nice one, who buys these from you? I am not expecting to go there and make mega$$$ but I have heard that many of people can usually pay for there trip and then some. We are planning on going there for 5 days in a row and I am planning on getting to do everything the mine has to offer including buying a few of there big buckets that for some reason sound kinda fishy seen as how they pretty much promise you'll find at least a few gem grade pieces. Thanks for any input on this.

 

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[spiffyman]

I've been to Gem Mountain in NC., Eventhough the people there are not very friendly, we did find a few pieces doing the gem grubbing. It was fun. We had a few pieces cut for jewelry but haven't sold any to anyone. The prices are reasonable, but there really wasn't anywhere to stay in Spruce Pines, so we only visited for one day. The buckets seem to be "planted" but the trip was fun. If you can go on the tour, that would be great. We weren't able to do that because it is booked so far in advance so we will go back for that one day. They do have a "stand by" list in case anyone cancels, but you're in the mountains so cell phone service is rough sometimes and they may not be able to reach you so book early if you can. I had a piece of topaz cut for my wife and a piece aquamarine cut for my mom for Christmas from Gem mountain. In Gatlinburg Tn. had a piece of tourmaline cut for a pendant and a pair of earrings for my wife also,

 

[fossis]

I have been told, only one mine has 'true NC Gems', all the rest seed them with stones from overseas.
Sorry, I don't remember which one.

Fossis............

 

[bedpanmoneyman]

I've also been to Gem Mountain.... twice. First time we found several nice emeralds, had one cut and my wife really enjoys wearing it as a pendant. We kept the other finds for cutting in the future. My sister has been there once and has nicely cut topaz, rose quartz and garnet pieces as well. Worth the trip if you are in the area.

BPMM

 

[CanUDigIt]

Hi all,
I do a little rockhounding and have done a NC trip to Franklin and Hiddenite. At Franklin, my wife found a "honker" sized ruby. They get on the loud speaker announce your name and the weight. They also give you a button that says you found one. That was all we found all day except toward the end of the day when we bought a non-native seeded bucket and found some pretty colored rocks, not gemstones. Good day but slightly frustrating for us. The show makes it seem like they have rubies all over the ground. The truth is that only 5 or 6 people found a ruby all day out of more than 200 visitors that day and many were 'squeaker" size. If you have kids that like to get dirty, you can have fun here. Many of the kids seemed to get bored not finding anything though. As a bigger sized kid, I understood. One note is that because of the makeup of the soil, the rubies are off-color and will not be red. They are more purplish.
Now Hiddenite was a great time though. We found emeralds from the starter buckets they give you with admission. We got the whole package of sluicing, creeking and digging. We thought digging was in a mine but they actually just give you a shovel and bucket and point to where the top of the hill is. Be prepared to hike to a spot up a steep hill and drag children up to the area. Remember, you will also need to do some serious digging. There are holes all over and you will need to drag your diggings back down to the sluice to wash it. Spend a little time before you go about emerald formation so you will know what to look for a little better than we did. I spent three hours digging holes and sweating since it was 95 and humidity was high. Needed to go creeking to cool off. It was 20 degrees cooler and you do find some rocks that were washed down the mountain and into the stream. Bring creek shoes or flipflops. We didn't find any emerald but did find a lot of milky quartz and a few other nice colored rocks. We had more fun buying buckets and sluicing. The buckets are the five gallon ones so they take a while to get through. You can dig the $2 and $3 buckets all day and have a blast. They have ruby buckets for $5 and star ruby buckets for $10 (didn't find one), $15 corundum buckets of ruby and sapphire, and $25 beryl buckets for emeralds. They also have $50 buckets and $100 buckets w/ a guaranteed cutable stone. Most buckets seemed seeded despite what anyone says. We were pulling stones out of the bucket that didn't have a speck of dirt attached. We ended up with a few pounds of emeralds, a few of sapphires, a couple ounces of rubies and other other really cool stuff like quartz and soldelite. It was a rewarding day and we had lots of rocks. Now for the catch... They also have a lapidary to cut stones on site. You can bring your stone in and they will sort through them. They will let you know what could be facetable. There was a 22 week wait for cutting in July and it ran about $45 a stone. Well worth it if you have a good one but are willing to wait. I came home and tried to find a lapidary here in PA and couldn't find one close by. I then found a lapidary club an hour from my house but they just offered classes to cut your own stones. I would have joined and taken the classes but afterwards you couldn't just come and cut your own stones. It had to be during another class. This is just a hobby for me and I am probably not buying thousands of dollars of cutting equipment to cut the stones from my vacation.
Glad you read to the bottom of the post because I had to pass this along to you: Most of the stones you will get are only good for specimen rocks and not jewelry. A pound of emeralds does not mean you will get rich. This is mainly for fun. I have a vase full of emeralds on my TV along with a vase of sodelite and quartz plus misc. colored rocks. There are rumors that the stones that you get back from the Hiddenite lapidary may not be your original stones. I have heard they might substitute with a cut stone and throw the rough ones back into the stream. Just something I read on line and I cannot vouch either way. Don't let that from discouraging you from a great day. Wear clothes you can throw out and bring some towels and a pair of rubber dish gloves to save the skin on your hands. The iron in the soil will stain your clothes. Eat a big breakfast and pack a good sized lunch, plenty of water and drinks and some snacks. Next time we'll go to Hiddenite (just sluicing) and Cherokee. I have heard good things about it and don't feel Sheffield in Franklin was worth the extra drive from up north. Search NC gem mining and there are plenty to choose.

