Placer Deposits in NC

[IndianaHolmes]

Anybody have any advice for finding historical placer deposits (in particular alluvial stream/river findings,) in NC? I've downloaded the USGS mineral resources map layer, but get the strong impression that it's nowhere near comprehensive, and I'd say 95% of the mines are lode/hard rock, with only occasional placer operations listed. Pic attached of the map.

Notice how almost the entirety of the Blue Ridge Mountains (western-most 1/4 of the state,) is completely devoid of mining operations, short of a handful scattered here and there. This can't be, right? An entire mountain range devoid of mining operations?

Where/how can one learn about finds that are not on a map like this? You often see prospectors recommending that one research historical gold mining operations for a particular state. But it doesn't seem as though the state of North Carolina has a central resource/archive of historical mineral finds or mines. Is there such a resource?

Any insight or recommendations for finding historical operations, in particular alluvial placer finds, in particular within the blue ridge mountains, would be much appreciated.

 

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[Clay Diggins]

Nobody mines when there is no gold to be mined. Just because there are mountains it doesn't increase the chance you will find gold.

The area with the mines is part of the Southern Piedmont. Here's a publication that describes the gold mines in the Piedmont.

Gold Deposits of the Southern Piedmont
This report deals chiefly with the gold mines in the Southern Appalachia gold belt. The belt is 10 to 100 miles wide and runs from the Great Falls of the Potomac to east-central Alabama along the piedmont. Includes many color plates
PDF, 50 MB, 216 pages

There is more recent on the ground reporting as well. Here's a link to download:
Locations of native gold seen in panned concentrates from Charlotte 1 deg x 2 deg quadrange, North Carolina and South Carolina
PDF 300 Kb 28 pages

If you want to dive really deep into the geology and on the ground mine reports for the area you will probably want to review the more than 800 mines surveyed in this report.
Gold, base-metal, and related deposits of North Carolina
PDF 9.6 Mb 551 pages

All free to download and searchable.

 

[IndianaHolmes]

Nobody mines when there is no gold to be mined.

Ya don't say.

The question I'm asking isn't "why aren't there gold mines where I want them to be?" The question I'm asking is "could there be mines in that region that aren't on the map? If so, how would one learn about them?"

Just because there are mountains it doesn't increase the chance you will find gold

I know. I just find it odd that gold is bountiful in the valleys and flatlands, but according to maps, seems to stop dead at the mountains. Makes me wonder if there were in fact mining ops in the nearby mountains that simply weren't mapped.

There is more recent on the ground reporting as well. Here's a link to download:
Locations of native gold seen in panned concentrates from Charlotte 1 deg x 2 deg quadrange, North Carolina and South Carolina
PDF 300 Kb 28 pages

Wow, thank you! I've seen those other two documents, but this one is new to me. Looks very handy.

Not sure if you're local or not, but are you by chance aware of anything like a Bureau of Mines in NC? There doesn't seem to be one, but I know sometimes they go by different names.

 

[Buckshotnc]

Ya don't say.

The question I'm asking isn't "why aren't there gold mines where I want them to be?" The question I'm asking is "could there be mines in that region that aren't on the map? If so, how would one learn about them?"



I know. I just find it odd that gold is bountiful in the valleys and flatlands, but according to maps, seems to stop dead at the mountains. Makes me wonder if there were in fact mining ops in the nearby mountains that simply weren't mapped.



Wow, thank you! I've seen those other two documents, but this one is new to me. Looks very handy.

Not sure if you're local or not, but are you by chance aware of anything like a Bureau of Mines in NC? There doesn't seem to be one, but I know sometimes they go by different names.

Might want to check out South Mountain Gold Belt in NC

 

[IndianaHolmes]

Might want to check out South Mountain Gold Belt in NC

Same story; gold seems to be allergic to mountains in that region as well. There's a mine on a mountain here and there, but by and large gold mining seems to halt at the front range.

I just wonder if it's not so much that there really isn't any gold in them hills so much as the gold was so plentiful in the valleys that miners didn't feel the need to go trudging deep into difficult terrain.

 

[Papa-t]

I live in the NC Mountains. I have found gold in creeks where there is no mine history or any reports to be found of any gold period. I was chasing an area where I found an old relocated creek bed with a lot of rounded rocks. Found more gold there then when I use to prospect down around Uhwarrie which is a drive for me. Haven’t worked the area in about two years due to back problems from a wreck and some laziness to be honest. However, my point is get out and prospect. Just because there’s no reports or history in the area, doesn’t mean there’s no gold there.

 

[Buckshotnc]

There were millions mined here in the 1800-1900's so much that a private mint (Betchler Mint) was set up by German immigrants to accommodate the local miners before the mint in Charlotte was established by the US Govt.

 

[Clay Diggins]

There were millions mined here in the 1800-1900's so much that a private mint (Betchler Mint) was set up by German immigrants to accommodate the local miners before the mint in Charlotte was established by the US Govt.

1.2 million total gold ounces mined in all of NC history.

To put that in perspective Nevada alone mines 4 - 6 million ounces of gold every year.

In California between 1848 and 1852 more than 100 million ounces of gold were mined. That's 25 million ounces a year.

The North Carolina deposits were extremely important prior to 1848. Our country was broke and had very little currency. We sold cotton at incredibly low prices to other countries to bring in hard (silver/gold) currency.

The North Carolina deposits provided a little relief for U.S. banking but it wasn't until the big California gold strikes that the average man saw an improvement in living conditions in the U.S.