🔎 UNIDENTIFIED Recent Rubies found in new Location at Treasure Valley

[Buckshotnc]

 

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[Buckshotnc]

One more pic

 

[antmike915]

Hard to tell, might want to take pictures of them in natural light.

 

[Buckshotnc]

Oh yes they are, over the past I've found over 100 rubies & sapphires here so I'm able to pretty well identify them.

 

[Tpmetal]

neat. North Carolina has all sorts of goodies in terms of minerals and gemstones. Would love to get into some of the old emerald mines to do some mining.

 

[smokeythecat]

I'm off to a meeting, when I get back I'll try to get a couple pics put up here of the stuff we got there back in the 1970's. Feels like the 1870's however.

BTW BuckshotNC those you have are the real deal. The seeded ones from Asia just plain look different.

 

[smokeythecat]

Here's some stuff we got back in the "old days". Greenies are emerald crystals from the old Rist Mine in Hiddenite. I actually knew Charlie Rist in another lifetime. The one smaller one I traded with him to get it. I just wire wrapped it this week in 14k gold. Oval star sapphire and a faceted 4mm and 2mm ruby from Cowee Valley, also two cabbed Rhodolite garnets and 1 faceted one from Cowee Valley.

 

[Buckshotnc]

Smokey that's some good looking gems there, was the Rist Mine where the late Red Reitzel found the large emerald in the 70's that ended up in the Smithsonian ? Also wonder if this different location from where Jamie Hill had the North American Emerald Mine he opened it up to our gem club and I went on the first day and I think over 200 rockhounds showed up I didn't find anything exceptional but remember that we had to sign an agreement that if we found anything that Jamie had the option of giving the person $10,000 and keeping the gem. There were a couple of people there that probably found some emeralds that equalled or exceeded that value but Jamie let them keep them. Red faceted a smokey quartz for me that I still have. I also took Red trout fishing on a mountain lake here in NC.

 

[smokeythecat]

Yes, that's the place and I was able to hold that huge emerald in my bare hands. Charlie Rist had it stored in a 1 pound Maxwell House coffee can. Of course that was back in the day people were more civilized. I also went to the North American Emerald Mine once. I didn't find anything there. BTW they were on the same property. What happened to it?

 

[Red_desert]

Isn't there supposed to be a creek in NC really good for rubies?

 

[smokeythecat]

Cowee Creek near Franklin, NC but you better check to see if any places are open. You just can't "go" there. Big no trespass areas, posted and the locals are locked and loaded as these are bona fide mining claims.

 

[Red_desert]

Not planning on going there, sounds like the creek though.

 

[Buckshotnc]

Yes, that's the place and I was able to hold that huge emerald in my bare hands. Charlie Rist had it stored in a 1 pound Maxwell House coffee can. Of course that was back in the day people were more civilized. I also went to the North American Emerald Mine once. I didn't find anything there. BTW they were on the same property. What happened to it?

Smokey, don't know current status of the mine but came across an article by Antoinettee Matlins, gemologist who was there the day I was, her article is entitled "North Carolina Emerald -Gem or Joke" which verifies some of what I posted earlier. That day I had the pleasure of having my picture taken with Jamie Hill & Butch Finger whom both had found emeralds of over 1400 - 1600 carats and as I mentioned earlier I had taken Red Reitzel & John Williams fishing. Reitzel & Williams if I'm not mistaken found their emeralds on the Adams farm.

 

[Buckshotnc]

Not planning on going there, sounds like the creek though.

Red, I believe you're into dowsing also. FYI I use L Rods some for finding water, electric lines, etc. So out of curiosity I took my L Rods with a small ruby taped on the handle as a witness into the woods adjoining the stream where I've found most of my rubies and the rods went crazy. They just kept waving back and forth, I asked my sons if they could find time which they haven't yet that I wanted to do an experiment. I am not going tell them anything except place the rods in their hands and see if they get a similar reaction.

 

[Red_desert]

Red, I believe you're into dowsing also. FYI I use L Rods some for finding water, electric lines, etc. So out of curiosity I took my L Rods with a small ruby taped on the handle as a witness into the woods adjoining the stream where I've found most of my rubies and the rods went crazy. They just kept waving back and forth, I asked my sons if they could find time which they haven't yet that I wanted to do an experiment. I am not going tell them anything except place the rods in their hands and see if they get a similar reaction.

I'm thinking a treasure hunter once emailed me satellite images for a NC stream with rubies. It was so long ago, maps were lost in my older computer that crashed.

 

[smokeythecat]

You can probably do an internet search for places to find sapphire in NC. One place I really liked was called the "Cotton Patch Mine" east of Charlotte. That place was a gold mine. It got new owners some years ago and it was converted to a campground only.

 

[Red_desert]

Old GPAA printed prospecting guide once published yearly, listed places in NC and Georgia. I can remember seeing campgrounds listed which only allowed dredging or gold panning in the stream.