 

[RN MEDIC]

Thanks much, CanUDigit, for this information. This is the type thing I've been looking for as I saw that same thing on the travel channel. I'll bet that show really made those places some money. I'd like to go someplace like these, but want a true chance to make it worthwhile. Really grateful for all the information you've given here.

RN MEDIC

 

[Odin]

My Aunt went to this mine http://www.emeraldvillage.com/ and was very happy with the experience. Also She gave gem buckets to several family members for Christmas and We were all very happy with Our finds from them.

 

[rockhound]

I have hunted the gem mines of NC for years. Sometimes I have found nice gemstones. Other
times I couldn't find even one. There are gem mines all over western North Carolina. Some are
better than others. Buckets of dirt/rocks are shoveled ftom the hillside and poured through a 2"
screen to remove larger stones. Then a few gemstones are salted on top for looks. But some-
times you also find a real gemstone from dirt/rocks shoveled from the hillside. This is where
good gemstones somtimes are found. It is a nice hobby, and who knows, you might get lucky.

 

[tenjos]

I had really good luck and a good time at Masons Mine in Franklin. $20 a day dig your own dirt (totally native not seeded)all you can sort all day or until you get tired. They supply everything and have nice flumes. nice and helpful folks there. http://www.masonsrubyandsapphiremine.com/index.htm

 

[Abbey]

Had an interesting time at the Hiddenite mine. Bought the whole(mining) deal, hiked up the hill with our gear and all. Found a dirt field scattered w/ rocks of various colors- salted for SURE. But they're in the birdbath (a glass lense from an old sevice station sign) and shine well in the sun, so what the heck. Did find some good quartz- for real. Pickaxe, and sweat and humidity and several dew rags... and a smashed couple fingers, but still smiling. Always better to be out in the woods doing somthing than in the house. There's a very good site in GA for amethest-- a real mine. No hokie place- it's dirtry and rough and you'd better not bring the kids/grands because it is-- a real mine. FUN!
Only caught on to this site- lurk around the Native Am. Aritfacts, etc.
Cheers!

 

[bluecat]

I took a trip to Hiddenite a few years ago with my daughter. The people there seemed to be quite rude. We did have a fun day playing in the mud though. If you looked at the gems coming out of the buckets that you buy in the sluicing area you could see that they had already been cut. It appeared that on the majority of the stones that had the gem quality material it was removed already. I'm not saying that you couldn't find a good stone, but I think it would be unlikely since they have obviously went through the material already and removed the best specimens. It is a great place to have some fun with the kids though if you don't mind getting dirty.

 

[handy]

i would love to go there this year

 

[RN MEDIC]

Back a while, I was looking over the web pages of various of these types of places and pretty much rules that one out. Anybody knows that it would take the honesty of a band of angels to NOT pick through the ore in buckets BEFORE they are sold to the public and the best gem quality stones removed. That way, they leave enough stuff in there to make it intersting to the public and make what they can off of the public tourists.